It’s a big week for comic book lovers in Canada as the Toronto Comic Arts Festival kicks off this weekend, running from May 8th through the 15th. Sticking to digital as they had last year, they'll be welcoming some very dynamic creative forces, including today's guest. Jason Lapidus is the talented artist behind Group of 7, a work of historical fiction about real-life Canadian legends who all served overseas at the same time. If it wasn’t crazy enough that these historical figures were fighting in World War I at the same time, Jason and Group of 7 writer Chris Sanagan made them their own unit and pit them against conspiracy and monsters and all those wonderful staples of the comic book world.

We talk all about Group of 7, Jason's anticipation for his very first TCAF, the value of alternate history in an academic setting, and much more, all before jumping into a wrestling watchalong. In fact, one of the competitors in the match we watch is very familiar with TCAF himself. Artist Andy Belanger, AKA Bob "Animal" Anger defends the Heavymania Championship against the powerhouse Max Lemire at Heavy MTL!

Quick shout out to the IWS - we are watching a match filmed by an attending fan, which we did with the blessing of IWS themselves. If you want the full  IWS experience (aside from attending live, of course), you'll want to visit the official IWS YouTube channel. Catch some of the earliest matches of talents like Bob Anger, Shayne Hawke, EverRise, Kevin Owens, Brodie Lee, El Generico, and many more.

This episode was presented in affiliation with Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Tremendous thanks to TCAF Programming and Partnership Officer Irene Velentzas for putting us in contact with Jason Lapidus. 

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