Calgary Expo: Captain Canuck celebrating 50 years—perhaps when the country needs him most

With recent tensions and divisions between Canada and the United States, the work of one comic artist at Calgary Expo is standing out.

The timing for a Canadian superhero was just right, Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely says.

“It got a lot of attention, right from Day 1,” he says.

Comic books starring Captain Canuck, the character cooked up by Comely and Ron Leishman, began to see print in 1975.

Around ’79 and ’80, the comic was published in Calgary.

He’s featured in multiple series over the decades, many directly worked on by Comely.

“Canadians started to think more about being Canadian—what it meant to be Canadian,” he says.

“It wasn’t like it was premeditated. It wasn’t like I was waiting for that perfect timing. It just worked out that way.”

Fifty years later, the red-and-white-costumed do-gooder is still around, in new adventures crafted by a host of talented collaborators.

And this time around might be particularly prescient.

“I think Captain Canuck has always resonated here in Canada, but Donald Trump has kind of accelerated things as far as how Canadians are feeling about their own country right now,” Comely says.

“Canadians feel like they need to be more united and at the same time more independent of other countries.”

One of the more recent comics sports a cover with Captain Canuck punching Uncle Sam.

The image, drawn by Tom Grummett, is getting a lot of attention.

For Grummett, a fellow Canadian comic book artist, it was a “quite cathartic” image to produce.

He says it’s also “a product of its time.”

Grummett’s history with Captain Canuck goes all the way back to the first series—a Summer Special issue contains his first published comic book work.

The 50th anniversary of the character is exciting to Grummett as well.

“It kind of blows my mind that it was 50 years ago, because I remember when it came out. I was a kid in Saskatchewan, and here was a comic book character created and published right here in Canada. It was pretty inspiring,” he says.

“We need to have kind of our own symbols, icons that are strictly our own. ... Captain Canuck is completely homegrown and these days, people appreciate that.”

Both Comely and Grummett are at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo this weekend.

Comely was in Artist Alley on Thursday, and will be back on Friday and Saturday.

Grummett was in Artist Alley on Thursday, and will be back on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Information about the show can be found at https://fanexpohq.com/calgaryexpo/.

Tense times

Travelling on the convention circuit is crucial to comic book creators.

It provides immediate income through the autographs, comics and original art they provide directly at shows.

It also provides brand awareness through fan engagement at those shows, which is, basically, future income.

So with all that’s happening at the border and south of it, this is a time of unease for Canadians whose calling is to work in comic books.

At Calgary Expo on Thursday, both Comely and Grummett said they’re considering whether they’ll be headed in the general direction of the U.S. any time soon.

“We were talking about my being a guest at three comic conventions down in the States and we have decided against that plan,” Comely said.

There’s also a Captain Canuck-specific exhibition Comely says he’s due to attend, and that one he will try to get to.

But a recent Captain Canuck cover by Comely, with the character giving Trump a stern talking to, has him wondering if he’ll even make it across the border.

“I’m going to try, and we’ll see what happens,” he says.

If he gets there, he figures the rest is all good.

“I’ve done a lot of comic conventions in the States, and I’ve always been treated very well down there,” he says.

Grummett says this is a strange time, and he and his wife are feeling it.

“My convention schedule is usually set up at the beginning of the year, and that’s my year,” he says.

“I’m thinking very carefully about those American shows that are on my schedule.

“I have done, this year, a couple of them. Everything’s gone fine, but to be honest, the last show we did, when we got back to Canada, we both, my wife and I, breathed a huge sigh of relief just to be home.”