François Vigneault's Blog, page 11

TITAN Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) Available!

Photo by @frinsreads

Hey all!

Well, we are all in an interesting position for the time being, huh? I am very lucky in that despite the major changes that Covid-19 has had on everyday life here in Montréal (which unfortunately has a fairly high case load, but is also being well managed on the local, provincial, and federal level), I am able to continue to work from home, and I have a large, ongoing, and still secret comic book project (I’ll tell you about it someday, I promise!) that is taking up all my time. My partner and I are doing well, both working full-time from home, and only getting somewhat antsy as the confinement stretches on.

In the evenings at home I’ve been enjoying reading The Years of Rice and Saltby Kim Stanley Robinson, watching The Plot Against America, and playing Darkest Dungeon. What have you been checking out in your free time? 

If you find yourself looking for some more reading material to while away the hours, Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of TITAN are currently available for download on several of the big galley sites: Here it is on NetGalley and here it is on Edelweiss.plus. 

The deal with ARCs is pretty simple, you get to read an early, perhaps not 100% final edit of the book, and in return you then post an honest review on a site like NetGalley and/or Goodreads (here is the link to TITAN on Goodreads). 

If you are interested in taking a look at the new, updated edition of TITAN many months early, please check it out! I’m eager to hear any feedback you might have, and posting a public review on Goodreads, etc can make a big difference for the success of the book when it is eventually released! Oh, and naturally, while I hope you like the book, dont hesitate to post a middling or even negative review or rating online! The most important thing for me is to get people’s honest opinions; if you think that TITAN is a 2-star book don’t worry, I won’t get my feelings hurt.

If you have any trouble downloading the ARCs online feel free to drop me a line and I can send you a direct link. I’m also happy to hear any comments or questions you might have over on my Patreon (in fact I have been cross-posting a few of those thoughtful questions to my Goodreads profile). Always love to hear what you have to say about my work, or questions about the business of comics in general… Heck, I just like to hear from people!

Hope you are taking care of yourselves and all my best in these wild times. Talk soon!

Review: Black Widow by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee

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This book starts off with quite the bang, as Natasha Romanoff, AKA the Black Widow, finds herself hunted by the full force of S.H.I.E.L.D. The entire first chapter is a nearly wordless chase sequence full of visual grace notes and surprising twists and turns. It’s probably one of the best first chapters/issues/sequences I’ve read in a long time, perhaps one of the best of all time: A perfect example of the old “show don’t tell” adage, and leaves the reader wanting to know what the hell is going on.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that this series as a whole ever delivers on that promise. Don’t get me wrong, there is a whole lot to love here: Chris Samnee (who not only draws the hell out of this series but also shares story credit with Mark Waid here for the first time) has crafted a master class in how to depict action on the page and allow the visual language of comics create a propulsive narrative. Being grounded far more in in the spy/action/thriller genre than super heroic adventures, “Black Widow” is full of beautifully realized settings, and the characters moving through that world feel incredibly physical and real, even when they are doing insane and impossible things.

But on the narrative side of things, I felt like this series was a bit of a let down. The comic seems invested in building out Natasha Romanoff’s history and universe, with a batch of secret files detailing the Black Widow’s worst misdeeds, a veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with an axe to grind, a manipulative new villain called the Weeping Lion, and most noticeably a new nemesis for our hero: A mirror-image fellow graduate of the Red Room named Recluse (get it?), who is leading a new set of young assassins. All this is intriguing, but in point of fact little pays off… Without getting into spoiler territory I think it is safe to say that almost as soon as new characters and ideas are introduced they end up being variously sidelined, revealed to be rather unimportant, or killed off rather prematurely (suffice it to say this book has a rather high body count). The book seems to want to create a big, epic tale that will cement Black Widow as a central figure in the Marvel Universe, but ultimately nothing really sticks. The back half of the book in particular feels rushed as Waid and Samnee tie up loose ends left and right in anticipation of the final issue. This series ended after just 12 issues, and one wonders what these creators could have done if they had had more time to stretch these beats out and experiment; this series was the follow up to his fantastic “Daredevil” run that feels like a sort of recent high water mark for fun superhero fare, and which really benefitted by slowly and surely ratcheting up the tension in Matt Murdock’s life over the course of many issues. Here Waid and Samnee try to do a lot of the same stuff as they did in “Daredevil” (the introduction of Recluse in particular seems very much like a retread of the introduction of Akari in their “Daredevil” run, an attempt to create a “dark mirror” version of an established hero who hasn’t historically had one), but the truncated run strips a lot of the pleasure and power out of it.

