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Comics & Graphic Novels Crime & Mystery

Weeding

by (artist) Geneviève Lebleu

Publisher
Conundrum Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2021
Category
Crime & Mystery, Literary, Historical Fiction
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781772620481
    Publish Date
    Nov 2021
    List Price
    $18

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Description

X-Files meets The Young and the Restless
On a typical autumn afternoon, Martha hosts a group of middle-aged women at her suburban home. The day takes a sudden turn when Elisabeth, an estranged friend, turns up unexpectedly - and she isn't the only unwanted guest at the tea party. Martha's sister, Maureen, shows up after years of radio silence, along some painful memories and a lot of confusion.
Martha disappears after a simple trip to the backyard for herbs. Martha is the most beloved of the women - but will any of the others be able to look past their own problems long enough to search for her?
A satirical portrayal of feminine archetypes in the social landscape of the 60s, Weeding is inspired by soap operas that use unexplained disappearances and repetitive character reanimations to liven up otherwise uneventful plot lines. As a verb, "weeding" means "to remove an inferior or unwanted component of a group or collection." In Weeding, Genevieve Lebleu takes this definition to the extreme with a fable about social exclusion in a world where women turn against one another.

About the author

Geneviève Lebleu is a multidisciplinary artist from Québec City and is currently based in Montréal. She graduated with distinction from Concordia University in Studio Arts (2016) and completed a semester at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (Israel). Her work was featured in various events, exhibitions and festivals in Montréal (Le Vidéographe, GIV [Groupe Intervention Vidéo], Eastern Bloc, Perte de Signal, Festival SOIR, Galerie Galerie) but also abroad--in Israel and in Indiana where she attended her first artist residency in August 2017. Geneviève has been granted funding from both Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec and Canada Council for the Arts. Her work in stop motion animation was featured on national television on CBC Arts The Exhibitionist in November 2018. Outside of her personal art practice she collaborates with artists from the Montréal music scene, creating album cover art, flyers and music videos ("Cours toujours," Paupière) and participating in audiovisual performances. Geneviève has also collaborated with other visual artists such as Montréal-based duo Pénélope et Chloë.

Geneviève Lebleu's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"With bursting colours and vivid visages, Weeding is a biting and funny graphic novel."
Shrapnel Magazine
Soap-opera body horror trips through a shapeshifting garden in this beautiful debut graphic novel by multidisciplinary artist Genevieve Lebleu. - Broken Pencil
"Fraught friends, old feuds, teatime, and suburban backyard gardening, all turn beautifully, nauseatingly, weird in Genevieve LeBleu's - Weeding. Embittered chain-smoking Beth, Maureen, Martha, and others transform a seemingly normal day into a mutating, murderous, timeless story. Hypnotic drawings of roots, vines, and alien blooms, engulf bodies building much worrying wonder about the nature of friendship. Genevieve's wicked creativity truly delights in this twisted trippy garden tale of women's lives - inappropriately relatable, satisfyingly creepy, awkward giggle? I love this book."
- Elisabeth Belliveau, creator of One Year in America
"Weeding is a fantastic and deeply weird graphic novel. . . The publisher says this is "X-Files meets The Young and The Restless. " I'd say there's some David Lynch in there, too. Weeding is a dream, a nightmare, a twisted portrayal of tangled lives, intertwined like vines." - Carousel Magazine

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