13 comics and graphic novels to get drawn into this summer

It's the summer season in Canada!Check out these comics and graphic novels by Canadian and international creators that are perfect to escape into.

Time Zone Jby Julie Doucet

InTime Zone J,Montreal artist Julie Doucetdraws from her old diary entries to chroniclea whirlwind love affair from her early 20s. After developing an intimate correspondence with a reader overseas not unheard of in the 1980s, when comic artists often mailed their work and communicated with readers through letters Doucet flies from Montreal to France to meet the soldier, who's on furlough for a few days.

• Canadian cartoonist Julie Doucet awarded Grand Prix at Angoulme International Comics Festival

Julie Doucetbegan drawing and publishing mini comics in 1988, and was featured in the anthologyHeck! Comic Art of the Late 1980s.She started her groundbreakingstripDirty Plottein the 1990s, becoming an underground heroine and winning the Harvey Award for best new talent.Her comics part-dream, part-diary have been published serially as well as in collected formats. She famously quit the male-dominated comics industry in the late 1990s to focus on her other artwork.Time Zone Jis her first inked comic since that announcement.

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser &Robyn Smith

Wash Day Diaries follows the daily lives of four best friends Kim, Tanisha, Davene and Cookie as they navigatethe Bronx. The book's title pays tribute to the wash day rituals of Black women and girls washing, conditioning and nourishing their hair.Wash Day Diaries includes a full colour version of Rowser and Smith's critically-acclaimed kickstarted mini comic Wash Day.

Jamila Rowseris an American comic writer, publisher and editor based in Miami. Her other comics include Wobbledy 3000 and A Little Esperanza.

Robyn Smithis a Jamaican cartoonist based in New York, Her other work includes The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town and DCComics'sNubia: Real One.

Clementine: Book One by Tillie Walden

Set in the world of Robert Kirkman'sThe Walking Dead, Clementineis a coming-of-age story that follows the titular character as she heads out on the road looking to start over. Joined by an Amish teenager named Amos, Clementine comes across a group of young peopleattempting to set up a settlement. They soon realize their biggest threat may be each other.

TillieWalden is a two-time Eisner award winning cartoonist and illustrator based in Texas. Her other books include the graphic novelsSpinning and On a Sunbeam.

World Record Holdersby Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher

World Record Holderscollects set pieces from Guy Delisle's illustrious career as a cartoonist. Delisleincludes wistful memories from childhood, as well as awkward moments as a well-knownartist. He writes about meeting an angry womanat one of his own exhibitionswho claimed he destroyed her marriage, about a childish Bows and Arrows game that turns life-threatening and about how a coded messagefrom space is received and debated.

• Graphic novelist Guy Delisle brings readers into the heart of places both close to home and around the world

Delisle is an award-winning artist, cartoonist and author who was born in Quebec City and now lives in France. His books includeFactory SummersandHostageand the traveloguesBurma Chronicles,Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City,PyongyangandShenzhen.

Helge Dascheris a frequent translator of Delisle's comic books. She's also translatedAyaby Marguerite Abouet and Clment Oubrerie,WhiteRapidsby Pascal Blanchet andPaul Goes Fishingby MichelRabagliati.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian#2by Rodney Barnes and Georges Jeanty

Set in the Star Wars universe, The Mandalorian followshelmeted bounty hunter DinDjarinas he tries to protect a young force-sensitive child who is being huntedby the Empire.

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Rodney Barnes is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer. He is an executive producer and writer of HBO seriesWinning Time andhasworked on shows like Marvel's Runaways and American Gods.

Georges Jeanty is an Eisner Award-winningAmerican illustrator and comic book penciler best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer andSerenity.

July Underwaterby Zoe Maeve

A hot Toronto summer begins without fanfare for recent high school graduate Lina, who mostly spends time with her best friend Cara. But Lina begins to unravel when she learns her childhood friend, Alicia, has died. She looks for answers inVirginia Woolf'sTo The Lighthouseand Patricia Highsmith'sThe Price of Salt,and starts to think about what happens whenfriends drift apart from one another.

Zoe Maeve is a comics artist based in Montreal. She published her debut book,The Gift,in 2021 and was nominated for an Ignatz Award. Published in 2022,July Underwaterwas originally a zine whichwon an Expozine Award in 2016.

Batman #125 by Chip Zdarsky &Jorge Jimnez

Canadian comic writer Chip Zdarskyofficiallytakes the reins of the Caped Crusader inBatman #125. The story featuresa new deadly villain called Failsafe who is murdering Gotham City billionairesas Batman tries to put an end to the gruesome crime-spree.

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Chip Zdarsky is an Eisner Award-winning comic book creator from Toronto. He's contributed to series like Howard the Duck, Jughead and Spider-Man, and co-created comics like Kaptara, Sex Criminals and Afterlift.

