Finally: Canadiana!

I recently added a link to the right side of the page for Canadiana.


I first heard about this character several years ago while filling out my Northguard collection Northguard's co-creator and writer, Mark Shainblum, was (is?) also involved in getting Canadiana's adventures out.

I came across references to a Canadiana web comic having been made at some point, but could never actually locate more than a panel here or a sample page there. I eventually assumed that the full version was either only available briefly or was a planned project that never materialized.

But danged if I didn't finally stumble across it! Or at least some of it. Artist Sandy Carruthers made a mention of Canadiana on his blog in this post from November of last year and provided a link to some 33 pages of material (though page 11 is missing). The story is incomplete, so we'll keep an ear to the ground around that mention in the blog entry of a publisher for the series perhaps being found.

As to the character herself, don't let the picture above fool you. She's got a fair bit of attitude on her. She's sarcastic and quick to anger. She must live in Ottawa. ;-)

Heroes of the North Oscar Night

It's Oscar night! And I couldn't care any less!

Except that it's good set up to give a few props to the folks behind the Heroes of the North web series. I've been enjoying these for a while, checking in periodically.

They currently have 16 episodes up (of 20) in season one but we'll only be looking over the first 15 since they combine to create the first three storylines; Origins, Recruitment and Madame Doom.

I don't think they require much more introduction than what is offered up on their website, other than to point that the order changed at some point so we're working with the one offered up on this page now.

So much like the Oscars unload their less popular awards "off camera", let's get some of the feedback out in quick bullet point form.

• The French guys, the NFLQ, are hilarious. :)


• The music is cool throughout, but seemed particularly effective in episode seven as 8-Ball runs a gauntlet to whup on a prick named Baxter. From the moody "build up" at 5:10 to the fight scene against Steel Tiger, the tunes complement the visuals very well.


• I have no idea how difficult it is to produce, but Fleur de Lys' lightning effect is done quite well.

Now then, on to the "big" awards (by comparison only). Of course, this is all personal opinion and done for kicks.

Best actor: 8-Ball (Anderson Bradshaw)


Bradshaw does his best work in his character's origin story, episode three, as he's being offered the gig. His changes in facial expression (from about 2:30 to 2:38), when he's told about having killed a police officer, stand out. He's also entertaining in his back-and-forth with Nordik in episode seven when he feels he's doing all the heavy lifting.

Honourable mention to Black Terror (John Fallon) for his intensity. When he walks into a scene, you know an ass is about to be kicked with authority.

Best actress: Masquerade (Pia Metni)


Metni accomplishes an awful lot with just a raised eyebrow. She does a terrific job in episode 13 of first showing curiosity and disdain at Madame Doom's operation, then concern over Black Terror potentially being loose nearby. I'd hazard a guess that she has the deepest acting background and/or experience of any of the cast members. Edit: Her bio here seems to bear that out.

Honourable mention to Anne-Marie Losique as the previously-mentioned Madame Doom who is very entertaining as a cold, shallow, volatile fashionista. She's funny while still being frightening because of the suddenness and extremes of her losses of composure. Also to the young lady playing the teenage version of Nordik for getting everything across without dialogue.

Best episode: Canadian Shield
This is actually kind of tough. Most of what I enjoy is included in episodes seven and 13. But overall, I enjoyed episode six best. Perhaps ironically, I believe it's actually the first video they shot so let's be clear that I don't mean to indirectly suggest that work quality has decreased since. But six's battle scene is well executed and it ends on a obviously-significant cliffhanger. The aged video effect is a nice touch, and the scene of Shield running, firing his gun and blocking bullets at about 2:45 is quite cool. The episode mixes a lot of interesting components quite well.

This is a fun series and the enthusiasm shown by the folks involved is contagious. And we haven't even seen (in episodes) several of the characters that they promote, like Hornet, Acadia and Pacifica. They clearly have plenty more stories to tell and their use of multiple formats with which to tell them (diaries, magazine covers and photo albums as examples) is another entertaining aspect. They're obviously having a good time doing this and as such, I find them easy to get behind. More power to the HotN and see you at the Ottawa Comicon in May.

OK, so maybe we'll talk about Wolverine a little...

