Steph Dumais is a Canadian artist and publisher working under the name ‘Raisinlove’ who also runs the internationally loved indie publishing company ‘Bloody Gore Comix’. Indeed’BGC’ was originally set up to publish Steph’s own creations after some frustrating experiences having his work under the control of other companies.
Almost immediately after delving into the world of self publishing Steph gained renown for his talents as an artist, collaborator and publisher. As a result Steph and ‘BGC’ soon came to start showcasing the works of a sleuth of artists from all over the globe – and continues to do so today.
Uniquely, Steph himself has been working in the comics scene since he was a child – from winning a nation-wide Canadian illustration contest for an anti-drug campaign when at elementary school, to having his debut zine Raisinlove Comix being sold out of a local head-shop at 15. A clear example of the changes we all undertake through childhood and teen years if ever there was one!
Remembering those pivotal moments, Steph states:
“As I finished elementary school, I won a national illustration contest for an anti-drug campaign (ironic considering later years) and got a brief moment of celebrity.
I had even created some crime fighting comics for my own pleasure around this time…
The first time I set foot in an actual comic shop, as opposed to the corner store where I usually bought them, I discovered an entire world of alternative comics. That’s when I discovered Faust and Deadworld comics along with other “dark” books.
I started creating a zine called Raisinlove Comix, which I sold from my locker in high school. It featured typical angst teen scato humour. This expanded into buying blank white tshirts onto which I would draw severed heads or the school burning down and I would sell these to fellow students as well.
Of course, at this point my parents were not as impressed lol.
But I enjoyed this and one day I attended my first comic book convention. This is where I met Mike Foster from Ottawa’s first headshop Crosstown Traffic. He noticed my tshirt and we got to talking about my zine. He offered to sell them in his shop and this was a major event for me, which got me into drawing comics ALL THE TIME.“
(Some art by Steph below)
With Steph constantly on the art grind both for his self driven creations and in his status as a publisher now is the perfect time to get to know the man himself by reading the interview below…