2026 Montreal Comic Arts Festival in review

Inservice Comics is a small press located in Winnipeg — the geographical centre of Canada. They publish limited run graphic novels, anthologies, comics, and zines with a focus on queer and disabled creators. Founded in 2022 by Winnipeg’s favourite visual artist (Uniter readers poll 2024) Nicholas Friesen, Inservice has released three anthologies featuring creators from around the globe, a handful of OGNs, and two comic series.

Shannon Long is a queer freelance artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. After 12+ years of working as a video game artist, she left steady work and reliable pay cheques behind to follow artistic dreams and creative freedom. Shannon uses her freedom to create artwork that connects with her communities, with a focus on murals and comics.

Nadim Mahi Bahi is a local comic book artist who writes and illustrates his independent publications out of Montreal.

Keenan Poloncsak is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in illustration and traditional bookbinding. He is especially known for his graphic novels, comics and children’s books which he writes, illustrates, self-publishes and often binds himself.

&rew .K. is a Canadian cartoonist and storyboard artist. He got his start in animation by working on the Total Drama Island series, where his strange humor had a place to blossom. When he is not busy drawing weird stuff, he likes rollerblading and computer programing as a hobby. (Though he’s mostly drawing all the time.) Chicken Man is his first graphic novel series and has been a passion project of his since he was 8-years old.

S.P. Marion is a passionate comic book writer, born in 1974 and originally from Sorel-Tracy. He leads the graphic novel adaptations of the popular Les Contes Interdits series, published by Éditions ADA. He stands out in the comic book world by combining discipline, creativity, and a strong sense of storytelling. In 2023, he co-founded Ancre Noire, a company dedicated to the publishing and production of graphic novels. As lead writer, he ensures the narrative consistency of the entire collection by overseeing the tone, pacing, and dramatic impact of each graphic novel.

Local Canadian artist creating self published works. This year, he’s selling his newest issue of Miss Peppermint’s Tea Time Adventures.

Jeremy loves making comics, illustrations, pins, paintings, and art in general As an illustrator, Jeremy was fortunate enough to meet someone who matched his passion for comics and manga, Jesse Williams, and who offered to make one with him. Since then they’ve completed their ambitious comic, Fyre, and have both started working on their our own solo work too stuff too.

Jerome Gagnon is a comic book letterer and graphic designer from Montreal. He’s been lettering comics actively for the past 8 years and working as a graphic designer in the print industry for over 25 years. He was nominated for a Ringo Award in 2023 for his lettering work on Granite State Punk (Scout Comics) and also for Best Anthology for Cthulhu Invades Wonderland (Orange Cone Productions) and in 2025 for Best Presentation in Design (Coins of Judas). His other lettering jobs vary from kids’ books to horror. He has lettered superhero books for Action Lab and Advent Comics, been part of Mike Wieringo’s Tellos Tribute, as well as fundraising anthologies. His other work has been published in Assassin’s Creed: Visionaries (Massive Publishing), Dead Kingdom (Red 5 Comics), Coins of Judas (Band of Bards), and Caffeinated Hearts (Source Point Press). He created the anthology series Holiday Spirits and has participated in over 50 successful Kickstarter campaigns.

Marc Michaud is a comic artist and writer living in Gatineau, Quebec with his partner, two kids a bird and two cats. Having studied Fine Art in Edmonton, and bande dessinée in Gatineau his goal was always to draw comics. Partnering with his brother Daniel, he started HOME comics with a first publication in Malaysia in 2017 and now published in North America by Lev Gleason/New Friday. His contribution to HOME, called ARC29 was nominated for an independent English Bedelys award in 2020 and won in 2022. ARC29 was also awarded best sci-fi minicomic by the Salt&Honey podcast in 2022.

Aaron Navrady graduated from the Alberta College of Art & Design (now AUarts) in 2002. His most recent self-published comics project is The Cold Fire, a medieval epic about a Norman Crusader who joins a company of knights tasked with pursuing heretics across the Alps during the Albigensian Crusade. It can be found at thecoldfire.com. Aaron has also created short stories for Renegade Arts & Entertainment (Home Anthology), Nelson Education (on the history of the Grey Cup), BionX (power-assist bicycles), BeatRoute magazine and various short travel stories for Top Shelf 2.0 (along with a plethora of other art projects). Based in Calgary, Alberta, Aaron is a proud member of Panel One and former Art Director of the Panel One Comic Arts Festival (panelone.ca). Find his work and socials at aaronnavrady.com

A graphic designer by day and comic book artist by night, Etienne Derepentigny is a Quebecois comic book enthusiast and creator. After studying art and graphic design, Etienne began freelancing for independent comic book publishers to gain recognition, until he had the opportunity to partner with Red 5 Comics to publish his first graphic novel, Dead Kingdom. His work is now widely published by numerous publishers as he continues to work on the next chapter of his series.

