ICYMI art: The Northern Light

Another cool Canadian hero from years past is getting a little modernization.  The shot of Northern Light below was posted on the One Tribe Anthology Facebook group on July 31st.

What began back in July of 1974 with the illustrating of a generic unsold script by a fairly well regarded American comic book writer would soon be reworked from the ground up into the sort of Canadian comic book character not seen since the 40’s in this country. 

The NORTHERN LIGHT will make his triumphant return after all these decades in the OTA story, TEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, featuring his encounter with an Aboriginal Elder near his northland HQ in a tale which touches on the tradition of the hunt, residential schools, alien abduction and the honouring of a hero ... the many joys and sorrows of these two separate lives. The sort of trials and triumphs that unite us all as human beings ... as ONE TRIBE! 

My eternal gratitude to the very talented folks that pulled this outstanding graphic together at the 11th hour and gave us the chance to mark this anniversary month before the clock struck 12 today ... renowned comic artist, JIM CRAIG, on pencils; Marvel inker extraordinaire. TERRY PALLOT and the multi-talented writer/artist and OTA design & production manager, STEVE LEBLANC on colours ... kudos to them all!

I really need to get my hands on this character's early appearance (and the book right, for that matter).  I have his origin story from Orb Magazine issues 4 and 5, and enjoyed it quite a bit, but never got around to acquiring the rest.

The suit in the image above is not radically different than in the character's last appearance (Power Comics #4, in 1977, I believe), just better detailed and a touch more modern looking.  The straps around the waist that seemed out of place and didn't appear to serve any real purpose are gone now.

But the Fu Manchu mustache lives on!  Some things should not be messed with!

I can't wait to read the story described above or, for that matter, the one described below (also from the Facebook group).

Also coming in the ONE TRIBE ANTHOLOGY is a new superheroine, ABEGWEIT, given her powers by the Mi'kmaq deity GLOOSCAP and created by First Nations author, AMY SARK and the original artist on the MEN IN BLACK series, SANDY CARRUTHERS who is currently helping to relaunch PAT BOYETTE’s classic horror character, SPOOKMAN, in the CHARLTON ARROW anthology.

I don't know where this project is at in terms of fundraising and what-not but I'll check in more often because my gut tells me it shouldn't be much longer.

Sullivan Caliber of the B-Team

Many of the Canadian characters I locate and write about on this blog are found in team books.  So whenever I come across a new global team in indie comics, I stop to do a little research.

Canadian characters are not always as easy to identify as one might think.  They don't all have a red maple leaf on their foreheads and aren't all called "Canadian Shield".  It only feels like it.

In other cases, they stand out like a Don Cherry suit.  Any time a team has a dude wearing a Montreal Expos baseball cap, you have to like your chances that he'll be a Canuck.

And such is the case with the B-Team, Soldiers of Misfortune.  Meet Sullivan "Sully" Caliber, French-Canadian private eye. But maybe avoid getting too attached to him.  One aspect of the B-Team that makes stand apart from the rest is that a character randomly dies every issue.  See below.

Neat twist .  You can find out more about the book and concept, as well as read the first issue in its entirety, on the B-Team website and pre-order the multi-issue compilation and/or merchandise while this Kickstarter campaign is underway.  And hopefully Sully makes it all the way to the last page!

Justice League Canada concludes

Justice League United #4 came out yesterday, closing the fledgling book's initial Justice League Canada storyline.

I was originally excited about the book when it was announced as Justice League Canada last year, less so when the name was changed to JLU and the JLC handle was shifted over to the first story arc.  Now the team won't even carry that name going forward so I think we can pretty much set it aside altogether.

Yes, of course it would.

I can't say I hated the book entirely.  Not at all.  In fact, if the expectation of a Canadian team had not been set well before its release, I'd probably be pretty happy with it.

But as I read it, I can't help but notice how little Canadian content there actually is and it irritates the hell out of me.  I'm reading Amazing X-Men right now for the Alpha Flight appearance and even that team has Canadians Northstar and Wolverine among its lineup, so as many Canucks as the JLU includes.

There may be third but without giving too much away to those who have yet to read #4, the story makes it sound like we'll either get her OR Adam Strange.

Admittedly, Alanna Strange could be quite cool.  And of course, there's also our new, much-celebrated Canadian rookie in Equinox...

...who was by and large non-existent throughout the entire story.  In issue four, she appeared in a little more than three pages, which sadly is pretty much her recent average.  Mind you, she does finally get a spotlight in issue #5, due in October, including (main) cover treatment. Her previous cover starring moment was in a variant.

This issue (#5) spotlights the newest member of the team: Equinox of the Moose Cree First Nation! As a rite of passage, Equinox must take down a mystical beast that’s terrorizing her people!

