20 Canadian comics to check out in fall 2023
Looking for Canadian comics for all age groups to draw you in this fall? Here are the titles we are excited about.
How to Catch an Elf by Alice Walstead, illustrated by Paul Gill
Pup and Dragon are best friends, despite their differences. Pup is endlessly energetic, while Dragon is more quiet and thoughtful. In How to Catch an Elf, the first book in a new graphic novel series, the pair decide to catch an elf on Christmas Eve. Along the way, Pup and Dragon learn all about Christmas for the very first time.
How to Catch an Elf is for ages 6 to 9.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Alice Walstead is a children's book author. She has previously worked on the How To Catch picture book series with illustrator Andy Elkerton.
Paul Gill is an illustrator who works in books and character design. He lives in Vancouver.
Silverwing: The Graphic Novel by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Christopher Steininger
The first book in the beloved children's series Silverwing is adapted into a graphic novel. Silverwing, which has sold millions of copies worldwide since its initial release 25 years ago, follows a young silverwing bat named Shade who gets separated from his colony on a difficult migratory journey. In his pursuit to reunite with his family, he goes on suspenseful adventures and meets different interesting characters along the way.
Silverwing is for ages 8 to 12.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Kenneth Oppel is the author of many books for young readers. His Silverwing trilogy has sold over a million copies worldwide and has been adapted into an animated TV series and stage play. His other works include Airborn, Skybreaker, The Nest, Half Brother and Ghostlight.
8 Tiny Reindeer by Robert Tinkler, illustrated by Danesh Mohiuddin
In 8 Tiny Reindeer, two elves named Elvis and Delfina help Santa Claus save Christmas from an evil and rich tech baron who is plotting to take over the holiday. In order to save Christmas, Elvis and Delfina must go on an adventure and race against time to find Santa's eight tiny reindeers.
8 Tiny Reindeer is for ages 7 to 10.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Robert Tinkler is a Toronto-based writer, voice actor and podcast producer. He received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for his work in the PBS series Cyberchase.
Danesh Mohiuddin is a Toronto-based freelance illustrator. He has worked with Scholastic, TD Bank, Time Out magazine and OwlKids Books.
Alice of Spades by Chase Kantor, illustrated by Tiffany Tate & Christopher Peterson
The first volume of Alice of Spades brings back characters from the The Saga of the Jack of Spades graphic novel and recounts what happened in the first series from the perspective of the heir to the Spade throne, Alice. The comics depict how Alice flees her privileged life to embark on an adventure to find freedom from invaders.
When you can read it: Sept. 6, 2023
Chase Kantor is an Edmonton-based comic writer and artist. The Saga of the Jack of Spades is his first graphic novel.
Tiffany Tate is an Edmonton-based queer artist.
Christopher Peterson is a comics writer and illustrator. Some of his other projects include Manticore, the Grindhouse series and Mayday. One of his self-published limited series received a Joe Shuster Award nomination.
A Girl Called Echo: Omnibus by katherena vermette, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson
The omnibus edition contains all four volumes of katherena vermette's graphic novel series — A Girl Called Echo: Pemmican Wars, Red River Resistance, Northwest Resistance and Road Allowance Era. The series is about a 13-year-old Métis teenager named Echo Desjardins who is able to travel back and forth in time to pivotal Métis history events and works to build a brighter future.
When you can read it: Sept. 12, 2023
vermette is a poet and novelist based in Winnipeg. Her books include the novels The Strangers and The Break, and the poetry collections North End Love Songs and river woman. North End Love Songs won the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry, The Strangers won the 2021 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and The Break was championed by comedian Candy Palmater on Canada Reads 2017.
Scott B. Henderson is an author and illustrator based in Winnipeg. Some of his other books include Breakdown, As I Enfold You in Petals and A Blanket of Butterflies. He was also a contributor to the graphic anthology This Place: 150 Years Retold, which is now a CBC Books podcast.
Roaming by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki
Roaming is a YA graphic novel that follows best friends Zoe and Dani on a trip to New York City during their first year of college. As a queer romance blossoms between Zoe and Dani's classmate Fiona — who tags along — friendships get put to the test and all three girls learn more about who they are.
When you can read it: Sept. 12, 2023
Jillian Tamaki is a Toronto-based cartoonist, illustrator and educator. With her cousin Mariko Tamaki, she co-created the YA graphic novel Skim, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text. Another collaboration, This One Summer, won the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustration.
