This week, the judges of the Man Booker Prize made history: they nominated a graphic novel for one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the English-speaking world.

The judges say that Sabrina by Nick Drnaso "uses images to express an idea about what's invisible — an idea about uncertainty, and the different kinds of holes that missing people leave in our lives."

Sabrina was published by Drawn and Quarterly. And that is a story in itself.

Drawn and Quarterly was born on a kitchen table in a tiny apartment in Montreal. Thirty years ago, Chris Oliveros was a bike courier. He wanted a place to publish his own drawings. He borrowed some money and launched a small magazine.

D and Q, as it is known, is now one of the leading publishers of graphic novels in the world. It has helped legitimize a whole new kind of story-telling.

In 2012, David Gutnick produced a documentary about D and Q, called Graphic Chicken Soup for the Graphic Soul.