2022 in Review
We’re at the end of another calendar year, which can only mean one thing: Time for me to do a little round-up of my creative projects from this last celestial go-around. I started writing these little “Year in Review” posts eight years ago, and I have to say I strongly recommend it… I don’t have the patience or mental energy to keep a journal or even a sketchbook these days, but I am glad that I’ve been forcing myself to write down a few notes about my creative projects and the occasional reflection on the passage of time, it’s both a pleasant reminder of the things I accomplished and also a metaphorical kick in the butt when I contemplate the things that I didn’t get done (I’m looking at you, Blue Moon… I’m coming for you in 2023!). As our Latin friends once said, ars longa vita brevis.
As it happens, the final months of 2022 are feeling like a bit of a capstone of the last few years for me, professionally and personally: I wrapped up drawing Volume 3 of Orcs in Space in July, bringing to a close a big ongoing project that dominated my creative output over the course of the the pandemic, and now I feel like I am finally transitioning to concentrating on the aforementioned Blue Moon, which will be my next “all me” graphic novel and will hopefully appear in French in 2024 and in English not long after. 2023 will also see me taking on a role consulting with Pow Pow Press (the English-language side of Éditions Pow Pow, who published the French edition of TITAN) with the goal of getting more of their fantastic books into the hands of readers in the USA and around the world. Overall if feels like the new year is looking to be a new chapter in my creative career and I’m excited to see where it goes from here!
Somewhat coincidentally, the transition from 2022 to 2023 also sees me making a pretty big change in my lifestyle as well… After many years in Montréal, my partner C. and I have decided to pull up stakes and move out of the city. We are moving into a lakeside cabin in the Laurentian Mountains, just an hour-and-a-half drive from Montréal but quite a different vibe from the urban lifestyle we are both so used to! After lots of hemming and hawing about it, we decided that as much as we still love Montréal, what we value most at this point in our lives is camping, canoeing, birding, and otherwise being in the natural world. Very excited to spend even more time in nature throughout the year… And we definitely get to indulge our taste for renovations and DIY projects as well, seeing as the place is about a half-century old… Expect the occasional “This Old House”-style update in my email newsletter in the coming year.
As always, many thanks to all the amazing people who have supported me in my creative endeavours throughout the year. Regardless if you are a bookseller who stocks one my graphic novels in your shop, a client who thought my style would work for your project, a reader who enjoyed something I wrote or drew, or someone who just follows along with me on Instagram or Patreon, I can only say a huge “thank you” for your continued interest in my work in its various forms and for your support of what I am doing. I’m truly humbled that I am lucky enough to make my living exercising my creativity, and I never take it for granted. I am truly lucky to be able to connect with people around the world through my art and craft and I will continue to do my best for you!
Here are links to my “Year in Review” posts from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, in case you are curious about what I’ve been up to in years past. As has also become a tradition more recently, I also posted my “Year in Books” and “Year in Movies” lists, so you can see what I have been reading and watching in the last year. As for what I got up to myself in 2022, well, without any further ado…
Food for Thought: Apples to Giraffes
2022 saw me throw myself in to the podcasting game, with the launch of Apples to Giraffes. Created with my longtime friend (and excellent cartoonist) Jonas Madden-Connor, Apples to Giraffes takes a look at the art of adaptation: On each episode we take a deep dive into a work of narrative art, look at failures and successes with any past adaptations, and let the reader know what our take on it would be if we were in charge. We released a total of 13 full episodes (plus a couple of bit-sized bonus ones), covering works from Richard Stark’s 1962 revenge classic The Hunter to the 2020 fantasy Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, with many stops in between (some of my fave episodes include The Secret History by Donna Tartt, “The Tripods” by John Christopher, Black Hole by Charles Burns, and of course our special “Casting Call” episode on my own graphic novel TITAN.
It’s been a definite challenge to try out something in a totally new medium for me (I’m still getting used to the sound of my voice after all these years), but this has been a ton of fun… The best element of all, unsurprisingly, is just getting to talk with my old pal Jonas on a regular basis! We’ve been friends for over 30 years now (!!!) and we’ve always loved discussing the ins and outs of comics, movies, and novels, so this has been a real pleasure. We are on a short break between seasons one and two, but we’ll be back in early 2023 with new episodes, including some cool interviews with creators and more. Some books on the docket for season two of Apples to Giraffes include the “First Law” books by Joe Abercrombie, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, and Matt Wagner’s Grendel comics, with special co-host Zack Soto of the “In This Episode…” podcast.
Out with a Bang: Orcs in Space
All good things must come to an end… Orcs in Space Volume 2 was released back in April of this year, and in July I drew the final pages of Orcs in Space Volume 3, which will be hitting stores in February 2023. That will be the final instalment of the orcs’ tale, and it is a wild and wooly adventure for sure! It has been a rocky road, releasing these books during a pandemic, but I have to say that I consider myself very lucky to have had the chance to do this series and quite proud of myself and my collaborators for creating it. A bittersweet ending to be sure, I and the rest of the creative team are going to miss these characters (and who knows, maybe you haven’t heard the last of Gor, Mongtar, Kravis and the rest of the gang… I’ve got some ideas!) and working together to bring you silly and action-packed comics in the old-school funny book tradition. The story ends (literally) with a bang, and it was a lot of fun to create this little universe! Over the course of 2022 I posted some behind-the-scenes materials, like character designs and cover process posts.
