The Hamilton Spectator spoke with David Collier, a notable comics artist in Canada who’s written a comic about the city’s experience when Covid-19 struck two years ago:

Collier, one of the top names in alternative comic book art in Canada, was determined to use his talents to chronicle how the pandemic was affecting the city of Hamilton and, more particularly, the North End neighborhood where he has lived with his wife Jen for more than 20 years.

“I wanted to capture the bravery of people who went to work every morning not sure whether they would live or die, like my neighbour the health-care worker, or the ladies working at the Lighthouse Fish Market (on James Street North),” Collier says about the impetus behind his new comic book “Winter of Our Pandemic.”

“I just wanted to document it.” […]

In typical Collier fashion, “Winter of Our Pandemic” is a 120-page collection of vignettes that often take strange segues into history, including a flashback to the 1918 flu pandemic, a meetup with the late great cartoonist Charles Schulz and a retelling of the story of hockey legend Cyclone Taylor.

What are the chances his graphic novel discusses how the Covid19 lockdowns hurt far more people than helped? Because the Canadian government’s approach to the pandemic really did a lot of bad for the whole community, and it was shameful. It should all be chronicled in the GNs of artists who experienced these incidents.

Anyway, it’s certainly impressive if Collier got to meet with Peanuts’ cartoonist within his lifetime, and telling the history of the pandemic is just as important as many other issues, so congratulations to Mr. Collier for what he’s developed.

Originally published here.