Programming Schedule
In addition to all the incredible exhibitors tabling at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, TCAF offers a thought-provoking weekend of panels, workshops and creator spotlights at the Mattamy (50 Carlton Street) and the nearby Courtyard Downtown Marriott (475 Yonge Street)​
Mattamy Athletic Centre
Courtyard Downtown Marriott
All Weekend
Saturday 10:15AM-6:15PM ⋅ Sunday 10:15AM-3:45PM
Leaside Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Still Zine: TCAF x CCOL Zine Jam
Join Still Zine, TCAF, and the Canada Comics Open Library (CCOL) for a weekend-long Zine Jam!
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Still Zine is an ongoing Toronto-based community anthology created by Jordan Reg. Aelick (@endlessfret), where contributors share one-page diary entries about everyday life. This year at TCAF, you’re invited to take part in a special edition of the project by documenting your experience at the festival through comics!
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Head to the Leaside Room at the Courtyard Marriott anytime during the weekend to draw your own one-page journal comic. CCOL volunteers will be there with art supplies, zine-making guides, and a cozy reading area full of comics for inspiration. Whether you're a seasoned artist or trying this for the first time, we’ll be there to help! Submit your finished comic in person or by email to jordan@canadacomicsol.org to have it included in a special TCAF 2025 community zine. A digital version will be available on the TCAF website after the festival, and printed copies will be available at CCOL’s lending library (267 College St.) in downtown Toronto.
Saturday, June 7
10:15-11:15AM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Coined by Elizabeth Rush, “endsickness” is a term that describes our modern malaise and severe anxiety over the end of the world. For Conundrum debut author, Sofia Alarcon, the term is also a shorthand way of describing our culture’s current obsession with all things dystopian and apocalyptic. In a spotlight conversation with critical feminist geographer, Ebru Ustundag (Brock University / Graphic Medicine International Collective), Alarcon discusses the inspiration and background for Endsickness, and how this first collection of graphic stories about climate change and eco-anxiety is also a story about human connections, emotions and the impact of processing these feelings through words and pictures. More on Endsickness.
Don’t Look Up:
Comics in the Age of Environmentalism
10:15-11:15AM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
For many, the creation of comics is like some kind of magic trick. But it isn’t a trick, it’s a meticulous process thousands of cartoonists use to great effect every day of every year. Now with the addition of AI to the toolkit, the notion of art as a magic trick has gained new traction, and not always in a positive light. In this panel the practitioners of the craft tell us how they achieve their daily personal magic, offer tips on how they do what they do, and discuss the implications of artists and hobbyists using artificial intelligence to create their works. Panel Moderated by Heidi Macdonald (The Beat) with panelists Kelly Collier (Steve, a Pretty Exceptional Horse), Magnus Merklin (DiSCONNECT), Jesse Jacobs (New Pets), and Hugh D’Andrade (The Murder Next Door: A Graphic Memoir)
Four-Colour Magic:
Process, Cartooning, and Comics in Age of AI
10:30-11:30AM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Graphic Novels Grow Up:
20 years of notables comic titles for young adult and teen readers
In 2005 Scholastic launched its Graphix imprint with the publication of Jeff Smith's Bone, and then, in 2006, Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese received multiple accolades including an American Library Association (ALA) Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. In the 20 years since, comics, graphic novels, and manga dedicated to teen readers have proliferated dramatically in number and in the range of topics and lived experiences profiled in the pages. In a panel moderated by comics and teen reading scholar, Dr. Lucia Cedeira Serantes (Young People, Comics and Reading: Exploring a Complex Reading Experience), hear from notable and emerging voices in young adult comics, libraries, and education about opportunities in these spaces then and now. With panelists Dani Diaz (Dreamover), Mary Shyne (You and Me on Repeat), Jordana Globerman (Soul Machine), and Maria Scrivan (Nat Enough).
11:30AM-12:30PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Panels, Pages, and Protests:
Defending Graphic Literature for Young Readers
Comics have long served as a lifeline for reluctant readers, multilingual learners, and those seeking an extra boost of literacy support—including one future ALA president, who found comics to be a vital gateway as a dyslexic child. Today, these powerful works are among the most frequently challenged and banned books in schools and libraries. Join American Library Association President-Elect Sam Helmick for a conversation with librarians and comic creators about the critical role of graphic literature in youth literacy, identity, and access; trends in comic censorship; and why defending the right to read in this format is more urgent than ever. Panelists: Betsy Gomez, ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom; Scott Robins, Toronto Public Library; Aron Nels Steinke; Karen De la Vega. Panel co-sponsored by the American Library Association and the Ontario Library Association
11:30AM-12:30PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Graphic Medicine 101
Graphic medicine is the intersection between comics and healthcare. Its practitioners include medical librarians, doctors, nurses, cartoonists, science communicators, historians, and a number of other professionals under the umbrella of health and the comic arts. Learn more about this developing field from the Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) and opportunities for graphic medicine in print media, digital cartooning, classrooms, libraries, and more! Moderated by Matthew Noe, with panelists Shay Mirk, Kendra Boileau, Shelley Wall, and Morgan Sea.