I don't remember precisely when I started hating the X-Men so much.

It wasn't long after the Claremont/Byrne run, that much is certain. There was a spell there where even existing characters were suddenly said to be mutants (Cloak and Dagger come to mind) and Wolverine was in just about every Marvel book being publi...come to think of it, that spell is still ongoing. And it seemed that for a while they would throw out dozens of characters at a time with any power that the creative team could pull out of its collective ass. The whole mutant phenomenom became tiresome real quick.

That said, I would still get the X-Men or Wolverine books which featured significant appearances by Alpha Flight, whether it was the if the whole team or only one two members, if I happened to hear about them. That includes #414, when Northstar is offered a teaching position at Xavier's school.

Because it didn't seem as though Northstar was a significant part of the book, I generally ignored it beyond that one issue. But with Alpha Flight having come to an end, Northstar will return to the mutant team with Astonishing X-Men #48 (though technically he never left; he made it quite clear that he didn't consider himself a member of Alpha Flight in the 8-issue mini-turned-ongoing-turned-mini-again series).

Northstar's X-Men "return" isn't breaking news; his appearance in the book was first announced in mid-December.

What seems to have changed is his degree of involvement within. Here are the solicitations for issues 49 (April) and 50 (May):

• The Marauders Are Back! • Something From Northstar’s Past Has Resurfaced And Is Looking For Revenge. • Kyle Goes Missing – How Is He Connected To The Person Behind Everything?

• Karma is losing control of her mind, and taking control of the other X-Men! • When Kyle is put in danger, will Northstar choose him or his team? • Don’t miss the end of this issue – it’ll be the most talked about moment of the year!

And for what it's worth, he's rather prominent on the cover for the latter.


So we'll give the first story arc a try and see where things go. I've heard nothing but good things about writer Marjorie Liu so perhaps this will be a pleasant surprise. I just hope I can make sense of it being that I don't read any of the other dozens of mutant-based books that Marvel publishes.

Dan Cooper - RCAF

For the sake of giving credit where it's due, I wish I could remember how this character came to my attention last night.

In all likelihood, it began with a tweet by Hope Nicholson, associate producer on Lost Heroes, and was the result of continued surfing past a link that she suggested to her followers (and if you're on Twitter and even mildly interested in Canadian comics, you should belong to that group).

In any event, I vaguely remember reading a couple of this guy's adventures as a kid.


It's, uhm, probably too late to admit that I did not know the character is Canadian and NOT look like a complete dimwit. However, in my own defense, I was quite young and I don't believe that Dan wore that helmet at any time other than photo ops. ;-)

While Cooper is Canadian, his creator was not. Here is a bio of Albert Weinberg from shortly after he passed away last year.

This site does a nice job of listing both the individual books and the compilations (see "l'integrale"). I haven't decided which versions I'll seek out. I'm fairly certain that this issue...


...is buried somewhere in my parents' basement because that cover is very familiar. And see? It wasn't always obvious that this was a Canadian character, was it?! You wouldn't know it from that cover!

Whatever method is ultimately used, tracking these down should be fun and scratch the collector's itch. Much like I described earlier in regards to Captain Canuck #4, I think I'll enjoy these books great deal more if I read them now than when I read them as a nine-year old.

And yes, I'm aware of the DB Cooper hijacking but, frankly, not terribly interested.

Register Now - It's The Law!

Closing gaps in my Alpha Flight collection recently, I got my hands on the bagged #120 from the original series, which included the poster below. I could care less about potential future value; I buy comics to read them. So I tore into that sumbitch like Wolverine on Christmas morning.


If you're one of these people that don't open bagged books, click on the picture to see a larger version of what you bought two decades ago. ;-) There was some cropping required down the right side.

I like a flag-wearer, and I like a consistent look within a team...but I'm not sure I like the two together, at least in this case.

Puck should look like one; that was the point of his original uniform. And I doubt an in-character separatist Northstar would have worn that outfit with a gun to his head (perhaps he justified it within the book. If he did, I either am not aware of it or have forgotten it entirely).

