{"id":63364,"date":"2025-08-12T06:52:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T06:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/63364\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T06:52:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T06:52:14","slug":"8-great-comics-featured-on-bookends-with-mattea-roach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/63364\/","title":{"rendered":"8 great comics featured on Bookends with Mattea Roach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mattea Roach is a big fan of comics \u2014\u00a0after all, they won Canada Reads in 2023 with their defence of Ducks<\/a> by Kate Beaton. So it makes sense that the first season of CBC Radio’s\u00a0Bookends with Mattea Roach<\/a>\u00a0featured a lot of great comics and graphic novels.<\/p>\n

On the show, Roach\u00a0talks to authors from Canada and around the world. And here are the creators of comics Roach sat down with this year.<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachBookends Highlights: The language of comics with 5 masters of the craft<\/p>\n

Degrees of Separation\u00a0by Alison McCreesh\"ADegrees of Separation is a graphic memoir by Alison McCreesh. (Conundrum Press)<\/p>\n

Degrees of Separation<\/a>\u00a0blends stories, drawings and sketches that chronicle Alison McCreesh’s decade spent living in the North. From being stranded in the High Arctic to raising a baby in a small shack with no running water, the book is a coming-of-age story that recounts the challenges and joys of life living and working north of the 60th parallel.<\/p>\n

McCreesh is an artist who currently lives in Yellowknife. She has travelled around the Arctic, and the theme of contemporary day-to-day life in the North carries through her creative work.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Alison McCreesh on the magic of the North:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachAlison McCreesh: Exploring the magic and nuance of life in the North in her latest graphic novel<\/p>\n

All Our Ordinary Stories\u00a0by Teresa Wong\"AAll Our Ordinary Stories is a graphic memoir by Teresa Wong. (Arsenal Pulp Press, Kaitlin Moerman)<\/p>\n

In the graphic memoir\u00a0All Our Ordinary Stories<\/a>, Teresa Wong uses spare black-and-white illustrations and thought-provoking prose to unpack how intergenerational trauma and resilience can shape our identities.\u00a0Starting with her mother’s stroke a decade ago, Wong takes a journey through time and place to find the origin of her feelings of disconnection from her parents.<\/p>\n

Wong\u00a0is the Calgary-based author of the graphic memoir\u00a0Dear Scarlet<\/a>,\u00a0which was on the\u00a0Canada Reads\u00a0longlist\u00a0in 2020<\/a>\u00a0and was a\u00a0finalist for the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize.\u00a0Her work has appeared in\u00a0The Believer, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s\u00a0and The Walrus.\u00a0CBC Books<\/a>\u00a0named her a\u00a0writer to watch in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Teresa Wong\u00a0on\u00a0All Our Ordinary Stories:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachTeresa Wong: Illustrating her family’s past \u2014 in all its ordinary and epic moments<\/p>\n

Something, Not Nothing\u00a0by Sarah Leavitt\"ASomething, Not Nothing is a graphic memoir by Sarah Leavitt. (Arsenal Pulp Press, Jackie Dives)<\/p>\n

Following the medically assisted death of her partner of 22\u00a0years, cartoonist Sarah Leavitt\u00a0began small\u00a0sketches that quickly became something new and unexpected to her \u2014 the graphic memoir\u00a0Something, Not Nothing<\/a>. The abstract images mixed with poetic text, layers of watercolour, ink and coloured pencil combine to tell a story of love, grief, peace and new beginnings.<\/p>\n

Leavitt is a Vancouver comics creator and writing teacher. Her debut book was\u00a0Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Cartoonist Sarah Leavitt on documenting grief and celebrating love:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachSarah Leavitt: Illustrating grief too wide for words<\/p>\n

Final Cut\u00a0by Charles Burns\"AFinal Cut is a graphic novel by Charles Burns. (Pantheon, Charles Burns)<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Final Cut<\/a>,\u00a0childhood friends Brian and Jimmy set out to create a sci-fi horror movie using an old eight-millimetre\u00a0camera. With Laurie as Brian’s muse, they trek to a remote cabin in the mountains and Brian struggles with finding the balance between his dreams and reality.<\/p>\n