Mariko Tamaki is a writer based in Oakland, California. Her other books include the YA novels (you) Set Me On Fire and Saving Montgomery Sole. She's also the author of many superhero comics for DC Comics, Darkhorse and Marvel.
What's Fear Got to Do With It? by Ivana Filipovich
What's Fear Got to Do With It? looks at the complexities of human relationships and what brings people together. Eva and Mia have different personalities, but they have the same boyfriend Max who is part of their city's criminal underground. At the night market one dangerous evening, they discover their true intentions in their relationships.
When you can read it: Sept. 12, 2023
Ivana Filipovich is a Canadian Serbian cartoonist and illustrator based in British Columbia. Her comics have been published in Slovenia, Sweden and Serbia.
Bar Delicious by Blaise Moritz
Bar Delicious is about consumption and desire in this current era of late capitalism, and advocates for the liberation from the consequences of mass consumption and production.
When you can read it: Sept. 29, 2023
Blaise Moritz is a Toronto-based artist and is the author of two poetry books Zeppelin and Crown and Ribs. He also publishes a monthly visual poetry comic called The Test. His work An Affliction of the Eyes was shortlisted in the 2021 Broken Pencil Zine Awards for Best Comics Zine.
Butterfly Wings by Samuel Larochelle, illustrated by Eve Patenaude, translated by Arielle Aaronson
Butterfly Wings is a hopeful story that helps children, parents and teachers understand and process feelings of climate anxiety. When 10-year-old Florent has fears and questions about the impact of climate change, he learns to talk it out with his mother.
When you can read it: Sept. 26, 2023
Samuel Larochelle is a Montreal-based writer, journalist, poet, cultural entrepreneur, animator, lecturer and trainer. Some of his other books include J'ai échappé mon coeur dans ta bouche and Lilie T.3 : L'apprentie adulte.
Eve Patenaude is a Montreal-based author, illustrator and editor. Some of her other projects include illustrating Je vais à la gloire and Tourterelle which she also wrote.
Arielle Aaronson is a Montreal-based translator and second language specialist. Some of her other translation projects include A Boring Wife Settles the Score and Behind the Eyes We Meet.
Mall Goth by Kate Leth
In Mall Goth, Liv Holme is a 15-year-old bisexual goth who searches for self-acceptance, true friendship and community when she moves to a new town with her mother. As she navigates through all of this, she finds comfort and refuge in going to the mall.
When you can read it: Sept. 26, 2023
Kate Leth is a Halifax-based writer, cartoonist, illustrator and designer. Some of their other works include Patsy Walker: AKA Hellcat and Girl Over Paris.
Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks
In Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy, a hockey player named Alix is at risk of losing her opportunity to play in the Women's U18 team, when she loses her quick temper while confronting a rude teammate.
Alix must learn how to control her temper and she asks Ezra, a boy from the drama club, who is calm and poised for help. Through this process, they get closer and learn more about each other — could their relationship be more than just a friendship?
When you can read it: Oct. 3, 2023
Faith Erin Hicks is a Vancouver-based Eisner Award-winning comics creator. Some of her other books include The Adventures of Superhero Girl, Friends with Boys, the Nameless City trilogy and Comics Will Break Your Heart.
Lost Time by Tas Mukanik
In Lost Time, 12-year-old Evie must figure out how to survive and return home after getting lost in the Creatceous period. After she rescues a baby pterosaur, they work together to go back home. However, up against challenges like other dinosaurs and large storms, can they make it back in time?
Lost Time is for ages 8 to 12.
When you can read it: Oct. 3, 2023
Tas Mukanik is a Montreal-based artist. Her other works include the self-published Paint the Town Red and The Sanity Circus. Lost Time is her first middle-grade graphic novel.
Are You Willing to Die for the Cause? by Chris Oliveros
Are You Willing to Die for the Cause? is an oral history of the movement known as the Quebec Liberation Front, told in comic book form. The story starts in 1963, when a dozen mailboxes in an affluent Montreal neighbourhood are destroyed by homemade bombs. Oliveros' book explores how this eight-year-long movement turned violent and explores the ingredients to dissatisfaction and dissent.
When you can read it: Oct. 10, 2023
Chris Oliveros is a Montreal-based writer and publisher. In 1989, he founded Drawn & Quarterly, a Montreal publishing company that specializes in comics. He left the company in 2015 to work on Are You Willing to Die for the Cause?
