Hi Friends,
We have moved our website to www.graphichistorycollective.com.
Come on over and visit!
Graphic History Collective
radical history and comics
Teasers from an upcoming GHP comic book about the Ontario Days of Action
Writers: Doug Nesbitt, Sean Carleton
Illustrator: Orion Keresztesi
New Comic: “A Brief, Accurate Graphic History of the Environmental Movement (Mostly in Canada)
Project #7 from the Graphic History Collective is A Brief, Accurate, Graphic History of Environmental Activism, Steph Hill’s attempt to fit a broad swath of history into a short little book.
From Steph:
The idea was to relate the fundamental ideas and some events in environmental history in a way that is conversational, and–with any luck–memorable. It’s a project easier said than done, but maybe I made a little headway. Environmental activism has come a long way since the early days, and the context it works in–governments, business communities, the public–has changed considerably, in good ways and bad. As always, I ended up with more questions than answers about the directions things are heading in.
Read the full comic.
Bio: Steph Hill studied politics at Princeton University and comics at Camosun College. These days you can find her in Vancouver working in publishing, eating spicy noodles, and reading anything that gets too close. You can find her online at sahill.ca or on twitter as @Hill_S_A.
SORWUC Comic Book Teaser
Here is a special teaser from an upcoming comic book on the history of SORWUC, a socialist-feminist labour union in Canada by the Graphic History Collective and the extremely talented Ethan Heitner.
Ethan Heitner is a cartoonist and member of the editorial collective of World War 3 Illustrated, the radical comics magazine (http://www.worldwar3illustrated.org/). More of his work can be seen on his blog, freedomfunnies.com.
We’re celebrating our anniversary!
Five years ago, the Graphic History Collective came together to publish May Day: A Graphic History of Protest. We had our launch party on May 1st at Rhizome Cafe, a wonderful venue we all miss.
Since becoming a collective we’ve learned a tremendous amount, not only about comics and history, but also how to work together to create a supportive environment where we share responsibilities, tasks, and ideas. (We’ve also learned how to take better pictures of our events!)
Current members include: Julia Smith, Sam Bradd, Sean Carleton, and Robin Folvik.
Over the years we have also had the chance to work with (and be supported by) some amazing people:
Mark Leier
Trevor McKilligan
Samantha Monckton
UFCW 1518
Marine Printers
Jane Gavin-Hebert
Andy Parnaby
Ethan Heitner
Canadian Historical Association
Mayworks
SFU History Department
Wojtek Gwiazda
CBC Radio Canada International
Paul Buhle
Jeremy Milloy
Between the Lines
Word on the Street
Scott Neigh
Talking Radical Radio
Noam Chomsky
Sarah Leavitt
Josiah Neufeld
rabble.ca
Ken Boesem
Sarah Beuhler
Todd McCallum
Vancouver Co-op radio
CJSF Radio
David Lester
Linda Alkana
Alex Alkana
Lorna Alkana
Sarah Mirk
Khris Soden
Natasha Henry
Kara Sievewright
Maker of Nets
Kwentong Bayan: A Labour of Love
Althea Balmes
Jo SiMalaya Alcampo
Canadian Committee on Labour History
Employee Action and Rights Network
Greg Kealey
Bryan Palmer
Jay MacPherson
David Frank
Tania Willard
Canada’s History Magazine
LeftWords Festival
Open Door Toronto
NM Guinling
Ad Astra Comix
Joan Sangster
SSHRC
THEN/HiER
Rhizome Cafe
Doug Nesbitt
Orion Keresztesi
Pacific Northwest Labour History Association
Cumberland Museum and Archives
Maleah Schmitke
Jason C. Ross
Caelie Frampton
Activehistory.ca
The Labor and Working-Class History Association/LaborOnline
So here’s to all of you – thanks for helping us reach this anniversary!
After living in different places for the past few years, we are going to celebrate by being together this May Day at the following events. If you are in Vancouver, we hope to see you there!
Order Your Copy of the May Day Comic Book Today – Special Offer
In preparation for this years’ May Day – May 1st, International Workers’ Day – celebrations, don’t forget to grab your own copy of the GHC’s first comic book, May Day A Graphic History of Protest (Between the Lines Press, 2012).
You can order the comic book online here: http://btlbooks.com/book/may-day
Also, the GHC is happy to announce a special offer: In the lead up to May Day 2014, you can now get a 40% discount and free shipping in Canada on bulk orders over 50. So get your union, school, library, or community group to go in on a bulk order and help distribute more May Day comics. If you want the bulk order form, see the attachment at the bottom of this post or you can contact us at graphichistorycolletive@gmail.com.
If you want to take some direct action to spread the word about the May Day comic, please consider asking your local library to order a few copies. This is great as it supports local libraries and gets more radical comics in peoples’ hands. The ISBN number, which you often need to place an library order request, is: ISBN 978-1-926662-90-9. Thanks!
In love and solidarity,
GHC
Rebranding Canada with Comics: Canada 1812: Forged in Fire and the Continuing Co-optation of Tecumseh
New review essay about a Government of Canada comic book on the War of 1812 and its representations of Indigenous peoples by Graphic History Collective member, Sean Carleton.
Bill Williamson (Part 1) by Kara Sievewright
We’re excited to announce that Part 1 of Kara Sievewright‘s new comic, Bill Williamson: Hobo, Wobbly, Communist, On to Ottawa Trekker, Spanish Civil War Veteran, Photographer, is now available online. Extensively researched by Kara, the story grows out of two letters Williamson wrote in the 1980s and two interviews with him recorded by the London Imperial War Museum in London, UK in 1990.
Kara’s comic is Project #6 from the Graphic History Project and the third (of four) that focuses primarily on events in the 1930s.
We’re huge fans of Kara Sievewright. You will be too! You can view more of her artwork at Makers of Nets, or follow her on twitter or tumblr.
In addition to her writing and drawing skills, Kara is also skilled at webpage design and is working with us to update our website. Two thumbs up!
The Revolutionary by Josiah Neufeld
We are taking a break from posting comics from the Graphic History Project to bring you a comic from Josiah Neufeld, a student in the MFA creative writing program at the University of British Columbia. We’re excited to share Josiah’s work!
Often called Africa’s Che Guevara, Thomas Sankara was a Marxist revolutionary who was president of the West African country of Burkina Faso for four years in the 1980s. This comic, written and illustrated by Josiah Neufeld, is a short homage to a passionate and controversial leader. Josiah writes fiction, essays and long-form journalism and occasionally dabbles in comics. He spent 13 years of his childhood in Burkina Faso and is currently working on an MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. His writing can be found at josiahneufeld.com.
Direct quotations attributed to Thomas Sankara in this comic are drawn from Thomas Sankara Speaks, a collection of Sankara’s speeches translated from French by Samantha Anderson and published by Pathfinder Press.
Have you been working on a comic that you think we would be interested in? Drop us a line at graphichistorycollective@gmail.com
Graphic History Collective 