DC Comics Can-Con, part 4: Dark Crow

Every team needs a guy (or girl) to wave the flag, and DC quietly introduced one less than a year ago in its Justice League book (pre New 52). If you're not familiar with him, allow me to draw your attention to Dark Crow (full name, Daniel Crow-Brings-Darkness).


I only found out about this guy a couple of weeks ago. He appeared in the "Rise of Eclipso" Justice League story which ran in issues 54 through 59 (inclusive) .

Mind you, it's quite difficult to get a decent shot of him so presumably his role was quite small. I suspect he was brought up to be little more than a pawn of Eclipso. It appears as though he can manipulate his own shadow into taking the shape of a large crow that does his bidding.

So going back to the beginning, that's four Canadian characters that DC can use: Plastique, Flying Fox, Freight Train and Dark Crow. There is one more that I want to look into, but she will require a little more research before I post about her. Nonetheless, this is a good core from which to build.

How about it, DC? Justice League Canada? ;-)

Looking Forward to Canadian Hero Goodness, New and Old

I'm out of town this week, travelling on business, but returning this weekend. The novelty of travel and hotel stay have worn off and I can't wait to get home.

Making me even more eager to get on a Bearskin flight (ahem) is that with a little good fortune and timing, I may have some goodies waiting for me when I get home, just in time for a long weekend. They are:

Red Leaf Comics' The Leaf


I'm a sucker for a character that spans generations. The current Leaf is the third in the line (that's the original above) and has a rather distinctive look.

As a "thank you" for ordering issues one through three from their online store, publisher John Helmer was kind enough to send me a pdf copy of the MacSorley RCMP book. It includes one-page teasers of the other Red Leaf books and serves as a sort of prequel to the multi-generational Leaf story. And down the road, it seems we'll be getting another leaf-wearing chracter in The Canadian Guard. I appreciate the quality customer service and am patiently waiting to read about the Leafs. Or Leaves. Not sure how that works...

Next, the Heroes of the North Omnibus.


The folks at Heroes of the North reached an agreement with Ardden Entertainment to publish their books in October 2011. HotN have since hit the road a bit to promote this book, including an appearance at a store in my area, so I should be able to get my hands on the Omnibus without dealing with brutal shipping charges.

The book is 80 pages long and listed at $5.99 on their website. Here's the solicitation:

When the threat of an international terrorist organization looms, ready to strike North America, the Canadian government is forced to put together an elite team of superheroes - Heroes who kill. This exciting collection relates the dark origins of the controversial Canadian Shield; electro-blasting femme fatale Fleur-de-Lys; drug-addicted nanobot-enhanced Black Terror; loud mouth ninja 8 Ball; west coast speedster Pacifica; and the sultry queens of evil: the disfigured Madame Doom and the deadly Hornet. MATURE READERS ONLY!

The only downside is that I won't get to listen to Nordik's crazy hot accent. ;-)

Last and almost certainly least, we have...Canadian Ninja!


I admit in this case I look forward to this the same way a movie fan may look forward to watching Plan Nine From Outer Space.

I've managed to locate a few reviews for this book, which in and of itself is surprising, since it's from the late 80's. Apparently grammatical errors were a frequent irritant to the reviewers.

Then I looked at the cover, saw the reference to "limited issues" and laughed out loud. It was actually the only issue ever released and I'm reasonably sure old Chuck at Mile High Comics isn't too bummed at unloading it to me for about 80 cents.

I don't mean to crap too much on the people who put this comic together. Hey, they did something I'll never do by getting their own character published at all so more power to them.

"Superheroes to call our own"

The following is from a CBC page linked below. For all I know, it's been there for years, but I've only just now come across it.

Because it encapsulates the history of Canadian superhero characters in easy-to-digest, brief fashion, I am copying it for both future reference, and in the event that the CBC decides to remove it one day and it is lost. Anyone sharing this interest with me should view the video that is included on this page.

Superheroes to call our own
• The superhero comic made its debut in the summer of 1938 with the publication of Action Comics No. 1 featuring Superman. Written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Toronto-born Joe Shuster, the comic was a sensation and spawned the superhero comic genre.

• To learn more about the life of Joe Shuster, go to our clip Superman makes his debut.