One in a Million by Claire Lordon
In the graphic memoir One in a Million, Claire Lordon recounts her difficult experience of having a brain tumour in high school. A story of resilience, Lordon underwent many surgeries to remove it, and found solace in her loved ones and art in this painful process.
When you can read it: Oct. 10, 2023
Lordon is a Vancouver-based writer, illustrator and designer. She has illustrated picture books that include Over at the Construction Site, the Taking a Walk series and Lorenzo, the Pizza-Loving Lobster, which she also wrote. One in a Million is her first comic.
The Great Beyond by Léa Murawiec, translated by Aleshia Jensen
In The Great Beyond, Manel Naher lives in a city of constant self-promotion and she is tired of it. With her friend Ali, Manel dreams of life outside the city limits, until her plans are thwarted by an unexpected heart attack. She's told she can only recover by making her name, but unluckily for her, she shares the same name with a rising pop star.
When you can read it: Oct. 10, 2023
Léa Murawiec is a French comic artist and co-founder of Éditions Flutiste, an independent press that celebrates emerging cartoonists. The Great Beyond is her debut book. Murawiec lives in Angoulême, France.
Aleshia Jensen is a French-to-English literary translator and former bookseller. Her translations include Explosions, written by Mathieu Poulin, which was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for translation and Juliette by Camille Jourdy. Jensen lives in Montreal.
Priya Puts Herself First by Nathan Fairbairn, illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn
Priya Puts Herself First is the third book in the Paws graphic novel series. The babysitters club for pets, the third volume takes place during the holidays when their business is impacted due to a big storm and PAW members go through some personal challenges — Gabby wants to be internet famous and Priya's family is being evicted. Can PAWS overcome these challenges and stay afloat?
Priya Puts Herself First is for ages 8 to 12.
When you can read it: Oct. 17, 2023
Nathan Fairbairn is a Vancouver-based and Eisner-nominated comic creator. Other projects he has worked on include the characters Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman and the graphic novel Lake of Fire.
Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin
Inspired by Cree folklore and modern Cree life, Bad Medicine follows five Cree teens who share chilling horror stories around a campfire.
When you can read it: Oct. 24, 2023
Christopher Twin is from the Swan River First Nations reservation in northern Alberta. Currently based in Edmonton, he does comic work and illustrations as a freelancer.
Burning Cold by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley & Richard Van Camp
Burning Cold is a collection of Indigenous graphic stories that journey to the depths of the Arctic and beyond. The stories range from traditional ones to ones about reimagined futures.
When you can read it: Oct. 24, 2023
Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley is an Inuit scholar who studies world religions and cultures. She received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her extensive work on Inuit magic and lore.
Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley is a Scottish-Mohawk folklorist and fantasist who specializes in magic, mythology and Inuit lore.
Richard Van Camp is a member of the Dogrib (Tłı̨chǫ) Dene Nation, and lives in Edmonton. He is the author of the book The Lesser Blessed, which was adapted into a film by First Generation Films. His other books include Angel Wing Splash Pattern, Night Moves and We Sang You Home.
The Secret of the Ravens by Joanna Cacao
In The Secret of the Ravens, orphan twins Elliot and Liza take part in Raven Quests — message-carrying ravens with magical tasks that award coins and riches, to change their fate. However, the quests aren't as straightforward as they seem, and when Liza gets poisoned, Elliot must race against time to save her.
The Secret of the Ravens is for ages 8 to 12.
When you can read it: Nov. 7, 2023
Joanna Cacao is a Canadian-Filipino writer and illustrator who lives in Winnipeg. Her other projects include illustrating The Tryout and Native Reflections. The Secret of the Ravens is her debut graphic novel.
Hot to Trot by Veronica Post
In Hot to Trot, two friends Langosh and Yeva travel through the landscape of America and converse about difficult personal experiences. When they express different thoughts about Langosh's unjust experience of police brutality, they find themselves wondering if they can continue their friendship.
When you can read it: Nov. 21, 2023
Veronica Post is a Halifax-based graphic novelist and multidisciplinary artist. Her debut graphic novel is Fugitive Days.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story said that Bar Delicious by Blaise Moritz was available Sept. 18, 2023. The new publication date is Sept. 29, 2023.Sep 19, 2023 10:22 AM ET
- A previous version of this story said that Burning Cold by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley and Richard Van Camp was available Aug. 22, 2023. The correct publication date is Oct. 24, 2023.Aug 29, 2023 2:59 PM ET
