The perfect gift book for the newly retired! A special edition of the popular Living Together After Retirement cartoon collections by Graham Harrop. Enjoy the full range of cartoons from LTAR, or, There’s a Spouse in the House and LTAR – The Second Collection in this delightful hardcover version. More than 70 cartoons that take a whimsical look at married life after graduation from the workaday world… for better or for worse! https://www.amazon.com/Living-Together-After-Retirement-Collection/dp/B0C7JCR88F/

“A Day in the Life”

…with Vancouver-based Cartoonist Graham Harrop

Thanks to Demian and team at the Vancouver Guardian for featuring Graham’s work in today’s digital issue!!

August 2, 2023 Demian Vernieri Arts, Visual Arts

Graham Harrop began his working life at 16 as a copy runner at The Vancouver Sun with the conviction he could one day be drawing for the paper. Graham has worked at the mill in Powell River, moving on to pizza delivery, cab driving, helping at a seniors’ centre, clerking at a paint store, to becoming a freelance cartoonist and then editorial cartoonist at The Vancouver Sun. (Let’s face it, the man can’t hold a job).

After more than 26 years now as an editorial cartoonist, Graham’s work still elicits a chuckle from Sun readers as his gentle satire focuses on upheavals major and minor and their effect on the lives of British Columbians.

Graham also creates the online comic strips UFO and TEN CATS which appear daily on the Go Comics site. TEN CATS has won a prestigious Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society, while UFO is the fulfilment of another of Graham’s boyhood dreams. For more than two decades, Graham’s “BackBench” comic strip ran daily in The Globe and Mail, and two BackBench books have been published by Harper Collins and Ronsdale Press.

His off-hours find him doodling with coloured inks on glossy card stock, creating his whimsical, freefalling “inklings”… Or if a camera is handy, his slightly skewed view of the universe finds its expression in the Potpourri critters he enhances from found items or leaves, twigs or discarded plastics… A tattered dishcloth becomes a spirited little bluebird; a washing machine agitator becomes an overworked laundress… Graham occasionally posts them on his website.

A number of whimsical collections of Graham’s cartoons are available on Amazon. His t-shirt designs and cards are often donated to a local animal advocacy group for their fundraising efforts.

His friend and fellow cartoonist Dan Murphy has said: “Graham Harrop has… an unfettered imagination, a sublime silliness and as graceful a way with words as with pen and brush.”

-Written by Annie Birthistle, best friend and assistant

Graham Harrop
Primate cartoon is from Graham’s long-running BackBench comic strip in The Globe and Mail
Graham Harrop
The Stanley Park cartoon appeared in The Vancouver Sun in August 2013
The ‘cow’ is created from watercolour ink on art board, then scanned and digitally enhanced by Graham – part of his “inklings” series
BC Ferry system is a favourite topic for BC cartoonists, as evidenced by this one of Graham’s from June 2021
Graham at his drawing board in his home office – he loves the 15-second commute from couch to desk!
“Bluebird” is one of Graham’s Potpourri creations, made from tossed and found items
Graham Harrop
UFO has just joined the GoComics site as of July 10th! Can be seen here.
Graham Harrop
TEN CATS has been on GoComics since 2012

***

Which ’hood are you in?

Born in Liverpool, raised between Burnaby, Egmont and Saltery Bay, now living and working in North Vancouver.

What do you do?

I create editorial cartoons and greeting cards, comic strips and presentation cartoons. Try to help. Try to make people happy. “That’s what it’s all about,” my Uncle Bill used to say.

What are you currently working on?

Right now I’ve just self-published a new collection, So You Thought You Could Retire! It’s about retirees returning to the workforce, for whatever reason – staffing shortages, inflation, or the need for their expertise. It is a follow-up to Living Together After Retirement.

Where can we find your work?

You can usually find me laying on the couch, but my books are available on Amazon, and here you can find the UFO and TEN CATS comic strips. I also post on my website.

A Sneak Peek!

Truer than Fiction! Enjoy the very silly adventures of a Canadian cartoonist. All the thrills, all the spills, and all the fun as Graham navigates his way through the day-to-day world with his head firmly in the clouds. Now on Amazon… Here are the opening pages, for your eyes only…. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9KM8S3J

Books by Graham Harrop

Thanks to the great folk at Australia’s Golden Days Radio https://goldendaysradio.com/ Graham’s fun title Where Are They Now? Pop song icons of the 50’s and 60’s has found an occasional spot where listeners can hear completely unexpected updates on their favourites from yesteryear – thanks GDR for all the cheerful music and for enjoying Graham’s colourful biographies of The Great Pretender, Runaround Sue, and many more! https://www.amazon.com/Where-Are-They-Song-Icons/dp/B08NRVZ774

So You Thought You Could Retire!


Thought you could sit back and relax? Forget about it! Take a lighthearted look at retirees who’ve returned to the workplace…. From teachers to nurses to big box store greeters – they’re all here and waiting to tell their side of the story! A fun follow up to “Living Together After Retirement by TEN CATS cartoonist Graham Harrop https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW3BDGJ5