English Canada Canadian comics

1 english canada

1.1 history (1759–1910s)
1.2 age of comic strips (1920s–1930s)
1.3 golden age: canadian whites (1940s)
1.4 post-war (late 1940s–early 1970s)
1.5 new wave (mid-1970s–1980s)
1.6 1990s
1.7 21st century

english canada

prime minister john a. macdonald favourite target of john bengough s popular caricatures.


early history (1759–1910s)

brigadier-general george townshend s cartoons lampooning general james wolfe in 1759 recognized first examples of political cartooning in canadian history. cartoons did not have regular forum in canada until john henry walker s short-lived weekly punch in canada débuted in montreal in 1849. magazine canadian version of britain s humorous punch , featured cartoons walker. paved way number of similar short-lived publications, until success of more straight-laced canadian illustrated news, published george-Édouard desbarats beginning in 1869, after canadian confederation.

in 1873, john wilson bengough founded grip, humour magazine in style of punch , american harper s weekly. featured large number of cartoons, bengough s own. cartoons tended political, , prime minister john a. macdonald , métis rebel leader louis riel favourite targets. pacific scandal in 1870s gave bengough fodder raise reputation political caricaturist. according historian john bell, while bengough significant pre-20th-century canadian cartoonist, henri julien accomplished. published both @ home , abroad, julien s cartoons appeared in periodicals such harper s weekly , le monde illustré. in 1888, gained employment @ montreal star , became first full-time newspaper cartoonist in canada.

palmer cox had international hit brownies in late 19th , 20th centuries

palmer cox, canadian expatriate in united states, @ time created brownies, popular, merchandised phenomenon first book collection sold on million copies. cox began brownies comic strip in 1898 1 of earliest english-language strips, , had begun use speech balloons time ended in 1907.

age of comic strips (1920s–1930s)

jimmy frise s birdseye center (later juniper junction) longest-running strip in english canada

canadian cartoonists found hard succeed in field of comic strips without moving us, in 1921, jimmy frise, 1 of ernest hemingway s drinking buddies during journalist s days in toronto, sold life s little comedies toronto star s star weekly. strip later retitled birdseye center, , became longest-running strip in english canadian history. in 1947, frise brought strip montreal standard, renamed juniper junction. nova scotia-born artist j. r. williams single-panel strip rural , small-town life, out our way, began in 1922 , syndicated in 700 newspapers @ peak.

two new comic strips appeared on same day in 1929 in american newspapers , fed public s desire escapist entertainment @ dawn of great depression. first non-humorous adventure strips, , both adaptations. 1 buck rogers; other, tarzan, halifax native hal foster, had worked illustrator catalogues eaton s , hudson s bay company before moving in late 20s. other adventure strips followed , paved way genre diversity seen in comic strips in 1930s. in 1937, foster began own strip, prince valiant, has become best-known work foster s dextrous, realistic artwork. after struggling support himself @ various toronto-based publications, richard taylor, under pen name ric , became regular @ new yorker , relocated us, pay , opportunities cartoonists better.

the toronto telegram began run men of mounted in 1933, first home-grown adventure strip, written ted mccall , drawn harry hall. mccall later penned strip robin hood , company, made appearance in comic books when mccall founded anglo-american publishing in 1941.

golden age: canadian whites (1940s)

the golden age of comic books , subsequent superhero boom began release in june 1938 of action comics #1. cover story first appearance of superman, drawn toronto-born joe shuster. shuster modeled superman s metropolis after memories of toronto, , newspaper clark kent worked after toronto daily star, had delivered child. these comics crossed border , gained canadian fans well.

in december 1940, war exchange conservation act passed. restricted importation of goods deemed non-essential combat trade deficit canada had neighbours south. american comic books casualties of act. in 1941, fill void, number of canadian comic book publishers sprang up, starting in march anglo-american publishing in toronto , maple leaf publishing in vancouver. adrian dingle s hillborough studios , bell features joined them. comics printed these companies had colour covers, innards in black-and-white, , collectors call them canadian whites. superheroes stories prominent, , whites relied on serials keep readers coming more.

