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.