Two more quick, positive notes worth mentioning: I really appreciate that the reader definitely doesn’t have the be familiar with every element of the Marvel universe to dive into this story, other than a couple guest appearances there’s very little convoluted lore to get into. Second, I found this book to be very refreshingly feminist: There’s no gratuitous T&A to be found, no blatant misogyny-for-misogyny’s-sake, Natasha and the other female characters are not only strong but also allowed to have a wide range of very human foibles and emotions, and the book certainly passes the Bechdel Test as well.

I read these comics as they were coming out monthly, and I found myself referencing my dog-earred copies so often to look at Samnee’s masterful pacing and action that I decided to pick up this “complete collection.” This is seriously one of the best drawn books out there, and even with the occasional bumps in the narrative, this is well worth a read for any cartoonist or comics lover who wants to do a deep dive in visual storytelling… Or even just the casual fan who wants to have fun reading a gorgeously-drawn, one-and-done spy thriller that’s equal parts brutal and beautiful.

Review: A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In A Little Hatred we return to the world of Abercrombie’s The First Law series 30 years after the apocalyptic Battle of Adua that closed out Last Argument of Kings, and the times, they are a changin’. An industrial revolution is well apace, the common lands are rapidly enclosed, and exciting new inventions and manufactories seem to create new opportunities for the rich to get richer and the poor to get ever poorer. This shift has been carefully foreshadowed in some of the standalone novels (The Heroes and Red Country) but Abercrombie really nails the intricacies of an early-modern-era setting here, leaning on literary traditions far afield of your typical fantasy: The poor live in brutal conditions that won’t be unfamiliar to readers of Charles Dickens or Victor Hugo, while the wealthy citizens of the Union spend their lives carefully preening to participate in a cutthroat vision of “high society” that brings to mind the works of Jane Austen. Naturally, there is still plenty of manly combat to be had in these pages, the overall shift is to a register of social rather than physical conflict. Even magic has seemingly been leached out of the Circle of the World (Bayaz, the First of the Magi, here appears in a business suit, carrying a crystal-topped cane in lieu of his wizard’s staff), but the threat of violence and cruelty is never far from the surface.

The plot centers around an interesting quartet of characters (Savine dan Glokta, Leo dan Brock, Rikke, and Crown Prince Orso) brought together and torn apart by fate, blood, desire, and happenstance. These four figures, two men and two women, have some intriguing parallels and oppositions built into them that I think will be interesting as the series moves forward (the book frequently feels like a winking examination of the tropes of romance novels, with some very funny undercutting of eroticism that had me cracking up at times). Unfortunately, while all of these four (along with a few additional POV characters) are fun, unique, and rather likable, none of them so far has attained the “breakout” stature of characters from Abercrombie’s earlier books, like Bayaz, Inquisitor Glokta, Monza Murcatto, and of course Logen Ninefingers. The shadow of earlier generations is quite long, and the would-be heroes of the “Age of Madness” have a ways to go before they emerge from it. A big part of the problem is the fact that the majority of the characters Abercrombie introduces here are both quite young (and thus lacking in the twisted, brutal backstories that made figures like Glokta and Ninefingers so instantly intriguing) and the children of famed heroes of the previous age. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk, and I don’t envy Abercrombie the task of making this new generation the equal to their parents… Overall I think he does about as well as one can.

