Beyond Brok and Johnny

The separate projects to restore the adventures of Brok Windsor and Johnny Canuck have received their fair share of press (examples for Johnny here and Brok here) as did Nelvana before them.

Both are nearing their conclusion but there are plans to continue reprinting the adventures of characters from that era.

Let's start with the character that comics fans are most likely to recognize. The text below is from a Johnny Canuck project update from last month.

I have all the scans in for future projects! The next will be Mr. Monster and this book (and project) will be much smaller at 52 pages, but will include a foreword by Michael T Gilbert, the writer and artist who readapted the character in the 80s, some great artists new and returning, and many other fun surprises!

I absolutely loved the Origins book from Dark Horse (totally unrelated to this endeavour) that was released a few years ago. It included reprinted material but in some cases, to be honest, that feature was poorly done.

In fairness, the "origins" theme was more specific to the original Mr. Monster's son. There was little reason to expect a great deal of effort to be directed towards dad so I look forward to Pops getting the star treatment and I think the two books will end up complementing each other quite nicely, if by coincidence.

Over to the post-Brok project. The following is copied from the Brok Windsor Facebook page and was also included in a project update:

I am pleased to say that The Wing & possibly Nitro, two superheroes from Bell Features have been licensed and are currently being collected.  

Wing is a comic creator by day and a superheroine with a magic cape by night!
Nitro is a character that I admit I have to dig into a bit more, but I was taken by him in the one Wing crossover and I'd be happy to present both characters to you in the next collection.

And I'd be happy to contribute! Though I recognize her from past research on other characters, I admit to knowing very little about Wing specifically. A link to this detailed history saved me a fair bit of trouble. She sounds like she might be pretty cool. Here are some basics from that page:

In the first text box of the first panel after the splash in Joke Comics 4 we find out that Trixie is a writer who creates stories about a “mythical” superhero called “The Wing” with the privilege of dramatic irony we also find out that she is, unbeknownst to anyone else, in reality that character and that she bases her stories on her own real adventures. 

We also find out The Wing’s cape is magical and that it can overcome the force of gravity allowing her to fly.

But first, the current projects have to be completed. The Brok Windsor pdf has been sent out and the Johnny Canuck one is expected to be sent out towards the end of the month. Print version will follow shortly thereafter and then it's on to Mr. Monster and The Wing. Can't wait and to tell the truth, I'm already wondering who might be next after those two.

Some personal favourite art from the current projects.

I Wish My Name Was Brok Windsor

As the project to reprint Nelvana's stories was beginning to take shape last year, one the ladies involved (either Rachel Richey or Hope Nicholson, I forget which) mentioned on Twitter that they might look to do similar for another iconic character in Johnny Canuck.  Made sense, seemed obvious, but they had their hands full with Nelvana so any discussion about Johnny would have to wait.

Sure enough, we received confirmation on July 1st (or thereabouts) that Johnny Canuck was also headed towards reprint treatment.  But as a bonus, we got the news that Brok Windsor's adventures would also be reprinted.

Johnny Canuck is a fairly well known character, and what you don't know you could reasonably guess at.  Brok Windsor is far more obscure so plans to re-release his stories were a pleasant surprise.

Windsor first appeared in the April/May 1944 issue of Better Comics.  The Joe Shuster Awards website does a great job of describing the premise of his adventures.

...Already a manly outdoorsman-type, physician Brok was portaging through the Lake of the Woods region and stumbled upon an island upon which he was transformed into a 7 foot tall muscle-bound specimen of the superhuman variety. Teaming with the 12 foot tall son of the chieftain of a unique Native Canadian tribe that lives in this uncharted territory named Torgon, Brok, needing the unique serum that enables Torgon’s people to endure the physical transformations, embarks on a perilous journey to find the special waters. 

The only online copy of Better Comics I've been able to find (though I haven't looked in a while) is volume three, number 7, the cover for which is copied above.  You can download it from The Digital Comic Museum as a preview of this project which, along with the Johnny Canuck reprints, I look forward to supporting.

Johnny Canuck reinvented, part two

Epic Canadiana is finally out!

You could be excused if the name didn't ring a bell.  I first posted about it in May of 2012 at which time it was known as All-Canadian comics.  In February of this year, the anthology's publisher, Cloudscape Comics, sent out a call for character submissions for what was then called Canadiana Comics.

That was the last I heard of this project until Friday night when I stumbled on the online launch announcement event on Facebook.  The Epic Canadiana anthology became available for download on the Cloudscape online store that night.

Art by Chenoa Gao

This thing weighs in at about 170 pages for all of $3.  It is not available in print format, at least for the moment.

