On May 7, I got to host Jeff McIntyre’s launch of Chapter 4 of his graphic novel, Salmon Run, at Perfect Books downtown. In a room packed with McIntyre’s supporters, we discussed the chapter and what brought him to graphic novels. Here is what he had to say.
Jeff McIntyre. Photo: Nicolai Gregory.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Apt613: Can you remind us what Salmon Run is about and why it’s important?
Jeff McIntyre: Salmon Run is a rock and roll story about how being on the road and in nature can help the soul and change lives. I wrote it to raise awareness for mental health and addiction issues and to be an invitation for folks to recognize and appreciate that, no matter where people are in their mental health journey, folks can recognize the humanity.
As you see this story unfold in chapters one through three. It deals with some hard subjects, but as the story goes along, we find fun and happiness on the road.
If we look around and see what’s happening in Canada, in big and small towns, a lot of the issues this tackles affect all of our families, and there isn’t a lot of literature out there. There just isn’t a lot of this out there for families to pick up, have a read, and realize that these are issues we all have.
Why do you write graphic novels?
When I got my life together and cleaned up, I always wanted to be the newspaper cartoonist, and, as a child, I traced political cartoonists like Terry Mosher and Guy Badeaux’s work… They were my Snoopy. We grew up in Montreal in a politically charged climate. I was a painter for many years, and then I had kids, and they got into comics. And that’s when I started writing the books.
The odds of my being a newspaper cartoonist were slim. I dreamed about this as a child, but I never studied for it. I wrote Salmon Run, and I mailed it to my childhood hero, Terry Mosher, and he fell in love with my books. He’s been cheering me on since—that gave me the confidence to continue.
Why did you choose to serialize the book rather than give us the whole thing at once?
We’ve seen the publishing industry change just like a lot of arts industries, and you can write the best book out there, but if it doesn’t have an audience, you don’t have a book. The books are written, but I need the audience to bring them to… so we just got back from out west, meeting with bookstores out there. We’re trying to find an audience on our own, and I think we’re doing it completely differently.
This is the year of libraries. Last year, I met every bookstore in the country, and this year, I’m doing libraries. I’ll tell you how that goes next year.
Can you tell me about Chapter Four?
This is kind of a transition chapter—it’s a limited edition, so if you get one, there won’t be many. They’re only going to be available at bookstore events and literary festivals, and at the comic art festivals I’m at for the year while we get ready for the big book to drop next year.
Each chapter, things are unravelling a little bit more… You will feel the tension even more with this chapter.
You had some great editorial projects this year. What did you enjoy the most?
The big one for me was the Canada Day feature. It went in over a hundred newspapers in Canada… They syndicated a four-page feature… It’s called Sunrise. My next editorial feature–they’ve never done comics either–is Canadian Geographic. I’m just wrapping that up. I’m very excited. It’s a working page feature—it’s nice to see comics taken seriously in this format.
Is there anything else?
The big thank you is to independent bookstores, and Perfect Books, The Spaniel’s Tale and Westboro Books, because they are the true champions. If we, as Canadians, are looking at books, the curators of those books are book sellers, not the media. It’s people who want to get out and talk to people about books in the communities. So, we all have to get out and shop at our bookstores.
Get a copy of Salmon Run Book One or Chapter Four at Blueberry Lake Studios. To learn more about Jeff McIntyre, visit his website here.
