A beloved Canadian comedian e-book superhero is returning with a vengeance to push back the specter of an unlikely adversary to the south.
Fans of Captain Canuck, a Mountie-turned-otherworldly warrior identified for his quintessentially Canadian apparel — white and crimson maple leaf-adorned armour — are leaning on his picture to ignite a renewed sense of satisfaction from coast to coast.
Captain Canuck first gained recognition within the Seventies and grew to signify the energy and spirit of Canada. Decades later, he has resurfaced as an emblem of patriotism in mild of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pursuit of the nation’s sovereignty.
“All of a sudden, Canadians are looking to Captain Canuck as a symbol. And it’s basically, to them, Captain Canuck symbolizes independence,” stated Richard Comely, the artist who co-created the comedian e-book superhero, to Global News.
Comley created Captain Canuck at a time the place he felt Canadians wanted their very own icon, one which matched as much as Captain America.
“I think there was an undercurrent, so to speak, in Canada in the ’70s. So I think Canadians were starting to feel like they should acknowledge the fact that we had our own country, and we had our own culture and be proud of the fact that we were Canadians,” he defined.
Get each day National information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
Since the primary publication in 1975, there have been 4 million Captain Canuck-themed comedian books, books and graphic novels in print worldwide, Comely stated.
In his authentic storyline, Comely noticed Canada as a world energy that warded off threats from teams searching for to undermine its independence, although the U.S. was not on his bingo card.
“Of course, never, never in any of those stories was it America that was going to be taking over Canada,” Comely stated.
But, for the quilt of Captain Canuck’s fiftieth anniversary situation, he determined to depict the superhero waving a disapproving finger at Trump, who has repeatedly stated he desires to make Canada the 51st state.
“It’s got a lot of Canadians thinking about their identity as Canadians and feeling more united as Canadians. We feel like, OK, we’ve got to stand in opposition to these proposals,” he stated.
Captain Canuck fell silent for a while whereas Comely raised his household earlier than making a quick return within the ’90s in Captain Canuck Reborn.
In 2012, Comely signed an unique licensing take care of Chapterhouse Comics. Since then, Captain Canuck has turn out to be a pillar of the comedian e-book scene, boasting an animated internet sequence and memorabilia.
In latest instances, Comely says he has acquired extra calls from Canadian corporations expressing “keen interest” within the fictional character because of the political tensions between Canada and the U.S.
“So in a sense, we have Mr. Trump to thank for a bit of resurgence,” he stated.
— With information from Reuters
