THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2026! Last year at Broken Frontier we inducted Canadian publisher Conundrum Press into our Hall of Fame as part of our annual BF Awards. A much deserved recognition for a publisher with a consistently eclectic publishing line-up that embraces the unique potential of the form. Their socially relevant material obviously speaks to us as well here at Broken Frontier Towers. Four years after we last chatted with publisher Andy Brown we caught up again to discuss Conundrum’s upcoming appearance at Thought Bubble, their 30th anniversary, and what’s coming up from the press in the near future…
ANDY OLIVER: Thought Bubble s a great opportunity for new audiences to discover publishers and work they may not be aware of. So let’s begin by asking you to tell us about the ethos of Conundrum Press, its history, and the kind of work you showcase?
ANDY BROWN: Conundrum started at a very unique time and place. Montreal in 1996. Being an English creator in a French province that had just voted not to separate from the country by half a percent meant all the infrastructure to support English culture left to find more hospitable climes (like Toronto or NY). Creators like me and my peers (musicians, artists, writers, cartoonists, actors, etc) were abandoned to fend for themselves. I started to make chapbooks and mini comics for my friends and held events in derelict lofts. After a decade I was able to function on a more professional level. I started as a writer but now exclusively publish literary graphic novels, which means I look for narrative-driven comics.
AO: You’re celebrating 30 years of publishing this year. The big release there is your 30×30 anthology compiling all the Conundrum 25 shorts. For the uninitiated can you give us an overview of the origins of the collection and the breadth of work it consists of? And how satisfying is it seeing it all in one publication now as a representation of your output over the years?
BROWN: I published a 10th and 20th anniversary anthology as a way to mark time. After 25 years I wanted to do something different. I came up with a plan to publish 5 pocketbooks a year for 5 years culminating in a box set and anthology. The pocketbooks are all the same format and are by a variety of Canadian artists. They are all a single story in comics form, which I am calling a graphic short. There really is not a name for them. At first I thought I would be reprinting archival work in this new form, which I did for a few of the books, but in the end I approached a number of art school grads who had never done comics and this was their first attempt. Other established artists used the formal constraints to make something new.
Geographically all parts of the country are represented, and it’s a big country! And gender parity, however that is defined. So then I collected them in one giant anthology, reformatting them as comics pages (for example 9 pages of 1 panel a page becomes 1 page in a 9 panel grid). I wrote a memoir/manifesto by way of a preface, of which I am proud. Since it was supposed to be for 30 years and we needed 30 artists I added 5 for the anthology. Jonathan Dyck did the box set design which came out as a work of art in itself, and the portraits of the artists. Well-known short story writer Zsuzsi Gartner wrote an essay. Seth did the back cover portrait of me and I commissioned rising star Adam de Souza to do the cover. There is a secret 31st contributor. Buy the book and see if you can find them.
Art from Cole Pauls’ We See Stars Only at Night
AO: You’re a publisher who has a social purpose to your output. How much more important is that in 2026 both in terms of published work and initiatives like your creator bursaries for marginalised groups?
BROWN: Well I’m not sure I would call it a social purpose. Basically I have always operated from the margins (now living in the Maritimes, outside any of the cultural centres), I have always sought out work that has a unique voice, and often that means it is coming from an artist in a marginalized group. I would argue anyone making alternative comics is by definition in a marginal group. When I started, anyone creating English content was in a marginalized group. But I also realized I needed to be proactive to find more of these unique voices.
So that is one of the reasons I started the bursary for Black and Indigenous creators. There have been 6 winners, and we have published full books by numerous artists we found through the callout. So that has been a big success in finding and encouraging marginalized voices to make comics instead of something else, giving them space I guess. I have found this is especially important for Indigenous artists who have a very justifiable mistrust of institutions and their structures and norms. So part of my goal is reconciliation, but not by box ticking, but through discovering unique voices in the graphic novel field and supporting them throughout their careers. It’s a two way street.
AO: This year has also been hard for you in terms of funding cuts for the arts. How tough is the landscape right now for indie publishers in relative terms?