Abercrombie uses his full set of literary tricks here, from a “Wandering Rocks” style chapter that switches points-of-view to encompass the chaos of a worker’s revolt (a technique he previously deployed to great effect in The Heroes) to his perhaps-too-frequent utilization of cutting witticisms and folksy pearls of wisdom (“Battles may sometimes be won by the brave, but wars are always won by the clever,” “When you tell a lie, you have to sound like you believe it. Goes double for the ones you tell yourself,” etc, etc). The overall feeling is of literary richness, almost to overflowing, and there is much to enjoy here on a linguistic and literary level, above and beyond the machinations of the plot.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this return to the Circle of the World, and it was a ton of fun to look at Abercombie’s vision of his world a generation later (I don’t think I would recommend that a reader jump right into this without reading at least the original trilogy… this is far less self-contained than one of the standalone novels like Best Served Cold). I’m definitely looking forward to the next books in the series, The Trouble with Peace and The Beautiful Machine… How delightful that they will be arriving so soon!

13e Avenue Wins the Prix des Libraires!

I was already chuffed that 13e Avenue Tome 1 had garnered a whopping seven nominations for my co-creator Geneviève Pettersen and me, but this morning we were honored to find out we had WON one of the most prestigious prizes in Québec literature: The Prix des Libraires Jeunesse!13e Avenue was selected by a jury of booksellers as the best graphic novel for young readers of the year, an amazing honor.The prize was given out at a very fun ceremony that included some really fun readings and activities for the audience of kids from local elementary schools, super cute!

The other finalists in the BD Québec category were a pair of amazing cartoonists and friends of mine, Axelle Lenoir (Si on était,  Lounak) and Julien Paré-Sorel (Aventurosaure, Presses Aventure). Definitely check out their work! Oh and the prize for Best Comic from outside Québec went to Vera Brosgol (Un été d’enfer!) who sent in a video message from my old home town of Portland, and the kids went WILD when it was announced… Definitely a fan favorite!

A big thank you to my collaborator Geneviève Pettersen, publisher Éditions de la Pasteque, the Association des Libraires du Québec  who awarded the prize money, and of course the Prix des libraires du Québec , and also all the booksellers and readers of the book!

Titan In Stores 09/15/2020

Hey all! The folks over at Screen Rant had the scoop yesterday, TITAN has an official release date of September 15, 2020! I had a short statement that was briefly quoted in the piece, here are my remarks in full for those who are interested (the quote was made a little bit less “political” in the piece, which is 100% fine, but I feel like I can share here):

I couldn’t be more excited to finally get this collection into the hands of readers in the US… I worked on TITAN for over five years, most of that while I was still living in the States, and it feels great to be “coming home” as it were. I was born and raised in the USA, and spent almost my whole life there, so it’s no surprise that TITAN is inspired by historical and social currents of my homeland… You don’t have to squint very hard to see a resemblance.

For a book that I started writing more than eight years ago, it’s shocking (and more than a little disturbing) to me how “torn from the headlines” so much of the book feels… It seems like TITAN has grown in relevance, if anything. Science fiction typically does a terrible job of accurately predicting the future, but it has always been a great way to explore contemporary anxieties (just ask H.G. Wells). In 2020, we’ve got plenty to be anxious about, in my opinion. Titan is my attempt to write a fun, exciting sci-fi story, but at the same time maybe it can be some food for thought as we head into the election, and beyond. 

I’m particularly stoked that this edition is coming out in time for the 2020 election… I’m not sure if I have any answers to give for the problems we are facing, but TITAN is certainly a “political” book, so it feels good to be participating in the discussion.

By the way, TITAN is now up on Amazon and Goodreads, so you can feel free to pre-order or wishlist the book. You can even rate the book and/or write an advance review if you’ve already read the book in an earlier format and would like to help spread the word about it! As you can imagine all those things make a difference in getting new readers on board.

