The True North

Cover By Dave Sim

In September of 1987, the RCMP seized 192 comics from a comic book shop called Comic Legends in Calgary, Alberta. They also charged owners Julie Warren, Darren Ott and Dale Clarke with circulating obscene materials. The comics in question were adult comics and were never intended for children, nor were they sold to children. The reason for the search and confiscation of the comics was that a 14-year-old boy purchased a copy of Warlock 5 by Aircel Comics, and his mother complained. Warlock 5 was not a comic that was seized that day.

When comic artists caught wind of this, as they would, they were outraged. As a result, Paul Stockton (Of Strawberry Jam Comics), Leonard S Wong, Liz Schiller and Derek McCulloch formed the Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund (hereafter CLLDF). In order to raise funds for Warren, Ott and Clarke, CLLDF published an anti-censorship comic book anthology called The True North. Despite the unfavourable circumstances with which it was created, the comic book is an excellent testament to the conviction of the comic book industry both in and outside Canada. It also features a fantastic array of Canada’s writers and artists, as well as some Americans, spanning from from style to era and genre.

Unfortunately, all three shopkeepers were convicted with a fine of $5500. Although they did appeal with the help of CLLDF, the result was only a reduced fine.

In 1991, the CLLDF published True North II, a second anthology collection, again anti-censorship, and again, a great collector’s item. What I love most about these comics is the sampling of so many different Canadian writers and artists. Here is the contents of each book and there are some useful links at the bottom of the post.

True North

• Anti-Censorship Propaganda – Chester Brown
• Reid Fleming – David Boswell
• One Romantic Evening – Jeffrey Taylor
• Ronald and the Ducks – Ron Kasman
• Starbikers – Ronn Sutton
• The Life and Times of Tomas De Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor – Kent Burles
• A Little Thought About Comics – Ty Templeton
• Dan Panic: Think Allowued Talk – Greg Holfeld
• It Comes Down to This – Nick Burns
• A Suburban Nightmare – Michael Cherkas and Larry Hancock
• Real Life – M.A. Bramstrup and Monique Renee
• Comic Books – William Van Horn
• Dan Day Pinup – Dan Day
• A True Story – Bernie Mireault and Joe Matt
• Counterblast – Nick Burns
• Warning – George Metzger
• Wizard Pinup – Ron Kasman
• Media Violence – Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette
• Centerspread: Manunkind – Matt Wagner
• -And So It Goes – George Freeman
• Beware of…They! – Rodney Dunn
• Jail for Joe – Dave Darrigo
• Freedom of Choice Hot Tub – Todd McFarlane and Terry Fitzgerald
• Edgar the Common Sense Elephant – Seth
• Defenses of Clay – Rob Walton
• Malcom and Eric – Ian Carr
• Vox Populi – Richard Taylor and Mark Askwith
• Bizarre Taste with Asta Roid – Gordon Derry and Adrian Kleinenberg
• Rosebud – Derek McCulloch and Simon Tristam
• Other Artists – Dave Sim, Gerhard

True North II

• Lethargic Lad – Greg Hyland and John Migliore
• Bachelor Party or The Road Not Taken or Just Another Male Fantasy – Dennis Eichhorn and Carel Moiseiwitsch
• R.G. Taylor Pinups – Richard Taylor
• How These Bastards Operate – Ron Kasman and Gabriel Morrissette
• On Being Eurasian – Theresa Henry
• The Weird Canadian Artist – Chester Brown
• Prescription For Ignorance – Diana Schutz and Monty Sheldon
• A Public Disservice Message – Roberta Gregory
• Random Pornography – Darren Raye and Sean Scoffield
• Saved – Seth
• The Steel Brood – Kent Burles
• Surgie Center Tales of the Existentialist Private Eye – Ty Templeton
• Big Boss Barney – Sylvie Rancourt and Jacques Boivin
• Reflections – Denis Beauvais
• Little Zemo in Censorland – Richard Pace
• Statue of Liberty – Jeffrey Morgan
• The Censors – Stephen Bissette
• Revenue Canada – Leonard S. Wong
• Jungle Rescue – Ronn Sutton
• The Eye of the Beholder – Deni Loubert
• Tierra de Pajaro – Gilbert Hernandez
• May 29th 1988 – Joe Matt and Bernie Mireault
• Reid Fleming – David Boswell
• Tales of the Censor – Janet Hetherington
• Words and Thoughts – Toren Smith and Tomoko Saito
• Potato Man – Todd McFarlane
• The Raven – Patrick McEown
• Three Card Monty – Derek McCulloch and Simon Tristam
• Benefit – Rick Trembles and Bernie Mireault
• Stupid Fucken Dumbass Censorship – Rick Trembles
• Those People! – Reed Waller and Kate Worely
• Blank – Tom Grummett and Roger Williamson
• Captain Censored Vs. Dr. Goingtoofar – Al Roy and Max Douglas
• Corpus Delicti – Jerry Prosser and Matt Wagner
• Other artists – Dave Sim, Gerhard, Kelley Jones, Moebus