12:00 - 1:00PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Spotlight on Guy Delisle
Guy Delisle is beloved for his insightful, wryly funny comics nonfiction: Hostage, Factory Summers, Pyongyang, and Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City. Delisle sits down with comics scholar and editor Irene Velentzas to discuss Muybridge, an all-new biography of the man who made pictures move. Translated by Helge Dascher & Rob Aspinall, it explores the intersection of art, commerce, invention, and who gets the credit.
12:30-1:30PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Ask a (Comics) Librarian
Did you know that comics librarianship is over 50 years old? Or that libraries have championed graphic novels as 'real reading' for just as long? Hear from real life library workers from a variety of libraries about what comics librarianship looks like in their professional practice, plus their tips and tricks for starting, growing, and evolving graphic novel collections, and what comics - for kids, for teens, and for adults - librarians are reading and recommending. Featuring librarians Jack Phoenix (Maximizing the Impact of Comics in Your Library), Belinda Patterson (Toronto Public Library), Megan Halsband (Library of Congress), Ian Landy (Regional Principal – Partners in Education, British Columbia) and Matthew Noe (Harvard Medical lIbrary). Panel moderated by Allie Landy (University of Toronto, iSchool / LED Coordinator). Panel co-sponsored by the Ontario Library Association and the American Library Association
1:30-2:30PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
In a panel moderated by Megan Halsband (Library of Congress, Webcomics Archive), panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities of publishing in born digital formats and turning those webcomics into print. Featuring a variety of notable and award nominated webcomic artists including Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Danielle Corsetto (Girls with Slingshots), and Michael Grover (Deeply Dave), this panel will discuss the benefits, responsiveness and community aspects of publishing digitally and the opportunities when these digital works reach new audiences in print form. Topics discussed will include digital borrowing and reading for schools and libraries, and implications for award lists.
Deeply Digital:
From Webcomics to Print
2:00 - 3:00PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Spotlight on Kate Beaton
Kate Beaton’s groundbreaking graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands became an instant classic and set a new standard for comics storytelling. Join Beaton in conversation with author and professor of comics & Canadian writing Candida Rifkind for a freeform discussion on art, labour and everything in between.
2:45 -3:45PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Queer and trans romances have never been more front-and-centre in popular culture, and yet still face a near constant backlash of condemnation and censorship. Let's take a moment to celebrate the incredible stories of LGBTQ creators in all the nuances, complications and configurations that queer romance can take. With Katie Fricas, James Albon, Rhael McGregor and Motzie Dapul, moderated by MJ Lyons.
The Meet Cute
Queer and Trans Romance in Comics
3:30 - 4:30PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
50 Years of Captain Canuck
A Spotlight Interview with Richard Comely
In 1975 Richard Comely introduced the pivotal Canadian superhero Captain Canuck — a Canadian counterpart to Captain America in the tradition of the Second World War–era Canadian comics icon Johnny Canuck. In this conversation moderated by TCAF’s own Ho Che Anderson - who is also responsible for authoring a more recent run of Captain Canuck! – Richard and HC will reflect on 50 years of Captain Canuck and what Canadian superheroes, including Captain Canuck and Alpha Flight, mean now in this current political moment. Signing to follow at Lev Gleason Publications table at TCAF - or catch Richard's appearance later Saturday night, at The Doug Wright Awards for his induction into The Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame.
3:30 - 4:30PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Self-Portraits as Self-Love
Workshop on creating avatars that explore identity and embrace your beautiful, unique self
The characters we create are an empowering way to delve into parts of our identity we don't get to "in real life." Join cartoonist Amy Noseworthy in this workshop on crafting characters and avatars as an exercise in building self-esteem and exploring identity. Bring a sketchpad or grab a piece of paper and create an avatar worthy of the power inside in this interactive, creativity-engaging workshop. Beginners welcome!
