Boum

@boum.bsky.social

4739 Followers 342 Following

Eisner Award-winning cartoonist • Author of THE JELLYFISH, BOUMERIES, A SMALL REVOLUTION & others • (she/her) • FR/EN 🇫🇷🇨🇦 https://www.boumfolio.com • https://www.patreon.com/boum

A 4-panel comic. It's 5:17am, I'm sleeping. My arm starts to twitch and wakes me up-- it's numb and has restless arm syndrome. As I try to shake it off, I think, "Off to a good start"
A 4-panel comic. I'm drawing at my drawing table, which is set an angle. Suddenly, my cat comes sliding down backwards on the table slope, until she falls on the floor.
The promo image for la Fête du livre de Saint-Adolphe, with a bunch of authors and publishers attending.
A 4-panel comic. I'm working on comics, and my husband is on his computer. A song by the Mars Volta is playing. My husbands asks what's playing. I say "That's the Mars Volta." He replies "Oh, don't know them." I get up and stare at him with wide eyes over his computer monitors: "You're telling me we've been together twelve years and I've never shown you THE MARS VOLTA??" On the last panel, I'm lecturing him and he looks annoyed: "So as you can see, their third album Amputechture is their first non-unified narrative venture, unlike Frances the Mute or De-lo..."
A 4-panel comic. My husbands puts our two daughters to bed. Then he turns to me and I seem to be waiting for him for something. He says "Oh. It's eye time?" As he's putting ointment inside my eye, the text reads "So on top of having optic neuritis (made me blind) and uveitis (eyedrops 4x a day), I have a chalazion on my eyelid and have to put ointment inside my eye. All in the same eye!" The final panel is me with a pharmacist. "The pharmacist was adamant that the tube couldn't touch my eye and that I should never put too much ointment in there." I think "I am BLIND how will I do this"
A 4-panel comic. I'm sitting at the table eating dinner. My cat Moogle is watching from another seat, but I tell her no. She puts a front paw on the table, I insist: no. She climbs on the fable, I insist stronger, but eventually she's won and she's loafing happily on my breasts.
The cover for my graphic novel "The Jellyfish", featuring Odette, the main character, with a jellyfish in front of their left eye.
A 4-panel comic. We're having dinner, and our two daughters are talking at the same time. Our 8yo daughter says: "The book I'm reading in class is about a girl kinda like me, but evil." Our 5yo daughter says all excitedly: "Today we learned about the letter F!!" Our 8yo continues: "Like at some point she finds a lion!! Turns out it's a kitten." The 5yo adds, standing up on her bench: "So there's a boy Felix who has a flat tire." Our 8yo swivels on her seat and shows us her back but she continues: "So she wanted to get rid of the kitten so she puts it in a blender." The 5yo puts her hand in her bowl, and says "The bike pump was shaped like an F and it went FFFFFFFF". The last panel features my husband and I. I'm trying to understand both my kids so I say "FFF like a pump, ok cool. How is that girl even remotely "kinda like you"?" and my husband is leaning his head on the table and mumbles "Why aren't they eating"
The cover for "Medúza", the Czech translation of "The Jellyfish"
A 4-panel comic. My cat is sitting in my office chair, and the narration (hers) reads: "How peculiar." She looks at me, sitting at my drawing table. She thinks: "This. Not normally where female human sits." She moves closer to me. "How? Why? I investigate." She climbs on my table and walks directly on the comic I'm working. I shout her name: "MOOGLE"
A 4-panel comic. I'm drawing comics at my drawing table. The text reads "It's crazy to think that I've finished pencilling my graphic novel (it's 217 pages long). In a way, it's complete. If I were to die tomorrow, people would still be able to read it. So today I'm celebrating by taking a well-deserved day off work!... by drawing comics all day."
An inked panel from my book. In a convenience store full of wares, two characters are talking to each other.
My 10yo daughter climbs a Chinese pole by doing flips.
Une BD de 4 cases intitulée "Un détail pourtant important". Je porte un jumper au Comiccon de Montréal (un vêtement une pièce). C'est stylé! (Je pose comme une vedette devant plein de gens en portant des lunettes fumées.) C'est confortable! (Je montre mes vêtements.) Il faut se mettre toute nue pour aller aux toilettes! (Je suis assise sur la toilette et je ne porte qu'un soutien-gorge, j'ai l'air mal à l'aise et je me dis "J'oublie toujours ce détail.")
