Latest news with #CaptainCanuck
CBC
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
50 years after he first hit newsstands, Captain Canuck is ready for a comeback
Social Sharing Captain Canuck, Canada's homemade superhero, has been around for 50 years, and shown up in many different mediums: comics books, comic strips, a stamp, a web series that features the voice of Tatiana Maslany and music by Platinum Blonde. He's also had a lot of starts and stops, with the character going dark for years at a time. But now, a half-century after his creation, Captain Canuck feels more relevant than ever. Richard Comely first came up with the idea for Captain Canuck back in the early 1970s, while working at a Manitoba sign shop alongside co-creator Ron Leishman. "He's the one who said to me, there should be a Canadian superhero," Comely says. #TheMoment a Canadian superhero stood up to Donald Trump 1 month ago Duration 1:21 Co-creator of Captain Canuck, Richard Comely, recounts the moment he drew up a new comic book cover that shows his symbolic superhero standing up to Donald Trump. The pair mused about it for a couple years, but never really managed to get the idea off the ground. "Life got in the way for a while," says Comely. Eventually, Comely started seriously looking into what it would take to make Captain Canuck a reality. In 1974, he set up his own comic imprint, Comely Comics, and started work on the first issue, which hit newsstands in April of 1975. Comely says that it makes sense for Canada to have its own superhero. After all, the very concept of modern superheroes was invented by a Canadian. "The first real superhero, the beginning of the genre of Superman is Superman, right?" he says. "It was Joe Shuster and his cousin [Jerry Siegel] who created Superman." More than that, though, Comely says that what he calls "nationalistic" superheroes — Captain America, Captain Britain, Captain Canuck — tell us a lot about how we see ourselves as a country. Captain Canuck, a.k.a. Tom Evans, is a former RCMP officer who develops superpowers — strength, speed, endurance — after an alien encounter. He's also canonically bilingual. "They're sort of the idealized interpretation of what we would envision [ourselves] to be like," he says. "So for Canada, he's polite. He's more of a peacemaker and less prone to violence. He's not as loud and flamboyant." He adds that the idea of the superhero as idealized citizen probably dates back to Greek mythology. "Atlas. Zeus, all those guys… to the ancient Greeks those guys were representational of the ideal man," he says. The most recent version of Captain Canuck started publishing in 2015, after Comely licensed the character to Chapterhouse Books. At a time when issues of Canadian cultural identity and the question of "what makes us Canadian?" are front and centre in the wake of American tariff and annexation threats, Captain Canuck feels like a superhero for the moment. Over the years, the Captain has defended Canada from Cold War spies, organized crime bosses, and alien invaders. Now, Comely says, there's a new interest in the hero thanks to the recent talk from the U.S. about annexing the country and the subsequent swell of "elbows up" patriotism. At March's Toronto Comicon, a hot seller at Comely's table was a special edition cover with the Captain getting in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump. Comely is quick to point out that the confrontation between Captain Canuck and Trump isn't actually physical. "He's basically lecturing him," he says. "He's not punching him. He's not throwing him down on the ground and stomping on him or anything like that." More broadly, Comely hopes that this new wave of Canadian patriotism will spark a new level of self-sufficiency in Canada, including a focus on building our own popular culture. "We've got to be more self-sufficient," he says. "We've got to be more independent. In all aspects of production, whether it be food or automobiles or pop culture, too. We've been fed American media for decades and decades and decades, and we measure everything by their standards… for a Canadian writer or actor, what success is is going down to the States and working. That attitude has got to change."
