Why I spent so much time reading comics this past decade

This writing is meant to accompany a post of my favourite comics of the 2010s. I wrote this several weeks ago, but worked up the courage to make it public today. Why I spent so much time reading comics this past decade Reading comics has been a comforting and familiar ritual to me since childhood. …

My favourite comics of the 2010s

About this list I'm not suggesting that these are the best comics of the last decade (I don't think a list like that is even possible), but I would recommend them to anyone interested in comics. They are biased towards indie press and autobiography because those are the comics that generally have meant the most …

Creating an independent comics library

Canada Comics Open Library has been in our Regent Park space just about 9 months now, and we recently held a crowdfunding campaign to be able to pay rent and insurance for the next year as well as make our collection circulating. Although we did not reach all of our larger goals, we were able …

Zine trading event: The Toronto Zine Off

For those out there who live in Toronto, The TZL Collective (Toronto Zine Library) will be partnering with the Toronto Zine Off to host a zine trading event happening this Friday, April 6th from 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM EDT at the Tranzac Club in the Tiki Room (292 Brunswick Ave, the same address where the …

Grotesque Dollhouse: A Close Reading of Julie Doucet’s My New York Diary

The following post is based on a course assignment from a few years ago that offered me the opportunity to closely read and trace a few pages from Julie Doucet’s My New York Diary, one of my favorite autobiographical comics. My New York Diary is also an early contemporary feminist classic of graphic autobiography. I …

Adventures in Printing

Cover illustration from the beautiful graphic novel, Back and Forth, told in linocut illustrations, made by Toronto artist Marta Chudolinska Recently, I decided to take a break from hand drawing and learn how to create block prints, mostly using the linocut printing technique, which is a type of relief printing. Having taken a rare books …

Cartoonists of Color Database

Another great resource promoting diversity in comics, maintained by cartoonist MariNaomi as a way to spotlight marginalized comics creators. http://cartoonistsofcolor.com/ MariNaomi's website: http://marinaomi.com/