The Graphic Novelists issue celebrates the work of some of Canada’s most talented and influential graphic novelists:
The four stamps highlight acclaimed novels by each author, who created original illustrations for their stamp designs that show the main characters engrossed in their own stories.
Each booklet of 8 Permanent™ stamps in the Graphic Novelists issue includes two of each of the four designs in the set.
Among Canada’s most talented and influential graphic novelists, Chester Brown, Michel Rabagliati, Seth, and Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki deftly interweave words and illustrations in their award-winning works.
These stamps – featuring an acclaimed novel by each author – show the main characters engrossed in their own stories through original illustrations created by the novelists themselves.
Chester Brown
Fascinated by cartooning as a child, Chester Brown (b. 1960 in Montréal, Quebec) set his sights on a career as a comic book artist when he was in his teens. The pioneering and influential cartoonist began self-publishing in 1983 and soon attracted a cult following for his deeply personal comic strips. Brown received the first Canada Council for the Arts grant awarded to his genre, for Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography (2003). Critically and commercially acclaimed for its powerful, minimalist style, the story of the enigmatic Métis leader became the first graphic novel on a Canadian non-fiction best-seller list.
Michel Rabagliati
Michel Rabagliati (b. 1961 in Montréal, Quebec) was in his late 30s and working as a professional graphic designer when he switched gears to pursue his childhood love of comics. The result was an award-winning series of “altered autobiographies” about a middle-class graphic designer named Paul. Firmly rooted in Rabagliati’s home province and acclaimed for their honesty and authenticity, the 10 graphic novels follow the titular character through different stages of his life. Paul à Québec (2009) – later adapted into a movie – is a tender portrayal of Paul and his family as he struggles to cope with his father-in-law’s failing health.
Seth
An influential leader in the underground comic book movement, Seth (the pen name of Gregory Gallant, b. 1962 in Clinton, Ontario) spent much of his youth drawing comics and creating an inner fantasy world “where things were much more pleasant.” He attended the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University) and worked as a commercial artist before launching his Palookaville comics in 1991. Over the last 20 years of its run, the series told the story of two brothers struggling with the gradual demise of their family’s electric-fan business. Introspective and tinged with yearning for an earlier time, it was published as the award-winning graphic novel Clyde Fans in 2019.
Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki
Critically acclaimed for their individual and collaborative creations, cousins Jillian Tamaki (b. 1980 in Ottawa, Ontario) and Mariko Tamaki (b. 1975 in Toronto, Ontario) share a talent for nuance. Jillian’s skillful illustrations have appeared in everything from books and webcomics to animated television, while Mariko’s witty and insightful words have lent themselves to dozens of novels, short essays and comic books. This One Summer (2014) is the second prize-winning graphic novel that they co-created. The poignant tale of cottage friends Rose and Windy stumbling from innocence into adolescence, it was the first graphic novel to receive a Caldecott Honor (U.S.), which is awarded to the most distinguished children’s picture books.
The stamp booklet cover features a photograph of the spines of the four graphic novels whose main characters are featured on the stamps. The back features a short text on the issue.