better comics maple leaf , robin hood , company anglo-american first titles hit stands. robin hood tabloid-sized comic strip reprint magazine, while better made of original material in traditional comic-book format, , can said first true canadian comic book. included appearance of first canadian superhero, vernon miller s iron man. john stables, under pen name john st. ables, responsible brok windsor s debut in better in spring of 1944—a fantasy-adventure set far in land beyond mists in canadian north. success of better led proliferation of titles maple leaf.

adrian dingle s nelvana of northern lights, canada s first female superhero

the driving creative forces behind anglo-american ted mccall, writer of men of mounted , robin hood strips, , artist ed furness. pair created number of heroes such names freelance, purple rider, red rover, , commander steel. anglo-american published stories based on imported american scripts bought fawcett publications, fresh artwork canadians bypass trade restrictions. captain marvel , bulletman amongst characters had canadian adaptations. anglo-american published large number of titles, including freelance, grand slam, 3 aces, whiz, captain marvel , atom smasher, relied less on serials, , less patriotically canadian rival publishers. employed number of talented artists, kept house style of drawing, in vein of captain marvel s c. c. beck.

in august 1941, 3 unemployed artists, adrian dingle , andré , rené kulbach, formed hillborough studios publish own work. started triumph-adventure comics, star canada s first female superhero, nelvana of northern lights, appeared several months before wonder woman did in us. nelvana inspired tribal stories brought arctic group of 7 painter franz johnston. popular fur-miniskirted superheroine powerful inuit mythological figure, daughter of mortal woman , koliak mighty, king of northern lights. had telepathic powers , able ride northern lights @ speed of light, turn invisible, , melt metal.

in march 1942, dingle , of hillborough staff moved nelvana toronto-based bell features, had begun publishing comics in september 1941 first issue of successful wow comics—in colour @ first, bell switched familiar white format. bell prolific of canadian comic-book publishers. comics drawn large pool of artists, including freelancers, adolescents, , women, , unabashedly canadian. aside nelvana, there edmund legault s dixon of mounted, jerry lazare s phantom rider, , fred kelly s doc stearne. leo bachle s johnny canuck second canadian national hero, , debuted in bell s dime comics in february 1942.

the new canadian comics successful; bell reached accumulated weekly sales of 100,000 1943. time, educational projects of montréal had joined, selling comics in white format. educational specialized in different sort of fare: biographies of prime ministers, cases of rcmp, , historical tales, drawn accomplished artists including george m. rae , sid barron. educational s canadian heroes earned endorsements cabinet ministers , appealed parents , educators, not appealing kids aimed @ until rae convinced publisher harry j. halperin allow him include fictional character, canada jack—a hero battled nazis.

with end of world war ii in 1945, canadian comic-book publishing faced competition american publishers again. educational , latecomer feature publications folded immediately. maple leaf tried compete switching colour , trying break british market. anglo-american , newcomer, al rucker publications, tried compete directly americans, , achieved distribution in us. end of 1946 clear remaining publishers not compete, , time being original comic-book publishing came end in canada, although publishers bell features survived republishing american books until war exchange conservation act officially abolished in 1951. cartoonists insisted on drawing living faced several choices: moved across border attempt make american publishers, , moved illustration work, jerry lazare, vernon miller, jack tremblay, , harold bennett did. avenue route sid barron followed political cartooning. 1949, out of 176 comics titles on newsstand, 23 canadian.

post-war (late 1940s–early 1970s)

with end of original canadian comic book publishing in 1947, canada s superheroes disappeared, , country entered phase of foreign comic book domination. in november 1948, crime comics scare hit country when pair of voracious comic book readers in dawson creek, british columbia, shot @ random car while playing highwaymen, fatally wounding passenger. when authorities discovered taste comic books, media attention focused on emerging crime comics genre influence on juvenile delinquency. bill amend section 207 of criminal code drafted, , passed unanimously, making offense make, print, publish, distribute, sell, or own magazine, periodical or book exclusively or substantially comprises matter depicting pictorially commission of crimes, real or fictitious , on 10 december 1949. comics publishers across canada banded create comic magazine industry association of canada (cmiac), canadian industry self-censoring body similar american comics code authority formed few years later in response similar crime comics scare in u.s. purely coincidence, netherlands had experienced near-similar comics related incident @ exact same time equally lethal outcome, , causing similar popular reaction, in case authorities refrained taking drastic legal actions, canadian counterparts did.

