Book Club Report: A Discussion with Julie Delporte on Everywhere Antennas

It is difficult to understand the toll that a chronic illness can take on someone. The constant uncertainty; the feeling that you are losing a battle against yourself can be overwhelming for many. In Everywhere Antennas, we follow a protagonist who suffers from a disease known as Electromagnetic Hypersensibility or electrosensitivity. We see her struggle with this illness as she tries to adjust to her condition. As crazy as it may seem, and regardless of whether you believe in this disease or not, this is a fascinating book that goes deep beyond the core of chronic illness and the isolation that comes with it.

The Ottawa Comic Book Book Club met this month to discuss Everywhere Antennas. We all enjoyed the book. It is hard not to; it's such a lush package, the colours are fantastic and the use of cursive text to frame the drawings are phenomenal. It's unique and beautiful. Our discussion would have been quite short as we would most likely only talked about how much we enjoyed the book, except that we had the chance to welcome Julie Delporte to discuss her latest English book. She gracefully joined our group for an evening to talk about the book and provide us with perspectives on her process, loneliness, illness, her diary style and the difficulties of being an artist.

In tackling the topic of Electromagnetic Hypersensibility, Julie talks about illness, but also about loneliness. Our modern world encourages connectivity: Wi-Fi, radio, Bluetooth, infinite waves coursing through our homes, through our bodies, linking us instantly to each other. I look outside and I see them, I see these antennas, but I cannot feel them. But what if you were unable to cope with it. If you weren`t able to be in the modern world. Turning away from where you've been your whole life, in a world you can hardly escape, would be unbearable. Modernity being an unescapable reality and the present an unwelcome moment to be in. The future would be bleak. Her protagonist is going through this in a constant state of loneliness, unable to connect or be understood. She goes through an array of friends and acquaintances, never being fully engaged.

This loneliness is also reflected in the form of the book. A diary, a journal, is something one keeps for themselves, not meant to be shared. It is a lonesome endeavor, which, just like the magnetic waves, is something that isn't seen. Delporte's protagonist keeps this diary as she goes through this illness and expresses, day by day, the toll it takes on her and how she copes with it.

Julie was kind enough to talk about the creation of the book. Everywhere Antennas was conceived as part of a "24 hour comics challenge". She came up with the first chapter and liked it enough that she wanted to expand on it. However, the form it was going to take wasn't exactly as clear as she originally thought. Conflicted between the idea of keeping her work in color and doing it in a more standard comic style (black and white, with panels and speech bubbles) she experimened with the form. This experiment eventually became the third chapter of the book. She discovered she preferred to keep the style consistent throughout and finished the book in color. Although the Black & White chapter clashed with style of the rest of the book, she was able to integrate it. It is not, however, an unusual graft. It serves a story purpose. It is the only part of the book that involves a discussion between the protagonist and a friend. It breaks from the diary format, who was colorful and introspective to a black, white and grey, which has a more severe and stern feel to it reflecting the bleakness of human interaction. It is grey because it doesn't come from the self. The final chapters return to a diary format with colours. And something phenomenal also happens as we move through the book. Julie's art gradually evolves. You can actively track her progress as Julie grows into her artistic skill and technique throughout the book. And the most incredible thing is that it fits with the protagonist`s state of mind as she also gets progressively better as time goes by. Julie Delporte may have delivered the best constructed comic our group has read so far.

Why a diary? Because, as Julie Delporte graciously mentioned, the diary form is the closest reflection of reality she can get to. The comic book language works well, but as she tried to illustrate feelings, the traditional comic book style - the speech bubbles, the panels, the grid, all of those - got in the way of what she was trying to express. Panels are not lifelike enough for what she was trying to accomplish. You can hardly express loneliness when your figures are surrounded by lines or narration box. And the colours were needed as they reflected the feelings of her protagonist. They are never completely clear. There are so many shades of blue in the sky, yet if we were to convey it on a page from memory alone, I doubt we would be able to reflect just how many colors that represents. In a sense, the colours become a way to inbue the text with emotions, while trying to reflect both the reality of the protagonist, and the impossibilty of capturing this reality.

We were able to gain a thorough understanding of Julie Delporte's work by the end of our meeting. It was a very humbling and phenomenal experience to meet a comic creator of this caliber. Although I won't proclaim that we all thought Everywhere Antennas was a masterpiece, we all realized we were facing something incredibly unique. We were particularly grateful for the opportunity to discuss it with Julie. We can only hope that our future comics landscape includes her work, whatever shape it may take. I for one am eagerly awaiting her next work.

Merci Julie, nous espérons que ta carrière sois longue et fructueuse et que tu puisse poursuivre les opportunités qui te plaisent.

Follow Julie Delporte on Tumblr or read her blog.
Everywhere Antennas is published by Drawn & Quarterly 

Book Club Report: A Discussion with Pascal Girard on Petty Theft

The Comic book book club we belong to is an interesting group. We all like reading, but for each member, reading the same book brings a multitude of different interpretations, especially with regards to the subtlety imbued by the particular language of the book. We’re located in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, and live in a bilingual environment. Almost 40% of the city’s inhabitants are bilingual. English isn’t even my first language, it’s French. Most of us are working, living and reading in both languages.

