Wagons West: Canada’s superhero was Calgary’s own in the late ’70s, early ’80s

For some years—many years ago now—Captain Canuck's comic books were produced right here in Calgary. (Courtesy Richard Comely)

Captain Canuck’s co-creator came up on Cardston, Alta., in August 1976.

Richard Comely had his family in tow, as well as his two best friends and comic book collaborators, George Freeman and Claude St Aubin.

Comely and his cartooning convoy came from Winnipeg looking to start up the good captain’s adventures again.

“We had published three issues out of Winnipeg, and we had the fourth issue ready to go, but I’d run out of money,” he told CTV News.

They travelled some 1,300 kilometres across the Prairie provinces to reach the southern Alberta town.

It was very Canadian.

“We ran the little weekly newspaper for five months,” Comely said, speaking of the Westwind.

“(George and Claude) rented an apartment in town and we were a couple of miles out of town.”

Captain Canuck made his return to print in the pages of the Westwind in a 12-part adventure.

There was also a “Sparkling Doodle” poster featuring their character released through Sears.

St Aubin said the strips in the Westwinds (and The Albertan in 1977) were “in general well-received by the readers, young and old.”

St Aubin called it an “extremely exciting” time.

But Comely said they still weren’t making enough money to support the full-time return of the comic book.

‘The golden days’

In February 1977, the Comely clan and Freeman and St. Aubin packed up and set wagons out again—this time headed north to Calgary.

This was amid a stretch of weather that saw temperatures of roughly “35 degrees below zero,” snow and sleet.

It was also very Canadian.

In Calgary, they drew for whatever gigs they could get and sought investors.

“Eventually, I found somebody who was interested and willing,” Comely said.

“By the beginning of 1979, we were basically ready to go.”

“Issue 4 was ready to go, and then I started working on No. 5 pretty quickly. ... About issue 6, I was able to get George back to help me, and then eventually Claude.”

Issues 4 through 14 were produced out of Calgary between 1979 and 1981, along with a summer special.

St Aubin said these were “pretty much the golden days.”

“George had pretty much taken over the art direction and the definitive look of Captain Canuck by then,” he said.

“Richard at that time was writing the scripts and doing lettering.

“I was doing ads and helping with colouring and helping with the artwork when we felt the deadline pressures.”

‘A real letdown’

But you know what they say about all good things—they must come to an end.

That happened near the end of the 1980s, when Comely said things behind the scenes “kind of fell apart.”

He said there were disagreements with the comic book’s other shareholders.

St Aubin said an investor pulled out “just as Ken Ryan, the production manager, had made contact and deals with comic book shops in Canada and the U.S.”

“If the investor had trusted Ken’s approach, maybe we would have lasted longer,” St Aubin told CTV News.

Comely left and the comic book folded.

Issue 15 was more or less complete at that time, he said, and didn’t see print until 2005.

St Aubin called the end of Captain Canuck in 1981 “a real letdown.”

“I have very warm and fond memories of when I worked with George and Richard in Winnipeg, Cardston and Calgary on the (Captain Canuck) comic book,” he said.

The character just celebrated 50 years, with last year’s Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo a key stop for the anniversary tour.

And at this year’s Calgary Expo, Comely will tell you what he has in store for the years to come.

Returning to Calgary still feels a little bit like coming home, Comely said.