Seeds of Spring #2: A Mi'kmaq Teen Discovers Kropotkin, Punk, and Her Place in the World | Portrait of Authority

"Portrait of Authority" is the second comic in the 15-part Seeds of Spring series. Naguset's brother Mui'n is called to active military duty. With the help of a punk soundtrack and her grandfather's story about the origin of her name, she comforts herself and her little sister. Meanwhile, she continues to read Kropotkin's biography. The Tsar dies, young Peter's father frightens and terrorizes the family and their serfs, and Peter wonders if his brother will come home from the war.

In this innovative serial graphic novel, Naguset, a modern Canadian Mi'kmaq teenager, exchanges books and mix tapes with her pen pal, Chris. Her imagination sparks when he sends her a biography of the 19th century Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin. The story juxtaposes Naguset's personal and political coming-of-age in her loving family home with Kropotkin's rocky upbringing in a princely palace. These two stories of eventful lives and bold hearts are interwoven with Kropotkin's theories of freedom, Mi'kmaq vocabulary and social history, and an uplifting punk soundtrack, creating a unique reading experience bound to inspire readers to think in new ways about the issues of our time.