Let your hearts be gladdened...Nelvana will return!

One of the original goals of this blog was to shine whatever small amount of light I could on some of the Canadian superhero characters from the 40's.  This country's history in the genre appeared to be sadly overlooked and under-appreciated.

Being that there are currently far more Canadian characters, publishers and creators than I'd originally expected to find, I inadvertently deviated from that goal.  Most mentions of Nelvana refer to her appearance on posters and the like, though the basics of her origins are included in the "Superheroes to call our own" post from February 2012.

I mention this now because of recently-announced plans to reprint Nelvana's adventures of the time.

Lost Heroes researchers Rachel Richey and Hope Nicholson (Richey also manages the Comic Syrup blog, while Nicholson is listed among the Lost Heroes producers as well) have acquired the rights to reproduce Nelvana's stories.  They plan to do so following a crowd funding campaign which will begin on October 1st.  You can follow their progress through this Facebook group.

Nelvana creator Adrian Dingle is said to be have been inspired to create Nelvana by Group Of Seven artist Franz Johnston's stories from the latter's travels to the Arctic.  Nelvana, in turn, was at least to some degree the inspiration for Alpha Flight's Snowbird character.  Snowbird's mother is named Nelvanna, with an extra "n", presumably to avoid legal issues.  Her grandfather is named Hodiak, similar to Koliak above.

Nelvana was often assisted in defending the north by her far less celebrated brother Tanero who shared dad's inability to have his true seen by "whites".  Tanero would usually avoid this by changing shapes to that of a flying Great Dane.

Well, that's ONE way...

These books are a lot of quirky fun and having them properly collected would be a real treat.  I'm excited to see this project move forward.

"Is Canada ready for its own screen superhero?"

Much gratitude to the Toronto Star for the article below and more specifically for not making the notion seem like an absurd joke.

I don't feel right about copying the entire thing and in fact, I don't believe I'm "allowed" to, so I've copied what I consider to be the most pertinent portion.  For the full version, click here.

...isn’t it about time we had our own man or woman in tights fighting on the big screen for truth, justice and the Canadian way?

That day might be nearer than you expect. If only we could get over our own modesty for once and let Canada save the planet.

Winnipeg artists Richard Comely and Ron Leishman noted this gap in the comics 40 years ago. “We felt there was a void — something lacking in our pop culture,” says Comely, who now resides in Cambridge, Ont. So in 1975 they launched Captain Canuck. Decked out in patriotic red and white, Canuck was a government agent battling terrorists and space pirates after garnering super-strength from a close encounter with aliens.

...

...the good Captain may finally get a shot at live-action glory. Saskatchewan production company Minds Eye Entertainment is developing a feature-film adaptation it plans to promote at Comic-Con, the massive comics convention that runs July 12 to 15 in San Diego, Calif.

The Toronto Star has learned that Arne Olsen, who wrote the 2010 Canadian sci-fi film Repeaters, directed by Carl Bessai, will write the screenplay with input from Comely and executive producer David Cormican. While the budget will be a small fraction of The Avengers’ $220 million (figures U.S.), Cormican says he expects the movie will be “larger than any other Canadian independent film.” Minds Eye’s most expensive title to date is the forthcoming $18 million French coproduction The Tall Man, starring Jessica Biel.

...

Captain Canuck wasn’t the only Canadian costumed crusader. Lost Heroes, a documentary now in the works, reminds us that during the Second World War, a ban on imported print materials meant issues of Superman and Batman could not cross the border into Canada, and publishers here took advantage by launching their own comic book do-gooders.

It was a Canadian golden age, however brief, for comic superheroes. Among those kicking Nazi butt were Canada Jack (strengthened by our clean air and water), Johnny Canuck (who nearly ends the war despite no superpowers) and Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Predating Wonder Woman by five months, Nelvana, female protector of the Inuit, was able to fly, shape-shift and turn invisible.

...

Artists have injected plenty of Can-con into the American books they’ve drawn. Dale Eaglesham, who works out of his home in Vankleek Hill, Ont., illustrated last year’s reboot of Alpha Flight, a team of Canadian heroes including Guardian (who looks an awful lot like Captain Canuck), Sasquatch and Northstar. The characters, created in 1979 by Edmonton-raised John Byrne, first appeared in the pages of Marvel’s The Uncanny X-Men, a group that numbers Alberta’s Wolverine as one of its members. The new Alpha Flight series lasted only eight issues.

Eaglesham believes the title wasn’t renewed because “There are no known superstars. We did bring in Wolverine, the most famous Canadian comic book character. But with Canadian superheroes you don’t get a lot of support, even from Canadian readers. They’ll still follow the X-Men and Batman.

“That’s an issue for Canadian musicians, artists and moviemakers,” he adds.

Nonetheless, he insists Alpha Flight would make the ideal Canadian superhero flick “because of the variety and strength of those characters, and the fact they’re a team and it all takes place in Canada. It’s a rich tapestry for movies. I’m surprised no one’s even thought to do that. Maybe people think big things don’t happen in Canada.”