Wolverine IS Canadian

News ReleaseLibrary and Archives Canada’s major acquisition of the declassified journals and military records of...
Posted by Library and Archives Canada on Friday, 1 April 2016

WWII-era Canadian comics full of home-grown superheroes!

http://www.ryerson.ca/news/news/General_Public/20150327-move-over-batman/

 “Dixon of the Mounted” is one of numerous Canadian comic heroes who thrived during the Second World War.

                                                                          

Behold the raven-haired demi-goddess Nelvana, born of human woman and Koliak, god of the northern lights. With the power of light and heat, Nelvana battles the enemies of Canada’s north and, as alter-ego secret-agent Alana North, she protects us from the perils facing a country at war.

Arriving a few months before Wonder Woman, Nelvana was the first female comics superhero, and rode a wave of Canadian comics known as “Whites” (for their typically black and white interior pages).  

Nelvana was born to protect our borders in 1941, in response to the War Exchange Conservation Act (WECA), prohibiting the import of luxury items, including comic books, from the United States. But Nelvana was not alone. Between 1941 and 1946, Canadian kids (and other comic enthusiasts) feasted on the adventures of Johnny Canuck, Canada Jack, Tang the Wonder Horse, Brok Windsor, Dixon of the Mounted and many more.

Now, thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor, 119 of these rare and extraordinary works are part of the collection of the Ryerson University Library Special Collections. “It’s the holy grail of Canadian comics,” says Ryerson professor Andrew O’Malley. O’Malley’s current project, “Comic Books, Children’s Culture, and the Crisis of Innocence, 1940-1954,” was awarded an Insight Development Grant by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Read more at the link above! 

#LostHeroes Film now available

http://kinosmith.myshopify.com/products/lost-heroes
It's online ready to purchase!
A great tribute to the Canadian Comic Industry.

 Lost Heroes is the story of these forgotten Canadian comic book superheroes and their legendary creators. Recovering a forgotten part of our nation’s pop culture, Lost Heroes is the story of a national treasure that few of us have ever heard about. It’s the story of a small country striving to create its own heroes but finding itself constantly out-muscled by better-funded and better-marketed heroes from the media empire next door. It’s the story of Canada striving for more than seventy years to have its own band of national comic book superheroes, but constantly failing to keep them alive. The question is: why?

@CaptainCanuck Variant Summer Special

Here is a variant of the upcoming Summer Special by the brilliant George Freeman. A limited number of variants will be available through captaincanuck.com and participating comic stores across Canada. A list of the stores will be posted online shortly!

 

Canada's forgotten superheroes

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-s-forgotten-superheroes-163832563.html

This year’s Doug Wright Awards, which recognizes excellence in Canadian comics and cartooning, will be honouring the Canadian Whites, a group of artists and comics that birthed a roster of forgotten Canadian heroes in the World War II era. Two living members of the group will be on hand to accept the Giants of the North hall of fame award on Saturday evening in Toronto. The awards are a feature event at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Please click on the link above to read this entire article! Some great work, some great history, some great Canadians.