Fiona Smyth’s new graphic novel launches with RM Vaughan interview, live performance, and drawings/comic jam.
Readers, writers, and artists celebrate the debut of Fiona Smyth’s first graphic novel for young readers, The Never Weres (Annick Press), as art critic for the Globe and Mail, RM Vaughan joins author and illustrator Fiona Smyth for a conversation about her vivid career. Audience members of all ages are invited to grab Sharpies and doodle a panel for the event’s collective drawings/comics jam and watch as narrators bring a chapter of The Never Weres to life against a changing backdrop of the book’s illustrations.
Sunday, March 13
The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom
1214 Queen Street West
Doors open at 2 pm; Event starts at 2:30 pm
$5 or Free with book purchase
I have been watching, collecting, writing about, and loving Fiona's work for 20 years. “The Never Weres” is the latest installment in a long, beautifully strange career.
– R.M. Vaughan, the Globe and Mail art critic
THE NEVER WERES: Cartoonist Fiona Smyth shares the story about three teens who become humanity’s only hope for survival in this science fiction, fantasy graphic novel.
Late in the next century, the human race is on the verge of extinction. A mysterious virus has resulted in no births in almost a generation. Despite the impending doom, three urban teenagers try to live their lives with hope.
Mia strives to preserve humanity’s compassion through her art and her volunteer work with the “oldies.” Tech-savvy Xian spends her time tinkering with the robots she’s sure will inherit the earth. Jesse, the son of geneticists, is convinced the future lies with cloning, but society is reeling from the grotesque failures of previous attempts. When the friends stumble upon the 60-year-old mystery of a missing girl, it leads them to the world’s only successful clone—and the key to saving our species.
As graphic novels continue to increase in popularity, this story uses the form to its best advantage in depicting a dystopian future as visually detailed as it is emotionally rich. Fiona Smyth’s energetic, hip illustration style will appeal to kids while the gripping narrative will keep them breathless to the very last page. For more information about the book, visit www.theneverweres.blogspot.com.
