Blog – Page 6 – The Canada Comics Open Library

Black History Month Display

February 11, 2020

Our Black History Month display is up now at the Canada Comics Open Library. We are featuring comics by Black creators that offer historical depictions of Black experiences and address race in society and in comics. Here are the comics featured in our display. All comics are available to read at CCOL. Strange Fruit Volume I by Joel Christian Gill This is a collection of stories from early African American history that represent the oddity of success in the face…

Jey’s Comic Journey

February 7, 2020

Jey Pawlik

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies, Resource Guides, Subject Displays

Hi everyone, my name is Jey Pawlik ( https://jpawlik.com ) and I’m the creator in residence for February! I’m a nonbinary comic artist (they/them) and one half of the comics duo “Topaz Comics” ( https://topazcomics.com ) that I run with my partner Michelle Parker. Together we create exclusively queer comics with a focus on wholesome and soft stories. For my first blog post here at the Canada Comics Open Library I want to talk about my history in comics and…

Queer Comix Continuum Reading List

February 2, 2020

Eric Kostiuk Williams

Comics Creator Residencies, Events, Presentations, Resource Guides

Hi folks! EKW here — I can’t believe the month is already up! It’s been a pleasure being the CCOL’s Creator-In-Residence for January, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this special lil’ space. Last weekend, I put together an artist talk covering several decades of queer comics (mostly) in North America. As I was putting the slideshow together, the thought occurred that it’d be worth putting together a master list of all the works I talked…

Building a Community Comics Library (OLA Super Conference!)

January 31, 2020

Rotem Diamant

Events, Presentations, Resource Guides

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our session at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference this morning! Rebecca and myself (Rotem) spoke about the history of the comics library, the challenges of cataloguing comics and being a non-profit volunteer-run space, as well as provided a few comics resources which we hope will be helpful to other librarians! We are attaching a link to the slideshow here to share those resources. Please get in touch with us if…

Queer Comix Continuum: an artist talk with Eric Kostiuk WIlliams

January 23, 2020

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Comics Creator Residencies, Events, Presentations, Resource Guides

We are so excited to present an artist talk with our January Comics Creator in Residence Eric Kostiuk Williams on Saturday January 25th at 4pm. The talk will focus on a history of North American queer comics, a discussion of Eric’s work, along with a few readings. CW: Please note, the slideshow and accompanying talk will contain some sexual content and heavy subject matter related to comics and the queer community (for example, the AIDS crisis, suicide, and other material…

EKW’s Comic Picks!

January 21, 2020

Eric Kostiuk Williams

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies, Subject Displays

Hi, folks — this is Eric Kostiuk Williams, Creator in Residence for January! I’ve had a great couple weeks becoming more familiar with the library, and getting a chance to curate one of its shelves with some of my favourite comics, pictured below. I’d like to zero in on a couple of these, and get more into what they mean to me! Gaylord Phoenix by Edie Fake: For many queers in my age bracket, the collected Gaylord Phoenix book was something really…

Comics exist to help you grow.

December 26, 2019

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Comics Creator Residencies

Comics and animation created by Cleopatria Peterson as part of their residency at CCOL this October!

Art, Comics, and Storytelling as Self Care

November 17, 2019

Cleopatria Peterson

Comics Creator Residencies, Resource Guides

There is nothing more depressing when someone praises your art and wishes they could do it too, or say they can’t be an artist. Anyone and everyone can be an artist. Next time you think like that consider the standards you’re working against. Most times they are colonial, and hetero patriarchal. For me as a marginalized creator, representation can be few and far between. This allows me to set the standard of work for myself without looking to others, but…

Drawing-Power-Womens-Stories-of-Sexual-Violence-Harassment-and-Survival-edited-by-Diane-Noomin-

November library additions!

November 11, 2019

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New Comics

Check out recent donations and acquisitions below! You can also visit our online catalogue for more details about individual comics. Click on titles below for more info in our catalogue! We are now at 1348 comics— with many more to be catalogued! Please help us get these (and more) amazing comics in circulation through our crowdfunding campaign for the next year: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-keep-the-comics-library-open#/

Transgender Awareness Month

November 2, 2019

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Resource Guides, Subject Displays

We have a new library display up for Transgender Awareness Month! Consider showing support for trans artists and comics creators this month (and regularly), by buying their work, reading their stories, and following their work online, as well as seeking out narratives that include trans characters, and sharing them with others! Comics featured for Transgender Awareness Month (click on titles for catalogue records with more info): Gender Slices by Jey PawlikAnnie Mok Loves Videogames: Comics and Essays from Zeal, Rookie…