The following is an interview with Pow Pow Press publisher and Editor-in-Chief Luc Bossé regarding the publisher’s slate of comics and graphic novels for 2023 and 2024. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Bossé about the company’s catalog lineup, his work on Gary: King of the Pickup Artists, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Pow Pow Press has quite the outstanding slate of projects scheduled to release throughout the remainder of 2023. As the company’s publisher and Editor-in-Chief, what can you share with us about this incredible lineup which will be available later this year?
Luc Bossé: We started to publish French books in 2010. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to meet some great creators from the Montreal scene. At one point, I wanted to share our work with a larger audience, as I felt we had great works in our catalog. So, this is when I decided to create an English branch for Pow Pow. We translated and published the books that we thought were the most representative and successful of our published titles. Our catalog covers a large spectrum of genres from spicy comedies (like Vile and Miserable by Samuel Cantin) to intimate stories (like Going Under by Zviane). Our titles will be released into comic shops in the USA throughout 2023 and 2024 via Lunar Distribution, and we’re very excited about that.
BD: Why do you feel that these projects were a perfect fit for Pow Pow Press?
LB: Since the founding of Pow Pow, I wanted to have a good mix of genres. And as a bonus, our authors are great to work with. Their creative processes are so inspiring, and their various projects are what is orienting Pow Pow’s editorial line and personality.
BD: One of the releases will be Gary: King of the Pickup Artists which you co-created and illustrated. For those who may be unfamiliar, what can you tell us about the premise of this book?
LB: It’s been a while since I finished that book… I can remember drawing the last page on the eve of giving the files to the printer! Gary is an average guy. He’s nice, polite, and dependable. But he might also be too shy and awkward to engage with women, which leads to uncomfortable situations. I think a lot of people will relate to Gary’s love life. I know I do… haha!
BD: Likewise, what can you tell us about your shared creative process in working with writer Alexandre Simard to bring this story and its characters to life?
LB: I met Alexandre in another life, while I was working in advertising. It was the golden era of blogs, and Alexandre had one where he shared his experiences with the dating world. I liked his writing very much, and I asked him if he’d be willing to write them so I can draw his stories. Alexandre studied cinema at University, so he was writing in the same format as a movie screenplay. From those, it was very helpful to draw a storyboard and play with the rhythm of the story. Before inking pages, we would look at the storyboard of each chapter, to make sure that we were both happy with them. While I was drawing the first chapters, he was still writing the last ones. It was a very fun collaboration, and I was lucky to be at the forefront of his great writing.
BD: Are there any other upcoming projects headed our way in 2023 or 2024 that you’re able to share with our readers?
LB: Yes! While we are still releasing our back catalog in the next coming months, we are translating new ones right now. Two of our biggest successes of the past year are in the works. The first one will be Éloïse Marseille’s Naked: Confessions of a Normal Woman, being released in November. And at the beginning of 2024, the award-winning The Jellyfish by Boum will hit the shelves. So, we’re very excited with what’s coming up in the next few years.