My Year of Books 2019

I’ve been logging my reading over on Goodreads for a couple years now, and I’ve been enjoying writing reviews there (occasionally for the longer ones I re-post them on my main blog as well). Putting together this list I was surprised by how many reviews I had managed to write, even if some of them are rather short! If you’d like to see my occasional musings on the written word in the coming year feel free to follow or friend me over on Goodreads!

My stand-out author for 2019 is Ben H. Winters, who has emerged as a real fave of mine, a new discovery that came sort of out of nowhere. I tore through four of his books (The Last Policeman, Countdown City, World of Trouble, and the stand-alone Underground Airlines) and I am well into a fifth (Golden State). I feel like he’s really got something.

Wrapped up a couple concluding books in trilogies (Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb and Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer), both cool but not as engaging or fun as earlier entries I thought. Reread one of my fave sci-fi graphic novel series, but this time in the original French (Aama by Frederick Peeters) and finally polished off a few “must-reads” (old and new) like Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (entertaining and incisive but the end wasn’t for me), Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (great voice), My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (wanna read more, but perhaps I’ll watch the HBO series, to be honest), and finally finishing The English Patient after starting it nearly 20 years ago. A funny discovery is highlighted right at the top of my Goodreads “Year in Books” page: My shortest book (clocking in at 32 pages) was Six-Dinner Sid which I discovered via a posting on r/whatsthatbook, and cracked me up because I have a neighborhood cat I feed who I coincidentally named Sid.

From a quantity standpoint this is way less than I used to read back in the day and quite a bit more than I did the year before, so I’m happy about that.

Here is my list, including “blurbs” from the linked reviews:

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters Review
“Squint and you can see more than a passing resemblance to the world we live in and its anxieties and fears… Even more so now than when the book was released in 2012.”

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb Review
“…the various characters’ worries, arguments, and frustrations also repeat themselves ad infinitum, and perhaps even ad nauseam.”

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Review
“The last third of the book reads more like an RPG at times than a novel, if you’ve ever played D&D or the like you’ll find it hard not to constantly imagine what the “Racial Modifiers” to stats would be (Teklans +2 STR +3 END, Ivyns +2 INT, etc).”

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

Atomic Marriage by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler Review
“…Chandler’s penchant for layering in details of dress and habit, bawdy slang, and colorful and systematic descriptions of Los Angeles in the 1930s truly transport you to another time and place.”

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters Review
“…Winters lays out a chillingly realistic vision of a pre-apocalyptic world sliding into chaos, a combination of fragile human nature and cynical “realpolitik” government policies that reflect in no uncertain terms the very present problems of our the real world.”

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

L’odeur de la poussière chaude (Aâma #1) by Frederik Peeters Review
La multitude invisible (Aâma #2)
Le désert des miroirs (Aâma #3)
Tu seras merveilleuse, ma fille (Aâma #4)
“A great sci-fi story that manages to be both discursive and action-packed.”

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer Review
“Vandermeer… ties up all the little threads from the first two books in what I would say is a pretty satisfying little knot.”

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje Review
“Like the eponymous English Patient’s well-worn copy of Herodotus’s The Histories, this novel has a palimpsest-like quality, it is built on the intersection and interaction of many centuries’ worth of ideas, events, and desires…”

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff Review
“The plot, already plenty melodramatic in Lotto’s half of the novel, becomes straight up over-the-top Gothic in the second (Or perhaps more Dickensian? I think Groff was aiming at all of the above, with plenty of Shakespeare and Sophocles thrown in the mix as well… It’s a lot).”

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman Review
“Pullman has pulled off an interesting trick here, filling in corners of the universe of His Dark Materials in ways that are generally unexpected, and that I for one hadn’t even really considered.”

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin & Gary Gianni Review
“While these novellas have a far lighter tone than ASOIAF, they share that much grander tale’s interest in the lingering traumas of war, and the often corrupt and perverse ways that the sins of the fathers are passed on to their sons, both literally and metaphorically.”

World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters Review
“Just as with life, you’re left wanting more, but you know the time has come when you turn the last page.”