A 4-panel comic titled "A very important detail". I'm wearing a jumper at the Montreal Comiccon. It's stylish! (I'm wearing sunglasses and posing for the masses, looking like a celebrity.) It's comfortable! (I show my outfit.) You have to get naked to go to the restroom! (I'm sitting on the toilet, wearing just a bra, looking uncomfortable as I think "I always forget this detail.")
A 4-panel comic. My husband is sitting at his computer, finally reading my complete graphic novel (The Jellyfish). As he's reading, my head pops up from behind his computer to watch his face. I think to myself, "I hope he cries."
A panel from the graphic novel I'm working on, "In Transit". It's all in blues and pinks. Maryse, a woman in her thirties, is visiting her aging mother at the retirement home. Her mother is waving to someone off panel and Maryse is doing a disgusted face in response.
A 4-panel comic. I'm on the computer, reading and correcting my friend Cab's finished graphic novel, "Utown". She's also the first person to read my graphic novel, "The Jellyfish" (I just finished the pencils last week!). I finish reading. After reading (a chapter, the whole book) we always give each other a call. I call her: "Hello this is the graphic novelist hotline, congratulations on a job well done. You forgot a comma on page 197"
A 4-panel comic. I'm texting Cab, who has been waiting for me to read her comic. This is our conversation via text message. Me: Hey, I had to go pick up my kid at school so I'll read your comic ASAP (I'm her first reader). She got a block of ice to the head. She's fine Cab: Omg. Do they even have a nurse? Is that still a thing? Me: I think she's only there like once every two weeks Cab: So you can break your face twice a month Me: You must only get hurt on every second Wednesday
Une BD de 4 cases intitulée "Ça sert à rien mais c'est cool". Dans la première case, je suis juste là, heureuse, avec un X sur mon oeil droit. Le texte: "Depuis que j'ai perdu un oeil, j'ai un superpouvoir: je peux VOIR des SONS." Le reste des cases est tout noir, et on me voit en silhouette. Le texte dit "Faut quand même réunir certaines conditions: - Il doit faire noir. - Le son doit être subit et assez fort pour me surprendre un peu. Quand ça arrive, je vois un gros flash blanc dans mon oeil aveugle." Il y a un gros PANG et un flash devant moi, et je dis "ooo, aaa". Le texte continue: "Y a sûrement une raison du genre "le choc augmente le flux sanguin dans l'oeil" mais j'aime mieux croire que je suis spéciale." Dans le noir, je dis "Superpouvoiiiiiiiiiiir"
A 4-panel comic titled "It's Useless But Cool". In the first panel, I'm just standing there happily with a X on my right eye. The text reads "Since losing an eye, I have a superpower: I can SEE SOUNDS." All the other panels are pitch black. The text reads "There still needs to be some specific conditions: - It must be dark. - The sound has to be sudden and loud enough for me to be a bit surprised. When it happens, I see a big white flash in my blind eye." There's a loud PANG noise and a flash appears in front of me, and I go "ooo, aaa". The last panel says "There's surely a scientific explanation for this like "the shock causes blood flow to rise within the eyeball" or something but I'd rather believe I'm special." I stand there in the dark and I just say "Superpoweeeeeeeeeer"
A 4-panel comic. I'm eating lunch when my phone rings. The person on the phone says "Hi, this is the school. Your daughter was hit in the head during recess. Please come pick her up." I'm surprised but I agree. As my kid steps into my car, she explains: "Some kid threw a block of ice at me. I told my teacher my head hurts so she said to go home and relax." I tell her "Well then I guess it's a Pokémon Arceus kinda day, huh?" and she smiles widely.
A 4-panel comic. I'm working on my comics and my husband is on the computer. Our Cornish Rex cat, Moogle, looks at us and starts mewing very loudly. The meows have subtitles: "I declare- it is time- to dine". I get up and follow her to the stairs saying "ok ok", she continues: "Female human- follow me- for it is- now". As I get near her bowl with the food, she keeps yelling: "Oh, how long- until this bowl- contains all- and I feast" and I say "Yes ok stop"
A photo of my wares at Comiccon! Starting to run out of stuff!
A closeup photo of my booth at the con!
A photo of my booth at the con!
A 4-panel comic. I'm drawing hourly comics and listening to some music to wash away Shrek (see previous comics this week). Suddenly, the pencil I'm using explodes in multiple pieces. It's broken. I throw it away.
