The Canadian Alternative: Cartoonists, Comics, and Graphic Novels

by Dominick Grace (Editor), Eric Hoffman (Editor)

Contributions by Jordan Bolay, Ian Brodie, Jocelyn Sakal Froese, Dominick Grace, Eric Hoffman, Paddy Johnston, Ivan Kocmarek, Jessica Langston, Judith Leggatt, Daniel Marrone, Mark J. McLaughlin, Joan Ormrod, Laura A. Pearson, Annick Pellegrin, Mihaela Precup, Jason Sacks, and Ruth-Ellen St. Onge

This overview of the history of Canadian comics explores acclaimed as well as unfamiliar artists. Contributors look at the myriad ways that English-language, Francophone, Indigenous, and queer Canadian comics and cartoonists pose alternatives to American comics, to dominant perceptions, even to gender and racial categories.

In contrast to the United States' melting pot, Canada has been understood to comprise a social, cultural, and ethnic mosaic, with distinct cultural variation as part of its identity. This volume reveals differences that often reflect in highly regional and localized comics such as Paul MacKinnon's Cape Breton-specific Old Trout Funnies , Michel Rabagliati's Montreal-based Paul comics, and Kurt Martell and Christopher Merkley's Thunder Bay-specific zombie apocalypse.

The collection also considers some of the conventionally "alternative" cartoonists, namely Seth, Dave Sim, and Chester Brown. It offers alternate views of the diverse and engaging work of two very different Canadian cartoonists who bring their own alternatives into Jeff Lemire in his bridging of Canadian/US and mainstream/alternative sensibilities and Nina Bunjevac in her own blending of realism and fantasy as well as of insider/outsider status. Despite an upsurge in research on Canadian comics, there is still remarkably little written about most major and all minor Canadian cartoonists. This volume provides insight into some of the lesser-known Canadian alternatives still awaiting full exploration.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

308 pages, Hardcover

Published November 20, 2017

About the author

I am a Professor of English who teaches subjects ranging from medieval literature and Shakespeare through children's literature and popular culture. As a writer, I do critical non-fiction, primarily of literature but also occasionally of film, music, and comics. In addition to the many articles I have published, I am the author of the only book (to date) on the eminent Canadian SF writer Phyllis Gotlieb, and the coeditor of several collections of interviews with major cartoonists, a collection of essays on Canadian comics, a collection of essays on Twin Peaks, and two essay collections on the TV show Supernatural. My reading interests, like my research interests, are wide; visit my page to see the sorts of things I like to read.

Reviews

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://diaryofdifference.com/2018/04...

A huge thanks to the author for sending me this book for an honest review through Netgalley.

I started read this book with no knowledge about the background of comics, especially for Canada. I have always loved comics, but never really read anything that speaks behind the scenes of how it started, what is the philosophy behind it.

I expected this book to teach me a lot of new things, and help me see the world in a different point of view, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. This is not a book that will deprive you from your sleep at night – in fact, it is one of those books where you read to learn, and it might seem boring at times, but that is only because it is full with information at all times. Wonderful read.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram | Pinterest |

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find a full review here: http://extra-inks.comicssociety.org/2...

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and thoughtful, this book explores a region of comic books and graphic novels (quite literally) that has not often been considered in the material I have read about this medium so far. I appreciated the way a variety of voices came together to form this document, and the inclusion of images from the materials that were discussed was especially helpful.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and well researched book about Canadian comics. Very interesting if you want to discover new authors or read some very interesting analysis.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.