Comic Review – The Canada Comics Open Library

Sami Alwani’s Book Shelf Curation for the Comic Book Creator Residency

July 15, 2022

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

It was really a pleasure to get to curate a selection of my favorite comic books to disply in the CCOL lounge this summer. I could very easily write for hours about every one of these spectacular books, but since I’ve been asked to prepare only a blogpost and not a novel, I’ve decided to focus on just three. All of these books were released by small-press publishers with limited runs and smaller distribution networks than some of the more…

Lorena Comic Picks – May Residency – How do you create? Why do you create?

May 8, 2022

Lorena Torres Loaiza

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

How do you create? Why do you create? So for my month at CCOL, I’m wondering about why we make comics. By that, I mean considering different priorities creators may have: artistry, originality, storytelling, honesty. Each of these could lead someone to very different types of work and career paths. This seems like an important question, because while there is no one right way to be a creator, there may be a right way for a specific person to do…

Rhael’s Comic Picks – April Residency

April 20, 2022

Rhael Mcgregor

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies, Subject Displays

Hi Everyone! Taanishi! My name is Rhael and I’m April’s resident comic maker! I’m a comic artist and animator working in Toronto, and I’m originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba! (You should check out our awesome comic scene in the prairies!) I wanted to give a quick run down of all the books I recommended on the CCOL bookcase! I have all the information and descriptions available in person when you visit but I didn’t have enough space to share my feelings…

Vic’s Comic Picks!

August 31, 2021

Victor Martins

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies, Subject Displays

Hey hey, Victor Martins here! I’m CCOL’s Comics-Creator-In-Residence for the month of August. It is the last day of August*, so here is some “me talking about some of the books I picked to display on CCOL’s shelf!” *Actually technically the first day of September, oops. Carpe Fin – Michael Yahgulanaas The thing I love the most about Michael Yahgulanaas’ work is how huge and rich and exciting the world feels in his stories. I have no idea how he…

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…

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…

My Comic Book Pick Me Ups!

October 12, 2019

Cleopatria Peterson

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies, Subject Displays

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!…

Under The Sun: science fiction comics about albinism in Africa

September 10, 2019

Rotem Diamant

Comic Review

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…

My Comics Shelf

September 7, 2019

Lina Wu

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies, Subject Displays

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…

Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz

July 16, 2019

Bo Doodley

Comic Review, Comics Creator Residencies

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…