Artist and author Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas has created another graphic novel that retells an ancient Haida tale in his unique mix of Northwest coast art and the Japanese comic style known as Manga. War of the Blink (Locarno $24.95) is about a fisherman caught in a high-stakes game of kidnap and bluff while trying to save his home village from raiders. In a showdown in which one of the sides must blink first, the villagers find a way to save face and their home. Ultimately, it’s a story about finding the courage to choose peace over war. It follows up his award-winning RED: A Haida Manga. Yahgulanaas, also a sculptor and graphic artist, has work in the collections of the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Vancouver Art Gallery. He speaks frequently about social justice and community building.

Nicola Levell, assistant professor of museum and visual anthropology at UBC has produced The Seriousness of Play: The Art of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Black Dog, $29.95) which focuses on Yahgulanaas’ Haida Manga.
War of the Blink: 9780995994621

Seriousness: 978-1910433119