Charles Burns is an American cartoonist. His graphic novel\u00a0Black Hole\u00a0won Eisner, Harvey\u00a0and Ignatz awards. He is the cover artist for\u00a0The Believer and has made covers for\u00a0Time, The New Yorker\u00a0and The New York Times Sunday Magazine.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Charles Burns returns to teengage angst in his graphic novel:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachCharles Burns: Why the comics icon keeps returning to teenage angst<\/p>\n

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life\u00a0by Bryan Lee O’Malley\"A (Oni Press, Superfan Promotions)<\/p>\n

The Scott Pilgrim series is about an unemployed 23-year-old Torontonian, the titular character, who’s going through a breakup. But when he falls for the enigmatic Ramona Flowers, he must face off against her seven evil exes in order to continue their relationship.\u00a0Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life<\/a>\u00a0is the first book in the series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bryan Lee O’Malley’s\u00a0career in comics took off after publishing\u00a0Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life<\/a>,\u00a0the first in a Toronto-centric series about an indie music-loving nerd who must defeat his girlfriend Ramona’s seven evil exes. The bestselling books later became a film starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Brie Larson. O’Malley followed up this success with the acclaimed graphic novel\u00a0Seconds<\/a>\u00a0and another series called\u00a0Snot Girl\u00a0with Leslie Hung.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | 20 years of Scott Pilgrim:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachBryan Lee O\u2019Malley: 20 years of Scott Pilgrim<\/p>\n

Q&A\u00a0by Adrian Tomine\"A (Drawn & Quarterly)<\/p>\n

Before the internet, many comic books included a section to send letters to the creators and get insight into their work and their process. When cartoonist Adrian Tomine was growing up, he would send those letters \u2014 and now he’s answering them.\u00a0Q&A<\/a>\u00a0dives into the questions he most often hears from readers, and responds to them with a combination of words, photos and illustrations.<\/p>\n

American cartoonist Adrian Tomine is best known for his series Optic Nerve, his memoir\u00a0The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist<\/a>\u00a0and his work in The New Yorker. He lives in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Cartoonist Adrian Tomine\u00a0answers his readers’ questions in his latest book:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachAdrian Tomine: Answering his readers\u2019 burning questions<\/p>\n

Acme Novelty Datebook: Volume Three\u00a0by Chris Ware\"AThe Acme Novelty Datebook: Volume Three is a book by Chris Ware. (Pordenone Cartoon Museum, Drawn & Quarterly)<\/p>\n

Acme Novelty Datebook: Volume Three<\/a>\u00a0is the\u00a0third and final instalment of a series that\u00a0offers readers a\u00a0look into American cartoonist Chris Ware’s personal sketchbooks.\u00a0Acme Novelty Datebook: Volume Three<\/a>\u00a0covers the last 20 years and tells of his journey into fatherhood and the rise of social media.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ware is the author and illustrator of\u00a0Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, which won the Guardian First Book Award in 2001,\u00a0Building Stories\u00a0and\u00a0Rusty Brown<\/a>,\u00a0which was a finalist for the PEN\/Jean Stein award. He has designed 32 covers for The New Yorker and his work has been exhibited in many museums worldwide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Inside the sketchbooks of a comics legend:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachChris Ware: Inside the sketchbooks of a comics master<\/p>\n

Spent\u00a0by Alison Bechdel\"ASpent is a comic novel by Alison Bechdel. (Mariner Books, Elena Siebert)<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Spent,\u00a0a cartoonist\u00a0named Alison Bechdel\u00a0grapples with her complicated relationship with capitalism, community and activism after the success of her memoir and its subsequent TV adaptation.<\/p>\n

American cartoonist Alison Bechdel\u00a0is the creator of the\u00a0comic strip\u00a0Dykes to Watch Out For\u00a0and graphic memoirs\u00a0Fun Home<\/a>,\u00a0Are You My Mother?\u00a0and\u00a0The\u00a0Secret to Superhuman Strength<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Alison Bechdel on making money and seeing\u00a0Fun Home\u00a0in a new light:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bookends with Mattea RoachAlison Bechdel on making money and seeing Fun Home in a new light<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mattea Roach is a big fan of comics \u2014\u00a0after all, they won Canada Reads in 2023 with their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[353,49,48,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-63364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}