Hey everyone, how's it going? I hope you're having a lovely summer with an abundance of ice cream sandwiches. As for me, my jogging season, which started off so well, is on hold because of a possible case of plantar fasciitis that came out of nowhere. Apparently, running constantly on inclines is hard on the feet...

Recap'

Post-Comiccon observation: people have no money sad horn. It had been three years since I'd last tabled at the Montreal convention, and while I'm incredibly grateful to have been invited, I felt we were a little forgotten, way out at the far end of the exhibition hall. Those who made it to the the guest artists had either exhausted themselves or their budgets. Clearly, the post-Covid frenzy is over, and a loaf of bread now costs six dollars. Nevertheless, I'm delighted and honored to have shared a table with my two comrades from Pupilles; we did good on hyping the book, and for that, it was worth it.

Also: we got the book, I held it in my hands and it is a thing of BEAUTY.

Speaking of bread, I'm back full-time on L’heure du lunch and I'm having a lot of fun. I don't know my final page count yet, but I estimate I'm about halfway through the writing/layout phase. Which has taken me TWO YEARS. 0.0 What's unusual about this project is the insane amount of research for facts that are, all things considered, rather insignificant. It takes me four seconds to write my dialogue and half an hour to check which of the Kraft brothers is credited, patents and all, for inventing the sliced cheese machine . Anyway. I can't wait to do more drawing and less Wikipedia. There are still some good sequences emerging from all this!

I almost tripped over a raccoon in broad daylight (no joke, we were both startled) on my way back from a run on Mount Royal. If it had been Jimothy, the wonderful half-raccoon who’s all over the internet, it wouldn't have happened. I drew Jim Motté, his hypothetical Montreal cousin, and I think it's one of my favorite doodles of the year.

Announcements

PUPILLES VOLUME 1 IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! (in French)

2070. Financial crises, widespread automation, a series of bankruptcies; the Americas have changed. For the citizens of Canada and the northern United States who form the Northern Alliance, but also for the southern American states torn apart by civil war, finance and gambling have become the primary means of getting rich. People bet on everything now: the outcome of elections, war, sports, reality TV, and, of course... video games.

To prove that her brother's death wasn't in vain, Cameron Pilot hopes to become a Warden champion. To achieve this, she must be selected by Pupilles, an intensive Northern Alliance program that trains young talents to become professional gamers.

Le regroupement pour l'art humain encourages you to buy a Quebec book written/illustrated by a real, living person this August 12th. They maintain a list of publishers who have publicly opposed the use of generative tools in books. Make sure your money goes to humans (like... us) and not American tech companies!

Big summer sale in my shop! I've restocked my comics (Utown, Hiver Nucléaire, and the first chapter of Pupilles), so I'm resuming sales of signed comics. I've also added new prints and my three art books in digital format. At the risk of repeating myself, my shop allows me to stay afloat when event sales are down. Go check it out! The code SUMMERSALE26 will give you 15% off all prints at checkout. Thanks!

The Cab Post is and ALWAYS be free. If you like what I do, visit my online shop, which contains signed books, art prints, stickers and fanzines. You can also leave a contribution of your choice on Patreon, which will give you access to tons of exclusive posts. This newsletter is made by hand, for humans; each share, subscription, purchase or contribution is immensely appreciated.

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• Online shop

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Cool stuff

Saw Tight Lettuce at Fantasia. An odd bilingual film about a father-son relationship overshadowed by drug addiction. Emmanuel Bilodeau's fantastic performance does a lot of heavy lifting. I also saw Backrooms and yeah, it scared the shit out of me.

Feeling blue? Watch this video of two young teenagers skating around in New York without adult supervision. Their friendship will heal your soul. Bonus points: the accents.

I already greatly admired Cory Doctorow the journalist and activist, but I now have an even greater appreciation for Cory Doctorow the science fiction author. I have finished reading Radicalized, a collection of four stories that could happen tomorrow, and I actually liked it more than I expected. The idea of ​​having to jailbreaker your connected toaster sent me into a spiral of existential dread.

Congratulations to Petra Nordlund for winning an Eisner for best webcomic! Petra’s Prague Race was a huge influence when I started comics and I’m over the moon that her comic Tiger, Tiger won the prize. She’s an outstanding draftsman (drafstwoman?) and the ease she displays when drawing expressions or gigantic 3-mast ships is humbling. 

Cool artist: The current run of Nancy by Caroline Cash is phenomenal.

We know where hyperindividualism has taken our politics: to a place where humans and the design of policies and services for them take a back seat to perpetual conflict. 

Anne Lutz Fernandez, Japan’s design for Humans.