Canadian Comics/version 1

Canadian Comics/version 1

Canadian comics are comics and cartooning by Canadian citizens regardless of residence, or permanent residents of Canada. Canada has two official languages and cultures, English and French, which have developed two distinct comics cultures. The English follows mostly American trends, and the French follows mostly Franco-Belgian trends, with little crossover between the two cultures. Canadian comics run the gamut of comics forms, including editorial cartooning, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels and webcomics, and are published in newspapers, magazines, online, and in books. They have received much critical acclaim in the international arts-comics community, and have received support from the federal and provincial governments, including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts. There are a number of comics publishers throughout the country, as well as large small press, self-publishing and minicomics communities.

In English Canada, many cartoonists, from Hal Foster to Todd MacFarlane, have sought to further their careers by moving to the US, while since the end of the 20th century, increasing numbers have managed to gain international attention while staying in Canada. During World War II, trade restrictions led to the flourishing of a local comic book industry, whose black-and-white "Canadian Whites" contained original stories of heroes like Nelvana of the Northern Lights, as well as American scripts redrawn by local artists. The War's end saw American imports and domestic censorship lead to the death of the industry. The Alternative and small press communities began to grow in the 1970s, and by the end of the century Dave Sim's Cerebus and Chester Brown's comics, amongst others, had gained international audiences and critical acclaim, and Drawn and Quarterly became a leader in arts-comics publishing. In the 21st century, comics, especially in the form of graphic novels or webcomics, have gained wider audiences and higher levels of recognition.

In French Canada, local comics are called BDQ or bande dessinée québécoise Cartoons with speech balloons in Québec date back at least as far as the late 1700s. BDQ have alternately flourished and languished throughout Québec's history, as it is hard for such a small market to compete with foreign imports. Many cartoonists from Québec have made their careers south of the border. Since the "Springtime of BDQ" in the 1970s, local comics magazines, like Croc and Safarir, and comics albums have become more common, although only making up 5% of total sales in the province. Since the turn of the 21st century, cartoonists such as Michel Rabagliati and the team of Dubuc and Delaf have seen international success in French-speaking Europe, as well as translations into other languages. Éditions Mille-Îles and La Pastèque are amongst the local publishers that have become increasingly common.