The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang Review
“…Chiang always pushes past the most simple consequences and into deeper and more philosophical territory, and often with a surprising sense of optimism and a belief in the essential good of humankind.”

Lupus by Frederik Peeters Review
“Interesting, discursive, low-key sci-fi with an interesting relationship at its center… Enjoyed the hipster-beatnik vibe and the elegant and unfussy illustrations.”

La geste d’Aglaé by Anne Simon

Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore Review
Six Dinner Sid: A Highland Adventure
“Very charming little book that often uses multiple panels per page (in the style of a comic or graphic novel) to show off the eponymous cat’s various names, personalities, and of course his meals.”

L’enfance d’Alan by Emmanuel Guibert & Alan Ingram Cope Review
‘A beautiful story. Alan Cope’s memories made me think of my own youth in Southern California, even if he was born 50 years before I was.”

Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research by John Steinbeck & Edward F. Ricketts Review
“The book is at turns charming, incisive, bizarre, rambling, and very much of its time.”

The Case of the Missing Men by Kris Bertin & Alexander Forbes Review
“This book not only offers up a loving homage to a wide swath of detective fiction… but it also genuinely delivers the goods, with a complex and intriguing central mystery that keeps both the Junior Detectives Club and the reader guessing right up until the ending.”

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie Review
“The shadow of earlier generations is quite long, and the would-be heroes of the “Age of Madness” have a ways to go before they emerge from it.”

Paul à la maison by Michel Rabagliati

TITAN — Oni Press

TITAN, Oni Press, Fall 2020

When MNGR First Class João da Silva arrives on the moon of Titan to take charge of Homestead Station, he finds the massive mining colony plagued by tensions between the giant, genetically-engineered Titan workers and the Terran management. As anger mounts, what began as a routine posting quickly turns into something far more dangerous.

Phoebe Mackintosh thought she left her fighting days behind her when she turned her back on the “mixing” circuit. Now, she finds herself caught between a past she’d rather forget and a future she can’t predict.

Together, they must find a way to pull Homestead back from the brink of disaster… Or Titan might be the spark that sets the as the entire solar system ablaze.

 “Like the best futuristic science-fiction,  TITAN  has a lot to say about the world that we live in right now.” — Mental Floss

“A smart, stylish, political sci-fi romance thriller.” — The Comics Journal

“A spectacular science fiction comic.” —The Comics Beat

2019 in Review

Ahh, the end of another year. Now’s the time for decorating the Christmas tree (I just say no to holiday gift-giving, but I’m a sucker for decorations and Christmas music… You can check out my Spotify playlist here), pulling out the big winter coat (you know it’s snowing here in Montréal), and writing up my annual Year in Review post. I’ve been doing these for FIVE years now (here are (2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018), so it has really become a tradition.

As always I am struck by the fact that I am able to make a living drawing, writing, and designing for a living (an occasionally very tenuous living, but still!). Thank you to all the clients, fans, readers, and friends who are supporting me all around the world, I feel so lucky to be making my way as a working creative in the world. I couldn’t do it without you.

2019 was one of those years where a lot of my work was “behind the scenes” in some ways, working on projects that are destined to see the light of day next year (like the new edition of TITAN from Oni Press, for one!). Expect more posts about some exciting upcoming projects in the near future. But there was still a ton of really cool gigs and project in 2019, from comics to coffee!

Cayrel’s Ring

I had a great time collaborating with the writer Shannon Lentz on his sci-fi anthology Cayrel’s Ring. The full-color story can be found in issue #3, which is now available at fine comic shops, online, and on Comixology as well, and the series is getting a collected edition next year! I wrote a in-depth Process Post about my work on the story that you can read here.

Book Covers

I drew, designed, lettered, or otherwise cobbled together a bunch of book covers for a variety of authors and genres this year, including the children’s book Oh, Canada! (above), two books in the You Can Write It! series, Not A Place to Visit by my good friend T. Edward Bak, and the memoir I Will Keep You Alive by Bob and Adele Levin. You can see a quick Process Post on a couple of the covers here.