A big thank you to everyone who made this book happen. Naturally, big ups to my talented creative collaborators Justin Roiland, Abed Geith , Rashad Gheith, and Michael Tanner for creating the orcs and writing their adventures, DJ Chavis and Dave Pender for their vibrant color work, Amanda Meadows for heroically bringing the whole project together, Gabriel Granillo for getting the series over the finish line, James Lucas Jones for so much, Zack Soto for putting my name out there for this project in the first place, and the entire team at Oni Press past and present for their hard work. Blessings on you all.
Translating Talli
I had the pleasure of translating and lettering the fantastic (in every sense of the word) manga/bande dessinée series Talli: Daughter of the Moon by the talented French/Laotian cartoonist Sourya this year. Volume One was published by Oni Press back in November, and this high adventure fantasy series is just getting started, with new volumes planned every year. I have been loving this immersive fantasy adventure, and I can’t wait for anglophone folks to visit the charming universe Sourya has created. The reviews for the book have been great so far, the Library Journal gave Talli a starred review and Erik Cheski at Fanbase Press said “…the only way that I can describe the feeling of this book overall is delight.” I also had the pleasure of chatting with Sourya over on Broken Frontier, his first-ever interview in English, I believe. You’ll be hearing more from me about this series next year and beyond, for sure… On the subject of translation, I recently posted an interview translator Edward Gauvin did with me about working together on the book Letter to Survivors, and 2023 will also see the publication of my translation of Notes by Boulet, too!
Lettering Lemonade
Another fun gig I took on in 2022 is lettering Nick Cagnetti’s retro-tinged comic book Pink Lemonade. This monthly series is pretty much a one-man show, with Nick tackling the writing, art, colors, and hand-lettered sound effects… So what the heck is my name doing on the cover? Well, I was brought in to do some additional lettering for Nick, and honestly this series is a lot of fun to work on… Nick’s work feels to me like a quirky mix of Mike Allred’s Madman with the slightest touch of Death Ray-era Daniel Clowes, an earnest, super-sweet vision of old-school superhero comics with a unique point of view. As for my lettering I really hit my stride in the upcoming issue #5, which features a ton of “special effects” lettering that travels across a panoply of eras and visual styles… Keep your eyes peeled for that issue in shops in early 2023 and the collected edition of Pink Lemonade next July!
Dep’t of Ephemeral Art: Vicoli et ruelles
Vicoli et ruelles was a multi-artist exposition focused on representations of urban life in the comics of Italy and Québec, which was presented by the Montreal Comic Arts Festival at the Institute of Italian Culture in Montreal from April 28 to May 31, 2022. The show focused on the ways that urban life, and specifically the vibrant life of alleys in Québec and Italy.
I didn’t have any pieces in the show itself, BUT I had the pleasure of creating all the incidental illustrations for the show, which adorned the walls of the gallery, creating a life-size, immersive environment! It had been a long time since I had done a project like this, and it was a ton of fun… So strange that it’s all gone now! I did manage to take a few quick pics during the instalation of the show and posted them up on my blog recently.
Three Cheers for Jackalhop
Early in 2023 I was contacted by Jackalhop, a Québecois microbrewery that was expanding their line of beers and needed labels designed… I’ve always wanted to do some illustrations for beer labels, so I happily said yes! I joined a rotating crew of talented artists (including Étienne Poisson, Catherin, and Thom) and created my own interpretation of the company’s mascot, Jack the Jackalope. I just counted and in total I drew a total of ten designs for Jackalhop in 2022! Quite a few haven’t seen the light of day yet and I’ll be posting up about them in the new year, naturally.
Book Designs: Boat Life and Five-Finger Rock
I always like designing books, and I had the pleasure of working with two of my favorite, long-term design clients this year:
I’ve had such a fun time working with composer, musician, and educator Brock Chart of My Melodies Publishing on his “Five-Finger Piano!” series over the last few years. He just released his newest sheet music collection, Five-Finger Rock! Books 1 & 2, growing the library to six volumes, with more on their way. Each of these slim books is jam packed with original songs composed by Brock and designed for beginner to intermediate piano students, in styles like rock & roll, blues, pop, RnB, hip-hop, jazz, swing, and more. Brock is such a fun, creative dude and it’s a pleasure to work with him again and again to help get his creations out to the world!
Next up I worked with Jason Levian over at Floating World Comics to design the the cover for Boat Life Volume 1 by Tsuge Tadao, with a fantastic translation by Ryan Holmberg. This book is a melancholic, philosophical, down-to-earth, jaded, and ultimately beautiful look at one man’s slow-motion midlife crisis, and the surprising ways that simply being present in the world can change one’s outlook. A great read for anyone who has ever wanted to get away from it all, but wasn’t sure they would like what they found when they got there. Floating World will be publishing Boat Life Volume 2 in 2023 and the design of these two books are gonna look just great together!
And Finally, Out Now: Look, Listen, Learn: A Year of Noticing
All this talk of the coming year and the passage of time reminds me that I ought to mention a fun seasonal project that I just launched, a special collaboration with Montréal author Jaimie Franchi: Look, Listen, Learn: A Year of Noticing is a printable, nature-themed 2023 calendar, a monthly collection of words and images designed to inspire a connection with the small wonders of the natural world. Jaimie and I will be releasing the calendar a season at a time, with Winter (January, February, and March) out now! Look, Listen, Learn: A Year of Noticing is a pay-what-you-like download (even $0 is just fine), with 100% of proceeds being donated directly to Nature Conservancy Canada, a conservation nonprofit that is near and dear to me. If you haven’t done so yet, make sure you sign up for my monthly newsletter (and Jaimie’s too!) and you’ll get the download link sent straight to your inbox on the first day of each season.