Tails Of The City

Michael DeForge’s wildly successful comic shows Toronto as he sees it: beautiful and falling apart

- Sharon Nadeem

Lyle the raccoon writhes on the floor in agony, sweat mixed with tears dripping down his face, as his friends Neville the Dog, Omar the Spider, and Ellie Squirrel stand around him, worried.

“I’m about to die,” says Lyle, and that’s not a bad guess. Not only are these friends talking animals, they’re also members of an extreme and reclusive cult whose human leader insists on treating water with “purifying stones.” Suspecting the drinking water is behind his illness, Lyle hasn’t had any in three days. His friends, who look like a Tim Burton menagerie, make a snap decision: they give him a ladleful of untreated water. Immediately, Lyle’s eyes snap open, and the debilitating stomach pain is gone. The group is overjoyed, but the celebration is short-lived. When Richard, the charismatic, broad-shouldered leader, finds out about their transgression, he banishes Lyle, Neville, Omar, and Ellie, forcing them to flee the valley and search for a new community in the heart of downtown Toronto.

This marks the beginning of Leaving Richard’s Valley, a visually stunning, surprisingly dark new comic collection by artist Michael DeForge. It follows the furry group as it navigates the decay, debris, and clutter of the urban jungle, struggling to find a place to live and battling the forces of gentrification, isolation, and unaffordability. It is a city not unlike DeForge’s own.