Canada Post continues Graphic Novelists series

By David Hartwig

On Nov. 20 Canada Post continued its Canadian Graphic Novelists series with a set of six stamps recognizing Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.

For the designs of the stamps, each artist collaborated with Canada Post to create an original drawing exclusively for this stamp issue. Each final image features one of the artist’s most recognized books and depicts the main character or characters in the act of reading their own story.

The six stamps are nondenominated, with a “P” for “permanent” inside a maple leaf in the top right corner of the stamp. These stamps, which Canada Post calls permanent stamps, cover the first-class domestic rate (currently $1.24).

Written in a minimalist style employing striking images in panel form, the graphic novel has steadily grown in popularity worldwide. The narrative art form, distinguished from comic books by its serious themes, often includes lengthier formats such as anthologies, memoirs and other nonfiction works.

The genre dates to the earliest days of comic books, although the term “graphic novel” wasn’t coined until the mid-1960s, according to comic book historian Richard Kyle.

The set of six stamps in the Nov. 20 issue “celebrates the work of some of Canada’s most talented and influential graphic novelists,” Canada Post said. …

The 2025 Graphic Novelists stamps are available in a booklet of 12 (two panes of the six stamps), designed by Subplot Design Inc., and printed by Lowe-Martin in a quantity of 130,000 booklets (1,560,000 stamps).

The front of the booklet features a photograph of the spines of the six graphic novels whose main characters are featured on the stamps. The back provides a brief description of the issue.

Subplot Design Inc. also designed the first-day covers for this issue (one for each stamp). Each FDC was produced in a quantity of 4,000.

The FDCs were canceled in different locations, either the artist’s birthplace or residence: Kate Beaton (Mabou, Nova Scotia), Jimmy Beaulieu (L’lle d’Orleans, Quebec), Guy Delisle (Quebec City, Quebec), Julie Doucet (Montreal, Quebec), Bryan Lee O’Malley (London, Ontario) and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Prince Rupert, British Columbia).

Shown on the left on the front of each FDC is the cover of the specific graphic novel featured on the stamp. The back of the FDC shows an open page of the novel on the left and has a brief description of the author on the right.

The ordering number for the booklet is 414285111, and the ordering numbers for the FDCs are 414285131 (Kate Beaton), 414286131 (Jimmy Beaulieu), 414287131 (Guy Delisle), 414291131 (Julie Doucet), 414289131 (Bryan Lee O’Malley) and 414290131 (Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas).

At the time of publication, customers in the United States cannot purchase these or other products from Canada Post due to U.S. Customs changes.

For those outside of the United States, the new Graphic Novelists stamps and FDCs are available from Canada Post at www.canadapost.ca/shop, and by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

To read the full story about the new Graphic Novelist stamps, subscribe to Linn’s Stamp News.

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