CBC
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canadian superhero Captain Canuck is having a comeback, and we have Trump to thank
Social Sharing U.S. President Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs have breathed new life into a superhero from the 1970s: Captain Canuck, a government agent with superhuman strength who defends Canada's sovereignty. "All of a sudden, Canadians are looking to Captain Canuck as a symbol. And it's basically, to them, Captain Canuck symbolizes independence," said Richard Comely, 74, the artist who co-created the comic book character. Captain Canuck, a.k.a. Tom Evans, is a Mountie who gained his special powers after an alien encounter. He wears a white and red outfit emblazoned with maple leaves. Comely said he created the character at a moment when he thought Canadians wanted their own icon, given that the United States had Captain America. "I think there was an undercurrent, so to speak, in Canada in the '70s. So I think Canadians were starting to feel like, you know, like they should acknowledge the fact that we had our own country, and we had our own culture and be proud of the fact that we were Canadians," Comely said. WATCH | Creating Captain Canuck (from 2013): Creating Captain Canuck 12 years ago Duration 5:35 Comic artist-writer Richard Comely recalls superhero's origins Since the first publication in 1975, there have been four million Captain Canuck-themed comic books, books and graphic novels in print worldwide, according to Comely. Comely says his original storyline envisioned Canada as a world power that faces challenges from groups seeking to infiltrate, destabilize and take over the country. Of course, never in any of those stories was it America that was going to be taking over Canada, Comely said. 'We've got to stand in opposition' For the cover of Captain Canuck 's 50th anniversary issue, Comely depicted the superhero wagging his finger at Trump, who has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state. "It's got a lot of Canadians, you know, thinking about their identity as Canadians and feeling more united as Canadians. We feel like, OK, we've got to stand in opposition to these proposals," he said. WATCH | Captain Canuck stands up to Trump: #TheMoment a Canadian superhero stood up to Donald Trump 24 days ago Duration 1:21 Co-creator of Captain Canuck, Richard Comely, recounts the moment he drew up a new comic book cover that shows his symbolic superhero standing up to Donald Trump. Captain Canuck and Comely have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the comic book world since their start in 1975, falling silent when Comely stepped back to help raise his large family, with a brief return in the '90s charting out a different storyline in Captain Canuck Reborn. Since 2012, when Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Chapterhouse Comics, Captain Canuck has become a mainstay in the comic book scene, expanding his reach with an animated web series and memorabilia. Comely said he has received more calls from Canadian companies that have expressed keen interest in the fictional character due to the political tensions between the two neighbouring countries. "So in a sense, we have Mr. Trump to thank for a bit of resurgence," he said.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Canada's 1970s superhero 'Captain Canuck' has resurgence thanks to Trump
By Matt McKnight and Zoe Law VANCOUVER (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs have breathed new life into a superhero from the 1970s – Captain Canuck, a government agent with inhuman strength who defends Canada's sovereignty. "All of a sudden Canadians are looking to Captain Canuck as a symbol. And it's basically, to them, Captain Canuck symbolizes independence,' said Richard Comely, 74, the artist who co-created the comic book character. Captain Canuck, aka Tom Evans, is a Mountie who gained his special powers after an alien encounter. He wears a white and red outfit emblazoned with maple leaves, a prominent symbol of Canada. Comely said he created the character at a moment when he thought Canadians wanted their own icon, given that the United States had Captain America. "I think there was an undercurrent, so to speak, in Canada in the '70s. So I think Canadians were starting to feel like, you know, like they should acknowledge the fact that we had our own country, and we had our own culture and be proud of the fact that we were Canadians," Comely said. Since the first publication in 1975, there have been 4 million Captain Canuck-themed comic books, books and graphic novels in print worldwide, Comely said. Comely said his original storyline envisioned Canada as a world power that faces challenges from groups seeking to infiltrate, destabilize and take over the country. 'Of course, never, never in any of those stories was it America that was going to be taking over Canada,' Comely said. For the cover of Captain Canuck's 50th anniversary issue, Comely depicted the superhero wagging his finger at Trump, who has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state. "It's got a lot of Canadians, you know, thinking about their identity as Canadians and feeling more united as Canadians. We feel like, okay, we've got to stand in opposition to these proposals," he said. Captain Canuck and Comely have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the comic book world since their start in 1975, falling silent when Comely stepped back to help raise his large family, with a brief return in the '90s charting out a different storyline in "Captain Canuck Reborn." Since 2012, when Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Chapterhouse Comics, Captain Canuck has become a mainstay in the comic book scene, expanding his reach with an animated web series and memorabilia. Comely said he has received more calls from Canadian companies that have expressed 'keen interest' in the fictional character due to the political tensions between the two neighboring countries. "So in a sense, we have Mr. Trump to thank for a bit of resurgence," he said.
