Transgender Awareness Month

November 2, 2019

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…

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2019

admin

Subject Displays

Stop by the library today from 11am to 6pm to pick up a little gift bag with a drawing/Halloween drawing prompt and treat, by Cleopatria Peterson (extras from the workshop last night while they last 🙂 ) and to read some comics! A few Halloween/magical recommendations from our catalogue: Pictured:Through the Woods and When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll Uzumaki Volumes 1, 2, and 3 by Junji Ito Shout Out edited by Andrew Wheeler (full list of…

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!…

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…

Thoughts on my very first Residency

August 8, 2019

Bo Doodley

Comics Creator Residencies, Events, Presentations, Subject Displays

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…

LGBTQ+ Comics Resources

June 23, 2019

Rotem Diamant

Resource Guides, Subject Displays

We hope everyone had a great Toronto pride weekend! To celebrate this month, we are showcasing comics in our collection about and by people from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. (LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer; the plus (+) refers to the spectrum of gender and sexuality.) We cover a wide range of stories from “slice-of-life” everyday fiction, speculative fiction, anthologies and zines, to non-fiction comics, biographies, and visual essays. We have also gathered resources on LGBTQ+ comics…

Indigenous Comics

June 5, 2019

Rotem Diamant

Resource Guides, Subject Displays

This month, we are highlighting and celebrating Indigenous stories through our June library display, which will be up for National Indigenous History Month. We have also included resources below on Indigenous comics, including resources spotlighting Indigenous Creators, Indigenous-owned comics publishers as well as other Canadian publishers that focus on publishing Indigenous creators’ work. Please let us know if there are any comics resources you would recommend we add to this list, and visit us to read great comics by Indigenous…

Anne Frank's Diary- The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky

Jewish Heritage Month, Asian Heritage Month, and celebrating Muslim, Arab, and MENA comics

May 1, 2019

Rotem Diamant

Subject Displays

Content warning: this post relates to the terrorist attacks this past weekend and earlier in March. Our most recent library display for the month of May follows in the wake of another anti-Semitic, racist, white-nationalist terrorist attack when a man filled with hate entered the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in San Diego and opened fire during the last day of Passover. This resulted in one murder and the injury of Jews in prayer, including children. This happened not long after…

Happy International Women’s Day 💖

March 8, 2019

admin

Subject Displays

In celebration of International Women’s Day, here are a few great comics from the CCOL collection. We have many more in the catalogue! We should be celebrating great comics every day 🙌. Click on the images for descriptions, and scroll down for links to catalogue entries. (descriptions from publishers’ websites) Catalogue: Dirty Plotte Number One by Julie Doucet Super Late Bloomer by Julia Kaye Flem by Rebecca Rosen Dumb: Living Without a Voice by Georgia Webber Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée…

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2018

Rotem Diamant

Resource Guides, Subject Displays

Happy Halloween! Here are a few spooky comic picks from our catalogue! 1.) Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir, & Steenz: A spooky mystery/ghost story set in a museum’s haunted archive, and also a realistic narrative of mental health struggles (and the challenges of maintaining relationships while struggling with mental illness). 2.) DeadEndia: The Watcher’s Test (Book 1) by Hamish Steele: A fun and spooky adventure set at the Dead End theme park, involving plenty of demonic forces, vengeful ghosts,…