The media dubbed him "the world's most prolific bicycle thief." For years, Igor Kenk and his store, The Bicycle Clinic, were well-known sights on Queen Street West in downtown Toronto. Yet when police arrested Kenk for bike theft in 2008, the nearly 3,000 stolen bikes they uncovered were something no one had ever seen before. Kenk had stashed the bikes in garages and warehouses across the city. His own store was jammed so tightly with bicycles and loose parts that he could hardly walk through it.

So began a bizarre case that continues to fascinate the city. It's also the basis for Kenk: A Graphic Portrait, a new graphic novel from Richard Poplak, Alex Jansen, Jason Gilmore and Nick Marinkovich. The book presents Kenk's story in the months leading up to the arrest and is both a portrait of the man behind the crimes and the rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood in which he lived. Hear Poplak and Jansen talk about the book and the story behind it with Jian Ghomeshi.