Call for manuscripts– International Journal of Canadian Studies, Special issue no. 64 (May 2026) on expansion and internationalization of comics produced in Canada
Next to its general call for manuscripts, the International Journal of Canadian Studies is seeking original submissions for its no. 64 special issue to be published in May 2026, as we invited two guest editors to supervise the thematic issue: Jean Sébastien (Collège de Maisonneuve, Québec) et Chris Reyns-Chikuma (University of Alberta).
The International Journal of Canadian Studies is a long-running interdisciplinary journal dedicated to examining Canada from the fields of the arts, literature, geography, history, native studies, social and political sciences, supported by the International Council for Canadian Studies. The peer-reviewed bilingual journal is published by the University of Toronto Press. The Journal publishes articles under its varia and thematical sections.
This special issue welcomes original articles discussing the theme of “Expansion and internationalization of comics produced in Canada”.
Canadian-produced comics have grown strongly in this country over the past thirty years (Postema and Lesk 2020, Falardeau 2020), joining the revival of the medium during this period (Denson et al. 2013). Now well-established publishing houses (notably Drawn & Quarterly, La Pastèque, Conundrum Press, Pow Pow, Highwater Press, Glénat Québec) put out several titles each year, some in English, others in French.
During the same period, we saw the publication of a large number of comics by Indigenous artists in Canada, including a few titles that are, at least in some sequences, in the languages of these artists. All in all, we can see this as a situation conducive to the development of cultural transfers (Spain 2012) between the various nations in Canada. So, for example, we’re trying to understand to what extent these transfers in publishing reflect certain Canadian, Quebecois or Indigenous values, such as multiculturalism, interculturalism or a certain imaginary of the great outdoors.
Authors have seized on all genres: those more traditionally associated with the ninth art, such as humor or super-heroism, as well as those hitherto little exploited in comics, such as life stories (Rifkind and Warley 2016), essays (Henry 2022) or historical narratives (Lesk 2010). Added to this is the creation of local manga, such as the Dramacon series (Tokyopop) by Svetlana Chmakova or Les élus Eljun (Michel Quintin éditeur) by Jean-François Laliberté and Sacha Lefebvre, works whose very existence demonstrates Japanese soft power in a cultural perspective.
Publishing houses’ strategies for promoting authors outside Canada differ according to their original and target markets. While English-language publishers naturally focus on the North American market, sometimes with separate distributors for Canada and the U.S., French-language publishers target the demographically more limited Quebec and Franco-Canadian markets, and for publishers with larger catalogs, Europe, with a specific distributor for this market. Added to this is co-publishing work, notably between Pow Pow and L’Association, which also leads to new opportunities (Reyns-Chikuma, Rheault and Sébastien, 2023).
The development of cross-media projects is another aspect of this expansion, especially as companies based in several countries play a central role in video game development and animation production. Creations that migrate from comics to animation (Scott Pilgrim, The Clockwork Girl, Red Ketchup, Kagagi: The Raven) or vice versa (Totally Spies) are all examples of the internationalization of creative work in which Canadian artists are taking part. The same applies to game development, with adaptations of works for young people (Scott Pilgrim again, but also Agent Jean and Les Dragouilles).
A series of questions emerge, which our special issue will seek to answer:
- What respective roles do artists, publishers, distribution companies and critics play in cultural transfers?
- How do Canadian and Quebec cultural diplomacies work to disseminate works that give a certain representation of Canada? of official languages? of the presence of Indigenous cultures? of the nation’s multicultural or intercultural character, as the case may be?
- How does online publishing modify the relationship between the different cultures present in Canada?
- Does the fact that artists earn their living by dividing their time between creating books and working in animation or game studios encourage the transfer of practices between mediums? Is it conducive to international exchanges?
- What impact does the near-cult of “authorship” in the French-speaking world have on the possibilities for wider distribution of works?
- What impact does the sale of rights for transmedia projects have on the world of Canadian comics publishing?
Bibliography:
- DENSON, Shane et al. 2013. Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
- ESPAGNE, Michel. 2012. “La Notion de Transfert Culturel.” Revue Sciences/Lettres, no. 1 (April).
- FALARDEAU, Mira. 2020. L’art de la bande dessinée actuelle au Québec. Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval.
- HENRY, Wilson. 7 février 2022. “Drawing Things Together.” The Signal.
- LESK, Andrew. 2010. Redrawing nationalism: Chester Brown’s Louis Riel: a comic-strip biography. Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics. 1 (1), 63-81.
- POSTEMA, Barbara et Andrew Lesk. 2020. “What Happens Next? The Young Canadians.” Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics. 11 (5–6): 496–500.
- REYNS-CHIKUMA, Chris, Jean Sébastien, et Sylvain Rheault (Guest editors). 2023. Numéro spécial: “Beyond the Two Solitudes: Cultural Transfer in the World of Comics and bandes dessinées”, American Review of Canadian Studies, volume 53, no 3.
- RIFKIND, Candida et Linda Warley. 2016. Canadian Graphic: Picturing Life Narratives. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Submissions:
Submissions (6,000 to 8,000 words plus two summaries in English and French) answering our thematic call for papers, are welcome as well as other articles in connection with Canadian Studies in general from a range of disciplines and perspectives including, but not restricted to political studies, international relations literatures and the arts, history, native studies, sociology and anthropology.
Submissions in French or English can be uploaded on our portal from September 2025 to 05 December 2025.
To prepare and submit your submission, follow the “Guideline for authors” on our website.
Questions regarding the special topic can be addressed to the guest editors: Jean Sébastien: jsebastien[at]cmaisonneuve.qc.ca and Chris Reyns-Chikuma: reynschi[at]ualberta.ca
All articles will undergo double-blind peer review.