 Conundrum Press
December 2004
ISBN 1-894994-05-1
Graphic Novel
Mature Content
6 X 9 inches
160 pages
$17.95 CDN / $15.95 US
The Artists: Al+Flag, Jean-Claude Amyot, Hélène Brosseau, Simon Bossé, Rupert Bottenberg, Caro Caron, Jean-Pierre Chansigaud, G.B. Edwin, Alexandre Lafleur, Billy Mavreas, Stéphane Olivier, Helge Reumann, Carlos Santos, Siris, Richard Suicide.
Mac Tin Tac, a dystopic allegory of modern life told through a unique combination of myth and hard-edged realism, was originally serialized in five comics between 1990 and 1995. To illustrate their vision, Montreal authors Tessier and Oliver commissioned the emerging talent of Quebec's avant garde. Many of these artists went on to varying degrees of success publishing in French in Europe and Quebec, and in English in Cyclops: Contemporary Canadian Narrative Art, which conundrum press published to rave reviews in 2003. However, this story was left uncollected until now.
Mac is a mirror maker in a world in which everyone works for the Cake Factory. When the factory is put on wheels and moved to a third world country, the citizens revolt. Concerned with anti-globilization politics long before the term became commonplace, the story is a mix of Orwell's 1984 and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magic realism. Mac's desperate attempt to create beauty in a bleak world is the overarching theme in the book. But the dazzling variety of drawing styles keeps the reader immersed in the lives of various peripheral characters as well, their desire for employment, for the taste of intoxicating bananas, for new shoes, or simply to be noticed by a populace constricted by blinders.
Mac Tin Tac, which includes new material done especially for this edition, is not only an impressive cultural document from Quebec's fin-de-siècle underground but is also a chronicle of the struggle for hope in the face of corporate uncertainty.
Stéphane Olivier teaches graphic design. He recently finished the graphic novel Le Clairon and is editing the next book in the Cyclopes series.
Marc Tessier has collaborated with Alexandre Lafleur on Theatre of Cruelty (Fantagraphics) and the upcoming Abinagouesh series (Delcourt). He is a frequent contributor to The Comics Journal.
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