READ Books
Charles H. Scott Gallery
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Abby Denson
Artist Talk and Dolltopia Launch
Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 2pm
Emily Carr University Theatre
South Building room 301
READ Books at the Charles H. Scott Gallery is pleased to present a
talk by Lulu Award-winning cartoonist Abby Denson. Denson is a rock n’
roll ‘Jane of all trades’ and creator of the queer comic Tough Love:
High School Confidential, and on Sunday, November 1st she will launch
her new book Dolltopia!
Having written scripts for Archie Comics (Sabrina the Teenage Witch),
DC Comics (Powerpuff Girls), Simpsons Comics, and Marvel (Amazing
Spider-Man Family), and between teaching comic book classes and
playing in a whole host of punk bands, Abby has now gone back to her
roots and returned to her childhood habit of making her dolls
‘different’ and setting them free from their predetermined fates.
Dolltopia is the story of Kitty, a ballerina doll forced into a not-so-
happily-ever-after living arrangement with a male jock toy. Filled
with discontent, Kitty takes it upon herself to escape her human-
imposed domesticity and create a new life and a new image for herself
away from the persecution of the human world. On this mission, she
finds not only a host of like-minded individuals, but a veritable
heaven for the alternative doll: Dolltopia.
It’s not all child’s play though: Abby’s comics explore the hugely
relevant themes of identity, individuality and making a mark within a
society that seeks to sterilize and monopolize. Dolltopia is a smart
and sassy allegory for modern life and the need for self-expression,
with reference to such hot topics as queer politics, feminism, plastic
surgery, depression, and even the free will debate arising from the
creator-creation relationship.
Admission is free!
Emily Carr University of Art and Design
1399 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3R9