Matthew Nielsen


Welcome to Mina’s Creator Spotlight: Oliver McTavish-Wisden and Matthew Nielsen

Oliver McTavish-Wisden and Matthew Nielson are two of the creators featured in our latest anthology, Welcome to Mina’s. Oliver Henry McTavish-Wisden is a New Westminster-based writer, artist and community arts programmer for the Vancouver Park Board. He really enjoys scuba diving and playing the Trumpet, but he’s kind of slow […]


New member books available in Cloudscape store

We are happy to report that two more member books have been added to the Cloudscape store: A Mad Tea Party by Jonathon Dalton A science fiction thriller in which Connie and Matilda Sakura, two perfectly ordinary genetically-engineered girls, struggle against numerous threats.  Their parents fought a war in space against […]


Hipira

Review by Matthew Nielsen Hipira, written by Katsuhiro Otomo and illustrated by Shinji Kimura, is a charming children’s book about the adventures of a young vampire. Kimura’s artwork is vividly colourful, rich and finely painted. It is also stylised in a fantastic, crooked sort of way, somewhat reminiscent of The Nightmare […]


Last Look Trilogy

Review by Matthew Nielsen The Last Look Trilogy (X’ed Out, The Hive and Sugar Skull) by Charles Burns follows a series of events and thoughts in the life of a young and somewhat unconventional artist named Doug, including his memories, fears, and ambitions. It is a surreal story in which […]


Hostage

Review by Matthew Nielsen Hostage  by Guy Delisle is a graphic novel telling the story of Christophe André’s kidnapping and time spent as a hostage in Chechnya. A young Frenchman working for Doctors Without Borders, André was taken from his office and driven away to remote unknown locations. Delisle provides a […]


Thoreau at Walden

Review by Matthew Nielsen Thoreau at Walden by John Porcellino is a short biography of the writer Henry David Thoreau and his time spent writing in a secluded countryside home at Walden Pond. With only a small vegetable patch for him to grow what he needed for food, Thoreau spent the rest […]


Mrs Weber’s Omnibus

Review by Matthew Nielsen Mrs Weber’s Omnibus is a collection of comics written by Posy Simmonds for the British newspaper The Guardian. The comics themselves were usually simply known as “Posy” in the paper, and have also been previously released as multiple other, smaller collections, but here they are all in one […]


Book of Hope

Review by Matthew Nielsen The Book of Hope by Tommi Musturi follows the life, thoughts, memories, and daydreams of a middle-aged Finnish couple living in the countryside. It focuses initially on the husband but later features the wife as well. The story feels slow but, at the same time, also like […]


With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child

Review by Matthew Nielsen With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child by Keiko Tobe is a manga series about a mother, Sachiko, raising her autistic son, Hikaru, while also exploring the lives and challenges faced by the other family members and their friends. The story is what some would call “edutainment,” […]


Embroidered Cancer Comic

Review by Matthew Nielsen Embroidered Cancer Comic by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin is a short comic  (graphic novella?) that’s an autobiographical retelling of Elizabeth’s husband Bob being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The comic’s panels are entirely made up of embroidered line art illustrations, and whilst this artwork can appear somewhat unrefined, it still […]