The Weakly Dispatch
A pandemic time capsule by a celebrated underground cartoonist
When COVID-19 hit Montreal, cartoonist Rick Trembles started The Weakly Dispatch, a series of diary comics offering his personal perspective on pandemic life. Trembles’ asthma put him at risk of a serious infection so, like many people, he took careful measures to avoid coming into contact with the virus. He self-isolated for months, surviving on grocery deliveries from friends, DIY workouts (to prevent muscle atrophy), and of course, comics.
Leaving the apartment, however, turned out to be even harder than staying isolated. Initially foiled by stair-painters and coughing neighbours, Trembles quickly discovered a newly perilous world, populated by unmasked people and handshake enthusiasts.
The Weakly Dispatch is a wry and vulnerable look at the day-to-day complexities of life during a global pandemic, by the creator of Represented Immobilized.
Rick Trembles is a Montreal-based illustrator, post-underground cartoonist, writer, filmmaker, & musician. Two books of his Motion Picture Purgatory comix have been published by the UK’s Fab Press. His Mini Motion Picture Purgatory illustrated film review series appeared monthly at Canuxploitation.com for 10 years. His comix have been published in internationally distributed books, periodicals & anthologies such as Robert Crumb’s “Weirdo,” Russ Kick’s “The Graphic Canon,” Darius James’ “That’s Blaxploitation,” Thomas Waugh’s “Montreal Main,” Fantagraphics Books’ “Pictopia,” Kier-La Janisse’s Spectacular Optical “Satanic Panic,” & France’s “Hopital Brut” for Le Dernier Cri. His award winning animated film Goopy Spasms has toured the festival circuit globally & he continues to create cartoon shorts. He’s been a singer-guitarist for post-punk band The American Devices since 1980. He frequently archives his work at his website Snubdom.com. A collection of his autobiographical comix called Represented Immobilized is available from Conundrum Press.
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