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.
Triumph Adventure Comics #1 August 1941; Triumph Comics March 1942 |
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 |
Canadian Heroes #1 November 1942 and #5, March 1943 introducing Canada Jack |
Members spotlighted in Canadian Heroes V. 4 #6 December 1944 |
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.
I love the old time comic book covers (new ones aren't too shabby either).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the flashback.
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
I had no idea about Canada's comic book history. How interesting! I was intrigued that Canadian comics only lasted during the war. I wonder if the inside comics were in color if they would have had more staying power.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!