Quill and Quire

Graphica

Boundless

By Jillian Tamaki

The opening and closing spreads in Jillian Tamaki’s new collection of graphic short stories feature characters spilling off the edges of the page. The opener, “World-Class City,” is bookended by figures placed in directional opposition ... Read More »

May 8, 2017 | Filed under: Graphica, Reviews

Roughneck

By Jeff Lemire

In 1997, Doctors Without Borders administrator Christophe André was kidnapped while working in the town of Nazran, located in Ingushetia, a small Russian republic west of Chechnya. André was held captive for 111 days before ... Read More »

May 8, 2017 | Filed under: Graphica, Reviews

Twelve Cent Archie

By Bart Beaty

Archie comics have never been considered high art. They are most commonly found not in galleries, but on the backseats of station wagons, in bathrooms, or where Calgary-based scholar Bart Beaty first encountered them – ... Read More »

May 21, 2015 | Filed under: Graphica

Skandalon

By Julie Maroh

French graphic novelist Julie Maroh’s first book, Blue is the Warmest Color, was a poignant take on young lesbian love that inspired the Palme d’Or–winning film. Maroh breaks out the full palette in her follow-up, ... Read More »

November 19, 2014 | Filed under: Graphica

★ Fatherland

By Nina Bunjevac

An accomplished graphic memoir entwining family secrets with the history of a region wracked by violence, Fatherland is bleak, yet undeniably fascinating. The book begins in the 1970s, in the small Ontario town of Welland. ... Read More »

October 17, 2014 | Filed under: Graphica

Photobooth: A Biography

By Meags Fitzgerald

Photobooth pictures can be among the most priceless, personal artifacts of our fading past. Illustrator and comics artist Meags Fitzgerald explores the fascination with these ephemera through an obsessive, autobiographical account of her relationship with ... Read More »

August 27, 2014 | Filed under: Graphica

On Loving Women

By Diane Obomsawin

What separates Diane Obomsawin from other contemporary comics creators is her ability to relay complex, often emotionally charged subjects in a clear and accessible manner. Her first book, Kaspar, explored the legend of Kaspar Hauser, ... Read More »

June 26, 2014 | Filed under: Graphica

The Spectral Engine

By Ray Fawkes

Two of the most respected houses in Canadian publishing have graphic novels out this season, and the titles share aspects in common. Each has strong elements of horror, and experiments in form and design. The ... Read More »

October 22, 2013 | Filed under: Graphica

★ The Cage

By Martin Vaughn-James

Two of the most respected houses in Canadian publishing have graphic novels out this season, and the titles share aspects in common. Each has strong elements of horror, and experiments in form and design. The ... Read More »

October 22, 2013 | Filed under: Graphica

Science Fiction

By Joe Ollmann

Joe Ollmann’s graphic novels delineate the absurdities and agonies of modern life. His latest presents us with the slow-motion disintegration of a relationship. Mark is a pragmatic high-school science teacher with an Eeyore-like temperament. His ... Read More »

August 16, 2013 | Filed under: Graphica

Heartless

By Nina Bunjevac

Along with Montreal’s Drawn & Quarterly, Conundrum Press, based in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, is responsible for publishing most of the cutting-edge graphica this country has seen in the past several years. Both presses delight ... Read More »

December 10, 2012 | Filed under: Graphica

The Underwater Welder

By Jeff Lemire

Acclaimed graphic novelist Jeff Lemire  leaves behind the flatlands of Essex County for a tale of what lies in the depths of a troubled mind. Confronted with the anxieties of impending fatherhood, Jack, a diver ... Read More »

October 16, 2012 | Filed under: Graphica

★ Hark! A Vagrant

By Kate Beaton

Canadian comic books have come into their own. Cartoonists such as Chester Brown and Seth are now celebrated at awards ceremonies, funded by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and encouraged by a ... Read More »

October 24, 2011 | Filed under: Graphica