“Comic”-ly creative Lethbridge

Eric Dyck working on a comic at the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery as the Artist in Residence on Feb. 4. 

By Tyler Willment

From whimsical artistry to serious elegance, comic writers and artists are well respected in the Lethbridge community.

“I’m not sure why the nerd demographic is so high here. Really it is something I noticed as soon as I moved here,” said Eric Dyck cartoonist and author of Slaughterhouse Slough.

Ben Laverock and Scott Dewey authors and artists of 7Storm collective agree with Dyck saying that being a geek is cool now and it has become more mainstream.

Dyck sits at a small table drawing everyday elements on behalf of the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery as the resident cartoonist. His simplistic drawings give a fanciful depiction to everyday conversations and activities. People walk by and express sincere interest in Dyck’s work.

“The more detail, the more realism you pack into something the more other it becomes, the simpler and the more broad it is, the more accessible it is or more relatable to everybody,” said Dyck.

Dyck has found success in Lethbridge with his humorous tales of Slaughterhouse Slough. The Lethbridge Living magazine publishes his comics in their more recent issues. A fan also got a selfie with Dyck at the art gallery Thursday afternoon.

Dyck teaches several classes and enjoys seeing people express themselves with their work.

Dewey and Laverock have also found success in Lethbridge but they say they got lucky. Many of the comic shops know them and they are involved in the Lethbridge Comic Con and Entertainment Expo as well as events in other cities.

Dewey’s and Laverock’s artistic style is very different from Dycks’s whimsical style. Dewey’s in-depth and comprehensive art combined with Laverock’s illustrative writing gives the readers of their comics a more complex view of the story they are trying to tell.

“One of the things that we learned working together is how [Laverock’s] writing can describe things, but then my pictures can describe things and getting a balance between the two where you do not have to describe everything in writing and you don’t have to describe everything with pictures. A balance of both has been an interesting way of doing it,” said Dewey.

Dyck, Dewey and Laverock both have different styles and formats when it comes to comics and both are popular.

“I think probably the first thing is that there is a large draw from pop culture,” said Nick Bond assistant manager at Kapow Comics. Cards & Games.

Dewey, Laverock and Dyck all agree with Bond’s statement and they see a resurgence of comic readers young and old.

The comic book industry is huge with Comic Con events all over North America, but notably in Lethbridge where there are two events a year involving entertainment and comics. According to Dewey it is because Lethbridge is a smaller community. Dyck agrees by saying it has a more intimate environment than the bigger centres.

Whether it is quaint humour or graceful expressive stories, comics are a big part of Lethbridge living.

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