Leaving Richard's Valley

Michael DeForge was born in 1987 and has written eight books including Ant Colony, First Year Healthy, Big Kids, and Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero. He has been a celebrity judge for the Midland Buttertart Festival. He is currently on a treadmill.

“[Michael DeForge's comics] feel like an elaborate, extended joke — one that you really want to be in on.”—NPR“An absurdist shaggy-dog story... DeForge diagnoses the appeal and the anguish of life in any community where utopian ideals give way to desperate impermanence.”—The Globe & Mail“DeForge’s series is frequently funny, sometimes harrowing, and always deeply strange.”—Slate“Bizarre and heartfelt in equal measure, Leaving Richard’s Valley is a rare comic that balances acute political critique with a sweet and almost optimistic story line.”—Seattle Times“[DeForge's] drawings consist of simple lines, flat perspective, and a limited palette of bright colors, but the worlds therein are a profusion of organic shapes that suggest a richness of interior emotion.”—The Believer“[Leaving Richard's Valley] highlights the value of finding one’s place in a world that is constantly growing and changing... DeForge has skilfully created a twisted, bitingly funny parable about community and friendship in tough times.”—Winnipeg Free Press“The definition of a truly great artist, in my book, is someone who leads you somewhere unexpected...Michael DeForge does this with everything he produces, and it is part of why people love his work. Leaving Richard’s Valley is yet another example of this skill.”—Paste Magazine“Deforge succeeds in creating a weird, witty epic in this, the longest and yet most accessible of his graphic novels.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review“It’s often funny, sometimes disturbing and always entertaining... You’ll want to read it more than once.”—The Toronto Star“A visually stunning, surprisingly dark new comic collection.”—The Walrus