International Guide to Superheroes: Canada

Who knew Canada had so many superheroes… It even lists Cerebus, Reid Fleming, Mr. Canoehead, Rocket Robin Hood, and Ultraman (from “My Secret Identity”).
What they didn’t get was the supervillian from the “Eek the Cat” series, Canada Man – complete with an “A?” on his chest.
Canadian Superheroes
One measure of the U.S. domination of the comics medium during the fifties and sixties is that when Canadian superheroes finally did return during the 1969-1974 period, the first characters were buffoons. It was as if Canadian comics artists and writers recognized the absence of Canadian heroes, but could not quite â.. after a twenty-year diet of foreign comics â.. bring themselves to take such figures seriously. Nevertheless, following a spate of outrageous Captain Canadas and other intriguing satirical national superheroes, it was evident that there were creators who were bent on depicting national-superhero figures in a more serious fashion. Contributing to this resurgence of interest were the publication of Patrick Loubert and Michael Hirsh’s The Great Canadian Comic Books, a book-length study of the Bell Features comics, and the touring of a related exhibition mounted by the National Gallery, “Comic Art Traditions in Canada, 1941-45,” which together served to introduce English-Canadian comics creators and fans to their lost heritage. A similar process was also underway in Quebec with the publication in 1973 of the first historical survey of Quebec comics in a special issue of the literary journal La Barre du Jour.” – taken from the aforementioned Canadian Comics website, as an excellent summary of the history of the Canadian superhero comic.

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