I wanted to create a curated comics list that reflected my identity through comics. These are things that speak to who I am as a creator and person (they’re one and the same), and things that inspire me as an illustrator and storyteller. First off, my identity is a complexity of many parts, but many of them are marginalized. Finding work that represents one let alone any part of my identity is very difficult. I still love a good story!…
My first introduction to the actual process behind writing Real Comics was an excerpt at the end of an issue of The Sandman, where Neil Gaiman talks a little bit about his writing process. I had always admired how the art style shifted so heavily with each volume as the artists changed. He described a process something along the lines of writing a loose script with dialogue but that also described what wanted each panel to look/feel like, and then…
We are so excited to announce the following workshop on September 22nd, facilitated by our Comics Creator Residency: Monsters and Magic: a creature creation workshop with Lina Wu In this free workshop, participants will explore their relationships with magical creatures to develop and use monsters as a tool for storytelling. A presentation on the artist’s personal process as well as inspiration and techniques will be followed by time for participants to create their own Monster File to take home. Materials…
In May, Under The Sun creator Austine Osas reached out to tell us a bit about the series, a pertinent and political science fiction story with crucial social justice themes. It was made with the aim to raise awareness about persons with albinism in Africa. Although we are a bit late in featuring Under The Sun on our blog, we think the comic is a great initiative and wanted to share it! The series was released in December of last…
I was so excited to peruse through CCOL’s wonderful selection of comics and zines to curate a shelf display during my residency. They had many of my old favourites, many books I’ve been meaning to read, and also many that felt like happy discoveries. Letting myself get lost in reading these books was such a pleasurable experience, and I’ve selected a few old and new favourites here. Required Reading “I read these books during formative years of my life, which…
Check out recent donations and acquisitions below 🙂 You can also visit our online catalogue for more details about individual comics. We are almost at 1300 comics!
This past July, I had a chance to participate in something truly special. When I first received the email from Canada Comics Open Library about being selected as their first Resident Creator, I was beside myself with excitement. I talked about it constantly, brainstorming ideas with anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention. Firstly, a comics library as a concept is nothing short of brilliant. For anyone who has longed to peruse comic books for hours but didn’t…
This post is the script from our presentation at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Comics Studies Society COMICS/POLITICS on July 25th (Community Day), at Ryerson University. This paper was written and presented by Rotem Anna Diamant, in collaboration with Brandon Haworth. Librarianship is a radical act. It is radical and political because libraries not only house and retrieve information freely, but also serve as meeting places for broad communities, for the creation of and meditation on thoughts, and more…
We are happy to announce an upcoming event on July 28th, from 4-6:30pm at the comics library, hosted by our July Resident Comics Creator, Bo Doodley! Building Resilience with Art “We will be exploring the use of art and comics as a tool to boost our personal well-being. Participants are invited to consider instances that have obstructed their abilities to create and share their stories and experiences. There will be a presentation, drawing exercises followed by a group discussion.” CCOL…
Drinking at the Movies is hilarious, irreverent and almost immediately charming. The book might seem like an innocuous compilation of comics from the cartoonist’s life, but Julia Wertz is a remarkably shrewd storyteller. More than once, you might find yourself reading a certain type of comic only for Wertz to shift the perspective just enough to see that the story is going elsewhere entirely. The book begins with a cross-country move to New York city, on…