superior publishers, however, defied ban, while moving u.s. market. watchdogs turned heat, , in 1953 distributor found guilty of distributing obscenities. of superior s titles found in fredric wertham s notorious , influential diatribe on influence comics had on juvenile delinquency, seduction of innocent, published in 1954. united states senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency, established in 1953, had public hearings few months later, , called upon kamloops. bc member of parliament e. davie fulton, 1 of superior publisher william zimmerman s outspoken enemies, witness. comics code authority formed, , superior, fellow american publisher ec comics, saw sales dwindle throughout 1955. prosecutions increased throughout canada, superior defending in one, , supposedly comics-related murder reported in westville, nova scotia. superior shut doors in 1956, , until 1970s, english canadian newsstand comic book publishing no more, although number of giveaway comics continued produced orville ganes ganes productions , owen mccarron s comic book world, produced educational , cautionary comics governments , corporations, aimed @ kids , teens.

doug wright s nipper mainstay in canadian newspapers in post-war years

the crackdown not aimed @ comic strips, however, , several notable new ones appeared, lew saw s one-up, winslow mortimer s larry brannon , al beaton s ookpik. after jimmy frise s death in 1948, juniper junction taken on doug wright, 1 of canada s best post-war comic-strip artists . continue strip until 1968, while working on own nipper 1949. in 1967, nipper became doug wright s family when wright moved montreal ontario, , popular strip continued until 1980. doug wright awards inaugurated in honour in 2005. 1948 1972, james simpkins cartoon jasper bear appeared continuously in maclean s magazine. jasper hugely popular across canada , used, , still today, symbol jasper national park.

to express anger @ military s nuclear tests in bikini atoll in 1946 english-born artist laurence hyde produced wordless novel in 1951 called southern cross. in 118 silent pages, book depicts atomic testing military , effects polynesian island inhabitants. while had no direct effect on comics @ time, has come seen precursor canadian graphic novel.

early editorial cartooning lacked local flavour, tending pale imitation of american examples. tended cheery, non-confrontational, , supported causes. following war broke typical american clichés , took on more of savage bite, compared more allegorical tendencies of american editorial cartoons. @ le devoir, robert lapalme first cartoon in particularly canadian idiom, , in 1963 organized international salon of caricature , cartoon in montreal. lapalme later followed duncan macpherson @ toronto star, leonard norris @ vancouver sun , ed mcnally @ montreal star. these cartoonists took political positions contrary of papers in published. macpherson drew cartoon of john diefenbaker marie antoinette saying let them eat cake in response prime minister s cancelling avro arrow project, historian pierre burton has called beginning of canadians disillusionment diefenbaker s government. macpherson in particular fought fiercely editorial independence, challenging editors , threatening quit star if not given way, paved new path other cartoonists follow.

in spring of 1966, canada saw first specialty comic shop open doors on queen street west, toronto: viking bookshop, established captain george henderson. entirely unfamiliar new phenomenon, store dubbed campiest store in town toronto star reporter robert fulford. no longer in existence, viking bookshop earliest known such specialty comic book store in north-america (or worldwide matter), predating oldest known comic book store, gary arlington s san francisco comic book company (est. april 1968), 2 years. 1 year later, in may 1967, store renamed memory lane books after had relocated markham street in same city, , such became inspiration pioneering retailer harry kremer , bill johnson open & books in kitchener, ontario. newsletter, , times, published work young dave sim in inaugural issue in 1972, , later employed him 1976 1977.

in late 1960s, along countercultural movement, new form of comic art appeared avant-garde , literary scenes—underground comics (or comix ) aimed @ adult audience. examples appeared in magazines, precursor of canadian underground comic books scraptures, special issue of toronto avant-garde literary magazine gronk in 1967. in 1969, canada saw first true underground comics, sfu komix , snore comix. these comix drew inspiration american underground movement exploded after release of robert crumb s zap in 1968. martin vaugh-james produced graphic novel when had elephant released press porcépic in 1970. underground movement paralleled of us, in peaked 1970 1972 peak of counterculture, , witnessed sharp decline afterward. saskatoon, saskatchewan s dave geary , vancouver, bc s rand holmes key figures, holmes being creator of harold hedd comic strip.

