12 Canadian comics to watch for in the first half of 2018

Some interesting comics are coming your way in 2018. Check them out!

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love edited by Hope Nicholson & S.M. Beiko

Image | Gothic Tales of Haunted Love, edited by Hope Nicholson & S.M. Beiko

Caption: Gothic Tales of Haunted Love is a collection of Gothic romance comics curated by Hope Nicholson (left) and S.M. Beiko (right).

What it's about: Gothic Tales of Haunted Love is a graphic novel anthology, curated and edited by Hope Nicholson and S.M. Beiko, that collects 22 haunting gothic romance stories featuring diverse characters, ghosts, horror and romance.
When you can read it: Jan. 23, 2018

Forward by Lisa Maas

Image | Forward - Lisa Maas

Caption: Forward is Lisa Maas's first graphic novel. (Vanessa van de Mortel/Arsenal Pulp Press)

What it's about: In Forward, the debut graphic novel from Lisa Maas, two women — one still reeling from a bad breakup, and the other trying to recover from the death of her wife — cross paths and connect in the midst of their grief and vulnerability.
When you can read it: April 1, 2018

Norths by Alison McCreesh

Image | Alison McCreesh - Norths

Caption: Norths is an illustrated memoir by Alison McCreesh. (Conundrum Press)

What it's about: Norths is a unique illustrated memoir by Alison McCreesh, which documents her travels with her partner and toddler son as they experience life in the "norths" of six different countries — including Finland, Russia, Greenland and of course Canada — in six months.
When you can read it: April 10, 2018

Manfried the Man by Caitlin Major, illustrated by Kelly Bastow

Image | Manfried the Man

Caption: Caitlin Major (left) and Kelly Bastow (right) are the team behind the graphic novel Manfried the Man. (Penguin Random House Canada)

What it's about: Caitlin Major and Kelly Bastow's Manfried the Man takes place in an alternate universe populated by anthropomorphic cats that have dim-witted, but cute, human men as pets.
When you can read it: May 1, 2018

The Mushroom Fan Club by Elise Gravel

Image | The Mushroom Fan Club - Elise Gravel

Caption: Elise Gravel is a Canadian children's book author and illustrator. (Drawn & Quarterly)

What it's about: Elise Gravel's latest children's book, The Mushroom Fan Club, is inspired by her family's love of mushroom hunting and is a journey through the world of mushrooms in a whimsical felt-tip marker art style.
When you can read it: May 8, 2018

Winter's Cosmos by Michael Comeau

Image | Winter's Cosmos - Michael Comeau

Caption: Michael Comeau is a Toronto-based artist and illustrator. (Koyama Press)

What it's about: Winter's Cosmos combines comics and photos into a literary sci-fi epic about about a deep space mission to colonize another planet and is a look into the psyche's of both human and artificial beings.
When you can read it: May 15, 2018

Somnambulance by Fiona Smyth

Image | Fiona Smyth - book cover

Caption: Fiona Smyth is a painter, illustrator and cartoonist. (Koyama Press)

What it's about: Somnambulance is an anthology collecting comics spanning the 30-year career of celebrated feminist illustrator and cartoonist Fiona Smyth.
When you can read it: May 18, 2018

A Western World by Michael DeForge

Image | Michael Deforge - A Western World

Caption: A Western World is the latest comic from Toronto illustrator Michael DeForge. (Koyama Press)

What it's about: A combination of his signature trippy, otherworldly visuals and social commentary, A Western World is an anthology of illustrated short stories and the latest offering from prolific Toronto-based illustrator and comic creator Michael DeForge.
When you can read it: May 25, 2018

Young Frances by Hartley Lin

Image | Hartley Lin - Young Frances

Caption: Hartley Lin has published comics under his pseudonym Ethan Rilly. (Adhouse Books)

What it's about: Young Frances is illustrator and Hartley Lin's first collection under his real name after a decade of publishing under pseudonym Ethan Rilly. It is the latest chapter in the lives of Frances and Vickie, characters from his Pope Hats series, as they attempt to stay connected despite their careers threatening to pull them apart.
When you can read it: May 29, 2018

XTC69 by Jessica Campbell

Image | Jessica Campbell - XTC69

Caption: Jessica Campbell is a Canadian artist and humourist. (Koyama Press/Michelle Geoga)

What it's about: In the follow-up to her tongue-in-cheek Hot ot Not, Jessica Campbell's XTC69 follows a crew from all-female planet L8DZ N1T3 as they search the universe for men that are worthy of breeding with.
When you can read it: June 1, 2018

A Bubble by Geneviève Castrée

Image | Bubble Geneieve Castree

Caption: Geneviève Castrée's final book, A Bubble, was a gift to her daughter. (Drawn & Quarterly)

What it's about: Musician and illustrator Geneviève Castrée's A Bubble is a touching gift drawn for her daughter during the last days of her life, which follows a mother and daughter floating through the pages encased in bubble that protects them from the outside world. Castrée died in 2016.
When you can read it: June 5, 2018

Feast of Fields by Sean Karemaker

Image | Feast of Fields by Sean Karemaker

Caption: Feast of Fields is a graphic novel by Vancouver comic and exhibition artist Sean Karemaker. (Conundrum Press)

What it's about: A black and white biographical graphic novel by Sean Karemaker, Feast of Fields retells the story of his mother's upbringing in a Denmark orphanage and how she eventually ended up in British Columbia in the 1990s.
When you can read it: June 12, 2018

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