Jay Odjick

Jay Odjick ( ) is a writer, artist and television producer from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community in Québec, Canada. He is best known for his creation Kagagi (the raven), part of a growing number of Indigenous superheroes created by Indigenous writers and artists. In 2015, Kagagi has now moved from the page to the screen in a 13-episode, half-hour animated series broadcast on APTN.

Early life

Born in Rochester, New York, Odjick moved to where his father was from, the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community just outside of Maniwaki, Quebec as a child. Odjick developed an interest in heroes and comic books as a child. He began writing stories at age 5 and received his first rejection letter from a comic publisher, Marvel Comics, at the age of ten.

Career

Odjick began in comics by self publishing a three issue black and white limited series called The Raven that he wrote and illustrated in 2004. Odjick is also the author and artist of the graphic novel Kagagi: The Raven, published by Arcana Studio in 2011. The titular character, Kagagi, is a hero loosely based on the trickster/hero character "Raven" from the Anishinabe. In the comic series, a young man named Matthew Carver inherits supernatural powers and uses them to keep an ancient evil known as Windigo, at bay. A television series based on the graphic novel called Kagagi began airing on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) in Canada on October 5, 2014 and later o
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in the United States. The series is a half-hour animated series produced by Odjick and Arcana's Sean Patrick O'Reilly. Kagagi, according to scholar Michael Sheyashe (Osage) is part of a trend by Native American writers and artists to create relevant heroes that are not confined to the tropes associated with dated stereotypes and romanticism. Odjick uses the character of Kagagi to entertain, but also to teach Anishinaabe culture and language. Odjick's artwork and the Kagagi graphic novel were used as the centerpiece title and branding of Mazinbiige, The Indigenous Graphic Novel Collection, a permanent collection at the Elizabeth Dafoe library at the University of Manitoba

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