Cathon’s Fruit Salad Is a Charming Indie Comic Gem

I have a real soft spot for independent cartoonists, and Montreal artist Cathon is exactly the kind of creator who reminds me why. Her collection Fruit Salad is the sort of book that sneaks up on you. It looks modest at first glance, with its small format and simple black-and-white panels, but once you start reading, it becomes impossible not to get pulled into its rhythm, humour, and warmth. This is one of those books that feels instantly inviting.

And unlike an actual fruit salad, where I usually end up dodging certain pieces and saving the best for last, Fruit Salad is the rare kind of collection where every strip feels worth savoring. There is no filler here. Cathon has a wonderful ability to turn the tiniest moments of daily life into something memorable, funny, and oddly touching. She finds comedy in hoarding bananas for banana bread, in the strange practicality of wearing snow pants everywhere, and in those intimate little personal habits and emotional blips that most people experience but rarely talk about out loud. I love that kind of honesty in comics. It makes the work feel lived in.

What really charmed me is how personal the collection feels without ever becoming heavy-handed. Cathon lets readers into her world in a way that feels casual, natural, and incredibly human. One minute she is lounging with a piña colada at her favourite tiki bar, the next she is dealing with oddball encounters at comic festivals, heading out on road trips with friends, or just walking through Montreal and quietly absorbing the weirdness and beauty around her. Even when nothing dramatic is happening, she makes everyday life feel rich, peculiar, and worth noticing.

That is part of what makes Fruit Salad so enjoyable. Cathon has a gift for spotting the sublime hiding inside the mundane. She can take an ordinary observation and turn it into a joke, a confession, or a small emotional revelation in just a few panels. There are also flashes of fantasy, adorable childhood memories, and the occasional genuinely moving moment that give the book even more texture. The result is a collection that feels juicy, spontaneous, and deeply companionable, like spending time with someone very funny, very perceptive, and completely comfortable being herself.

I also really admire Cathon’s cartooning itself. Her panels may look simple, but there is a lot of skill behind that simplicity. She packs so much information, emotion, and timing into a single panel without ever making the page feel crowded. That is harder than it looks. The clean black-and-white style gives the comics an immediacy that suits the material perfectly. Nothing feels overworked. Everything feels quick, direct, and alive.

Cathon has already made a strong name for herself as both a cartoonist and illustrator, creating work for children and adults alike. Her graphic novels include The Pineapples of Wrath, The Adventures of Sgoobidoo, and Vampire Cousins, the latter created with Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau, along with the children’s series Poppy and Sam. She is also the co-creator, with Iris, of The Great List of Everything, which was adapted into an animated series by the National Film Board. That range really shows in Fruit Salad. There is a playful looseness to it, but also real confidence and control.

Published by Éditions Pow Pow, this English edition also benefits from outstanding translation work by Helge Dascher and Robin Lang. From what I have seen, the translation does more than simply carry over the text. It preserves the spirit, timing, and charm of Cathon’s voice, even down to the playful adaptation of French sound effects. That kind of care makes a huge difference in a book like this, where tone is everything.

Fruit Salad is the kind of pocket-sized comic collection that feels easy to pick up but hard to forget. Funny, intimate, and full of sharply observed moments, it captures the mess, absurdity, and sweetness of everyday life with real affection. For me, that is the magic of a good slice-of-life comic. It does not need grand drama to leave an impression. It just needs honesty, wit, and a voice you want to spend time with. Cathon has all three.