THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN...

Manitoban cartoonists to resurrect classic comic book Captain Canuck
By Paul Turenne
Winnipeg Sun
WINNIPEG (CP) — Evildoers beware. Captain Canuck is back in action.
A pair of brothers from Brandon, Man., have resurrected the all-Canadian superhero with a new three-issue series of the classic comic book.
The first issue of Captain Canuck: Unholy War hits stores at the end of this month, 24 years after the original comic’s run ended.
“That was one of the first comic books that I was given when I was a kid,” said Riel Langlois, who wrote the new series. “I guess being in Canada you always want there to be a Canadian superhero.”
The original series was started in 1975 by Richard Comely, who grew up on a farm near Portage la Prairie. The first issue — in which Captain Canuck gets his super powers — was published out of Comely’s office in St. James.
“It did very well at the beginning. It seemed to catch everybody’s imagination,” said Comely, who now lives in Cambridge, Ont.
Comely published two more issues out of Winnipeg before moving the operation to Alberta, where it ran for 12 more issues, up until 1980.
He put out another four issues of the comic, called Captain Canuck Reborn, from 1993 to 1996.
The hero has never lost his allure, says Comely.
“I still appear every year at a big comic book expo in Toronto,” he said.
In 1995, Canada Post issued a Captain Canuck stamp. Posters, T-shirts, pens, mouse pads, postcards and other merchandise have made their way around hobby stores for years.
Langlois and his brother, Drue, who drew and inked the new issues, contacted Comely about two years ago to ask whether they could resurrect the hero.
“I’ve been interested in getting into the comic book industry for quite a while,” said Langlois, a substitute teacher who had never written a comic before.
“I figured I’d either make up something completely new or I’ll take something old and make it new again.”
Langlois sent Comely a package with scripts and characters, and he liked it.
He recruited some Winnipeg colourists, including Greg Waller and Laurie E. Smith, to fill in his brother’s drawings, and is publishing the comic himself under the name Comely Comix.
“I loved Captain Canuck, I was totally jazzed to work on it,” said Waller.
Langlois has secured Diamond Distributors to distribute the comic to roughly 3,000 stores in Canada, the United States and Europe.
“You’ll get a few people who the patriotism will appeal to them,” said James Cassels, manager of Comic Cave in Winnipeg, who ordered a few copies of the first issue for his store.
“If everybody orders a few, I’ll be happy,” said Langlois.
Issues two and three hit stores at the end of October and November.
(Winnipeg Sun)