BROWN: Yes this is true. Historically Canada was just a distributor of UK and US culture. In the 1960s the government decided to support its own Canadian culture and allowed creators to apply for government funding. This worked! We would not have the amazing creators and institutions we have today without this support. However, times have changed. Even liberal governments can’t justify supporting arts funding anymore when our fundamental way of life is under threat by a juggernaut to the south. I can’t overstate the anxiety and resolve of Canadians in all fields right now. And I don’t think things will change much in the future. More and more conservative governments are being elected, including in my home province of Nova Scotia.
There were huge protests but ultimately all the publisher funding was taken away overnight, with credit card bills to pay. This is why I had a Crowdfunding campaign and I’m so thankful for all the support that allowed me to pay off that month’s bill. In the US almost all the small comics presses I know run annual Crowdfunding campaigns and have a day job on top of it. That is their reality. Many can’t make it work. Burnout is an issue. And I feel for the next generation, there have been no new publishers funded in a long time. So as we age out there will be nothing to take our place except multinationals owned by foreign countries. So as a publisher I need to think outside the box, I need to develop alternate revenue streams. I need to develop my connections in the UK and Europe and diversify away from the US. Hence our appearance at Thought Bubble!
Metadata
AO: Looking back on the last 30 years what have been some of the highlights? What are you most proud of as a publisher? What feedback to your work has been the most rewarding?
BROWN: There have been so many highlights! Certainly we had amazing carnivalesque events in those early years that could never be replicated today. There were some ah ha moments like going to an underground French comic event and discovering mini comics with a mix of European aesthetic combined with the American underground sensibility (Hergé meets Crumb). And of course receiving the Hall of Fame award from Broken Frontier is at the top of my list.
I think what I’m most proud of is the number of artists who have passed through my door (and some returned) who I was able to support in their artistic journey. For some I was the catalyst for them making art in the first place! And I am very proud to call many of these artists my friends. Although winning awards is always nice the feedback that really keeps me going is when I’m tabling at an event (like Thought Bubble) and someone is excited that I am there, they know the brand and express their admiration for the types of work I curate. Basically a fan, but of the press, not of an individual artist. In those moments I realize I am doing something right.
AO: There’s a small crew of Conundrum-related/Canadian creators at Thought Bubble. Who else can attendees look forward to seeing there?
BROWN: Well I’ll be bringing Donald Calabrese to promote his first graphic novel Coady. It is a mytho-biography of the founder of an economic movement in rural Nova Scotia, basically an attempt to find an alternative to capitalism. And I mentioned Adam de Souza of Blind Alley fame who will be a guest. He did the cover of the anthology. Another Nova Scotian, and Canadian national treasure, Kate Beaton will be there representing her work. And of course the Conundrum booth will feature books only by Canadian creators. Come one, come all!
AO: You’ve recently announced your first titles for Spring. What can we expect from Conundrum in 2027?
BROWN: Full Bleed is a collaboration between Sea Conlin and Katarina Thorsen. It is very exciting because the script was developed by Conlin from her own short story and visually interpreted by Thorsen (who is the artist of Salt Green Death) but the final work is a true collaboration. Fascinating to see these two artists at the top of their game working in the graphic novel field. It’s like a mix of backwoods horror and a Werner Herzog documentary. We have been getting advance praise from established writers and established comic artists which demonstrates it’s unique literary appeal.
Also, Firewall is the first book from one of our Bursary winners, Jordanna George. It is a work of Indigenous Futurism and is part of our YA Emanata Imprint. Later in the year we will publish an extensively researched history of Canadian Underground Comics edited by Robin McConnell of Inkstuds fame. These were unique and obscure publications in the 1970s, which were regionally-based across the country (unlike in the US where NY and San Francisco were the hubs). So more of the same goodness into the future. Hope to see everyone at our booth!
Interview by Andy Oliver
Conundrum Press are at Table in the Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2026 runs from November 9th-15th with the convention weekend taking place on the 14th-15th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2025 coverage so far in one place here.
Poster art by Núria Tamarit