Speaking of covers and the likely disappearance of the JLC name, I won't complain if we lose the so-called Justice League Canada variants.  I made no effort to acquire them because in my opinion, they're weak.  All right, they changed the logo to read "Canada" but so what?  It's otherwise just the same cover with a different background colour, and often not even including the very few Canadian characters in the book.  Big damn deal.

On the flip side, I admit to getting a huge kick from this variant:

It's fun, it's entirely different from the original, it includes a little Canadiana...And it figures, it was done by Montreal's Karl Kerschl.

So what can we look forward to from this team?  Well, September's issue is a tie-in to Future's End, a story which speculates as to the DC Universe's status five years from now.

In the concluding chapter of the epic story that began in this month’s JUSTICE LEAGUE: FUTURES END #1, the armies of Mars rise against the unsuspecting population of Earth – and only the combined might of the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes can stand against them!

Oh, look!  Alanna Strange disappears!  Just like nearly every Canadian aspect from this title!

That's followed by #5 in October, described above, along with an annual.

The Infinitus Saga begins as the Legion of Super-Heroes arrive with the shocking news that the 31st century has been destroyed! Now it’s up to the Justice League United to save the future!

The November solicitations should be available soon, and we'll see what that brings but at the moment I don't know if I'll continue with this book, at least on a regular monthly basis, beyond #5.  I've enjoyed the portrayal of Martian Manhunter and Stargirl but the characters that I buy the book for have too little of a presence for me to bother.

I'd be all over an Adam/Alanna Strange book though...

Hightower Redux

Remember Hightower?  He is the Canadian member of Unstoppable Comics' Stormchasers team.

After releasing seven issues of the Stormchasers book, publisher Jay Rosario decided to rework the first one. Much experience had been gained since its release (the original book was uploaded to Drivethru Comics in May 2010) and Mr. Rosario wanted a Mulligan.  A successful Kickstarter campaign later, Rosario delivered perks yesterday.

My contribution earned me Unstoppable Comics' character guides (three in total) in addition to the new version of the first issue.  The third guide includes Hightower's profile and the pin up below.

Something caught my eye though; I had seen Hightower's profile in an early issue of Stormchasers.  Here it is below.

A newer version of the above adds "The question has been asked if any other siblings are 'EVOs' as well, but anything further than that has yet to be explored".

So...There's a chance?  ;-)

Hightower, at least to this point, has not been a key character in the book.  I'll continue getting the Stormchasers book regardless but I like knowing that there's the possibility of additional Canadian characters at some point in the future.  An entire family of them, even.

Raven Nevermore

At its inception, this blog was focused on Canadian comic book characters primarily.  I eventually directed some of my attention to Canadian talent and/or publishers, but I admit I sometimes have to remind myself to do so.  Such was the case with Raven Nevermore.

I first came across it months ago on Comixology.  I wasn't drawn to it because I believed there may be Canadian content; there was actually no reason to suspect such a thing.  I was drawn to it because it looks so friggin' cool.

It wasn't until I located writer/publisher Nuno Texeira's Twitter account that I found out that Xei Books is based out of Waterloo, Ontario.

And what has Nuno put together here?

Corvan Moore always had a purpose in life: to stop the bad guys. He was raised in the Cog Town Central Precinct by his step-father, the dwarf, Sheriff Gearwall. Instead of taking a much needed break from the Nightwatchers, and the case against the Mortoni Family, Corvan gives it one more night of service before taking a long holiday. 

One extra night is all it’ll take. Corvan’s life will turn inside out. While up against Mortoni’s men, led by a mob captain named Big Arm, something deep within Corvan Moore stirs and awakens. There will be many questions Corvan will ponder, but the most profound one will ultimately be: who am I?

Here are the first couple of pages of issue one.

I asked (again, on Twitter) about the book.  Nuno explained that the first volume will be nine issues long and that there are plans to collect them in print format down the road.

As a result of that brief "conversation", Nuno made the current issues available to me in pdf form, an unexpected, generous surprise.  I tried to limit myself to reading just the first issue so that I have plenty of new material when I ultimately acquire the trade and...I failed.  After completing it, I walked away to do something else...and 15 minutes later I was diving into the second.

We are introduced to Corvan Moore's friends, families and enemies, and a mystery in his background, but also shown the setting in pieces, whether in the form of the Victorian era fashions, high-tech weaponry mixed with fantasy races, etc.  To me, seeing Cog City revealed was as interesting as the story itself.

And so I'll try to fight the urge to "read ahead" further too much but I will, for what it's worth, recommend the book to those who want to step away from traditional masks and capes for a bit.