A 4-panel comic. I'm sitting down at my drawing table, finally setting up to start working on my hourly comics. As I grab my pencil, I shout "EEW my pencil is super oily???" As I attempt to clean it, the text reads "I haven't used these art supplies in a whole year. I've only drawn digitally since I lost my right eye last March. Maybe excreting oil is how this pencil is telling me it's angry." I stare at it and mumble "Still sticky..."
A part of an inked panel from my next graphic novel. One of the main characters, a woman, looks particularly disgusted or displeased by something off panel.
A 4-panel comic. I'm getting my kids ready for school: breakfast, hair, and dropping them off. All the while, I have the Shrek opening song (SomeBODY) stuck in my head. In the last panel, I say to myself "Ugh so you're telling me this Hourly Comic Day will be Shrek-flavoured"
An illustration in purple hues. A teen girl is staring at a mirror, but the person staring back at her isn't her; the mirror is broken into pieces that fall off.
A 4-panel comic. For the two first panels, I'm sleeping in my bed. On the third panel, mu phone's alarm rings at maximum sound and the text reads "ALARM IS WAY LOUDER THAN USUAL". On the last panel, I'm sitting in my bed, terrified, and the text reads "Hourly Comic Day 2022: start!"
A panel from my book "In Transit", coloured in blue and pink hues. One of the main characters grabs a can of cat food from a cupboard.
A 2-panel comic. I'm in bed, with the lights on. I'm holding my phone to pass the time. I'm thinking: "He said his episode ended in fifteen minutes! I'll wait for him." On the second panel, my husband is sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching TV, a cat on his lap. He thinks "She's in bed, might as well binge watch the whole season"
A 4-panel comic. I'm picking up my 8yo daughter at school. "Hey kiddo!" She says "We made waffles at school today!" As I take her heavy schoolbag off her shoulders, I reply "Oh cool! Were they tasty?" She says "I dunno, I haven't had time to eat mine yet. So I put it in my bag." Holding her bag in my hands, I worry: "There's a WAFFLE in your schoolbag??" Once home, I find the oily, wet waffle wrapped in brown paper and wedged between two binders.
A promo image for my presence as a guest at the Montreal Comiccon next week
A 4-panel comic. I'm finishing my hourly comics and I'm tired. My phone beeps; I wonder what now. It's a text message from my ex. It only says "BAAAAAA-moin-en-ti-bo!", in reference to all the hourly comics I made that day about having that song as an earworm. I yell "ARE YOU KIDDING ME"
A 4-panel comic. Our cat Moogle climbed on a shelf and threatens to push a plant down, my husband steps in saying "NO". Moogle is clawing at the blinds in the window and my husband arrives: "NO". Moogle pushes a computer monitor, my husband: "NO". Moogle climbs on my neck and back as I'm drawing, and my husband shouts "NO"
A photo of my daughters sitting on stairs, way too cool for school.
A photo of me as promotion for my presence at the Lucca Comics & Games Fest in October, made possible by Tunué
A 4-panel comic. I'm working at my drawing table. The first panel reads "Kids are in bed. I try to catch up on hourlies." Suddenly I stop, smell my armpit, and go back to work thinking "All good, I can still smell"
A 4-panel comic. I'm sitting at my drawing table. My oldest daughter, 8, comes to see me and asks what I'm doing. I answer "Making comics!" As she leans on my chair, she adds "And now? Whatcha dooooing?" I say "Inking. Please don't move my chair. Okay now I'm inking tiny details so please step back a bit." She says "ok" and obliges. As I focus on my work again, I say "With my sick eye I have a really hard time doing this" but my kid comes back holding my rowdy cat above my head, a huge smile on her face.
A 4-panel comic. My husband and I are preparing dinner. My phone jingles: it's an email from my kid's school, that reads "COVID case in your child's class: As a preventive measure, your child must stay home until further notice". I cry and think about a to-do list flying away: "Goodbye workload I was supposed to get done this week"
Une BD de 4 cases intitulée "La robe à frange". Pour le spectacle de juin de ma chorale, il fallait s'habiller en robe de gala. J'avais une robe style "flapper" des années 1920, avec des paillettes, de la frange trop longue et des talons de 5cm, ce qui est très haut pour moi. Pour la tenir en place, je mettais du tape deux faces partout. Mais évidemment, juste avant chaque représentation... "Shit j'ai envie de pisser pis j'ai ma grosse robe," que je dis à un ami dans la chorale. Il répond "Ben enlève-la?" mais je dis "J'peux pas, j'ai du tape partout!!" La dernière case, c'est moi assise sur la toilette en tenant ma robe de peine et de misère, avec de la frange partout. Je pense: "J'ai plein de frange dans la craque de fesses."