humour magazine fuddle duddle, named after famous euphemism then-prime minister pierre trudeau, short lived attempt @ canadian mad-style satirical magazine. first comic book of canadian content available on newsstands since 1956. 2 of contributors, peter evans , stanley berneche, go on bring superheroes canada first time since demise of nelvana in 1947, captain canuck.

the fan press , fandom grew throughout period, , bolstered when patrick loubert , michael hirsh, founders of animation company nelvana, published of great canadian comic books in 1971, book-length study of bell features comics, , touring of related exhibition mounted national gallery of canada, comic art traditions in canada, 1941-45, served introduce english-canadian comics creators , fans lost heritage.

towards middle of 1970s, comics aimed @ children gradually disappeared. new breed of underground, alternative , independent comics aimed @ more mature audience, ran counter public s perception, legal restrictions. first wave of alternative comics in seventies largely made of science fiction , fantasy comics, made budding cartoonists gene day, dave sim, augustine funnell, jim craig, ken steacy, dean motter, , vincent marchesano.

new wave (mid-1970s–1980s)

the mid-1970s saw beginning of new wave of canadian comics, 1 in creators chose remain in canada, rather seeking fortunes south of border. richard comely s captain canuck appeared in july 1975, first appearance of non-satirical superhero in canada since 1940s. during 1950s , 1960s, idea of native comics seemed unattainable canadian kids, , appearance of captain canuck gave these kids optimism make own. followed james waley s more professional, newsstand-distributed orb, featured number of talents later take part in north american comics scene.

the comics magazines showing in canada @ time suffered promotion , distribution problems, however, getting of support fan press. phil seuling s california-based comics distributor bud plant supportive of these underground , alternative comics, though, , helped them stores. eventually, distributors bud plant , emergence of specialty comic shops form distribution network small press comics thrive independently of traditional newsstands.

lynn johnston s better or worse, distributed canadian comic strip

the world of comic strips saw number of works pop up. ben wicks doing outsiders , wicks, jim unger s herman debuted in 1975, , ted martin s pavlov in 1979. in 1978, lynn johnston, living in lynn lake, manitoba, began better or worse, noted following lives of patterson family grew older in real time, , dealt real-life issues. strip based number of storylines on johnston s real-life experiences own family, social issues such midlife crisis, divorce, coming out of gay character, child abuse, , death. in 1985, became first female cartoonist win reuben award, , friends of lulu added women cartoonists hall of fame in 2002. strip popular, appearing in on 2000 newspapers in 25 countries.

editorial cartoonists held considerable sway between 1950s through 1970s. former prime minister joe clark has been quoted lost votes in election of 1980 due political cartoons him. have experienced fear of censorship through courts, or libel chill . in 1979, robert bierman , victoria times subject of libel suit when criticized policies of william vander zalm, british columbia minister of human resources, cartoon of minister pulling wings off flies. when courts ruled in vander zalm s favour, newspapers across nation ran own versions of cartoon in support, until bc court of appeal reversed ruling in 1980, deeming cartoon fair comment . later acquired national archives of canada.

dave sim proselytized self-publishing , creators rights while pushing artistic boundaries series, cerebus.

captain canuck , orb both folded 1976, in kitchener, ontario in december 1977, dave sim s independent comic book cerebus debuted, , become longest-lived original canadian comic book. benefiting distribution in emerging comic shop market, started howard duck-like parody of barry windsor-smith s conan barbarian comics. story grew fit sim s expanding ambitions, both in content , technique, earth-pig protagonist getting embroiled in politics, becoming prime minister of powerful city-state, pope ascends moon—all within first third of projected 300-issue run. sim came conceive series self-enclosed story, divided novels—or graphic novels, gaining in prominence in north american comic book world in 1980s , 1990s. while sim , partner gerhard s technical achievements impressed , influenced peers, sim spoke out creators rights, promoted peers , up-and-coming creators, , fiercely promoted self-publishing ideal. americans jeff smith bone , terry moore strangers in paradise took sim s cue, did canadian m oak (mark oakley) long-running thieves , kings. eddie campbell took sim s personal advice self-publish collected hell @ turn of century. sim stirred considerable controversy, content of cerebus, , editorials , personal interactions.

