Kate Beaton’s two years in the tar sands unfold

Ducks: two years in the tar sands is the new collection of Kate beatonDrawn & Quarterly cartoons, out September 22, telling the story of Canada. And Bleeding Cool gets a first look at the cover. To be fair, we just watched it on Amazon, but no one else seems to have done it. So it’s an exclusive and we take it for ourselves. Here we are//.

Celebrated cartoonist Kate Beaton brings Canada’s untold history to life. is as abundant as beaches, violins and Gaelic folk songs. After college, Katie heads west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coast residents seeking gainful employment elsewhere when they cannot. find him in the homeland they love so much. For the sole purpose of paying off her student loans, what the trip actually costs Katie will be way more than she anticipated. Arriving in Fort McMurray, Katie finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world’s biggest oil companies. Being one of the few women among thousands of men, the culture shock is palpable. It doesn’t touch the house until she moves to a spartan, isolated construction site for higher pay. Katie faces the harsh reality of life in the tar sands, where trauma is everyday but never discussed. For young Katie, her wounds might never heal. Beaton’s natural cartoon prowess is fully on display as she draws colossal machines and gigantic vehicles against a sublime Alberta backdrop of wildlife, northern lights and Rocky Mountains. His first full graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the bounty of its land and the humanity of its people.