Red: A Haida Manga, by Michael Yahgulanaas (Douglas & McIntyre, 112 pages, $28.95). There can be few better examples of graphic lit’s malleability than this. Yahgulanaas, a Haida living on Bowen Island, B.C., has adapted the visual iconography of his heritage and applied the storytelling approach of Japanese Manga comics to tell a tragic story of war and revenge – one whose themes transcend their native setting to take on a classical dimension.

The overall effect is uncanny, as if a totem pole has come to life to act out a legend. Yahgulanaas’s circular approach to narrative, in both images and words, may demand a couple of go-throughs to absorb, but the effort is worth it.

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