New title brings Pacific coast stories to life with Haida Manga

By Jennifer Kovacs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

 (ANNews) – The Lost Haida Manga: A Compendium by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is more than a collection of stories – it is a brilliant display of culture that comes alive on the pages of his new book. The celebrated artist does more than write a story down or simply tell a story. He uses a bold visual genre that fuses North Pacific Indigenous icons with graphic storytelling.

Each page dramatically depicts the narrative of a story with expression, movement, and bold images. The story jumps off the page and the reader is treated to a smorgasbord of characters and actions to follow. The author uses a technique that he calls “breaking the grid” to describe the physical disruption of the visual. Each time you look at a page, you notice something new – a determined grimace, a fearful look, a mischievous glance, fervent effort and a lot of movement. The written words narrate the story in a simple form, but each page is full of images that speak volumes to depict the full expanse of the narrative.

Raised on Haida Gwaii, Yahgulanaas created the visual artform known as Haida Manga after studying Chinese brush techniques under Cai Ben Kwon. Inspired by the successful resistance to industrial logging in Haida Gwaii, he conceived Haida Manga as a graphic and literary bridge: a way to connect diverse audiences to the lived experiences, values and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples in an unconquered land.

Through black-and-white ink works The Lost Haida Manga: A Compendium sets themes ranging from the impacts of colonialism, the environment, and Indigenous sovereignty in a visually stunning graphic world. The compendium brings together a curated selection of black-and-white ink works – some previously published, others newly created – exploring how a sophisticated Indigenous visual tradition can function as sequential narrative art.

Yahgulanaas’ earlier books including Red in 2009, Carpe Fin in 2019 and JAJ in 2023, have each received wide acclaim and his art has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world.

Of his work, Katherine Kelp-Stebbins, professor and director of Comics and Cartoon Studies, University of Oregon says, “Demonstrating a staggering range of artistry and narrative invention, Yahgulanaas provides the reader with an experience unlike any other book…we witness the genesis of an art form as he transforms the comics grid into an ecosystem of framelines, birthing Haida Manga as a new mode of storytelling.”

William Kuskin, chair and professor of English, University of Colorado Boulder favorably compares Yahgulanaas to the great graphic novelists of our time. He writes: “Internationally recognized for his singular fusion of Haida visual tradition and comics form, Yahgulanaas stands with Art Spiegelman and Joe Sacco as a major voice of resistance to fascist state power in our time – and as an artist whose work insists on the environmental conscience of the human condition.”

Provocative, experimental, accessible and deeply rooted in place, The Lost Haida Manga: A Compendium published by Douglas & McIntyre is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary Indigenous art, environmental justice and the power of visual storytelling.