Mid-April Leaflets (part 2)

All right, let's continue looking at what material we can expect to be made available by Canadian publishers and/or from Canadian talent and/or about Canadian characters.

The first I want to touch on is actually a re-release.  I bought Dino Caruso's Courage book last summer when it was being published by I'm a Geek Entertainment as a digital compilation of four issues worth of material. Fun read.

I did notice that the links through which to purchase the book recently became obsolete and there's no mention of the title on the publisher's website (at least nothing prominent).

Whatever happened there is not at all any of my business, but I was pleased to find that Evil Moose Comics will be releasing the first issue of the mini-series again next month.  Since they're going to be sold through Indyplanet, presumably a print version will be available, and hopefully a trade paperback option as well down the road.

Next, we have the third issue of Legacy from September17 Productions coming up on April 23rd.

Legacy is the publisher's flagship book and Andre Siregar's art in it is just beautiful.

S17 has since released a second title, a team book name New Guard which takes place within the same universe 10 years after the events of the early issues of Legacy and has a couple of other irons in the fire. Most relevant to this blog is work being done to add a team called (at least tentatively, for now) Canadian Corps.

As you can imagine, I'm looking forward to that tremendously as well.  Click on the cover above to get a sneak peek at the various projects being worked on by September17.

Moving right along, we have the fourth issue of Thunder, offered by Two Gargoyles Graphics.

I'll be glad to get my hands on this issue because the third one ended on a pretty intense cliffhanger. It's available now in both print and digital format from IndyPlanet so I'll be making my purchase before long.

Don't let the comical nature of the cover give you the wrong impression; there is plenty of action and drama in the Thunder series. The previous issue featured a hard-hitting battle against a frost giant, for example.  So while the publisher does offer books that are more comedic in nature (I've never read it, but I have to assume that's the case with Diaperman), I would not include Thunder in that category.  Thunder has comedy in its story, but is not a comedy.

But speaking of comedy, I recently found out about Expired Comics, a publisher from my home town of Ottawa.  Much like Diaperman above, Expired's primary offering is a comedy book, The Morningwood Guardian.

They do have another project about to launch ("spring 2014"), which looks to be more my speed, called Merve and Vinny, Earth's Finest.

What happens when an intergalactic and visually impaired being screws up and gives super powered suits to the wrong two guys? And what happens when these two are less than heroic? You get Merve & Vinnie - Earth's Finest, an Expired Comics original focusing on two unlikely "heroes" who really shouldn't have powers. Get ready to laugh as Merve and Vinnie learn what it takes to become Earth's Finest.

This could be pretty fun, so I'll be keeping an eye out for that.

Let's conclude this little spring preview with the following ad for the release of the second issue of Red Squirrel, from Poorman Comics. I just read that the first issue is sold out so congratulations to all involved in its creation.  I wish you similar success with the second one.

Finding Courage

Years ago, the costumed crimefighter known as Courage suffered a defeat at the hands of the nefarious criminal Volatile. Unable to cope with his failure, Courage retired in disgrace.

But now... he's back, and ready to set things right.

The book is written by Dino Caruso, best known here for his work on Gryfalcon (see label at right).  The rather splendid cover is by David Cutler.

This is a sweet deal that I stumbled into while checking out the new releases on drivethru comics.  The pdf version of the book checks in at a healthy 106 pages for only $2. It is a compilation of what was originally meant to be a four-issue limited series.

The solicitation text above doesn't quite touch on it, but age is also a challenge for Courage.  His retirement lasted nine years.  He returns to action at age 38, generally considered past the proverbial best-before date for that kind of gig.  He is keenly aware that he's not as quite as capable as he used to be.   His acceptance of that fact and his adaptation to it are the most interesting aspects of the book, in my opinion.

Now as is often the case, Canadian "status" can be difficult to assess when nationality is not particularly relevant to the story.  One member of the supporting cast is a military general who is clearly American, however Courage twice makes reference to Kingston Pen.

Better yet, the legendary super team in the Courage universe is named The Original Six.  More a hint than proof of Canuckhood, I suppose.  I do know the name firmly falls under the "I wish I'd have thought of that" category.

The seeds for this book were first planted in 2007.  Mr Caruso goes over the history of the project on his blog.  For that matter, he discusses a great many other ones too, so you may want to take some time to surf around.