Jorge Jimnezis a Spanish comic book writer and artist. His work has been featured inSuper Sons, Teen Titans and Nightwing.

Marvel's Chip Zdarsky on how to be a successful comic book creator

6 years ago

Duration 4:31

The writer and illustrator of comic book characters such as Daredevil, Spider-Man on how to make it in the comic book industry.

Little Monsters #5 by Jeff Lemire& Dustin Nguyen

The titular little monsters are a group of vampire children living in the ruins of humanity. Little Monsters #5 follows the children as they find themselves running from the wreckage of a human compound as they are pursuedby an unknown assailant.

Sweet Tooth creator Jeff Lemire on seeing his comic book series adapted for Netflix

Jeff Lemireis an author and illustratorwhose work includesRoughneck,Essex County,The Underwater Welder,Royal Cityand Gord Downie'sSecret Path. The Toronto comic creator has also worked onJustice LeagueandGreen Arrowfor DC Comics andHawkeyefor Marvel.

Dustin Nguyen is a Vietnamese American comic book artist. He won the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia artist for his work on Image Comics series Descender.

Detective Comics #1061 by Mariko Tamaki, Sina Grace & Nadia Shammas

Robin's mother and Batman's on-again-off-again flingTalia al Ghulis back in Gotham City, meaning anything can happen. At the same time, Batman tries to stop the Riddler from turning Gotham into a life or death riddle and the mystery behind the Gotham Girl website begins to unravel.

Mariko Tamaki is an award-winningCanadian comics writer,contributing to Marvel and DC Comics, based in California.She was named comics writer of the year at the 2020 Eisner Awards. Her other books include the YA novel(you) Set Me On Fireand the graphic novelsLaura Dean Keeps on Breaking Up With Me, illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell,SkimandThis One Summer,which were both illustrated by Jillian Tamaki.

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Sina Grace is an American comic writer, artist and social media personality. His work has appeared in books by Image, Marvel, DC Comics and BOOM!

Nadia Shammas is anArab American comic writer fromBrooklyn.She has written for HarperCollins, Tor, Marvel, DC Comics andIDW Publishing.

6:15Mariko Tamaki takes our Proust questionnaire

Mariko Tamaki, the author of Cold, takes our Proust questionnaire.

Saga #60 by Fiona Staples & Brian K. Vaughan

Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan began the Saga series a space opera about lovers from warring worldsnearly a decade ago and have since sold 6.8 million copies. Saga #60 is the final issue in this latest run in the series, which promises to deliver an emotional gut-punch to longtime readers.

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Staples is a comic book artist from Calgary. Besides her award-winning work on Saga, she's drawn comics for series Mystery Society, Done to Death, Archie and more.

Vaughan is an award-winning American writer, whose previous comics include Y: The Last Man and the Paper Girls series.

Verse Book Two: The Second Gate by Sam Beck

Verse Book Two: The Second Gate continues the story of Fife, a boy who knows magic doesn't existanymore andNeitya, a girl whose existence challenges everything Fife believes. With Neityaheld captive, she must tap into the dark side of her magic abilities asthe pair mustface theirfears to find a way back to each other.

Sam Beck is a comic bookwriter and illustrator based in Toronto. Her work focuses on themes of identityand relationships through the lens of sci-fi and fantasy. Her other books include Verse Book One: The Broken Halfand Winter Parting.

There's Something Wrong With Patrick Todd #1 by Ed Brisson

Telepathic fifteen-year-old Patrick Todd lives on the run while trying to take care of his sick mother. In order to make money, Patrick uses his abilities to force criminals to rob banks, taking the money before having the criminalsturnthemselves in. But when someone catches on to his scheme, Patrick'slife is in danger.

Ed Brisson is a Canadian comic book writer based in Halifax. He has written several books for Marvel, DC and Image Comics.

Naomi: Season Two #5 byJamal Campbell, Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker

Inthe fifth issue of the DC miniseries, Naomi McDuffie, also known as Powerhouse,mustgiveher all to protect her adopted hometown from a full-scaleinvasion.

Jamal Campbell is a comic book artist from Toronto. He's also the artist behindtheFar Sectorcomics, written by N.K. Jemisin, and has contributed to series like Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Justice League of America and Nightwing.

David F. Walker is an award-winning comic book writer, filmmakerand adjunct professor from Portland. His writing appears in series like Luke Cage, Occupy Avengers and Nighthawk.

Brian Michael Bendis is an Eisner Award-winning American writer for DC Comics.He previously wrote and consulted for Marvel, contributing tocomics like Daredevil andThe Avengers andco-creatingSpider-Man: Miles Morales.He also created thecomic book seriesJinx and won a Peabody Award as the co-creator and consulting producer of Netflix'sJessica Jones.