Allan Beaton's "Ookpik" Was Here

Abstract

"The comic was envisioned as an educational text, yet recycles stereotypes about the Arctic before fully transforming it into a modern, northern city. Although “Ookpik” takes place in an exotic setting, it more often educates its readers about southern Canadian life in the 1960s. Nevertheless, Beaton’s comic offers a glimpse into Canadian cultural identity: it begins with an owl living in the undeveloped Arctic wilderness who, once personified, settles in a town populated by other animal-citizens, and Ookpik responds to similar challenges and problems as his readers."