September 1, 2017

Luke Healy‘s (′14) debut comic How to Survive in the North started as his thesis at The Center for Cartoon Studies and was later picked up for publication by Nobrow Press. This comic is based on the true story of Ada Blackjack, an Inuit woman who survived a disaster of an expedition in the Arctic, and weaves in a fictional story to better explore the events. How to Survive in the North is a Junior Library Guild Selection and one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2016.

• Alex Dueben, “Interview: Luke Healy on Arctic Expeditions and How to Survive in the North”

• Comic Bastards: “You could read a lot of this story as a warning to people to recognize when a situation is dangerous.”
• Deborah Stevenson, Muse: “The two Arctic tales . . . are truly haunting. . . .”

• Historical Novel Society: “This book serves as a nice introduction into Arctic exploration of the early 20th century. . . .”
• Keith Silva, The Comics Journal: “Yes, yes, truth is and always will be stranger and more shocking and surprising than fiction, but fiction leavens (real) life, makes it livable.”
• Matt Ftacek, Heavy Feather Review: “Don’t be fooled by Healy’s fanciful, charming artwork, though; this book is sublime, as terrifying and exhilarating as it is beautiful.”

• Peter Dabbene, Foreword Reviews: “The interconnections of the stories are sometimes subtle, but always strong. . . .”
• Publishers Weekly: “Healy’s narrative gains power from the interconnecting stories and a carefully chosen thematic color palette, but above all it is powered by his brilliant handling of the wordless panels where so much of the story is told.”

NEXT UP:

And you won’t have to wait long for his next book, Permanent Press. It is coming out in 2018 from Avery Hill Publishing. In addition Luke will be presenting at Thought Bubble Comics Festival 2017!