Folks, I first met Chris Bousquet at a comic book collectors’ convention here in Nova Scotia, Canada. It’s a local event that takes place two or three times a year.
We were both browsing through bins of back-issue comics, standing next to each other and chatting, when Chris happened to mention that he was writing and producing a comic book with artist James Dickson.
Chris Bousquet, the creator and writer of the new comic book Hockey Horror Heroes, is from Nova Scotia, while James Dickson is from Fredericton, New Brunswick, a neighboring Canadian province.
I mentioned to Chris that I conduct interviews with comic book professionals, including new and first-time creators, and asked if he would be interested in being interviewed for First Comics News.
Chris agreed, but he wanted to wait several months until his Kickstarter campaign for Hockey Horror Heroes, a Canadian comic book production, had launched. That certainly made sense to me!
And now, here we are, in October 2026, following the successful completion of Chris Bousquet’s Kickstarter campaign! There were a few delays along the way, on both sides, but we finally managed to get together for this interview.
First Comics News: Chris, it’s great to finally get together with you, so to speak, by email, to discuss this project! How did you come up with the idea of combining monsters with the great Canadian pastime of hockey?
Chris Bousquet: The idea came to me during COVID. I’m a huge comics fan, but I’m also a pretty big sports fan, and I had noticed there were not many sports-themed comics. I know there are a few out there. I’ve seen some cool sports-themed graphic novels, and I was always a fan of sports promo comics. I still remember having a Montreal Expos comic where they meet Spider-Man!
I thought it would be fun to explore making a full sports comic. There’s plenty of drama in the sports world, and I thought, who better to play hockey than some of my favorite monsters?
I felt the concept was a lot of fun, so I started world-building in my head before eventually putting my ideas down in writing. That’s how Mac MacKenzie and the Monster Hockey League came to be.
1st: I understand, from your website for Hockey Horror Heroes, that you’re a hydrographic surveyor by day, working at mapping the ocean floor!
And yes, we’re going to get into talking about your comic book, but first, I’m going to veer off for just a few minutes and ask you about your fascinating job!
I mean, that, to me, is pretty interesting in itself!
What subjects did you take in school, and where did you study, to prepare yourself for such a unique career mapping the ocean floor?
I’m also guessing you’ve probably found your share of unexpected shipwrecks on the ocean floor. What can you tell our readers about that?
Chris: In university, I studied geography, and I followed that up with a degree in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
I originally planned on making maps, but I kind of fell into the offshore hydrographic surveying part. So now, I make maps of the ocean floor, primarily for engineering or telecom projects, but on rare occasions, we do get to search for shipwrecks.
I’ve been lucky enough to find a handful of shipwrecks in my 20-plus years in the industry.
1st: What can you tell us about the shipwrecks you’ve found? And then, we’ll get back to Hockey Horror Heroes!
Chris: Well, the fun kind of ends at the “finding” stage for me. We generally report the shipwrecks to the proper authority, depending on which country we are in, and then that’s it.
I’ve been on jobs where we found three or four shipwrecks near Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
We were actually looking for wrecks at that time. We knew there were plenty in the area.
But the most interesting wreck we found was a British Navy vessel, I believe a destroyer, that we found in the English Channel while we were doing work for a submarine cable route.
It turned out to be a previously unknown wreck. We informed the British authorities, but I never found out more about it. I might have to look into it.
1st: According to the GY6 Studios website for your upcoming comic book Hockey Horror Heroes, you’ve done lettering work for various publishers, including GY6 Studios (Got Your Six, Misfit Mercs, Kajibana), Blood Moon Comics (Deliver Us from Evil, Mud & Madness), and Draw Rings Studios (Adam, a comic book written, drawn, and published right here in Nova Scotia), along with other independent projects!
You’ve also contributed to Sequential Magazine, a Canadian magazine ABOUT comics, and, more recently, GY6 Studios’ Panels & Press, which I think is similar to Sequential Magazine.