david boswell amongst in 1980s made jump fanzine world when began self-publishing reid fleming, world s toughest milkman in 1980. out of same scene, bill marks started publishing anthology vortex in toronto in 1982. marks vortex comics expanded publishing other comics. publisher gained publicity mister x, employed talents of dean motter, gilberto , jaime hernandez and, later, torontonians seth , jeffrey morgan. notably, marks picked chester brown s yummy fur, taboo-breaking series started in 1983 self-published, photocopied minicomic. had generated buzz, , vortex started publishing professionally @ end of 1986. yummy fur s stories mix of genres, improvised, surreal ed happy clown, straight adaptations of gospels, , revealing, bare-all autobiographical stories. brown become major figure in canadian comics.

as content of comics matured throughout 1980s, became subject of increasing scrutiny. in 1986, calgary comic shop comic legends raided , charged obscenity. in response, derek mcculloch , paul stockton of strawberry jam comics established comic legends legal defense fund retailers, distributors, publishers, , creators fight against obscenity charges. raise funds, published 2 true north anthologies of canadian talent.

during time, large numbers of canadian artists making waves in american comic book market well, such john byrne, gene day , brother dan, jim craig, rand holmes, geof isherwood, ken steacy, dean motter, george freeman , dave ross. byrne particularly popular work on x-men, , originated alpha flight, team of canadian superheroes.

1990s

in 1990, montreal-based publisher drawn , quarterly began anthology title named drawn , quarterly. picked number of other titles, such julie doucet s semi-autobiographical, bilingual dirty plotte, which, yummy fur, had started out minicomic; seth s palookaville; illegal resident joe matt s peepshow; , yummy fur, made jump twenty-fifth issue. @ time, autobiographical comics trend took place. brown, seth , matt in particular thought of toronto comics rat pack, depicting 1 in comics , doing signings , interviews together.

drawn , quarterly @ forefront of maturation comic books saw in 1990s, publishing , promoting works of adult-oriented canadian , international artists. publisher avoided genres superheroes, publisher chris oliveros saw stifling comics growth. these comics had artistic aspirations, , graphic novels became increasingly prominent, brown s autobiographical playboy , never liked you, , seth s faux-autobiographical s life, if don t weaken garnering considerable attention.

todd mcfarlane calgary had been making waves since late 1980s illustrating comics dc , marvel comics, becoming fan favourite writer/artist spider-man. left co-found creator-owned comics publishing collective image comics, debuted enormously successful spawn. spawn holds record copies sold of independent comic, , financially successful comics franchise of decade.

21st century

chester brown s best-selling louis riel first work in comics receive canada council grant.

at dawn of 21st century, comics industry had changed considerably. graphic novel had come own, , traditional comics sales dropped significantly. louis riel, had been major target of john bengough s caricatures in days of confederation, protagonist in chester brown s award-winning, best-selling comic-strip biography . graphic novels , book collections, gained wider audience had serial comic books, , abandoned serial comics entirely focus on original graphic novels after louis riel. greater appreciation of artform shown when brown , seth became recipients of grants canada council arts. dave sim s cerebus completed planned 26-year, 300-issue run in 2004.

foreign comics, japanese, became quite successful in canada, , stood out gaining large numbers of female fans, had traditionally stayed away comic books. had significant influence on artists such bryan lee o malley , scott pilgrim series. due differing social norms, content of these comics censored or ran afoul of canadian customs officials. incidental nudity interpreted them child pornography , result in jail terms.

drawn , quarterly has become known house art comics, translations of non-english works, montrealer michel rabagliati s paul series, , archive editions of classic comics, such wright s little nipper. publisher has earned reputation special attention put book design, , has played pivotal rôle in shaping comics rise in artistic prominence, , in getting comics mainstream book stores in both canada , us. d&q publisher chris oliveros, along art spiegelman, lobbied bookstores include section graphic novels, subdivided subject.

webcomics, such kate beaton s hark! vagrant, ryan sohmer , lar desouza s looking group, , karl kerschl s abominable charles christopher, became increasingly popular outlet canadian cartoonists. popularity of beaton s work has led being published in book form, time magazine placing in top 10 fiction books of 2011.

the comics community in canada has grown, , has grown appreciative of talent, celebrating awards such doug wrights , joe shusters, classy events such international toronto comic arts festival, has been cosponsored toronto public library since 2009.