As you may have determined by now, that's Johnny Canuck waiving the leaf.  He is featured in the first and last stories in this book.  Since the story takes place in present, this is apparently the original Johnny, making him 90-something years old.  He is a recluse, but being recruited to serve as a uniting symbol for the superpowered individuals who are suddenly emerging onto the scene.

Most of Johnny's "face time" is spent reviewing his history and detailing what his mission is expected to be but he does not see action as such.  The "words from the editor" at the beginning of the book pretty well state point blank that there are plans for future volumes, but you would get that sense from the book's contents anyway.

As far as the other stories in the anthology are concerned, there's a good blend of reimagined / updated versions of other World War Two characters and new creations.  Now that we've been formally introduced, I'm curious to see whether they will actually form a team, or if future stories will be based on Canuck's influence on the individual characters.  It sounds like the former, but they could play it both ways. Either way, I look forward to more volumes of Epic Canadiana (hopefully in print as well as digital).

Johnny Canuck reinvented, part one

After a couple of months of having nothing to add to the "Solicitations" page, I recently removed it and created the "$1 Box" at the top right of the blog, just under the banner.  Its goal should be rather obvious; I wanted to display books that I knew were being sold for only a dollar and thereby direct readers to an inexpensive method by which they can support Canadian talent and/or creators.

While preparing that page, one of the books I tried to locate was Legion Unleashed by (at the time) Raven Entertainment.  I remembered buying the two issues at the time for a dollar each but couldn't recall if that was a temporary special price, if I'd bought from creator/writer Richard Evans, and so on.

To some surprise, I found the first issue on Comixology under a publisher called "Round Two Comics".  The name was entirely unfamiliar to me so, as I seem to do frequently nowadays, I asked Evans about it on Twitter. He confirmed that it was indeed a return to the comics medium (Evans had announced last year that he was no longer producing comics) and that the second issue would be added soon.

Evans then dangled a bit of news in front of me that I totally misunderstood.  Here's how it was worded:

TOP SECRET: I plan on doing my first Kickstarter soon, reinventing a Canadian icon. :)

Because we were specifically talking about Legion, I believed his intention was to create a fundraising campaign to complete that series.  His plan is actually a new take on Johnny Canuck.

Art by Emilio Martinez Epigmenio

A little jarring, eh?  You were probably expecting something more like the stamp version at right.

There's an aspect to that character that Evans rejects.  Here's a portion of an entry on his own blog that provides a simple explanation.

“Johnny Canuck is linked to a tradition of stalwart, honest, upstanding Canadian heroes.”

See this is where me and the old ways have to part ways. Why do Canadians have to be one-dimensional?? Why can’t we have a badass, scary hero who takes no prisoners??

Fair enough, and not at all surprising considering the source.  My favourite character in the Legion series is beyond the shadow of a doubt Black Flag, who is the very type that Evans describes. 

And I find the lumberjack look an interesting direction in which to take the character.  Google "Johnny Canuck" and most of the image results you'll get involve the Vancouver Canuck's logo.  I don't watch the NHL, but I would think a strong case could be made that their image of "Johnny Canuck" is more recognized than the WW2 version.  The notion of a lumberjack type named Johnny Canuck shouldn't appear unusual to the general public.

While Evans' blog posts about Johnny debate whether to proceed with the Kickstarter campaign, it sounds like he ultimately will go ahead with it.  To be frank, I'm worn out on Indiegogo and Kickstarter, but this is one I look forward to supporting.

2005 Shuster Award Hall of Fame Print

Not new, but new to me, and therefore perhaps to others. It's too cool for people to miss so I'm sharing a smaller version of it. Plus anything that includes my girl Nelvana is going to get stored away for eternity or until my death, whichever comes first.


I located it on the comicartfans page. Coincidentally, James Waley is involved. He was one of the gentleman who brought Northern Light (see previous post) to life in the 70's. Full credits:

Credits: CONCEPT / INITIAL LAYOUT / ART DIRECTION: JAMES WALEY;
FINISHED LAYOUT: PAUL McCUSKER (w/ JIM ORDOLIS);

PENCILS: Freelance / STEVE LeBLANC;
Prince Valiant / TERRY PALLOT;
Nelvana / SCOTT COOPER;
Johnny Canuck / PETER GRAU;
Superman / TY TEMPLETON;
Harold Hedd / PAUL McCUSKER; INKS: T. PALLOT;

COLOURS & PRODUCTION ASSEMBLY: P. McCUSKER. a SOLID COMICS STUDIO production / raythyonder@yahoo.ca

Superman TM & Copyright DC Comics; Prince Valiant TM & Copyright King Features Syndicate; all other characters are TM & Copyright to their respective owners.

Float around the Joe Shuster Awards page for more artwork involving classic and current Canadian characters.

"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.