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.

Northern Light will return too!

As much as I enjoy my Canada-focused comics info gathering, whenever I go away for a few days, I set it aside entirely.  But when I know I'm about to return home, I can't wait to get at it again.  I'm like a kid staring at the clock during the early hours of Christmas morning, waiting to see what surprises are in store.  There's always something interesting to come back to.

Earlier this week, I was pleased to learn that the Nelvana stories from the 40's would be reprinted.  This weekend, the surprising news was provided by James Waley in a comment to a brief post from last year about the Northern Light character.  You can read the complete comment here but I want to focus on the part below specifically (for now, at least).

...you might be interested in the fact that Jim Craig and I will be doing a short, 6 page, full-colour story on the NL in this upcoming fundraiser anthology, ONE TRIBE, I'm putting together ...https://www.facebook.com/OneTribeAnthology ... check it out and give it a LIKE, okay?...

Okay. :-)

Though this is the first I hear of it, the anthology has been in the planning stages for some time.  Click the image below to view a press release which includes larger images and a more detailed list of contributors.  Judging from that list, this anthology will not be lacking imagination, talent or variety. 

Please note that the crowdfunding dates are no longer accurate.  Join the Facebook group to stay up to date on the project's progress.