You’ve covered comic book talent across Canada, with a particular spotlight on Atlantic Canada’s comics scene and its numerous creators!
How did you first break into lettering comic books and, later, working for Sequential Magazine?
Chris: I’ve always had a creative side that I’ve enjoyed exploring.
I can’t really draw terribly well, but I do get to be creative with my map-making. I’ve worked with lots of fonts, map designs, and an extensive list of software, so I thought lettering would be a fun way to contribute and take part in the comics world.
1st: That makes sense. How long have you been lettering and writing comic books?
Chris: I believe the first lettering job I did was back in 2018, when I had no real idea of what I was doing.
My body of work is still quite small. I’ve lettered approximately 15 stories now, so really not that many. But I do enjoy it when the opportunity comes up. I hope to do at least one other issue before the year is up.
Looking back at my earliest lettering, I can’t help but cringe!
I was very lucky to meet and get to know Ed Brisson, who was kind enough to show me the ropes and give me a few lessons and tips on how to letter properly, with the correct software.
As far as writing goes, I’m quite new to that. I consider myself more of an idea guy than a writer.
I’ve had plenty of story ideas that I just never finished. Either I didn’t feel they were good enough, or I shelved them with the intent to bring them back out when the time was right, and never did.
I’m very excited about Hockey Horror Heroes, mainly because I have so many ideas about how the story and that world can grow.
Completing Hockey Horror Heroes #1 has certainly helped my confidence, so I might just have to bring out some of my old stories that I never completed and see what I can do with them.
But for now, I am planning on focusing on Hockey Horror Heroes.
1st: He wouldn’t remember me, but I’ve met Ed Brisson. He signed some of his comics for me last year, and I’ve followed and enjoyed many of his comic book series!
Chris: Ed is not just a great writer; he is an accomplished letterer as well.
I still have lots to learn, but I’ve lettered about fifteen books so far, and I really appreciate all the creators who have trusted me with their projects.
Hopefully, I can continue to improve with every new book I work on.
With Sequential Magazine, I just volunteered my time. In Halifax, we are so lucky to have an amazing comics community!
1st: It’s true! There are numerous comic book writers and artists throughout the Halifax Regional Municipality, which, for our readers unfamiliar with Nova Scotia, is an area that encompasses Halifax and numerous surrounding communities.
Chris: There are always fantastic new projects being worked on, so I was never short of people to talk to about their comics in Atlantic Canada.
Unfortunately, Sequential has gone a bit quiet for now. I am hoping it can make a comeback someday.
Until that time comes, I have been continuing to conduct more interviews for GY6 Studios and their Panels & Press magazine, with our first issue being released very soon!
1st: So, Sequential Magazine has been canceled, at least for now, or is it simply on hiatus?
How long was the magazine being published, and when did it stop? Are you indicating that it could eventually make a comeback?
Chris: Sequential has been around in different formats since 2002, but the magazine version debuted in 2019.
I started volunteering that same year, but I didn’t start until issue #3.
I know there is hope for it to make a return. Everyone involved was in it for the right reasons, and it still has an online presence, but new issues are not actively being put out.
The latest issue, #17, came out in 2024. I won’t call it the last issue, since hopefully there will be more someday.
1st: I hope so too, Chris!
Is Panels & Press an American or a Canadian magazine?
I’m also wondering if you can provide some images of the upcoming Panels & Press magazine, such as covers or interior pages, or perhaps an online link?
Since it’s about comics, I figure we may as well give it a showcase here, too!
Chris: Panels & Press is a Canadian magazine published by GY6 Studios.
While we have primarily focused on Canadian creators in the first issue, we won’t limit ourselves to just Canada.
If foreign creators come to conventions that we cover, we would be happy to chat with them and discuss their projects.
1st: I played hockey growing up as a boy, and according to your website, so did you!
I also understand that, in addition to your lifelong love of hockey, you’ve been a lifelong lover of comic books as well!
