Portage & Main Press Archives

Highwater Press. From Little by Little to The Rez Doctor, This Publisher is Paving A Bright Future for Everyone!

Sometimes, reading influential books and graphic novels is enough to show how young readers can change their lives for the better, and Highwater Press is leading the way!

Highwater Press continues to impress readers with heroes who can make a difference in everyday life. Whether this concerns a young child in Little By Little to another who desires to dream big in The Rez Doctor, just what makes these stories special is that these role models come from indigenous roots.

I’m glad this publisher has given me the opportunity to read most of their late summer and autumn catalogue of works. They opened my eyes to what anyone can be capable of. While the focus is on what these writers with First Nations upbringing can imagine up, I really enjoyed their takes on life, how to change for the better, and be more humane to one another.

For example, the Reckoner Rises (review) series shows teens coming together and learning how to use their mutant (superhero) abilities to take on the establishment. Not every graphic novel released are as simple as that. They just tackle social issues everyone should be aware of. After the discovery of a mass grave in Kamloops, the theme of how to heal and do better for a rewarding future will always be a theme. That aspect is central to what the Surviving the City series (review) is about.

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In Little Moons, It’s Tough Not To Feel Down. Someone Must Rise Up Instead!

Now available in bookstores is Little Moons, and this graphic novel shows that life doesn’t have to be hard after when someone disappears, and everyone is fearing the worst.

Little Moons Graphic Novel Cover — **Available to purchase on Amazon USA**

Highwater Press‘ commitment to publish stories by emerging talents from the Indigenous community is to be commended. If I could offer a suggestion, they should have a larger presence at comic book conventions. That way, certain works like Little Moons, written by Jen Storm, can get the marketing it deserves.

This one-shot looks at a family dealing with loss. One day, Chelsea is the life of the party, and the next, she’s gone! Reanna hopes that Chelsea simply ran away, but everyone must accept the horrible truth–she fell victim to a random abduction. As a result, there’s a melancholy embedded in every page. When these tales concern isolated communities with brief communication with the authorities, they offer limited hope.

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When The Reckoner Rises, Just Who Are the Watchman?

God Flare is the latest volume in the Reckoner Rises series from best-selling author David A. Robertson.

Highwater Press

The Reckoner Rises is a graphic novel series that’s sure to turn heads. I would not advise jumping in with the latest volume, titled God Flare. I was curious because of the fantastic attention grabbing cover by Scott B. Henderson, but in order to understand what’s going on, I had to chase down the first two graphic novels. I got the feeling this work took inspiration from Alan Moore’s The Watchman, and overall, I’m not wrong!

When readers are first introduced to Cole, we find him on the verge of a breakdown and he doesn’t understand why he’s The Chosen One. He has the mutant ability which allows him to communicate with the dead, and for Eva, who has the powers of flight, they could easily become the next Alpha Flight! But when they’re living on a reserve, it seems they don’t have a lot of inspiration to go to the next level and do stuff for the good of their community. In the harsh winter world of what I assume is Northern Winnipeg, I’m sure the life there is no different from what I’ve learned in other works, like The Death Tour (documentary review link), which examines what life is like in these sleepy indigenous communities.

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