Edited by Andrew Lesk (University of Toronto) and Barbara Postema (Concordia University)
Consulting editor, Bart Beaty (University of Calgary, Canadian Editor of The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics)
Drawn & Quarterly, Canada’s foremost comics publisher, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. This anniversary was an occasion for retrospection on Canadian comics, which have been influential well beyond the Canadian borders. Artists like Seth, Chester Brown, and Julie Doucet who began their careers in the 1980s and 1990s have become household names. Rather than dwelling on past achievements, the 25th anniversary of a Canadian comics publisher is also an opportunity to evaluate where we are now and to ask what happens next. Canada is now home to a large number of thriving comics publishers working in two official languages, and one thing that they all have in common is showcasing the rich and diverse talents of Canadian cartoonists, regularly debuting not just new books, but new cartoonists, new styles, and new ways of telling stories in comics form.
In this special issue, we’re asking: What has happened in Canadian comics since 2000? Have the successes in the field—in creating, and in publishing—changed in the twenty-first century? How do Canadian comics suggest different ways of seeing the world beyond the traditions established elsewhere? How has the advent of the digital age affected the way comics are published, distributed, and consumed? In order to shift perspectives about Canadian comics, we seek contributions on works by Canadian artists who have made their debut since 2000.
Selected articles will be published in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. Abstracts of 150 words, with a 50-word biography, should be submitted by September 30 2016; articles of 5000-7000 words will be due by March 15, 2017. Papers on French-language B-Ds are welcome, though they must be submitted in English.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
- Rising Canadian artists: Kate Beaton, Michael Deforge, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki
- Nurturing new talent: Canadian comics publishers – Drawn & Quarterly, Conundrum Press, Koyama Press, La Pastèque
- New directions: Julie Delporte, Patrick Kyle, Meags Fitzgerald
- The TCAF effect
- New styles and forms: Nina Bunjevac, Marta Chudolinska, Ray Fawkes, Jesse Jacobs
- Breaking into the mainstream: Jeff Lemire, Fiona Staples, J. Torres, Chip Zdarsky
Please submit all questions and submissions to both Andrew Lesk (andrew.lesk@utoronto.ca) and Barbara Postema (barbara.postema@concordia.ca).