Seeing the number of quality comics published here in Quebec, one might be tempted to believe that this genre is dependent on a long and rich editorial tradition from here. However, anyone interested in the history of comics quickly realizes to what extent what we take for granted today was built not on a well-organized industry, but rather on taking risk with a countercultural flavor.
Efforts which ended up, thanks to a lot of hard work, leading to the appearance of publishing houses seriously dedicated to graphics at the turn of the 2000s. Frédéric Gauthier and Martin Brault, two ex-booksellers and founders from the publishing house La Pastèque, which is celebrating its 25th these dayse birthday, know something about it.
Martin remembers: “It was November 1997, at the Montreal Book Fair, and I met Fred [Gauthier], who is super pumped because he has just attended a round table on the state of comics in Quebec. He’s angry that there’s no market for it here. In France, we saw the arrival of a new, more alternative movement, with L’Association, Amok or Cornélius, and we had to import their albums to the bookstore where we worked, La Mouette rieuse, because no one else wanted to do it. »
It is by noting this change in tone in the genre and by reading authors such as Guy Delisle, David B. or Lewis Trondheim that Frédéric and Martin see an opportunity to fill an important editorial void. If no one does it, why not them?
Martin: “There were publishing houses, Zone convective, Kamikaze… But there were no big distributors, it wasn’t very structured or professional. The prints were not of high quality, we did not have the mentality of a beautiful book. We arrived, young, a little impetuous, and even a little sloppy, and we said to ourselves that we would do it, that we were capable of it. We contacted publishing houses in France to ask them to provide us with publishing contracts, to see how it was done. Our parents lent us money. We had 16,000 dollars in total and we said to ourselves: “Go, we leave !” »
Fredéric continues: “We went to Angoulême, to the comic festival. We knew the diffusion and distribution structures. In fact, we knew how to take a book and return it to a bookstore. It’s just that we had to learn how to make books. We did it, on the job, one by one. »
And what do we do once we have made the decision to take action? We place an ad like this: new publishing house looking for authors?
Martin: “Our experience as booksellers has served us a lot. We already knew authors, and we said to ourselves that we would start quietly, not very original, by launching a magazine dedicated to comics. We therefore publish Sputnik, the first issue of which came out in December 1998. There will be five in all, with authors like Seth or Guy Delisle. Then, we bought the rights to foreign albums, including Dear Julia, by Brian Biggs, which allowed us to establish an editorial line based on the fact that we also wanted to publish authors who were not from Quebec. »
The Rabagliati factor
One of the emblematic authors of La Pastèque is, of course, Michel Rabagliati, with his famous character of Paul, who arrived with a first album in 1999. How did this graphic designer come to publish with Martin and Fred?
“We knew that there were talented people in Quebec and that was also one of our initial ideas at La Pastèque: to provoke meetings. With Michel, the timing was perfect. We grew up together, in a way,” explains Frédéric Gauthier.
“We knew Michel, we knew who he was,” adds Martin. He’s an illustrator whose images we saw all over town. He came to the launch of the first Sputnik, with his daughter, and he approached us and told us that he had a little project to show us, before introducing himself. We thought it was a damned coincidence and so we went to meet him a few days later, at his office which was in the building where Ubisoft is now. He showed us what would become Paul in the countryside, and we understood that it was exactly what we were looking for! »
Fred: “And people forget, but Paul’s success was not instantaneous, it happened over ten years. We professionalized at the same time, following the same learning curve. »
And when does the pivotal year arrive? That moment when we say to ourselves that it could work, for a long time?
Martin: “The first six years were difficult, we had to work elsewhere to succeed. But the publication of The devicea book-object of recipes put into comics, in 2005, a completely blown book, and the interview given by Rabagliati for Paul in apartment on Marie-France Bazzo’s show in 2004 were pivotal moments. I remember being in my yard and thinking, it’s gone! »
And in 25 years, have purchase offers from major publishing houses or the idea of selling happened?
“It happened that there was interest. Not often, but it has happened, Martin confirms. But what matters for us is to maintain our line, to continue our development. »
“We can no longer talk about a revival of comics in Quebec, I think we have arrived somewhere,” concludes Fred.
That’s it, it’s said. Comics here are now important and relevant. Thanks, among other things, to all those dreamers who ended up getting angry one day and telling themselves that they were going to do things themselves.