[acc-cca-l] Release – 'The Beast': Making a Living on a Dying Planet - Expanded and Free Digital Version

[Patrick McCurdy]

Hi Everyone,

I’m excited to announce that today the Digital Press at the University of North Dakota published the expanded, digital and FREE version of my graphic novel “The Beast': Making a Living on a Dying Planet”. You can download the comic for free on their website: https://thedigitalpress.org/2018/11/15/book-release-the-beast-making-a-living-on-a-dying-planet/

I commissioned and helped develop ‘The Beast’ as tool to explore and critically reflect on the tropes of the tar/oil sands debate as well as have a text which could be used as an entry point and supplemental text for teaching aspects of environmental communication/energy humanities.
The Beast takes a critical look at the media war over the tar/oil sands debate and the endless struggle for the public’s imagination. The comic seeks to stoke a public debate on the incessant role of public relations campaigns on shaping the public perception of the tar/oil sands. These campaigns discourage thoughtful and nuanced discussion of the cost of tar/oil sans and, instead, for the public is forced to “pick sides”: the environment or the economy; protestors or industry; live with or without oil.

The graphic novel tells the story of two college grads, Callum and Mary, who find themselves negotiating a muddy path between environmental activism and having to live and work in a world driven by the resource-extractive industry.

This digital academic edition brings together a collection of scholarly essays intended to further conversation and reflection about how energy resources and environmental resources are talked about and understood.  This expanded digital Version includes the original published comic as well as four new critical essays by Patrick McCurdy (uOttawa), Kyle Conway (uOttawa), Tommy Wall (Carleton) and Chris Russill (Carleton), and Benjamin Woo (Carleton) along with an interview with Hugh Goldring and Patrick McCurdy.

While the comic focuses on Alberta’s oil sands, The Beast addresses issues which are equally relevant to the oil fields of Texas and California to the Bakken shale which sees how these energy sources and the future of these resources are framed in the media matter.

The newly released The Beast is available for free as a download at https://thedigitalpress.org/thebeast

For more information or questions about the comic feel free to email me at pmccurdy at uottawa.ca<mailto:pmccurdy at uottawa.ca> or connect with me on Twitter: @pmmcc<https://twitter.com/pmmcc>



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Patrick McCurdy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor / Professeur agrégé
Department of Communication / Département de communication
University of Ottawa / Université d'Ottawa
55 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5

Twitter: @pmmcc<https://twitter.com/pmmcc>
Web: http://arts.uottawa.ca/communication/en/people/mccurdy-patrick
Phone: +1(613)562-5800 ext. 2728
Office: Desmarais #11118

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