Steph Dumais is a Quebec-based publisher and creator, and founder of Bloody Gore Comix. For the past 15 years, he has been developing an independent publishing line focused on horror, gore and transgressive comics. With over 20 titles published, his work reflects an uncompromising approach, situated at the crossroads of the underground scene and the international market.

Kitten Coast is an ongoing comic series by Toronto-based artist Britt Saunders that follows the offbeat adventures of three misfit friends: Former D-list celebrity Kitt as he clings to any form of relevancy, freeloading and free-spirited Wilbur, and the slightly corrupt Frugg, with his never-ending supply of fraudulent business schemes. Together, this unlikely trio are brought together by their shared desire for greatness, and their wildly incompetent plans to achieve it. Since its debut in 2023, multiple issues of collected works have been self-published, as well as the short story comics ‘Free Pizza’ and ‘Killer Trip’. Kitten Coast’s first graphic novel All Frugg’d Up was released in June 2025.

Dany Di Salvo, a.k.a. Dany Darkly, is a storyboard artist and comic creator based in Montreal. Her previous and most well-known works include two popular animatics on YouTube: Wolf Song (Coloured Animatic) and Heidi (Grimes – Oblivion Fan Animation). In 2020, Dany decided to finally try her hand at webcomic-making by turning Wolf Song into a short-series webtoon titled Red & Wolf.

Cecil Castellucci is the award winning and New York Times Bestselling author of books and graphic novels for young adults including Shade, The Changing Girl, Boy Proof, The Plain Janes, Soupy Leaves Home, The Year of the Beasts, Tin Star, Female Furies et Odd Duck. In 2015 they co-authored Star Wars Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure. She has also written Batgirl for DC Comics. Their newest graphic novel is Shifting Earth out on Dark Horse Comics. Her short stories and short comics have been published in Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and many other anthologies. In a former life, she was known as Cecil Seaskull in the ‘90s indie band Nerdy Girl. She has written three opera librettos Les Aventures de Madame Merveille (World Premiere in 2010) Hockey Noir: The Opera (World Premiere 2018) and Metternich! The Language of Flowers (World Premiere 2021). They are a two-time MacDowell Fellow and the recipient of a Fulbright to Denmark in 2023. Born in NYC and a former Angeleno, they now live in Montreal.

Comix Asylum Publishing Inc., led by Steve Bynoe, strives to create inclusive, dynamic and thought provoking content that entertains and connects with a wide range of audiences. In 2014, Comix Asylum began as an interactive magazine exploring the world of comic books and geek culture. Comics have always been a passion. From spinner racks of days long gone to interviewing some of the industry’s greats, the drive to create comic books has always been at the core of everything they do. Nearly a decade later, their love for the comic book medium reached a new plateau with the successful crowdfunding campaign and publication of Atrium #1 from Comix Asylum Publishing. Atrium is just the beginning and they look forward to delivering diverse, entertaining and poignant stories that will inspire current and future readers.

Marc “Cac” Roy is the creator (writer/artist) of The Misfits: 3 Strips From Hell (2021), a humour/horror anthology starring Glenn Danzig, singer of the legendary punk rock band. His latest project is the 4-part war comedy Donazi Trümpf (2022-2025). He lives and works in Montreal.

Based in Montreal, Karima Lacroix is an illustrator and graphic novel author. Her work explores illustration as a tool for introspective and emotional storytelling. Through her illustrations and graphic narratives, she addresses themes of nostalgia, identity, and transformation. In 2025, she self-published her first graphic novel in French, Les pieds d’Isadora.

Irma Kniivila is an artist working primarily in comics. She is creator of the ongoing series The Crosswind Cafe, illustrator for the Fluffle Bunnies series (Tundra), and co-creator of Everyday Hero Machine Boy (Skybound). Irma also works as an illustrator and storyboard artist, and has done colour work for Marvel, DC and Boom! Studios.

