With the idea of founding a publishing house, Luc Bossé takes the first steps towards finding a distributor. He chooses to work with Filosofia. He imagines that Pow Pow might release one or two books a year, maybe fewer…

The first two Pow Pow titles are released just in time for the Montreal Book Fair: Apnée by Zviane and Yves, le roi de la cruise by Alexandre Simard and Luc Bossé.

Zviane wins the Bédéis Causa Grand Prix Award for Apnée, the first (but by no means the last) time a Pow Pow title would win an award.

Pow Pow publishes Mile End by Michel Hellman. Luc receives a call from the distributor: “Something’s going on with this book.” If things keep on this track, a second printing is right around the corner…

Pow Pow signs an agreement with Dimedia, a distributor which the publisher continues to work with to this day.

After several months of hesitation, Sophie Bédard agrees to release the first volume of her series Glorieux printemps with Pow Pow. “I thought I was gonna publish it as a little zine,” she admits several years later.

To celebrate the release of the third volume of Motel Galactic, Pierre Bouchard hand-paints thirty one-of-a-kind wooden slipcases for the series, which are shown at the Morgan Bridge Gallery in Quebec City. Stop asking us if we still have any, they’re sold out.

Samuel Cantin publishes his second graphic novel, Vil et misérable. As with all the titles released by Pow Pow to date, the cover is screen-printed by hand… But because Luc was injured during the production of this book, it’s the last to receive this hands-on approach.

Richard Suicide, a veritable legend of the Montreal underground, publishes his long-awaited Chroniques du Centre-Sud. The launch party, held at the equally legendary Cheval Blanc bar, sees more than a few glasses raised, all in the name of celebrating Richard’s achievement.

For the first time, a Pow Pow title is awarded a prize outside of Quebec when Zviane wins the Joe Shuster Award for Best Cartoonist for her work on Les deuxièmes. Today anglophone Canada, tomorrow the world!

Having had so much fun at Richard’s release party, Pow Pow decides to return to the Cheval Blanc for a quintuple book launch. 23h72 by Blonk, one of the books released, is the first Pow Pow title in colour… Meaning we see our printing cost begin to rise.

Pow Pow publishes the Quebec edition of Capharnaüm by French author Lewis Trondheim. This marks the first collaboration between Pow Pow and the iconic French publishing house L’Association.

Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, Pow Pow publishes its first four titles in English and heads to Toronto, where we exhibit at TCAF for the first time… And where people keep asking us if we brought along our titles in French.

Pow Pow’s fifth anniversary is celebrated with a massive party. The next day, someone leaves this comment on our Facebook page: “I’m sore all over and I’m covered in lipstick kisses! Hell of a party!”

In order to translate more books into English, a second crowdfunding campaign is organized. Some nice pieces of swag are created just for the campaign. We’ve still got some drink coasters sitting around, in case you’d like one…

Pow Pow begins its conquest of Europe with the signing of an agreement with Belles Lettres Diffusion Distribution, opening the doors for our books in France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

The release of the first-ever Pow Pow Calendar, featuring new illustrations from our creators. The calendar is given away free with the purchase of a book… No, we don’t just give ‘em out to anyone.

Francis Desharnais and Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau take control of the Musée national des Beaux-arts du Québec with their exposition La course à l’espace, a continuation of their graphic novel Les premiers aviateurs. This art show will be the basis for La conquête du cosmos, published in 2021.

The Pow Pow family grows, thanks to the publication of our first books translated from English into French: Longs cheveux roux by Meags Fitzgerald and Titan by François Vigneault.

Pow Pow exhibits at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for the first time ever. For some unknown reason, the song “Boys Boys Boys” by Sabrina Salerno becomes the official anthem of the trip.

First American tour for Pow Pow, with stops at the Small Press Expo in September and then on to New York for Comic Arts Brooklyn. Decent sales, excellent pizza.

La petite Russie by Francis Desharnais wins the Quebec Prix des Libraires, the ACBD Critic’s Prize, the Bédis Causa Grand Prix, and the Prix BD des Collégiens (not to mention the Oscar for Best Picture, the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and three Grammys).

Guy Delisle’s classic graphic novels Shenzhen and Pyongyang are published in new editions by Pow Pow. But if you’re looking for Chroniques birmanes or Chroniques de Jérusalem, we don’t got those… You’ll have to head over to Delcourt.

Chloé Legault joins the Pow Pow team, just in time to deal with the vast impacts of a global pandemic on the publishing industry… You’ve got this!

C’est comme ça que je disparais by Mirion Malle is released in the midst of the pandemic, inspiring the launch of the Pow Pow YouTube channel. The connection breaks down at the end of the broadcast… Sorry about that.

Since Chloé hasn’t single-handedly been able to quash this annoying “global pandemic” thing, we have to put off all of the planned festivities for Pow Pow’s tenth anniversary. “Sorry Mick Jagger, we’ll have to postpone the big show.”

First time that a Pow Pow title gets nominated for a prize at Angoulême: L’affaire des hommes disparus by Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes is a finalist for the Polar SNCF Award.

Sophie Bédard takes home the Doug Wright Award for Best Book for Lonely Boys, the English translation of her book Les petits garçons. During the online awards ceremony, Sophie seems quite delighted to receive this very real honour from the virtual hands of author Margaret Atwood.

At the Angoulême Comics Festival, La conquête du cosmos by Francis Desharnais and Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau wins the BDGest Prize for “Best American Comic Book.” They are still patiently waiting for a call from Marvel.

For the first time in its history the Montreal Comic Arts Festival takes place on Saint Denis Street, and Pow Pow breaks all its previous sales records for the event. But watch out for sunburns, and be sure to stay hydrated!

The launch of the exhibition Pow Pow: Portraits de la bande dessinée au Québec at the Bibliothèque Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, featuring pages from our books. The Pow Pow team also takes advantage of the event to clarify some misconceptions the French have about what constitutes a good poutine.

Poisson à pattes, the second graphic novel from Blonk, is an Official Selection of the Angoulême International Comics Festival, and is also included in the Sélection des Lycéens. Not too shabby!

Six years after the release of Moi aussi je voulais l’emporter, Julie Delporte’s newest book, Corps vivante, becomes Pow Pow’s biggest selling title in France.