Home » Alberta Graphic Novels

Share this post!

Alberta Graphic Novels

This month, we are featuring Alberta-published graphic novels.

Graphic novels are expensive to publish (so many images, so much colour printing!), but Alberta publishers have taken on the challenges faced with publishing this format. 

Alberta is home to Canmore-based and award-winning graphic novel publisher Renegade Arts Entertainment. They release a variety of graphic novels each year, including an ongoing comic collection from Read Alberta’s editorial cartoonist, Derek Evernden! Although graphic novels are not their primary focus, Freehand Books and University of Calgary Press have also published books in this genre. 

Check below for newly released graphic novels from these publishers, as well as some of our favourite older titles! 

KING WARRIOR
Written by Jay Bulckaert and Erika Nyyssonen, Illustrated by Lucas Green

A story spanning the globe both imaginary and real, King Warrior celebrates the turbulent glory of childhood while encouraging the reader to reconnect with that rich inner palace of youthful imagination that ultimately holds the key to our freedom.

Living in different worlds and separated by an ocean, a father and son try to stay connected through the power of imagination as their distanced lives pull them further apart.

King Warrior

Jay Bulckaert (CA), Erika Nyyssonen

Published: Sep 14, 2022 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781989754146


Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle.
Available as an accessible eBook

BITTER MEDICINE
By Clem Martini and Olivier Martini

Shot through with wry humour and unapologetic in its politics, Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness is the story of the Martini family, a polemical and poetic portrait of illness, and a vital and timely call for action.

Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness

Clem Martini (CA), Olivier Martini (CA)

Published: Mar 15, 2010 by Freehand Books
ISBN: 9781551119281


Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle.
Available as an accessible eBook

BOGART CREEK
By Derek Evernden

Of course we can’t forget about Read Alberta’s editorial cartoonist! These collections feature the best of Bogart Creek, Derek Evernden’s laugh out loud funny, single-panel comics of absurd and dark humour. 

Bogart Creek

Derek Evernden (CA)

Published: Mar 27, 2019 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781988903491
Bogart Creek 2

Derek Evernden (CA)

Published: Nov 18, 2020 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781988903903
Bogart Creek 3

Derek Evernden (CA)

Published: Apr 06, 2022 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781989754108

FIVE STALKS OF GRAIN
Written by Adrian Lysenko, Illustrated by Ivanka Theodosia Galadza

Five Stalks of Grain, published by University of Calgary Press, is a powerful and haunting graphic novel that tells a story of tragedy and survival during the Holodomor, the terror-famine that claimed millions of lives in Soviet Ukraine.

Five Stalks of Grain

Adrian Lysenko (CA)

Published: Nov 15, 2022 by University of Calgary Press
ISBN: 9781773853758

TANGLES
By Sarah Leavitt

Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me provides a window on the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease, and ultimately opens a knot of moments, memories, and dreams to reveal a bond between a mother and a daughter that will never come apart.

Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me

Sarah Leavitt (CA)

Published: Sep 01, 2010 by Freehand Books
ISBN: 9781551111179


Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle.
Available as an accessible eBook

SECRETS OF JARROW
By Bill Slavin

On a climate-ravaged world, Mordecai Crow must solve a mysterious murder to clear his name in a world ravaged by its past. Crow searches for his long-lost family, and becomes embroiled in a murderous conspiracy when he seeks refuge in a fortress-city committed to preserving ancient knowledge. Secrets of Jarrow is book one in the Mordecai Crow trilogy.

Secrets of Jarrow

Bill Slavin (CA)

Published: May 17, 2023 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781989754269


Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle.
Available as an accessible eBook