Under what circumstances did you first become interested in both?
Chris: Most of my hockey was played at the local park. During winters in Montreal, almost every good park had a nice outdoor hockey rink. Those were great times!
Growing up in Montreal, it was hard not to be a sports fan, and not just hockey with the Montreal Canadiens, as I was a big fan of the Montreal Expos (baseball) and Montreal Alouettes (football) as well.
Comic collecting came just a little bit later.
I went to French school, and at one point, my parents felt I was losing some of my English skills. They decided that buying me some English comics would get me to read more in English.
Let’s just say that opened a door that has barely closed since!
I still have the very first comics they bought me, and too many boxes to count.
1st: Same here!
What were some of the very first comics you ever owned and read? And did you read any of the uniquely Quebec French-language titles?
Chris: My first comic was Green Lantern #181. I still have it in my collection.
But I did quickly move over to being a bigger Marvel fan. Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the X-Men were always my favorites.
But really, I read everything I could get my hands on. Marvel and DC were great, but I also loved independent series.
I loved Robotech, which was one of my favorites.
I also read a few French comics. Tintin and Asterix and Obelix were always fun, and I had a few issues of the Les Éditions Héritage French comics.
I had some Hulk and G.I. Joe issues, which were direct translations of American comics into French.
1st: Those were Canadian French-language editions published out of Montreal, Quebec.
I have a lot of those French reprints, too! I can’t read them, but I buy them whenever I see them because they were published and distributed primarily in Quebec, so I rarely come across them here in Nova Scotia.
Now, without giving too much away- because who likes SPOILERS, right?- can you tell our readers a little more about the plot of Hockey Horror Heroes and why they won’t want to miss it?
Chris: Issue #1 is kind of an origin story for Mac MacKenzie.
He’s a young hockey player who believes his time playing hockey is over, now that he has transformed into a werewolf.
But he soon learns of a league where he can continue to play the game he loves!
In the Monster Hockey League!
1st: Something most people don’t know about me: “I used to be a werewolf, but I’m alright, noooooooooow!”
Heh! The old, corniest puns are the best ones!
Do you have any photographs of yourself playing hockey from years past that you could include with the interview?
After all, you love hockey, and your new comic book is about hockey. And monsters!
Chris: I don’t think I have any pictures of me playing, but I will attach a couple of hockey-related images I have.
1st: By the way, do you ever watch any of the numerous Dan Munroe YouTube videos from his Movies, Music and Monsters series?
I’ve watched dozens of those episodes. They’re always entertaining, but I haven’t seen a single episode about music yet, and I LOVE music!
I’m beginning to wonder if there ARE any episodes about music!
Chris: I’m not familiar, but I will certainly look into it.
1st: Is your Kickstarter campaign for Hockey Horror Heroes still going?
Chris: Our Kickstarter just wrapped up on October 1st.
1st: Was your Hockey Horror Heroes Kickstarter successfully funded? And how close did you come to reaching your goal?
Chris: I’m happy to say that our Kickstarter was a success!
We had a modest goal of $500 CAD, and our campaign was able to reach $2,500 CAD. So, we were quite happy, and the books are being printed!
We reached our initial goal within the first hour! The pace slowed down after that, but we were still able to get multiple stretch goals accomplished!
1st: Congratulations on that, Chris! That’s great news!
Chris: We will be launching the book at Winnipeg Comic Con, which takes place over the Halloween weekend, October 30th to November 1st, 2026.
Unfortunately, I won’t be in attendance, but James Dickson, who did the interiors and one of the covers, will be there, along with Justin Steeves at GY6 Studios.
Thanks, Phil!
1st: It is my distinct pleasure, Chris!
Thanks very much for taking the time to chat with me about Hockey Horror Heroes! I wish you, James Dickson, and everyone involved with the project continued success!
And to our readers, keep an eye out for Hockey Horror Heroes! A comic book combining hockey, monsters, and a Canadian creative team certainly sounds like a fun combination to me!
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