Reuters
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Canada's 1970s superhero 'Captain Canuck' has resurgence thanks to Trump
Summary Captain Canuck symbolizes Canadian independence, creator says Political turmoil has Canadians turning to comic book hero Canuck also appears in animated series, has merchandise line VANCOUVER, April 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs have breathed new life into a superhero from the 1970s – Captain Canuck, a government agent with inhuman strength who defends Canada's sovereignty. "All of a sudden Canadians are looking to Captain Canuck as a symbol. And it's basically, to them, Captain Canuck symbolizes independence,' said Richard Comely, 74, the artist who co-created the comic book character. Captain Canuck, aka Tom Evans, is a Mountie who gained his special powers after an alien encounter. He wears a white and red outfit emblazoned with maple leaves, a prominent symbol of Canada. Comely said he created the character at a moment when he thought Canadians wanted their own icon, given that the United States had Captain America. "I think there was an undercurrent, so to speak, in Canada in the '70s. So I think Canadians were starting to feel like, you know, like they should acknowledge the fact that we had our own country, and we had our own culture and be proud of the fact that we were Canadians," Comely said. Since the first publication in 1975, there have been 4 million Captain Canuck-themed comic books, books and graphic novels in print worldwide, Comely said. Comely said his original storyline envisioned Canada as a world power that faces challenges from groups seeking to infiltrate, destabilize and take over the country. 'Of course, never, never in any of those stories was it America that was going to be taking over Canada,' Comely said. For the cover of Captain Canuck's 50th anniversary issue, Comely depicted the superhero wagging his finger at Trump, who has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state. "It's got a lot of Canadians, you know, thinking about their identity as Canadians and feeling more united as Canadians. We feel like, okay, we've got to stand in opposition to these proposals," he said. Captain Canuck and Comely have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the comic book world since their start in 1975, falling silent when Comely stepped back to help raise his large family, with a brief return in the '90s charting out a different storyline in "Captain Canuck Reborn." Since 2012, when Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Chapterhouse Comics, Captain Canuck has become a mainstay in the comic book scene, expanding his reach with an animated web series and memorabilia. Comely said he has received more calls from Canadian companies that have expressed 'keen interest' in the fictional character due to the political tensions between the two neighboring countries. "So in a sense, we have Mr. Trump to thank for a bit of resurgence," he said.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WHAM! KAPOW! BAM!: Canadian Superhero Sticks It To Trump In New Comic Book
Canadians are fighting Donald Trump's trade war in more ways than one — including superhero Captain Canuck, who's grabbing the U.S. president by his blazer on the cover of a new comic book. The superhero, co-created by cartoonist Ron Leishman along with artist and writer Richard Comely nearly 50 years ago, wags his finger at the U.S. president on a new issue seen at Toronto Comicon this past weekend. The art is in response to Trump's tariffs and his threats of making America's northern neighbor the 51st state, fueling a rise in patriotism in Canada. 'Captain Canuck is chastising Trump, basically just telling him, 'No way. This is ridiculous. What's wrong with you?'' Comely, who drew the new cover, told Canada's CTV News. The superhero sports a red and white suit along with a maple leaf buckle symbolizing the Canadian flag. Comely, in an interview with Canada's CBC News, noted that the character is taking a 'Canadian approach' on the cover as he's not taking 'violent action' against Trump. 'It may come to blows, eventually, but only if we're pushed way too far,' he added. Comely signed autographs for fans at the comic convention, including on new art showing Captain Canuck telling Uncle Sam, 'Don't make me fight you,' as the hero decks the American icon with a jab to the face. Inside Captain Canuck's universe, Trump has previously referred to the hero as a 'loser' and declared that 'America doesn't need anyone's help.' 'I think Trump is uniting us, he's uniting Canadians. Everybody's on pins and needles,' Comely told CBC News. 'I wonder, what's going to happen next, what crazy thing is he going to do next so I banged [the Trump art] out.' He noted that the hero's speech bubble on the cover is empty so Canadians can decide on how to respond to Trump. 'He's a symbol, Captain Canuck kind of symbolizes Canada, doesn't he? And this is Captain Canuck expressing what all Canadians are saying in their hearts right now,' he said. Fed Chair Blames Trump's Tariffs For Pushing Up Inflation Again Amtrak CEO Steps Down To Keep Trump's 'Confidence' In Agency Hundreds Of Jewish Academics Slam Trump Attacks On Universities
