Army of lovers : a community history of Will Munro, the artist, activist, impresario and civic hero who brought together Toronto's club kids, art fags, hardcore boys, drag queens, rock'n'roll queers, needlework obsessives, limp-wristed nellies, stone butc

"Will was pretty much the perfect role model." — Beth Ditto, The Gossip In the spring of 2010, Toronto lost one of its most important queer civic heroes when local artist, DJ, activist, impresario, promoter, party-thrower, café operator, community-builder and lover Will Munro died of brain cancer at the unfathomably young age of 35. Famed for his subversive, irreverent visual art, which co-opted rock 'n' roll imagery and raunchy gay iconography, and his legendary Vazaleen dance parties, which singlehandedly reinvented Toronto’s queer nightlife culture, Will did more to revolutionize both his community and his city in a decade than most folks do in a lifetime. Weaving together a collage of stories from and about the people who knew and loved him, Army of Lovers is both a biography of Will Munro and a document of a galvanizing period in the history of Toronto, a moment when the city's various subcultures – the queer community, the art scene, the independent music universe, the grassroots activist enclaves – came of age and collided with one another. Nominated for a 2014 Saskatchewan Book Award Françoise Mouly, an editor and publisher of uncommon taste and creativity, and an artist in her own right, has spent nearly four decades transforming comics. With her husband, Art Spiegelman, Mouly founded the landmark magazine RAW, which showcased artists such as Ben Katchor, Chris Ware, Charles Burns and Sue Coe, and, along with Spiegelman's Maus, brought an avant-garde sensibility to the popular art form. As art editor of The New Yorker since 1993, Mouly has remade the face of that venerable magazine with covers that capture the political and social upheavals of the last two decades, from the black-on-black cover after 9/11 to the Obamas' pre-election fist-bump. And now, with TOONâ??Books, Mouly is at the forefront of a new wave of comic-making for children. Based on exclusive interviews with Mouly, Spiegelman and a pantheon of comics artists – including Dan Clowes, Anita Kunz and Bill Griffith – In Love With Art is both the first book-length portrait of a female pioneer in a male-dominated industry and a rare, behind-the-scenes look at some of today’s most iconic images. Through the prism of an uncommonly successful relationship, the book tells the story of one of the most remarkable artistic transformations of our time. ‘Jeet Heer more thoroughly and widely understands comics history and the perplexing binomial life of the cartoonist better than anyone who's not one. As well-versed in literature as he is in comics, he always gets at the peculiar, poetical texture of his subject not only by what he writes, but how he writes it – clearly, mellifluously, and beautifully. Our humble discipline is singularly lucky to have him telling its story.’ – Chris Ware "Will Munro was a legendary artist, DJ, activist and impresario, as renowned for his transgressive, irreverent art as he was for reinventing Toronto's nightlife culture. His installations and prints co-opted rock 'n' roll imagery and raunchy gay iconography -- you couldn't look at men's underwear the same way after a Munro show -- and his outré Vazaleen dance parties brought to the city's stages some of the most notorious performers of the last forty years : Nina Hagen, Jayne County and Vaginal Davis, among them When Munro died of brain cancer in 2010, at the unfathomable young age of thrity-five, Toronto was robbed of one of its most significant civic heroes. Army of Lovers collects stories from and about the people who knew and loved Munro -- including Gossip singer Beth Ditto, film-maker Bruce LaBruce and artist Luis Jacob -- to movingly capture an incandescent moment when Toronto's queer community, art scene and independent music universe came of age and collided with one another."-- Provided by publisher Will Munro was a legendary artist, DJ, activist and impresario, as renowned for his transgressive, irreverent art as he was for reinventing Toronto's nightlife culture. His installations and prints co-opted rock 'n' roll imagery and raunchy gay iconography you couldn't look at men's underwear the same way after a Munro show and his outre Vazaleen dance parties brought to the city's stages some of the most notorious performers of the last forty years: Nina Hagen, Jayne County and Vaginal Davis, among them. When Munro died of brain cancer in 2010, at the unfathomably young age of thirty-five, Toronto was robbed of one of its most significant civic heroes. Army of Lovers collects stories from and about the people who knew and loved Munro including Gossip singer Beth Ditto, filmmaker Bruce LaBruce and artist Luis Jacob to movingly capture an incandescent moment when Toronto's queer community, art scene and independent music universe came of age and collided with one another. In a partnership spanning four decades, Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman have been the pre-eminent power couple of cutting-edge graphic art. From Raw magazine to the New York, where she serves as art editor, Mouly and Spiegelman have revolutionized the art. In Love with Art profiles the pair and interviews Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Adrian Tomine and more. In the spring of 2010, Toronto lost one of its most important queer civic heroes. Weaving together interviews and stories, Army of Lovers is a biography of Will Munro and a document of a galvanizing period when various subcultures — the queer community, the art scene, the independent music universe, the grassroots activist enclaves — came together. Learn about the woman behind the graphic novel revolution, Françoise Mouly, and her long relationship with Art "Maus" Spiegelman