The book club met to discuss Petty Theft, as we normally do every month. There usually is a sense of fun and anticipation before the meetings. We’ve had a month with our book, we`ve each read it and have had an appropriate amount of time to think about it. This month our discussions proved to be especially significant as it was a special event for the Ottawa Comic Book Book Club: we had the pleasure of welcoming Pascal Girard to discuss his newest graphic novel Petty Theft. He gracefully accepted to join us for an evening to talk about his book, his characters, his process, language, family and construction work.

Pascal is a French-Canadian cartoonist. His Tumblr bio informs us that he was born in Jonquière, in Saguenay (the town with one of the weirdest mayors in Canada, Jean Tremblay). He loves drawing and running and he's in love. This biography relates to the themes of his newest English book Petty Theft. Pascal has written more books in French such as Conventum, Jimmy et le bigfoot, Paresse, as well as some other collaboration work and children's books. Three of his French books have been published in English through Drawn & Quarterly.

Language

Language was at the forefront of our minds when we met with Pascal. We were all very eager to discuss how Pascal's writing may be influenced by language. He mentioned that while he didn't think it affected his first translated book, as he hadn't even considered it, it certainly had while writing this book. It may not have been a conscious consideration, but more as a result of integration and internalizing the idea of a second language and a wider audience for his books.

The title is also quite surprising as Petty Theft is actually called La collectioneuse in French. We noticed it did affect our reading of the book. The English title immediately frames the girl as a thief. It leaves little doubt to interpret her actions. She steals, and therefore is a thief. However, the French title leaves room for more ambiguity. She is a collector. Her actions, although criminal, are somewhat more justifiable as she is not framed as a thief from the get go. Pascal did explain that there was a long process with Drawn & Quarterly to determine the best translation for the title. Choosing to translate word for word "collector" wasn't as close to "collectioneuse" and therefore wasn't as meaningful. In the end, Petty Theft was selected and only those few who know the two titles can determine how this affects them.

Pascal & Kids

Fatherhood is also an underlying theme in this book, not by showing exactly what it meant for the protagonist, but by providing clues into his thoughts. The main protagonist panics and is uncomfortable in the presence of children. Although this doesn't reflect the values of the author, it does affect how we can interpret his character. We have a man who, underneath the pretense of finding his way and true love, doesn't really see a relationship evolving to the stage of parenthood. Now this could be a choice, but when we add the facts that he aims to right the wrongs of the thief, it reveal a very selfish character.

Mental VS Physical labour

The book begins when the main character falls and gets injured while he is out for a run. Forbidden from running, down on his luck and with a broken heart (his girlfriend and him having just broken up), he ends up also reinventing his career. He stops drawing and goes back to construction work. This created an interesting parallel between the physical labour of construction and the mental (and creative) labour typically associated with art. The protagonist`s body having changed, so must his psyche. This created yet another layer in a seemingly easy-to-classify character.

By the end of our meeting, we gained perspective on a multitude of topics: language, fatherhood, characterization, etc. Pascal Girard helped us gain some perspective on Petty Theft and unlock elements which revealed further interpretations and depth to the story. There was so much more to discuss and some of my fellow book club members may wish to add to this in the comments, but we all felt tremendously satisfied reading this book. We'd highly recommend it. 

Reflections on Guy Delisle's Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City

Magnificient city

I brought Guy Delisle's Jerusalem: Chronicle from the Holy City along for my summer vacation in San Francisco. This book was my first exposure to Quebec cartoonist and travelogue master Guy Delisle. I like the style and musings of Delisle who seems interested in writing about dangerous or controversial locations (Pyongyang in Korea, Shenzhen). It makes for riveting literature. 

The basic premise of Jerusalem is that Delisle's wife works for Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders), which is referred throughout the book as MSF. She gets posted in Jerusalem for a year and Guy, her husband, can keep his career as a cartoonist there as well. They are bringing the kids with them and will build their life there for one year. Delisle chronicles through his book the contrast between the Holy and the Secular, the modern and the traditional and also, the private and the political. 

Delisle uses a "Slice of life"  as an easy way to explain the woes of modern day life in Jerusalem. He manages to simply explain the complex environment by relating his experiences there on a very personal level while trying to stay open minded and objective. A profound respect for the city and its inhabitant is found on every single panel (except maybe when he have some petty issues with some residents). 

His presence in Jerusalem manages to raise some interesting questions, such as how to balance family life and career. We see the multiple schedules he has to keep, the distances, and the issues that arise from trying to keep it all going. Traveling in the city on a day-to-day basis becomes the source of many headaches with the blockades always in the back of one`s mind, so are traffic jams and which neighbourhood to visit and when. 

Delisle also forces you to think about how to find compromises when everyone seemingly holds the truth. Jerusalem is a city of many faiths and many beliefs. It is a challenge to determine common grounds, yet Jerusalem`s inhabitants manage to do so every day, which is exceptional. 

Delisle's art remains simple throughout the book. This appears to be his regular style and it works perfectly with the subject of the book. Jerusalem is such a complex city; it's geography, politics and culture are so rich, so dense, that the simple art style creates a welcoming contrast. 

Although this book appears intimidating for both its length and subject matter, I would recommend it in a heartbeat. Delisle crafts a riveting tale of life amidst an incredible, if somewhat complicated, city. Regardless of your faith and opinion on the conflict, everyone can appreciate the author's account.