4:00-5:00PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Queer, trans and enby artists of TCAF, assemble! LGBTQ artists have always shown up to TCAF with some of the best comics the industry has to offer, across all genres: romance, horror, slice-of-life, zines, sci-fi and fantasy, smut, the list could go on and on. Come hear from some of the incredible LGBTQ talent working on the frontline of comics. Hosted by Kat Simmers (Pass Me By) with Jillian Fleck (Cheryl), Ryan Danny Owen (Pass Me By), and Andrew Wheeler (Shout Out)
Comics Queered
LGBTQ and Non-Binary Comics Creators Spotlight
4:00-5:00PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Cartoonist Lynda Barry has famously said that drawing is our first language - one that all/most children use to communicate. Drawing encourages us to think in visual icons and to consider which icons are most effective to communicate what we are trying to say visually through pictures and words. Drawing - especially drawing together in communities - also builds empathy and is an important tool for processing and understanding our emotions. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) started a series of workshops entitled, 'Drawing Together.' Hosted over zoom these weekly workshops were open to all learners, all artists, and all drawing levels with the goal of building community through the act of doing - through the act of drawing together. Join us for a special 'Drawing Together' TCAF edition! This session will include a brief intro, drawing prompt, and then participants will draw - together - for 20 minutes - and then share drawings with the room. This session - like the Drawing Together series - is open to all ages and drawing levels. All that we ask you to bring is some enthusiasm, patience, and curiosity - TCAF will provide the paper and drawing materials and prompts! More on Drawing Together.
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We will be joined for Drawing Together by several TCAF Featured Guests including Scholastic creators Aron Nels Steinke (Speechless, Mr Wolf's Class) and Maria Scrivan (Nat Enough)
Drawing Together
The TCAF Edition
5:00-6:00PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Dangerous Cartooning 1
Genocide! Culture Wars! Fascism! Trade wars! In 2025 sometimes being a cartoonist means putting your career and possibly your freedom on the line. A conversation on the precarious state of global politics, and the dangers of speaking out, through comics, social media, or a mic. Panel moderated by Jeet Heer with panelists Derek Laufman (Crimson Fall, I Hate Fairyland), Betsy Gomez (American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom), and Sofia Alarcon (Endsickness).
5:00-6:00PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Looking for your next great graphic novel read? Look no further! Our expert panel of comics library workers, educators, publishers, and creators pitch their favorite new, notable and back list titles from the past 5 years. Each panelist will select and talk about their favourite 3-5 comic manga, and graphic novel titles for kids, teens, and all ages audiences. Panel co-sponsored by the American Library Association and the Ontario Library Association
What Should I Read Next?
New and Notable Graphic Novels for Kids, Teens, and All Ages
Sunday, June 8
10:15 - 11:15AM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
"Comics have no walls nor borders," says Cartoonists for Palestine, "and the youngness of our medium represents an opportunity to reject the boundaries that were assigned to us." Meeting at the confluence of information, social justice, and (lest we forget) art, comics have the opportunity to take an unique, unflinching look at war, disease and global crisis with humanity. Join comics publishers, anthology editors and artists as they explore the power of comics as chronicling the world around us. Moderated by Sam Helmick (President-Elect of the American Library Association) with Kendra Boileau (Graphic Mundi) Solomon J Brager (Heavyweight, Cartoonists for Palestine), and a rep from Crucial Comix.
Chronicling the Current:
Comics on the Frontline
10:15 - 11:15AM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Have you read (and re-read) all of Raina Telgemeier's works? Dav Pilkey's? Looking for that next great title for your school or library? Look no further! Meet and hear from new, upcoming, and established Canadian and international authors, creators, and publishers about new and upcoming titles in kids comics. Panel moderated by Johanna Draper Carlson (Comics Worth Reading) with Brooklin Stormie (Astronautical!) and additional panelists to be announced soon!
Kids Comics Now
New and upcoming titles and what to read next
10:30 - 11:30AM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Mythologizing Canada
It isn’t that Canadian cities haven't been mythologized, but those myths haven't been as celebrated as they have for international cities like New York, London, or Tokyo. Why is that? And how can comics do their part? Panel moderated by Ho Che Anderson with panelists Faith Erin Hicks (Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy), Katarina Thorsen (Salt Green Death), and Nick Marinkovich (Kenk: A Graphic Portrait).
10:30-11:30AM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Have you heard the term "graphic medicine" and wondered what titles fall under this umbrella? Join us to learn more about the graphic medicine community of medical practitioners, cartoonists, and advocates and how the intersection of comics arts and health has produced some of the most awarded and notable titles of the past five years. This panel is specifically targeted to discuss new and notable titles in graphic medicine for all ages - in print and digital forms - including the Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) annual award list. Moderated by Heidi Macdonald with panelists Rachel M. Thomas, Boum, Liz Frances, Hugh D’Andrade, and Matthew Noe.
Graphic Medicine
New and Notables
11:30AM-12:30PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Solitude and Community in Comics Fiction
In an increasingly polarized world, genuine connection can feel elusive. Through the lens of comics fiction, Sig Burwash (Vera Bushwack), Michael DeForge (Holy Lacrimony), Ned Wenlock (Tsunami), and María Medem (Land of Mirrors, translated by Aleshia Jensen & Daniela Ortiz) illustrate the lengths people–and aliens!–will go through in pursuit of true belonging. Moderated by Jean Marc Ah-Sen (author of Grand Menteur and Kilworthy Tanner).
