Bibliophilia: The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists – Seth

The G.N.B Double C: The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists – Seth

An odd little book, like all his others. It ostensibly tells a history of Canadian cartooning, through the ploy of a tour through one of the declining lodges of the Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists. I thought the only fictional aspect was this imaginary lodge in a make-believe town. He discusses with quite a bit of accuracy the old Doug Wrights Family, which I recall very well from growing up. (I wonder whether there has ever been a more meticulous visual chronicling of life in 60s/70s suburban Canada.) All the other stories he discusses I therefore thought were also real, and some of them sounded intriguing enough that I wanted to find them. It turns out that they were all inventions of the author. He does a pretty good job of convincing you that there was once a golden era where Canadian cartoonists were exalted citizens, who congregated in posh fraternal lodges, but also that this should have been. Like I said, bit of a head scratcher.