Matthew Daley is a digital illustrator based out of Toronto Canada where he shares a house with his librarian wife and their cats Geri Sizzler and Jerry Sizzler. A graduate of Sheridan College’s Interpretive Illustration Program, Daley has had work featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and Toronto Star. In addition, he has designed posters for music acts such as Devo and The New Pornographers, Canada’s Polaris Music Prize and for Toronto’s Revue Cinema. Daley’s book of wordless comics Assorted Baggage was published by Black Eye Books in 2022 and was nominated for a Doug Wright Award in 2023.

Joy San is an illustrator and cartoonist based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. She writes and draws comics and creates illustrations. Her work focuses on narrative and story featuring surreal themes that straddle the line between disturbing and funny.

Winter Wei is a Toronto-based cartoonist and illustrator. Winter’s comics span multiple genres including speculative short stories, slices of life, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and journalism comics. Her comic has appeared in Crucial Comix. Before committing to making comics, Winter worked as a UX design leader in tech for over a decade. When she’s not making comics, you can find Winter making dumplings or playing the cello.

Jon Claytor is a graphic novelist and artist based in Sackville, New Brunswick. His new graphic novel, Nowhere (Goose Lane, 2026), is a fictional graphic novel about growing up among monsters in a small maritime town. Take The Long Way Home, his memoir, was published by Conundrum Press in 2022. In addition to writing graphic novels, Jon has written many illustrated interviews for the CBC and for the new online resource hub, RuralHarmReduction.com. Jon enjoys teaching creative workshops for a variety of audiences focusing on storytelling and comic memoirs.

Jono Doion grew up in Nova Scotia during the animation renaissance of the 1990’s which fueled his obsession with cartoons. His grandfather was also an artist and his first mentor. He would pursued art as a career and initially was his desire to become a comic strip artist. Jono went to College in NBCC Miramichi to study fine arts (life drawing, painting and sculpture) and 2D hand drawn animation. He worked as an animator, illustrator and painter. Since 2009, he exhibited work in galleries, art fairs and conventions. He’s also curated group shows over the years. At last in 2024, he fulfilled his dream of self-publishing his first comic book.

Elisabeth Belliveau (she/her) is a visual artist and author, a descendant of Acadian, Scottish and Irish settlers. Originally from Antigonish, NS. Belliveau holds a BFA from AU Arts and an MFA from Concordia University. Her studio is currently based in Treaty Six, Amiskwacîwâskahikan, Edmonton AB, where she is an Associate Professor of Studio Arts at MacEwan University. Birth Story is her fifth graphic novel. Alongside zine and book work, Belliveau’s art practice engages moving image and sculpture through stop-motion animation, lenticular prints, film, and mobiles. Dedicated to sharing women’s stories, she employs diaristic and narrative approaches linking the personal and political. Belliveau has attended art residencies across Turtle Island, including Struts, KIAC, WSW NY, NFB/ONF, Banff Centre for the Arts, and abroad in Belgium and Japan.

Sweeney Boo is a comic artist, illustrator and writer who works with various publishers including BOOM! Studios, Archie Comics, Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW, Marvel, Image, DC Comics and more. She is also the author of graphic novels Eat, & Love Yourself, Over My Dead Body and is the artist of the Harley Quinn: Girl in a Crisis run written by Tini Howard. The second installment of her witchy graphic novel titled Speak of the Devil came out March 2026.

Patrick Allaby lives in Sackville, NB, in the Siknikt district of Mi’kma’ki and works as a library assistant. He is the author of six graphic novels. His book Customer Service won the 2025 Pigskin Peters Award, the Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro- press book. His work explores illness and consumerism.

Derek Laufman has been a professional comic artist and illustrator for 25 years and resides In London, Ontario. He studied classical animation at Sheridan College, and for several years now Derek has been drawing and creating his own comics and graphic novels including Ruinworld, Bot-9, The Witch of Wickerson and his newest series Crimson Fall. Derek is also a freelance illustrator who has worked with Marvel, DC, DreamWorks, TOPPS, Hasbro, Mattel and the new artist on Skottie Young’s I HATE FAIRYLAND from IMAGE COMICS.

Ricky Lima likes to make comic books, tell good stories, and help people. Sometimes those are all the same thing. Ricky’s latest graphic novel is entitled Undergrowth.