Golden age: Canadian Whites .281940s.29 Canadian comics

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.