Media Coverage Surrounding The Next Day
Interview: The Next Day with John Porcellino, Alex Jansen and Jason Gilmore
“a very thoughtful piece of work delicately exploring the issue of suicide in a frank but sensitive tone”
Inkstuds, 10 January 2012
Before we close the book on 2011 …
“This was my favourite book of the year. It encompasses so much true human drama and psyche. This book makes you look and recognize those around you.”
The Kingston Whig Standard, 14 January 2012
Colourful tales of Mr Wonderful and Maus
“quietly breathtaking”
Irish Examiner, 30 December 2011
Review: ‘The Next Day: A Graphic Novella’ TP
“ICv2 Stars: 4 (out of 5). There are no easy answers presented by this novella, but the humanity of the work is what makes it so necessary for these stories to be told.”
ICv2, 16 December 2011
The Best of 2011: Peter Gutiérrez’s Picks
“We need more titles like this one.”
Graphic Novel Reporter, 3 December 2011
Great Graphic Novels of Fall 2011: Nonfiction
“Essential reading for the season.”
Graphic Novel Reporter, 16 September 2011
Cowboys and Alienation: Teen Graphic Novels
“Porcellino’s simple linework adds a bit of detachment to the emotional subject matter, and the book ends on a hopeful note.”
School Library Journal, 24 August 2011
‘Sublimely beautiful,’ novella asks ‘what if’
“As a social worker of nearly 30 years, half spent working with survivors of abuse, Paul Peterson had heard too many stories with tragic endings. But it was the suicide of someone he barely knew that prompted him to undertake a project on attempted suicide.”
Kingston This Week, 18 August 2011
A sensitive record of four lives
“Suicide isn’t a topic for polite company but it’s a common phenomenon and The Next Day helps keep it in the conversation. The book is an important document, as well as being a sensitive record of four lives.”
Uptown, 28 July 2011
Review of The Next Day
“The Next Day is intimate and accessible; it is compassionate, but unsentimental: the authors wisely don’t try to suggest that everything will somehow be better in the morning. Most importantly, it may help those afflicted by mental illness realize they’re not alone.”
Quill and Quire, July 2011
Review of The Next Day
“What was most bracing about these stories is that in several cases, the subjects appealed to their family for help but got recriminations or apathy in return. It’s clear that one of the goals of the book is to discuss mental illness and suicide openly, instead of hiding it behind a curtain of shame.”
The Comics Journal, 28 June 2011
Questionnaire 2 With Pop Sandbox: Small Press of Toronto Spring Fair 2011 “Works such as this [The Next Day] ask important questions about how media has progressed, how we use it, is there such a thing as ‘new media’?”
Broken Pencil, 16 June 2011
Smart Producers
“Over a period of 48 hours (spread out over two months—these gentlemen are busy), Christopher Butcher, founder of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and Alex Jansen, producer and founder of Pop Sandbox, discussed festivals, comics, distribution and the challenges of staying true to a vision while enjoying success.”
Open Book, 14 June 2011
Sunday Book Review
“Every few pages, Porcellino presents a silent scene — rain falling on a tree and a house — as the book pauses to breathe. Then, finally, the rain abates, and we see the house again, the four narrators together outside of it, alive.”
The New York Times, 8 June 2011
Frame by Frame
“Annotating The Next Day, the new graphic novel by Toronto multimedia company Pop Sandbox.”
The Grid TO, 26 May 2011
The Next Day Review
“It’s sobering stuff but highly recommended to those who’ve found much of merit in PSYCHIATRIC TALES and/or DEPRESSO.”
Page 45, May 2011
Adult Books 4 Teens: The Next Day
“The book feels intimate as well as accessible, making it a perfect selection for teens who want to understand the topic of suicide or suicidal feelings in others.”
School Library Journal, 18 May 2011
The Next Day
“The book is a very touching, intimate portrayal of four people’s personal struggles with depression and attempted suicide but also a very universal look at the issues we all deal with at some stage or another.”
Karen Harte, 13 May 2011
Toronto Comic Arts Festival: Drawing Power
“In its own way, this novella is an abstract version of the superhero imagined by Joe and Sammy in Chabon’s book [The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay], reaching out to people in their darkest hour.”
Canadian Art, 12 May 2011
The Next Day Interview Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4
“An ongoing series of weekly interviews with the creative team behind the newly released graphic novella and forthcoming interactive animated documentary, The Next Day.”
Open Book Ontario, 3 and 3o May 2011
Opening Up About Suicide: Pop Sandbox Launches The Next Day at the NFB Mediatheque
“As a rule, Open Book doesn’t post reviews or recommendations, but I am going to break that rule…I urge you to buy a copy of The Next Day. It is a sublimely beautiful, haunting and viscerally moving book.”
Open Book Ontario, 7 May 2011
Swoon Now! The Next Day
“There have been a few graphic novels that delve into the topic of mental illness and this quietly affecting, rather brilliant piece of work deserves to be at the forefront.”
Dave’s Comics, 6 May 2011
TCAF 2011 Review: The Next Day
“…The Next Day is frames, fragments and letters, a diary of carefully selected visions that draw together how human and easily triggered the darkest times can be.”
Dork Shelf, 6 May 2011
Graphic Novella The Next Day Takes on Suicide
“The graphic novella, illustrated in a touchingly simple, child-like style by American comic book artist John Porcellino, launched last night to an overflowing room at the National Film Board.”
Torontoist, 4 May 2011
Atomic Books Comics Preview
“This is a remarkable feat of comics journalism… exceedingly powerful.”
Atomic Books, 4 May 2011
The Next Day Review
“The structuring, writing and illustration come together to make The Next Day a highly unique and undeniably powerful work.”
C&G Monthly Magazine, 4 May 2011
The Next Day – Event Coverage
“Jason, Paul and John were absolutely fascinating.”
Tdot Comics, 3 May 2011
Metro Morning Podcast
CBC Radio One, 3 May 2011
This Week in Comics!
“The attraction here in this 104-page comics wing of the effort — an interactive online documentary film remains forthcoming — is art by John Porcellino, working with writers Paul Peterson & Jason Gilmore.”
The Comics Journal, 3 May 2011
Don’t Ask! Just Buy It!
“…’John Porcellino’ is the magic phrase.”
Comics Alliance, 3 May 2011
Graphic novella The Next Day tackles suicide — and survival
“It’s a curious mix, the painful stories, distilled from interviews, and Porcellino’s elemental, childlike drawings that would in a different context illustrate a world free of sadness.”
The Toronto Star, 30 April 2011
The Next Day 