Vancouver author's graphic novel explores the fear of adulthood and running away
A remote island commune off the coast of Vancouver sets the scene for a coming-of-age graphic novel detailing a group of friends' fear of adulthood and the enticement of running away from home.
The Gulf, written by Vancouver-based cartoonist and illustrator Adam De Souza, aims to capture the listlessness, restless energy and raw emotion of how it feels to be a teenager nearing the end of high school.It speaks to the geographic location of the book but also to the emotional place the characters find themselves between adolescence and adulthood.De Souza, a Vancouver-based cartoonist and illustrator, says that writing a coming-of-age story that wasn't straightforward was reflective of his upbringing.They're about to graduate from high school, and they decide not to enrol in university to go to a commune, which Oli, the lead character, found a pamphlet for on her parents' shelf when she was young.Youth face a lot of pressure early on to make good decisions that will impact their whole lives, according to De Souza.