Jay Odjick

Jay Odjick is a writer, artist and television producer from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community in Québec, Canada. He is best known for his creation Kagagi (the raven), part of a growing number of Indigenous superheroes created by Indigenous writers and artists. In 2015, Kagagi was adapted into a 13-episode, half-hour animated series broadcast on APTN.

Early life Odjick was born in Rochester, New York, but as a child, he moved to the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community, where his father was from, located east of Maniwaki, Quebec. He developed an interest in heroes and comic books early on and began writing stories at age 5. Odjick is also the author and artist of the graphic novel Kagagi: The Raven, published by Arcana Studio in 2011. The titular character, Kagagi, is a hero loosely based on the trickster/hero character "Raven" from the Anishinabe. In the comic series, a young man named Matthew Carver inherits supernatural powers and uses them to keep an ancient evil known as Windigo at bay. A television 13-episode series based on the graphic novel called Kagagi began airing on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) in Canada on October 5, 2014, and later on FNX in the United States and in Australia. According to scholar Michael Sheyashe (Osage), Kagagi is part of a trend by Native American writers and artists to create relevant heroes that are not confined to the tropes associated with dated stereotypes and romanticism. Odjick uses the character of Kagagi to entertain, but also to teach Anishinaabe culture and language.

In 2014, Odjick was the Media Guest of Honour at Can-Con : The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature.

Odjick's short story "First Hunt", co-written with his brother Joel Odjick, appeared in Moonshot: The Indigenous Collection Volume I, which was recognized as the Best Book of 2015 in the young adult category by the School Library Journal. "First Hunt" has been added to the curriculum of Queen's University's Comics and Graphic Novels Course, while the collection itself is being taught at the University of Ottawa's Comic Books and Graphic Novels Course.

In 2015, Odjick's work was part of the exhibit "Super Heroes: Art! Action! Adventure!" at the Heard Museum, in Phoenix, Arizona.

In 2017, Odjick illustrated a children's book called Blackflies, which was written by the legendary children's author Robert Munsch. In the book, a girl named Helen must save her little sister after she is carried away by blackflies. Odjick and Munsch teamed up once again with the 2019 children's book Bear for Breakfast. In this tale, a boy named Donovan decides to catch a bear to eat for breakfast, just like his grandfather used to. In addition to illustration, Odijick also provided English-Algonquin and French-Algonquin translation.

Television Odjick serves as the lead writer, executive producer as well as lead designer on the television series Kagagi. In addition to his work on that series Odjick has also worked as a designer for and provided illustrations for the APTN series Mouki.

Odjick and his production company created three audio versions of Kagagi — one in English, one in Algonquin, and a broadcast version — primarily English with 20 percent of the dialogue in Algonquin. For Odjick, the goal was to give First Nations children "an entryway into the (Algonquin) language because the language is dying." He also sought to represent the language for older viewers; an elderly man told Odjick that he watches the program every week because, "it's the only chance I get to hear my language."

Publications Year Title 2004 Graphic novel KAGAGI: The Raven (Arcana Studio) Creator, writer, artist 2004 Power Hour webcomic (Kevin Smith/View Askew Movie Poop Shoot website) Creator, writer, penciller 2007 The Odyssey Presents (Blue Water Productions) Penciller 2008 Clive Barker's The Midnight Meat Train (Doorways Magazine) Illustrator 2009 Collection Zone Frousse (Éditions Z'Ailées) Cover illustrator 2012 The Dreamer's Legacy (Kegedonce Press) Cover illustrator 2013 The Thunder's Nest - Native American Classics (Graphic Classics) Illustrator 2013 The Ocean Goes on Forever - Munsch Mania! Robert Munsch Illustrator 2014 Emma's Gift (Kegedonce Press) Illustrator 2014 Anishinabe Nigamodà (n) (Algonquin Tribal Council) Illustrator 2015 First Hunt - MOONSHOT: The Indigenous Comics Collection (Alternate History Comics) Co-writer, illustrator

Activism Odjick has been cited for his use of graphic novels and television as modern mediums to facilitate the retention of the Anishinaabe language.