A 4-panel comic titled "The fringe dress". For my choir's June show, I had to wear a formal dress: a 1920s-style flapper dress, with beads and fringe that was too long, and 5cm heels that were very high for me. To keep it in place, I put double-faced tape everywhere. But obviously, before each show... "Shit I have to pee and I'm wearing my big dress," I tell a friend in the choir. He says "Well, take it off?" to which I reply "I can't, it's taped on!!" The final panel is me sitting on the toilet, barely holding my big skirt, with fringe everywhere, and I think "I have so much fringe down my butt crack."
A 4-panel comic. I arrive home with both my young daughters. It's winter, and they both take their boots, hats, mittens, scarves, coats, and snow pants off, and they leave everything on the floor by the door. I still stand in the doorway, looking at all of this, sighing.
A 4-panel comic. I'm picking up my eldest daughter at school. It's during the COVID pandemic; I note to myself that all the other parents are also wearing the mandatory masks, and that it must be a miracle. My daughter finally shows up and she's carrying a gigantic brown paper bag. She gives it to me, takes her own mask off to reveal the gap in between her teeth and shouts "I LOST A TOOTH IT'S IN THE BAG"
A photo during the dress rehearsal of "Broadway With Love", during the Les Misérables medley. It's "At the End of the Day", and a bunch of singers are kneeling and crawling towards the audience in very dramatic lighting.
A 4-panel comic. I'm sitting at the computer, working. There's a definite line of sunshine bleeding through the blinds. As the comic progresses, the sunlight slowly creeps towards me, until only my face is lit and I have to squint. The last panel reads "Ah yes, the 'sun peeks through the blinds' hour"
A 4-panel comic. I'm sitting at my drawing table. My phone rings, and I get a message that reads "We delivered your parcel". So I run downstairs. I run down more stairs. The last panel says "Our new house has lots of stairs" and I'm still going down and my knees are cracking and I say "COMING"
A photo from the show, where Mme Thénardier laments about her husband.
A photo from the show "Broadway With Love" from the Lyric Theatre Singers. A group dances the charleston.
A 4-panel comic. My cat Moogle is staring at a tissue box. She sticks her whole had into the slit. I yell her name, so she gets out, but then I look at her and say "Actually you know what, carry on." I grab a notepad and a pen and I add "Go on, I'm ready" as my cat looks at me in confusion.
A photo of the "Broadway With Love" show from the Lyric Theatre Singers. Ladies in ball gowns are aligned to sing.
A 4-panel comic. It's lunch break, I'm making myself lunch. My husband walks into the kitchen, singing "Ba moin en ti bo", which I'd had stuck in my head all morning. I turn to him as he opens the fridge: "So it's stuck in your head now?" He agrees, but then I notice he's got it stuck in my head again too.
A 4-panel comic. I'm sitting at my drawing table, but I'm not working. I think: "Hm. This hour has been pretty uneventful. What should I make a comic about? Where the hell is my cat and why isn't she bothering me as usual" Then I find her curled up on my kid's bed, sleeping, so I go poke her.
A photo of one of our rehearsals. We’re on stage. I’m standing in the middle of the photo, smiling.
A 4-panel comic. For nine months now, my right eye has been sick with uveitis. I'm opening a bottle of eyedrops. I have to put eyedrops in eight times a day (every two hours or so). I put the bottle over my eye and squeeze. The eyedrop falls, but I'm wet all over the right side of my face. The text in the final panel reads "Because I can't see very well, my aim is often off."
A 4-panel comic. I'm working at my drawing table. There's a door sound from downstairs: it's my husband coming back home after dropping the kids off at school. When he gets into the office, I look at him and ask "Heya! Could you please put some music on? I got "Ba moin en ti bo" [a song by La compagnie créole] stuck in my head, it's annoying." He says ok and I thank him. He walks away. Suddenly, "BA MOIN EN TI BO" starts at full volume and I angrily shout "NO"
A 4-panel comic. I'm putting toothpaste on my 5yo daughter's toothbrush and I think "Gotta make comics". I'm handing clothes to my 8yo and I think "Gotta make comics". I brush my 5yo's hair and I think "Gotta make comics". My husband leaves with both my kids and I think "Gotta make comics".