By Dan Brown

I can think of no better way to spend a Saturday morning than having a spirited discussion about graphic novels with smart, interesting people.

So consider this your official invitation to take part in this year’s first monthly meeting of the L.A. Mood Graphic Novel Group.

It takes place Saturday, January 11 at 11 a.m. over by the gaming tables. The street address is 100 Kellogg Ln. here in London.

No previous experience in graphic novels is required. You don’t have to have strong opinions or even a long history with comics and superheroes.
All you need to be willing to do is read the books and be open to where the conversation goes!

The group began in June of 2008 after store co-owner Carol Vandenberg said to me, “We should have a book club for graphic novels. What do you think?” Book clubs were a new thing back then. Genius idea!

As far as I can tell, the L.A. Mood Graphic Novel Group, or GNG as it is known to regular attendees, was one of the first book clubs, in this country at least, to focus exclusively on graphic novels and comics.

If my memory serves, the first graphic novel we talked about as a group was Watchmen, DC's dark parody of superhero comics by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Did we know the discussion would lead to a comment from Gord Mood (the other owner of the comic store and Carol’s husband) about how the story reflected the reasoning process of thesis, antithesis and synthesis? We did not.
And that’s the beauty of GNG.

I can never anticipate ahead of time where the conversation will end up. All I know is I come away from every monthly meeting thinking, “I learned a lot.”
We’ve covered many different types of graphic novels since the club launched.
We’ve read classics of the genre such as Maus. We’ve done superhero books featuring characters like Batman and the X-Men. We’ve done horror comics such as Something is Killing the Children. There’s been books by Canadian creators, wordless comics, bestsellers, obscure manga, you name it. The great part is there is always so much to choose from.

Does that mean everyone is obliged to love every selection? Naw. But chances are you’ll find something to appreciate at some point. We meet the second Saturday of each month until the end of the year.

The January meeting is an especially good one for newcomers to attend because it’s our annual pitch meeting. This is when each member comes up with possible titles to read in the year ahead and as a group we slot them into a particular month. For example, in July, to coincide with Canada Day, the group has developed a tradition of picking something with a Canadian flavour. So get in on the ground floor for 2025 now!

You are in no way required to buy the books from L.A. Mood Comics & Games, although Carol does offer them to customers at a discounted price. We’ve had members bring e-book versions, copies borrowed from the library, or a used copy they picked up at Goodwill.

If you’re interested in how comics are made, guest speakers have also come to address us. Byron graphic novelist Derek Laufman, for example, came to discuss his work. Essex County’s Jeff Lemire, before he exploded onto the comic scene, stopped by, as did the creators behind the Kill Shakespeare series.

This has led also to field trips (we once went to an exhibit of Seth’s imaginary town Dominion at Museum London) and movie nights (like the time we watched the R.Crumb documentary together).

The one thing I can say for sure is, all these years later, my horizons have become so much broader.

I would love to see you around the table on Saturday, so please consider attending this week. We're looking forward to meeting you!

Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.