11:30AM-12:30PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
In the last five years schools and libraries have experienced the highest number of bans and challenges since the 1950s - with an exceptional number of bans targeting comics, manga, graphic novels, and other visual materials, especially those by queer and BIPOC creators and about queer and BIPOC stories. In this panel hear from frontline library workers, educators, and comic creators and publishers about what book challenges and bans are - and what you can do to fight them! Learn about some of the recent comics titles that have been banned or challenged - and learn more about the history of comic book bans and challenges in the United States - and Canada (spoiler alert: Canada was more active than you may have realized in the early days of comic book bans!) Panelists to be announced soon!
Be Prepared!
The TCAF Guide to Fighting Comic Book Bans and Challenges
12:00 - 1:00PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
It's All About You
Autobiographical Comics
​​A generation after their 90s ascendence, are autobio comics still a viable genre? Are they self reflection, do they convey universal truths, or a little bit of both? A lively discussion on the pros and cons of sharing one’s life on the page from notable and emerging memoirists. Panelists include Chester Brown (Paying For It: The Film Edition), Makee (Call Me Emma: One Chinese Girl Finds Her Way in America), Seth (Seth's Dominion), Cassandra Calin (New Girl), and D. Boyd (Denniveniquity). Panel moderated by Candida Rifkind, comics scholar and professor at the University of Winnipeg.
12:00 - 1:00PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
The Lookout ⋅ Third Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Food is more than just sustenance; it’s a reflection of culture, identity, and story. That’s why the art of storytelling and cooking go hand in hand! This program will explore how comics can transform a recipe into something more engaging and memorable than traditional print media. As an unofficial connoisseur of soup and comics, the panel will walk you through examples of how comics successfully deliver written recipes in an illustrated form. Whether you're a comic lover, a foodie, or savourer of curiosity, this presentation will inspire you to discover new visual languages for your favorite recipes. Talk delivered by Summer Kim.
Savouring Comics:
Cooking in Panels
1:30-2:30PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Porter Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Gert might hate Fairyland, but there's no hating the multitudinous contributions to comics by veteran illustrator Derek Laufman. From Disney to DC; from the monastery massacre of Crimson Fall to the sore-backed titular artist in A Day In the Life of a Middle Aged Artist; from Gotham to Metropolis to the Land of Ooo to the hateful Fairyland and galaxies far, far away, join Laufman in conversation with festival director Amie Wright in this spotlight live drawing session exploring his process and oeuvre.
Derek Laufman Hates Fairyland:
Spotlight Live Drawing Session
1:30-2:30PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Much like with fantasy and sci-fi and fantasy, horror is often a stand-in for real life concerns. With our world in more turmoil than many of us can remember, how do these tangible horrors manifest in the pages of our comics? Panel moderated by Faduma Gure with panelists Jeff Estrella (Balikbayan), Tri Vuong (The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn), and Thom (Botanica Drama).
The Horror:
Politics and the Personal Represented Through Scary Comics
2:00 - 3:00PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
Langue, je t'aime
A Spotlight Interview with James Albon
Le présent... le passé composé... Désolé de vous déranger, mais où est-ce que je trouve l'amour? James Albon's tour de force Love Languages (Top Shelf Productions) explores the tender stumblings of unexpected love and the complications of communication in a noisy, messy world. Join James in this spotlight interview to explore nuances of love, loss, loneliness and connecting dans ce monde où c'est plus facile à dire qu’à faire. Did... we conjugate that right?
2:45-3:45PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
Taking inspiration from ancient stories to inspire new ideas is far from unique to artists, but myth and folk tales offer a rich tapestry artists draw on for remaking, remixing and reimagining. Join a panel of writers and illustrators as they explore their experiences using myths, folktales, fairytales and fantasy to tell their own stories, delving into these expressions of the universal human desire to use stories to understand things we alone cannot. With host Susannah Lohr (Shadows Become You: Volume 1), and panelists Carl Brundtland (Way Off Track), Claudia Dávila (Way Off Track), and Alex Lupp (Sand)
Fantasy, Folklore, and Real-Life:
Understanding Life Through Metaphor and Story
3:30 - 4:30PM
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor ⋅ Mattamy Athletic Centre
The Trouble with Normal:
Dangerous Cartooning II
Comics in a politically contentious age. Is there any fear in producing comics and in their eventual reception? How have the times impacted the storytellers are creating—in other words, are they fighting their inner censor or leaning into their convictions? This panel will examine the dangers of exploring uncomfortable truths. Panel moderated by Jeet Heer with panelists Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill (Death to Pachuco), Sid Sharp (The Wolf Suit), and Jay Odjick (Kagagi: The Raven)