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Sophie Yanow's concise, smart, and politically engaged cartoon history reveals the buried connections between urban planning and urban warfare.
About the author
Sophie Yanow grew up in the woods just north of San Francisco, and in Fall 2011 moved to Montreal, Quebec for an artist residency at La Maison de la Bande Dessinée, where she became a member of the Colosse comics collective. With Colosse she published a collection of journal comics recording her transition to Montreal under the title In Situ, a nod to site-specificity in her creative process. In Montreal she has also participated in projects such as the the 48 Heures de la Bande Dessinée, the strike related online Manif de Bonhommes, and La Hausse en Question strike zine. Her work has also appeared online in places like Top Shelf Comix and The Rumpus. She lives in Montreal.
Summary
Sophie Yanow's concise, smart, and politically engaged cartoon history reveals the buried connections between urban planning and urban warfare.
Additional text
2015 Doug Wright Spotlight Award Nomination
Ignatz award Nomination for Outstanding Graphic Novel
"With deft sketches and minimal text, she shows how the streets of a city can simultaneously foster and crush social change, and how urban humans cling to personal freedom in an increasingly monitored world."Sarah Goodyear, The Atlantic Cities
"Engaging and informative, the book covers a surprisingly broad range of subjects given its brevity. The black-and-white artwork may appear simple but each illustration conveys a wealth of emotional detail, from demonstrations to Yanow’s stripped-down view of herself. The book’s quiet deliberation becomes more impressive with each read; Yanow is an author/illustrator to watch."Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“A fascinating meeting of urban design, activism and theory of the control of the masses.”Julien Morissette, Radio-Canada/CBC
"Sophie Yanow’s War of Streets and Houses pushes the boundaries of what a graphic novel can be by using comics to create an academic treatise. [
] Yanow’s work follows in the footsteps of Situationists who explored how the politics of the layout of cities affect the people who live there."Lambda Literary
"Her rendering choices are a big key as to why the comic succeeds. She has the ability to flip from near-abstraction to a more naturalistic style, depending on the setting. [
] despite the sketchiness of her line, one never feels cheated in terms of visual impact. Indeed, the abstractness of her line combined with the artificial solidity of the zip-a-tone gives the protest scenes a strange quality that would be difficult to capture in a more naturalistic style."Rob Clough, The Comics Journal
Praise for In Situ:
“Short little bursts of focused energy. Great stuff.”Frank Santoro, Pompeii
“This is a beautiful first major work by an artist who is quite clearly concerned about how she affects the world, in terms of both art and politics.”Rob Clough, High-Low Comics
