I’ve placed four new pins on Calgary’s digital literary map – all of them involving people who use pictures to tell stories, and a comic book store that operated in a long-gone heritage building downtown.
Marvel’s “Shootout at the Stampede!” May 1, 1979 (image via xmenpodcast.com)
Alberta University of the Arts (formerly known as ACAD)
Celebrated comic book writer and artist John Byrne (1950-) grew up in Calgary and attended art college here in the early 1970s. According to a 2006 profile in Swerve Magazine, Byrne spent his time at art college wearing a cape, “crusading against art elitists,” and creating a superhero parody for SAIT’s student newspaper.
A decade after leaving Calgary, Byrne launched Alpha Flight, a Canadian superhero series for Marvel Comics. In 1983, the series touched down in Calgary for an issue called “Shootout at the Stampede!” along with the character Shaman, a doctor from the Tsuut’ina Nation bordering Calgary. (You’ll find a pin at the Stampede Grounds for John Byrne, too.)
Also at AUA: award-winning illustrator and graphic novelist Jillian Tamaki studied Visual Communication Design here (more on Tamaki below).
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn (Photo: mcfarlane.com)
William Aberhart High School
Comic book creator and writer Todd McFarlane (1961-) started drawing comic-book characters while attending William Aberhart High School in the late 1970s. His character Spawn took shape in those early doodles. In the 1990s while working on Marvel Comics Spider-Man, McFarlane updated Spawn and unleashed his violent anti-hero into the world.
Jillian Tamaki’s 2014 graphic novel This One Summer
Lake Bonavista
Jillian Tamaki (1980-) grew up in Lake Bonavista and graduated from E. P. Scarlett High School in the late 1990s where she created zines for fun. As a student at ACAD (now Alberta University of the Arts), Tamaki became interested in alternative and indie comics. She has published several books, won two Governor General’s Literary Awards and a Caldecott Honor. Tamaki’s work has appeared in many publications including The Walrus, The New Yorker and The New York Times.
"Cartoon from the 'Calgary Eye Opener', Calgary, Alberta.", 1916-07-08, (CU1155007) by Unknown. Courtesy of Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
Crown Block – 709 1st SE (now Telus Convention Centre)
In the early 1980s, Dreamland Comics operated in the Crown Block, the building that stood on this site until it was demolished in 1997. Illustrious Calgary journalist Bob Edwards briefly operated his satiric weekly the Calgary Eye Opener here around 1907, often featuring cartoons.