Dirty Water Comics is excited to announce the release of Christie Pits, a timely historical-fiction graphic novel set in Toronto. In an age of increasingly hateful discourse, Christie Pits looks back at the social conditions that sparked Canada's largest race- riot. More than just a window into history, the comic offers contemporary lessons for the ongoing conversation about multiculturalism in Canada.

Toronto Launch, March 31st, 2:00PM at Congregation Beth Tzedec. 1700 Bathurst Street.

"A gritty ride through Toronto’s immigrant neighbourhoods, Christie Pits tells the incredible true story of when young Jewish and Italian immigrants squared off against Nazi-inspired thugs on the streets of Toronto. This is the history of a gruff and unrecognizable Canada— one of ‘swastika clubs’ and public bigotry. A homemade swastika flag flown at a public baseball game was the spark that found tinder in these untenable and hateful conditions. What followed was the worst race riot in Canadian history. Archival research and first-hand interviews lend historical depth to an unknown story of resistance against hatred in uncertain times."

Advanced Praise

"The decision to present this important story as a historical comic book was ingenious. It reads like fiction, but is all fact."

- From the introduction by Irving Abella. President, Academy of the Arts and the Humanities, Royal Society of Canada.

“There have been other histories of anti-Semitism in Toronto and Canada during the 1930s, but none as creative as Jamie Michaels’s Christie Pits… The story he skilfully tells is well-researched with an array of fascinating characters that leap off the page owing to the realistic and vivid illustrations of Doug Fedrau. A significant and worthy literary achievement that will enlighten readers of all ages.”

-Allan Levine, author of Toronto: Biography of a City and Seeking the Fabled City: The Canadian Jewish Experience.

"Timely and compelling."

-i24 NEWS

“I cried."

-Brandon MacInnis

“Brings to life a largely overlooked period of overt anti-Semitism in Canada.”

-Times of Israel

“Brilliantly imaginative.”

-The Jewish Post and News

“An edifying work of historical fiction.”

-Canadian Jewish News