Letter to Survivors

This was a really fun project that I mostly worked on in 2018 but was published early this year, hand-lettering the long-awaited English translation of Gébé’s 1980s post-apocalyptic classic Lettre aux survivants, translated by Edward Gauvin. You can see some additional images from the book here. As an aside, I am in the course of wrapping up the lettering on another big project, City of Belgium by Brecht Evens, which will be released in 2020 by Drawn & Quarterly… You can definitely expect me to post more about that as the release date approaches!

The Immersion Program

Speaking of translations, I had the honor of doing the English translation of The Immersion Program by Léo Quievreux, published by Floating World Comics. This was my very first literary translation, a huge challenge, but I was really happy with the final result… Looking forward to doing more work in this vein! I’ll be sure to do a more in-depth post about this book ASAP.

Luminous Coffee, Billy Loizou, Cuvees, and more

I’ve been doing a ton of product and branding design for the folks over at Luminous Coffee, a super-cool, two-person small-batch coffee brand out of Las Vegas. Love working with these two, super fun-loving and creative folks. You can see a bit more of my illos for them here and you can check out all their offerings on their site.

I also had the chance to do some similar cartoon/branding work for the podcaster Billy Loizou and Cuvees, a wine retailer from Hong Kong… Not sure if I got the chance to share these before, so thought I would throw them in here!

13e Avenue

13e Avenue came out last year, but 2019 saw it rack up an impressive number of awards and nominations for my illustrious collaborator Geneviève Pettersen and me, including the nods from the prestigious Prix des libraires du Québec  and the Prix des collèges which will be presented at the Festival International de la BD Angoulême next year. Pretty heady stuff! Here’s a post with links to the various awards and more. Stay tuned for more news from Alice, Alexis, Ernest, and all the kids of 13e Avenue soon!

Magazines: Monitor, Kitchen Table, and More

I was delighted to do a nice range of magazine illustrations again this year… I dunno why but I’m always just so happy to see my work in print periodical. It just tickles me. I did the cover for the Monitor that I thought turned out really good (I wrote a detailed Process Post about it earlier), a full-page illo for Kitchen Table (above, a new magazine created by my good friend Brett Warnock), and Root & Star children’s magazine reprinted a silent comic of mine in their penultimate issue. I also had work running again in the pages of Kayak and THIS. I’ve already done a couple of pieces that will see print in early 2020… Can’t wait to see what is next for me in this field (seriously, if you are the art director of a cool magazine hit me up).

… And a Happy New Year!

Okay! As always there were tons of little projects that didn’t make the cut here, and even more importantly quite a lot of stuff I have been working on that will come out next year and beyond… The English-language edition of TITAN coming from Oni Press, City of Belgium, and much, much more (I have a big project in the works I can hardly wait to talk about… Soon!). As always, I really can’t express how much I appreciate all the support my friends, readers, and clients have given me over the course of this year. Being a full-time freelance creative has it’s ups and downs, but I really can’t believe that I am lucky enough to be drawing for a living! It’s wild.

I wish you all the very best in 2020… We’ve had some pretty difficult, divisive, and at times even downright depressing moments the last few years, but I do feel that there is so much positive and exciting energy in this world. I’m trying my best to do my small part to help, and I hope that can expand as I grow. As the holidays approach, I wish you and your peace and joy during this season and in the year to come.

Oh, One Last Thing!

As you might have noticed, I quietly dropped off Facebook a couple years ago, which has been great for my mental health in general. But since I’m anticipating some major announcements coming up in 2020, and I’ll be doing quite a few events like signings and cons, I wanted to have a way to reach people beyond Instagram (where I am still posting on the regular). So I am launching an old-fashioned email newsletter to keep in touch with people. I’m not anticipating too many emails going out, and I’ll try to keep them interesting for you. If that sounds good please feel free to sign up below!

TITAN — Coming From Oni Press in 2020!

