Illustrated internationally, but still unknown in its own regions, Quebec comics now has its own house to shine. 9e Art makes his nest for the first time in Canada, in Quebec, in a comic book house which testifies as much to the richness of its history as of its contemporary vitality.
La Bédé established its house at the Center for Historical Interpretation of Sainte-Foy, in the heritage setting of one of the oldest presbyteria in Quebec. The austerity of the place disappears as soon as the doors were crossed: the colorful walls indicate with large pencil lines that here, within a religion which has long confined the imagination to the narrowness of its dogma, the place now belongs to an art which frees it from any limit.
“We want to show the richness of the medium through all styles and all eras,” explains the director general of Quebec BD, Thomas-Louis Côté. There are many people who have discovered comics in recent years thanks to big names like Paul by Michel Rabagliati, but who do not suspect the great history of 9e Art in Quebec. »»
A century of drawn evolution
The ground floor offers an overview of this past with great reinforcements of original plates and caricatures. The exhibition, completely free, tells the influence of cartoon American, the emergence of counter-culture in the 1960s and 1970s and went up the thread to the current coronation of Quebec Bédé, both here and internationally. The visit also offers to dust some amazing nuggets gleaned from the beginning of the XXe century until today.
It was in Quebec, for example, that the first comic strip in Phylactère germinated within the Francophonie. The series Timothy’s adventures Created by Albéric Bourgeois used the “bubble” in 1904 – “almost 15 years before the French”, underlines Mr. Côté, and a quarter of a century before Hergé and his Tintin.
The American Jerry Siegel, co -creator of a certain Supermanalso collaborated with Quebecer Michel Roy to develop the investigations of the private detective Ken Winston in the 1950s. It was a time when the Bédé du Québec slowly allowed itself to beat other trails than those drawn by the Church, which led to catechism albums History of God in pictures.
The exhibition also shows the place that women have gradually taken in the universe of Quebec Bédé. From the pioneer Yvette Lapointe, the first to wear pencil in Quebec before her wedding brakes his career in 1943, to Julie Doucet, sacred winner of the Angoulême International Comic Strip Festival in 2022, via the dancer Sylvie Rancourt, who sold her albums to the customers who came to see her stripteasesQuebec comics were able to find the way that leads to the greatest honors.
“The variety that is now was not there even 20 years ago,” explains Thomas-Louis on the side. The Bédé has also reached a certain maturity. Before, it was not a “real reading”: today, it is studied at Cégep. There are lots of things, but comics is an art that was popular and has long been considered less noble than poetry, for example. Having a house is a way to give it its letters of nobility. »»
-We want to show the richness of the medium through all styles and eras
A house as alive as 9e art
Far from raising comics on a pedestal until it makes it out of reach, the comic book house wants, on the contrary, democratize it. Beyond the evolutionary exhibition which will see a regular rotation of the works presented, a regular program will vivify the place: launch of works, workshops given by Quebec or authors of Quebec or passing through the capital, mornings of cartoons, reading rooms or interactive activities already appear on the menu.
Adults and children will find their account, assures Thomas-Louis on the side. “It is a district where there are many families and where there is an important ethnic community, too. The idea is to develop a program that will be for everyone. An international component could possibly be added within the framework of temporary exhibitions, weekly creation workshops on registration, too.
Offering a home to the Bédé from here is also a way of confirming its ascent and its national character. “The readership increases from year to year, publishing houses are in good health, and more and more numerous and recognized comics,” emphasizes the director general of Quebec BD. L’agent Jeanit was the best -selling series in Quebec a few years ago, all categories of books combined! Its author, Alex A., created the first series which will become the reference among young people. Their childhood hero, it will not be Spirou or Tintin: it will be the agent Jean. »»
The house is also a showcase for artists who are not prophets in their country. “Someone like Yannick Paquet, who drew Superman and Wonderman,” does the Comiccons everywhere on the planet, but we do not see him in literary events in Quebec. Julie Doucet has an incredible influence in Europe and even elsewhere, but she was not so known here until very recently. Denis Rodier is a designer who drew Superman’s death, A planetary success with six million copies sold. He also did The bomb, Translated into 21 languages: these are successes that we do not intend to talk much much. »»
However, these exploits, concludes Thomas-Louis on the side, deserve to be celebrated. That’s good: the Bédé now has a roof to scream them.