More recently, an American man was charged with possessing child porn when Canada customs agents discovered manga scans on his laptop. Both The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) and CLLDF have both decided to support the case. If you want to donate, you can go to their site. Here is a great new and informative promotional flyer as well. Here and here are further resources.

Captain Canuck Part One

Captain Canuck #10

In celebration of the new Alpha Flight release today (I’m genuinely excited), I’ve decided to take a look at another famous Canadian superhero, Richard Comely and Ron Leishman’s Captain Canuck.

Designed and created in 1974 and 1975, Ron Leishman created the original look for Captain Canuck. After this though, the main comic team consisted of Jean-Claude St. Aubin, George Freeman and Richard Comely. During that year they released only 3 issues under the publishing title Comely Comix in Winnipeg. For the next few years, Captain Canuck, or Tom Evans, took a haitus, as Comley tried and failed at running a newspaper business. During these three issues, though, many artists and comic contributors assisted the team in creating one of Canada’s greatest silver age heroes. Owen McCarron came on for an issue, as well as Dave Abbott.

From number 4 to 14, Captain Canuck was published in Calgary, changing publisher titles to CKR Productions. This was to be their most regular run, even though they weren’t always regular, from July 1979 to April 1981. This series witnessed a cover page format change in number 13.

Number 13 itself was a special issue. Also in this issue, the the final installment of the Chariots of Fire arc was dedicated to Harold Town and the frontispiece contains a touching memoir of Terry Fox and his accomplishments.

Sadly, like all the other times Captain Canuck has ended, financing the comic was no longer an option. Although a 15^th issue was almost completed, it never went to print.*

The last thing I’m going to include in this post is the Summer Special published in July 1980. This 64 page special contained three Captain Canuck comics, as well as a preview for the Captain Canuck newspaper strip. Interestingly, it also includes a Dave Sim rendered Captain Canuck as well as one by Gene Day, Vern Andrusiek and Tom Grummett. Definitely worth having in your Canadian comic book collection.

More information on Captain Canuck can be found here and here is a nifty little blog entry on the subject.

*It eventually published as a collectible in 2004.

Kevin Kurytnik

Business As Usual – Video 2010

It’s pretty interesting to go through some of the older zines from the 80s and 90s and stumble upon some that exceed the typical standards of zine culture. Today I stumpled upon a zine entitled “ARG: Apocryphal Restituion Guild”. This zine, created and produced in Calgary in 1989 by Kevin Kurytnik, was not only one of the better zines I’ve seen as far as physical appearance and production quality went, but also the content. Later Kurytnik later produced “UGH! Undulating Gods in Heat!”

The editor and greater contributor of content to ARG, Kurytnik’s illustrations and dark humour are more subtle and dry than the genre typically produces. His simple but detailed black and white drawings attract the attention of any reader and pair up remarkably well with the content and style of his writing.

Although Kurytnik strayed from the comic world, he was able to carry out his creations and ideas in animation. From ARG, Kurytnik published “Mr. Reaper’s Really Bad Day” which he later turned into “Mr. Reaper’s Really Bad Morning”; a short film that he directed and co-wrote with Carol Beecher. You can see it here:

Here is a link of his other accomplishments if you’re interested in learning or seeing more. Kurytnik is now an instructor at Alberta College of Art and Design and here is his faculty profile.