• In the winter of 1940, the Canadian government passed the War Exchange Conservation Act. The legislation was intended to stabilize the value of the Canadian dollar by barring the import of non-essential goods from the U.S.

• As a result, all American periodicals - including comic books – disappeared from magazine racks across Canada. Over the next few months, several Canadian companies sprouted to take advantage of the lucrative comic market, including Maple Leaf Publishing, Anglo-American Publications, Commercial Signs of Canada and Hillborough Studios (which later merged with Bell Features.)

• Cy Bell, owner of Bell Features, oversaw one of the more ambitious of the Canadian companies publishing such characters as Dixon of the Mounted, the patriotic Johnny Canuck, the Penguin and Nelvana of the Northern Lights, which was inspired by an Inuit legend.

• The daughter of the king of the northern lights, Nelvana debuted in August 1941 and is considered Canada's first national superhero.

• Based on an idea by Group of Seven member Franz Johnston, Nelvana preceded the U.S. debut of Wonder Woman by three months, making her arguably the world's first female superhero.

• Originally an old lady, the comic book Nelvana was the beautiful young daughter of the king of the northern lights who wore a miniskirt while battling Nazis and the mysterious Ether People.

• Johnny Canuck was created overnight by 16-year-old Leo Bachle. A captain in the Allied Air Forces who had super-strength, Johnny debuted in the February 1942 issue of Dime Comics. Bachle's skill earned him notice in the U.S. and in 1944 he moved to New York City to draw for several comic companies.

• In the 1950's Bachle left comics, changed his name to Les Barker and started a new career as a nightclub entertainer and actor.

• In 1995, Canada Post commemorated Johnny Canuck on a stamp. To see Barker discuss the honour, see our clip Stamp of approval.

• Though Johnny Canuck is well remembered today, the first made-in-Canada superhero was actually a hero called Iron Man.

• Iron Man first appeared in Better Comics No. 1 in March 1941, which is considered to be the first Canadian-made comic featuring original characters. Created by Vancouver native Vernon Miller, Iron Man was the only survivor of a destroyed civilization who lived underwater.

• Other Canadian-made characters of the period include the Polka-Dot Pirate, Freelance, Canada Jack, Stuffy Bugs and Senorita Marquita.

• Despite the popularity of The Whites, the federal import law was repealed after the war ended in 1946. Within a couple of years all of the companies had closed.

DC Comics Can-Con, part 3: Freight Train

All right, so our All-Canadian DC Comics super team so far includes Plastique and Flying Fox.

The third member would be this big sumbitch: Freight Train.


He is a fairly new character, first appearing in Outsiders #30 (July 2010) in a story in which that team's plane got shot down by Canadian jets (what?). He stuck around until the final issue of the series (#40) and his origin was detailed in #35.

If I understand correctly (I haven't read the above books yet), Freight Train can absorb energy to increase his own strength and mass to superhuman levels. He began as something of an enforcer type but came to side with the Outsiders.

It's interesting to note that he was created by DC Comics co-publisher Dan Didio. Nice to have friends in high places.

A cocky, wisecracking, rogue tough guy; all standard parts of your basic super-team. Bring on the Freight Train!

Next and probably last, our flag-waving leader.

Captain Canuck: The Complete Edition

I took the plunge this past weekend and bought this. I have the originals (1-14 and the Summer Special) but as stated previously, some are in brutal condition.


I'm very pleased that I got it...and that I waited. I had seen the first volume at Chapters, but the choice of content seemed odd. I looked it up when I got home and volume one includes issues 4-10, while volume two has issues 11-14 and the summer special. Apparently, the plan all along was to have all of that and issues 1-3 in the complete edition only.

So...why would you buy the first two volumes? I'm not sure I follow the reasoning.

This thing is gold if only for including the never-published #15 (though it's in black and white). Still, if you are a story collector, you have to be pleased by that.

It also includes the newspaper strip, but displays eight of them over two pages. I have no idea how many such strips were actually published, but the ones that are included are numbered 128 to 135 and they are clearly the middle portion of a story.

The 1.5 issue of the Legacy series makes an appearance...but the #1 issue does not. Not a problem for me as I have it, but again, I'm a little puzzled as to the reasoning.

