La Pastèque is a
French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
of
comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
, based in
Montréal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
,
Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
.
Overview
La Pastèque ("The Watermelon" in English) was founded by
Martin Brault and
Frédéric Gauthier in
Montréal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
,
Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
in July 1998, and their first publication, the first volume of ''Spoutnik'', appeared that December.
The establishment publisher arose from talks between Brault and Gauthier about the state of comics in Québec around 1997. Things seemed pessimistic, and it seemed unlikely that the small market in the province could sustain itself. The two wanted to invigorate comics publishing in Québec, and chose to adopt a different approach to that of
Franco-Belgian or American comics by publishing artists who had more personal work. They are the main French-language publisher of a number of artists such as
Michel Rabagliati
Michel Rabagliati (born 7 September 1961) is a Canadians, Canadian cartoonist born and based in Montreal, Quebec. He was published by Drawn & Quarterly and is currently published by Conundrum Press in English language, English, and La Pastèque ...
, and have also revived older albums, such as
Jean-Paul Eid's ''Jérôme Bigras'' and
Réal Godbout &
Pierre Fournier
Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound.
Biography
He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army gen ...
's ''
Red Ketchup
''Red Ketchup'' is a Quebec comic book series featuring FBI's crazed rogue agent, Steve "Red" Ketchup. In 2023, Red Ketchup is the centerpiece of an animated series directed by Martin Villeneuve and produced by Sphere Animation.
The character
Stev ...
''.
Recognition
La Pastèque has received support from the
Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...
, the ''
Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles
The Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC) (English: Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises) is a Quebec government agency founded in 1983 under the name of Société Générale du Cinéma du Québec (SGCQ) (En ...
'' ("Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises") and the Government of Quebec's tax credit program for support of book publishers. In 2010, La Pastèque won the
Joe Shuster Award
The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (or Joe Shuster Awards) are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadian comics, Canadi ...
for Outstanding Publisher.
Published work
*
Red Ketchup
''Red Ketchup'' is a Quebec comic book series featuring FBI's crazed rogue agent, Steve "Red" Ketchup. In 2023, Red Ketchup is the centerpiece of an animated series directed by Martin Villeneuve and produced by Sphere Animation.
The character
Stev ...
*
The Postman from Space
See also
*
Canadian comics
Canadian comics refers to comics and cartooning by citizens of Canada or Permanent residency in Canada, permanent residents of Canada regardless of residence. Canada has Official bilingualism in Canada, two official languages, and distinct comic ...
*
Québec comics
*
Culture of Québec
References
Quebec comics
Companies based in Montreal
Comic book publishing companies of Canada
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