Montreal's unofficial cartoon mascot, Ponto, gets a brand new book

Ponto, a cute cartoon traffic cone created to make fun of Montreal's traffic woes, will have a new medium as of next spring.

For the first time, Montreal cartoonist Tania Mignacca will release a hard copy book starring the infamous Ponto.

"At some point, I felt that people were really depressed about the city, especially about construction," she said. "I had the idea to create a character that would represent Montreal and I was thinking, 'How about the orange cones?'"

After finding people responded to her online web comic, Mignacca started thinking Ponto was an avenue she could pursue more seriously.

"The web comic is free to read, so I had to find a way to finance my work. So I started doing merchandise," she explained.

Over the years, Mignacca's burgeoning Ponto empire has flourished, with bags, buttons, plush toys and postcards bearing the character's likeness, with selling points sold at the Montreal Comiccon, among others, as well as online.

"I also try, when I make new merchandise, to collaborate with local artists , to keep everything made locally as much as possible," she said.

Mignacca raised the money for her printed book using a crowdfunding campaign, and is looking forward to being able to hold the finished product in her hands, before it becomes available in March.