Magic Pony welcomes Michael Comeau on Thursday, August 9th for a book signing of his award-winning comic book series, Hellberta, and a mind-bending art exhibition. Hellberta is a satirical series that pits Canada’s greatest superhero, Wolverine, against Stephen Harper in a quest for revenge. To find out more about the book signing and show, look on our website here, and RSVP on Facebook!

Michael Comeau is a Toronto-based artist who works in many different forms of media including screen-printed posters, hand bound artist books, and large collage murals. Comeau is a graduate from local Toronto art school, OCAD University where he focused on photography. After graduating, Comeau found early success and notoriety by illustrating and printing commissioned posters for many parties that were held along the Queen West strip including Vazaleen and Hump Day Bump. More recently Comeau  has been focusing on creating serialized artist books and comics. Last month, at the annual Toronto Comics Arts Festival, Comeau debuted the newest issue in his pseudo-parodistic-patriotic comic series entitled Hellberta. We got in touch with Michael and asked him to tell us a little more about this ongoing project.

You recently premiered the second issue in your 3-part Hellberta comic book series. Can you tell us about the series as a whole, and what you were specifically excited about with this new issue?

 The Hellberta series came into being on a drive west from Toronto to Vancouver in the summer of 2007 with my housemates from the Gloryhole punk house, Hunter, Agata, Felony the dog and I picked up Fancy who was tree planting on the west coast while Simone stayed home. Agata had never been west of Mississauga, both Hunter and Fancy were from Calgary and simultaneously felt the need to escape and nostalgic for the camaraderie they shared with the misfits that resisted the repression imposed there.  Everywhere on our journey we stay with former Calgarians. While scattered they felt bound by a notion of solidarity inspired by their resistance to the racism, sexism and homophobia from whence they came.

The first issue had a simple premise of addressing Canada’s most prominent shame the tar sands, with that area’s most popular mythology the X-man, Wolverine.  This is my notion of a late eighties Wolverine whose past was hazy and was found in the Rockies as a child most likely raised by wolverines.  This 44 page comic was to be the second half of an 88 page book that would begin with the landscape drawings done in car the summer of 2007.  

 Hellberta 2 is 60 pages and includes the carnet de voyage drawings from that initial trip.  Some pages correspond to anecdotes and progress thematically from the open road, moutain ranges, sinister city streets to the mouth of hell.  It ends with an east coast hoser riff on Wolverine and Puck as a Popeye and Wimpy/ Castor Oil.  This is a sort of thinking of identities of place also including that of a trajectory.  The migration of people from the maritimes to Ontario is one I am very familiar with.  A riff on the 70’s Canadian classic “Going Down the Road”.  What excited me most about the second issue was the collaging of Neil Young’s face into a Logan hair cut.  This was a break through in my thinking of Canadian identity.  Thinking of brilliant hosers like a Neil Young or Neil Peart who while at once sensitive and introspective are stubborn and aggressively humble.  They are ill at ease with the burden of fame and both speak with typical Canadian accents.

I think we are all familiar with that particular brand of vicious Canadian humility. I wanted to imbue a character with this in a way of coming to peace with this paradox within myself and my surroundings.  I also got really into the dot tone.  Most of the second colour breakdowns were bleeds of colour with the highlights drawn out that i had to turn into dot tone so as to appease Risograph registration quirks.  

The first issue of Hellberta was nominated and recognized by the Doug Wright Awards this year, can you explain what these awards are for anyone who might be unfamiliar, and how this recognition has either positively or negatively influenced the creation and distribution of Hellberta as a series?

Hellberta 1 won the Pigskin Peter award for experimental comics at the 2012 Doug Wright awards.  The Doug Wright awards sprang from the Toronto Comics Art Festival that I have tabled at since it’s inception in 2003.  It began as a simple idea to honour the work coming from Canada. Much like the growth of the festival, its importance has grown from the investment of passionate people. Brad Mackay directs an inspiring ceremony with great hosts and is imprinted with the aesthetic touch of Seth. It somewhat embodies some of his fantasies from his Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists.  I had always been excited for my friends who were nominated but had never been to the awards before.  i was surprised by the amount of people that knew of the nomination.

I felt a little like the underdog in a category with fantastic books from Temple Bates, Connor Williamson and Marc Bell. The award itself was designed by Seth, which included a plaque, a bowler hat and my book bound into a foil stamped hard cover. Seeing my skiddy little book bound so elaborately really drove home the imaginative alchemy of comic books as object. From ephemeral trash to treasure transformed by personal investment.  It was hilarious and awkward to hear my book that was essentially done on a whim described with critical authority.  I totally couldn’t listen to Jeet Heer when i was on stage I was panicking that my mouth was too dry to speak publicly.  Canadian cartoonists are the least qualified to accept awards it is very injurious to our modesty.  You can’t really fulfill Oscar-like elation for something that most of the audience hasn’t even looked at.  It was a great opportunity to thank the support that is given to me and just talk of the currents of comics I swim through in Toronto to encourage comic literacy like The Beguiling , the Toronto Public Library system and the phenomenon of the 50 cent bin.  You would be surprised the varied amount of inspiration that can be found for half a dollar, lowered expectations and suspension of mint bibliophilia.

As for the impact of this recognition it is mostly communicated on a one to one basis that anyone notices such things.  Perhaps it helped the already dwindling first printing to sell out exactly a year after its release.  Most importantly it renews commitment and vigour to sit at the drawing table.  On to the next, on to the next. 

You have printed both issues of Hellberta using a process that is becoming increasingly popular lately called risograph printing. Can you explain what this is and why exactly you chose to have your books printed using this unconventional method?

Both issues were printed on a Risograph machine by Jesjit Gill.  Koyama Press punlished the first issue the first and Jesjits new imprint Colour Code published the second issue. Risographs are similar to photocopiers but use a drum of colour to print, in lieu of black ink.  As technology from the late nineties, it is now “obsolete” enough to be affordable for independent printers like Colour Code.  From being a screen printer for over a decade, the economic restraints of my clients would often keep me working with two colour images.  In 2006 Jesjit interned for me for the summer and was able to flex his considerable book design talents. My screen print practice was punishing enough to give me tendonitis in both my forearms to the point of difficulty gripping a pencil.  Its been a couple years of rehabilitation to regain some kind of balance.  I’m not actively printing anymore so I appreciate creating content with the riso.  

Lastly, do you have any plans yet for Hellberta 3? When can your readers expect to see the next issue in this series?

I started writing Hellberta 3 while procrastinating between photocopy shops during the creation of issue 1.  It will include a cosplay photo comic that paradigm shifts to a Tijuana bible type thing.  Ingrid Bergman’s Persona to Popeye.  I’m hoping to finish it before next spring but that all depends on the kind of traction my other projects get so we’ll have to see.  It will complete the holy trinity.

We want to extend a big thank you  to Michael Comeau for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Click here to view Hellberta comics and artwork