It’s happening!

I’m very excited to announce that my graphic novel TITAN will be published in Fall 2020 by the good folks over at Oni Press!

I couldn’t be more excited to finally get this collection into the hands of readers in the U.S. and throughout the English-speaking world… This new edition will feature a new cover (above), new and “recut” interior pages, and updates to the story as well… If you haven’t read my comic yet, or if you have only seen it as it was being serialized, I think you are in for a treat.

One of the many new panels in this edition.

When MNGR First Class João da Silva arrives on the moon of Titan to take charge of Homestead Station, he finds the massive mining colony plagued by tensions between the giant, genetically-engineered Titan workers and the Terran management. As anger mounts, what began as a routine posting quickly turns into something far more dangerous.

Phoebe Mackintosh thought she left her fighting days behind her when she turned her back on the “mixing” circuit. Now, she finds herself caught between a past she’d rather forget and a future she can’t predict.

Together, they must find a way to pull Homestead back from the brink of disaster… Or Titan might be the spark that sets the as the entire solar system ablaze.

 “Like the best futuristic science-fiction, TITAN has a lot to say about the world that we live in right now.” —Mental Floss

“A smart, stylish, political sci-fi romance thriller.” —The Comics Journal

“A spectacular science fiction comic.” —The Comics Beat

TITAN was published in French in 2017 by Éditions Pow Pow, and has been nominated for a Joe Shuster Award, the Prix Des Libraries, and a whole bunch of other prizes.

The new edition has multiple new pages, new dialogue, and more.

I’ll obviously have updates for you in the coming year as we get closer to the release date, including info on how to pre-order the book, sneak peeks of some of the new content, and my schedule for signings and convention appearances… It’s gonna be a whirlwind year! To stay up-to-date on all things TITAN, please consider following me on Instagram or signing up for my mailing list below!

Award Season – 13e Avenue

13e Avenue, the YA graphic novel that Geneviève Pettersen and I created last year with Éditions de la Pastèque, has garnered a pretty nice collection of award nominations (and even a couple wins!) over the last few months, and I couldn’t be prouder. Particularly notable recent additions include being part of the “long list” for the prestigious Prix des libraires du Québec for Best Québecois Youth Comic 2020 (finalists are announced in November, and the winner will be awarded the prize in February), and having the book included in the finalists for the Prix des collèges which will be presented at the Festival International de la BD Angoulême; that one feels like a big deal since it is an international prize that naturally includes nominees from all across the world of francophone BD. Suffice it to say I’m chuffed.

Also worth mentioning is that 13e Avenue won the Prix Littéraire du Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Jeunesse! Though I am happy to take my part in the glory (yes it’s on my CV now!), I think this particular prize rests mostly on the shoulders of Geneviève, since it is a prize for artists from Saguenay region she hails from! Congratulations Geneviève!

I was really overwhelmed when Titan was nominated for six prizes, and it still feels wild that my work on 13e Avenue with Geneviève is also receiving so much positive attention and reinforcement from the comics community throughout Québec, Canada, and beyond. It’s truly an honor to be nominated and I want to send a hearty “thank you” to everyone who has been reading my work… There’s more to come!

Here is a list of the prizes 13e Avenue has been nominated for or won, most of the links include lists of the other (wonderful) nominees, so well worth checking out, especially if you aren’t familiar with the Québec/francophone BD world… Tremendous talent out here. I’m honored to be part of this vibrant community.

Festival International de la BD Angoulême, Prix des collèges – Seléction 2020

Prix des libraires du Québec, BD Jeunesse Québec – Listes Préliminaires 2020

Prix Littéraire du Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Jeunesse – Winner 2019

Joe Shuster Awards, Dragon Award (Comics for Kids) – Nominee 2019

Prix Bédélys Jeunesse – Nominee 2018

Prix BD Salon du Livre Trois Rivières – Mention Spéciale Jeunesse 2018

Prix Bédéis Causa, Grand prix de la ville de Québec – Nominee 2018