And in light of the things that are arguably missing from the "complete" edition, a gallery that displays small version of covers from the original series, all of which are included in full size earlier in the volume anyway, seems pointless. Readers might have enjoyed a foreword detailing the character's history and iconic achievements, or perhaps some insight/anecdotes from the creator(s) similar to liner notes in CD's or the "director's commentary" in a DVD instead of getting the same content twice.

By and large though, those are minor quibbles. The reproduction is great and the unique colour style looks fantastic in this format. Plus, it's amazing to see the rapid improvement in this book from its first couple of issues to issue four or so.

And there may be very good reasons for the content selection being what it is; just because I don't know them doesn't mean they don't exist.

Going forward, if it's even possible, I'd love to see...

a) The full newspaper strip.
b) The Legacy series completed and combined with the Reborn series (to the point it reached) in a single volume.

Whether that's in one volume or separate ones, I couldn't care any less. I'm appreciative to IDW for making this collection available and hope there's more Captain Canuck content to come before long.

DC Comics Can-Con, part 2: Flying Fox

Flying Fox was a member of the Young All-Stars, a Teen Titans type of team during world war two. If memory serves, Flyng Fox was meant to be a replacements for the Earth-2 version of Batman as the latter's continuity was erased following Crisis on Infinite Earths (for you younger readers, DC seems to LOVE blowing up and rewriting its own history until they invariably realise they've only confused things further, try again, lather, rinse, repeat).

Read Fox's background for yourself from page 5 of issue four of the book below (you may need to click on the image below and save it for it to be large enough to read).


A far more detailed version of his origin is provided in #20.

Aside from the obvious ability to fly and to wear a fur diaper, he also had illusion-based powers (invisibility, blinding flash, that sort of thing), wind control and heightened senses. He had very few appearances outside of the Young All-Stars series.

Could he be used in series based in the present? One of his descendants certainly could be. A portion of Flying Fox's abilities came from the fur cloak he wore. It would simply have been passed down a couple of generations and blammo, you've got your mystical native stereotype covered.

Up next, we get our obligatory "brick".

Captain Canuck art contest entries

When look for a good scan of the cover to Captain Canuck #4 to include with the first post in this blog, I was surprised at the number of results that my search generated. I was even more surprised at the variety of them. Many were clearly recent, original art.

Looking into it further, I discovered that a member of the Deviant Art site nicknamed Ambush Bug held an art contest in 2010 with a Captain Canuck theme. There were over 100 entries displaying a great variety of interpretations, style, etc. In some, the Captain is a woman, other artists used the Unholy War version, or included supporting characters. It's quite something. If you were not aware of it, have a look right here.

Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely was apparently involved in choosing the winners. It couldn't have been easy, though I admit that I lingered on this one for a while.


Fantastic.

DC Comics Can-Con, part 1: Plastique

Surfing around message board and comment sections of various comic websites, I've often seen a perception by many that DC Comics does not have Canadian characters.

That's not quite true. DC does not have a Canadian super-hero team to match Marvel's Alpha Flight. However if someone were motivated to create one, they would have some decent buildings blocks.

Most of the characters have had little exposure but they do exist and have been active in recent years. The one with the highest degree of exposure would undoubtedly be Plastique.


Mind you, calling her "high profile" would be similar to making reference to Snow White's tallest dwarf. In this context, it's quite a relative term. You could be forgiven if you'd never heard of her as her appearances came in brief spurts over the course of three decades.

Her real name is Bette Sans Souci but as you might conclude from her business name, her abilities revolve around explosives. She used to wear bombs on her suit but she has since developed the ability to create explosions "naturally" as a result of some sort of genetic manipulation. Or something.

She first appeared in the original Firestorm series (#7 in 1982) as a French Canadian separatist terrorist (ugh) and later in Captain Atom, a character to whom she was briefly married (off panel, I believe). She has been also a member of Extreme Justice and the Suicide Squad and appeared in an episode of Smallville.


Plastique would fill the "hot French Canadian chick" role just fine on DC's Canadian team. And God knows it ain't a Canadian super team without one!

Edit: Change of plans. Next up: Flying Fox!