Sunday Funnies #17: What the heck are Canadian Whites?

I learned something new this week when I read Jacqueline Guest's novel The Comic Book War.  Canada, as you probably know, entered WWII two years before the United States did.  But wars cost money and in order to conserve Canada's balance of trade with the United States, Parliament passed War Exchange Conservation Act on December 6, 1940.

What this meant for fans of American comic book living north of the 49th Parallel was that there would be no more importation of such comic favorites as Superman, Batman or relative newcomer Captain Marvel.

To make up for this deficit, Canadian publishers scrambled to start producing their own superhero comic books.  In March 1941, Maple Leaf Publishing introduced the first issue of Better Comics and the first Canadian-created superhero Iron Man, created by Vernon Miller, formerly of the Disney Studios.  Iron Man was indestructible, having super strenght and was amphibious to boot.  He had originally lived on an island in the South Pacific, but an earthquake had obliterated all the inhabitants save him.  When the war started, Iron Man decided to throw his lot in with the Allies.  Like Iron Man, all the content in Better Comics was original and the stories were often serialized to keep customers coming back for more, but it seems to have been relatively successful, continuing to publish through the war.

August 1941 saw the publication of Triumph Adventure Comics by Hillborough Studio.  Founded by three artists, Triumph Adventure Comics introduced Canada's first Canadian-created, true Canadian superhero: Nevlana of the Northern Lights.  She was the child of a mortal mother and the King of the Northern Lights, Koliak the Mighty.  Nelvana could fly and travel at the speed of light by riding on a light beam from the Aurora Boralis.  Over time, more powers were written into the stories as they were needed.  It should also be noted that Nelvana arrived on the comic book scene a full four months before her American counterpart Wonder Woman.

Triumph Adventure Comics #1 August 1941; Triumph Comics March 1942

Nelvana continued to appear in Triumph-Adventure Comics until February 1941, for a total of 7 issues.  When her creator, Adrian Dingle, left Hillborough, he went to Bell Features taking Nelvana with him.

Bell Features was a very successful comic book publisher.  They were very Canadian focused and that was what readers really wanted during the war.  Besides Nelvana in Triumph, there was the Penguin in WOW Comics.  Unlike Batman's nemesis by the same name, WOW's Penguin spent his time fighting evil, especially the evil that was the Axis powers.  He was a master spy, a detective, an expert marksman, excellent at hand to hand combat and once you saw his face, you knew you didn't have long for this world.  And his identity was often speculated about but never revealed.

Bell also published Dime Comics and in February 1942, another true Canadian hero made his appearance.  Johnny Canuck was the creation of a 16 year old boy name Leo Bachle.  Johnny Canuck, a captain in the allied Air Force was also endowed with super strength.

Dime Comics February 1942 introducing Johnny Canuck

Last, but not least, we come to Educational Projects of Montreal.  Educational Projects introduced Canadian Heroes into the mixed of superheroes, focusing on real people who were real heroes.  Needless to say, this kind of comic books didn't really go over well with kids who were used to much more daring, dangerous and exciting fare for their heroes.

Canadian Heroes #1 November 1942 and #5, March 1943 introducing Canada Jack

And so Education Projects decided to forgo the real, focus on the fictional and so Canada Jack was created for the March 1943 issue of Canadian Heroes.  Canada Jack was just an ordinary guy without superpowers but he was an expert gymnast at the top of his form.  He actually became popular enough with kids that The Canada Jack Club was formed and kids were encouraged not only to join the club, but to do work to help the war effort.  Then, each month a different member and their war activities were spotlighted in the comic book.

Members spotlighted in Canadian Heroes V. 4 #6 December 1944 

But alas, this golden age of Canadian comic books was not to last beyond the end of the war, when the War Exchange Conservation Act was not longer needed and once again, American comic books flooded the Canadian markets with the kind of glitzy comics that the Canadian publishers just couldn't compete with.

So, what are they called Canadian Whites?  The covers may have looked just like the kind of four color covers you would find on American comics, but that is where the similarity ends.  The stories inside were all done in black and white, as you can see from some of the examples used here.

In 1995, the Canadian Post Office issued a set of 5 stamps commorating comic book heroes.  These included WWII superheroes Superman, Johnny Canuck and Nelvana, as well as Captain Canuck and Fleur de Lys from the 1970s and 1980s.

Source:
Bell, John. Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe.  Toronto: Dundum, 2006.

Most images used are public domain.