YELLOWKNIFE - It's been a busy year for Richard Van Camp.

With a campaign to turn his book, The Lesser Blessed into a motion picture underway and appearances at the Folk on the Rocks festival in Yellowknife to prepare for, the Fort Smith author is also turning his attention to an age-old passion: comic books.

A page from Richard Van Camp's comic collaboration with Vancouver artist Steve Sanderson, Journey of the Healer, which will be published in June. - photo courtesy of Richard Van Camp

Working with Vancouver artist and animator Steve Sanderson (known for his work on the Cartoon Network series Ed, Edd and Eddie), Van Camp has developed a series of comic books focusing on aboriginal issues.

"I love comics," Van Camp said on a brief stop-over in Yellowknife. "I've always wanted to get into the comic book industry."

The latest collaboration is a piece for Health Canada called Journey of the Healer, which tries to prepare young aboriginal healers as they leave for school. It is set to be published in June.

It follows Rosa, a young Dogrib girl in Fort Smith, as she tries to care for her ailing grandmother. Her grandmother tells the tale of another young healer, Oree, who saved her community during the tuberculosis and influenza outbreak of 1928.

"Sometimes as a young aboriginal individual you will have to leave your community to get post secondary education to come back and help your community," he said of the story.

Van Camp, who served as editor and cultural consultant on the project, said he was happy to give the story a local setting - his hometown.

Other comics deal with diabetes and suicide. In Darkness Calls, for example, a young, deeply artistic aboriginal boy deals with the trials and hardships of adolescence and contemplates his own death. He encounters two spirits, one who wants him to carry on, and another that wants him to give up - fighting it out in true comic book style.

"It's a battle for his spirit," Van Camp said, "Ultimately, the choice is his."

Recently, the department of Health and Social Services purchased 1,500 copies of Darkness Calls to distribute during conferences and to give out to schools. Van Camp called this a "good start."

"My wish is for every youth in the Northwest Territories to get a copy of Darkness Calls," he said.

Van Camp said he hopes to develop a graphic novel with Sanderson at some point, again on top of all his other projects. These include publishing a pair of his novels (A Man Called Raven and What's the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?) in braille and releasing a baby book in the fall.

Earlier this year, Van Camp announced plans to turn his first novel, The Lesser Blessed, into a film through Toronto production company First Generation films.

He said meetings with the GNWT about funding were less than positive, as government representatives said they lack money and infrastructure necessary to back a full production.

"They said, 'Don't get your hopes up,'" he said. "That's heartbreaking."

It's not advice Van Camp plans to heed, however.

"We're still pushing for a Northern production," he said.