Graphic Novel Book Club x Lire Queer Reader Fest: Firebugs by Nino Bulling
Schedule
Wed, 20 May, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
176 Rue Bernard Ouest, Montreal, QC, Canada, Quebec H2T 2K2 | Mount Royal, QC
Join us at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (176 Rue Bernard Ouest) for our Graphic Novel Book Club! On Wednesday May 20th at 7 pm we will be discussing FIREBUGS by NINO BULLING, published by Drawn & Quarterly. This edition of our GNBC is hosted as part of the Lire Queer Reader Fest, a new festival of queer book clubs happening in Montreal from May 14 to 24, 2026. Learn more about the festival here: https://www.lirequeer.ca/
This meeting will be hosted by Librairie D&Q Retail Director, Kennedy Rooke. The Graphic Novel Book Club is free to attend and no reservation is required.
Buy the book: https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/firebugs
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Firebugs: Everything is changing–
– but everything is also exactly the same. Ingken can’t ignore it: ice caps stained brown from forest fires, pipeline construction, drought… the whole world somehow persists despite the slow erosion of stability.
After a trip to Paris, Ingken returns home ready for a break from drugs. Their supportive partner, Lily, is flushed, excited about a new connection she’s made. Although Ingken wants to be happy for her, there’s a discomfort they can’t shake. Sleepless nights fill with an endless scroll of images and headlines about climate disaster. A vague dysphoria simmers under their skin; they are able to identify that like Lily, they are changing, but they’re not sure exactly how and at what pace. Everyone keeps telling them to burn themself to the ground and build themself back up but they worry about the kind of debris that fire might leave behind.
Nino Bulling’s artwork is immediately familiar. Like a conversation with a good friend, their story is told as quiet as it can be loud. Crowds and landscapes squiggle in expressive black and white. Red cuts through panels with energy and persistence, bringing life to what might seem dead. In its most intimate moments, Firebugs asks what it means to transition in a transitioning world.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Nino Bulling is an artist and writer from Berlin, Germany. They studied ceramics and graphic design but then fell in love with comics. Part of their spare time is spent co-organizing a comic workers’ union. Bulling has published a host of short stories and four graphic novels. Their most recent publication to date is the anthology Cutes: Collected queer and trans comics, co-edited with Lebanese comics collective Samandal. Bulling’s first fictional work Firebugs was originally released in 2022 as part of their contribution to documenta fifteen in Kassel.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Accessibility information:
- Our store uses StopGap.ca ramps in an effort to encourage accessibility. Both the step at the entrance, followed by a half step and a door have StopGap ramps. The door opens inward and is not automated. Once inside, there are no additional steps.
- There is one non-gendered bathroom.
- It is not a sober space, our events sometimes offer alcohol.
- Please email [email protected] if you have any accessibility needs we can accommodate.
Where is it happening?
176 Rue Bernard Ouest, Montreal, QC, Canada, Quebec H2T 2K2, 170 Rue Bernard O, Montréal, QC H2T 2K2, Canada, Mount Royal
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
