CAPTAIN CANUCK
THE ISSUES INDEX
(1975-???)
The Original Series
ONE July 1975
"ARCTIC STANDOFF": Communist foreign agents commandeer
an Arctic radar base and threaten Canada with a nuclear strike unless the
country surrenders; C.C. and his partner, Blue Fox, are sent to stop them.
First appearance of C.C., General Sun(n) & C.I.S.O. Heavy use
of "photo" backgrounds. First use of religious reference. Date
given is 1993.
Back Up: Science Fiction "JONN"begins.
Extras:
"Drawing Fundamentals" (drawing lesson).
TWO
"THE BRAIN MACHINE": Blue Fox is allowed to escape
from prison in the hopes that he'll lead them to fellow enemy agents somewhere
in Montreal (including scientist Walker). 1st app. Redcoat &
Kebec. Last (minor) use of "photo" backgrounds -- there was a bit
of a faux pas, with (illustrated) General Sunn pointing to a (real) picture
of one of the conspirators...who happened to be the real-life Mayor of
Montreal (ouch!). Moody colouring by Freeman; nice Comely art.
Back Up: "JONN" continues
(only 3 pages); gorgeous George Freeman art begins on Jonn!!! Extras:
an essay on whether TV and movies can influence behavior; drawing lesson.
THREE
"THE CANADIAN CONNECTION": C.C is wounded while closing
in on arms merchant organization and is hospitalized in Sudbury; a hitman
is sent to kidnap him. First blatantly "To be continued" issue.
1st app. Mr. Gold (in silhouette); 1st app. Heather. Nice Comely
art (arguably his best, perhaps thanks to Freeman and St. Aubin's inks
and colours) and his first "good" script, with intelligent plotting, characterization,
some humour, and an effective cliff-hangar. The story is a
bit confusing, though. We come in at the supposed end of an investigation,
with the names of various villains mentioned casually, as if we're supposed
to already know who they are -- it gives the story a richness, but, for
a long time I thought it was a continuation of the takeover plot from #1
& #2!
Back Up: "JONN";
Freeman art. Extras: Brief article on war time comic book hero Johnny
Canuck; two pages of "Canuck Kid" strip; drawing lesson.
**** 1st Edition #FOUR 1976 ****
I don't have this, but my understanding is it was treasury-sized
and black & white, and printed the C.C. story that would be reprinted
in the regular size #4 ("Behind the Mask"); the Catman origin (also reprinted
in #4); and the Chaos Corps story reprinted in #5. There were 300
hundred issues published as a first run, then an additional 17 a few months
later. Presumably quite rare.
FOUR July/Aug. 1979
"He's Back!" the cover proclaimed. "BEHIND THE MASK":
C.C. and Heather are kidnapped to Gold's South American hidden city.
Fine conclusion of 1st Gold story. First clear look at Gold.
1st time C.C. is shown without his mask; 1st reference to his Native Indian
heritage. Incredible George Freeman art; his first pencils on
C.C. (and not as stylized as later).
Back Up: superhero "CATMAN";
1st app. and origin (after advertising him as early as issue #1).
Nice Comely art. Beautiful colour on both stories! Extras:
"Canuck
Kid" strip; first fan contributed gallery; one-shot "The Beavers" comic
strip by Dave (Cerebus) Sim and Gene (many Marvel titles) Day.
FIVE Aug./Sept.
"PLANET EARTH - 1994": C.C., Kebec & Redcoat are
sent to tackle neo-Nazi movement in Germany, with the leader turning out
to be a familiar foe... To be continued. C.C.'s costume
is slightly modified. 1st app. Lord West, Stardance & Earth
Patrol. C.C. origin details; 1st reference to brother Mike;
1st reference to, and appearance of, the Aliens. First new material
C.C. in 3 years (#4 was a reprint); Comely art. Series moves ahead
one year to 1994.
Back Up: "CHAOS CORPS";
super team parody. 1st Jean-Claude St. Aubin art!!!
SIX Oct./Nov.
"SEARCH": C.C. returns to Gold's South American hidden
city to rescue Lord West and finally put the kibosh on Gold. Drug-bust
subplot involving Redcoat, Kebec and Stardance in the Mediterranean begins,
continues into next issue. Last religious reference. Last Comely
art on C.C. (Freeman inks).
Back Up: "CATMAN";
2nd (and last straight appearance); off-beat technique -- mainly a text
piece with some illustrations.
SEVEN Dec./Jan. 1980
"RUSE": C.C. resigns from C.I.S.O. and goes
undercover to the Maritimes to rescue Redcoat, with the help of Stardance
& Kebec, from the drug-bust gone wrong (carried over from the previous
issue). Some nice humour in this one. 2nd George Freeman work
on C.C. and he becomes regular artist!
Back Up: "JONN" returns;
art by Freeman.
EIGHT Feb./Mar.
"SPACE WATCH - DEATH WATCH": Excellent two-parter begins,
taking C.C. from his brother's Alberta ranch to sabotage on a (Canadian)
space station. Clever mixing of the fantastic & the mundane,
the domestic & the dynamic. 1st app. brother Mike & Saskia;
1st app. Cmdr. Wallace. First time C.C. is shown just living his
life, away from costume. Nice colours. Series moves ahead to
1995 (though it's not stated as such for a couple of issues).
Back Up: last "JONN";
Comely returns as artist on "Jonn" to wrap things up. Extras: 2nd
fan contributed gallery (the gallery is in most issues after this).
NINE Apr./May
Conclusion to very good "SPACE WATCH - DEATH WATCH":
C.C. and brother take on the bad guys in the wintery wilderness.
Again, a nice mix of elements: the rustic and the sci-fi.
Back Up: "BEYOND",
S&S begins (and the most self-contained of that series); excellent
J.C. St. Aubin art!!! With Freeman on C.C. and St. Aubin on back
up, Captain Canuck was arguably one of the visually snazziest
comics around.
TEN July/Aug.
"MASQUERADE": In the wee hours of the morning, C.C.
finds himself, a cabbie, and a mysterious woman, on the run from bad guys
in a deserted Winnipeg office building. Another memorable one; atmospheric
and fast-paced. Winnipeg is identified as C.C's hometown.
Back Up: "BEYOND" continues.
**** SUMMER SPECIAL ****
27 page "NIGHTMARE": At the behest of Earth Patrol,
C.C. investigates a religious cult and monster sightings in Northern Ontario;
Heather
returns. The first story where C.C.'s opponents have been (vaguely)
of the "super-villain" variety. One page prelude to Alien trilogy
that will begin in #11.
Other features: 6 page Redcoat & Kebec story;
10 page "MONEY RUN" (featuring Captain Canuck). Also: a short SF
filler; and a funny "behind the scenes" one as Freeman tries to come up
with a "42 page filler" and runs into various characters (C.C., Catman,
etc.). Freeman art on all save the two shorts by St. Aubin.
4 "pro" illustrations of C.C. by Gene Day, Vern Andrusiek (who also helped
ink some of the stories), Tom Grummett, Dave ("Cerebus") Sim.
ELEVEN Sept./Oct.
Excellent "CHARIOTS OF FIRE" begins. "OPERATION EXTERMINATION":
C.C. investigates a possible security leak, only to discover the "leak"
is a little boy being controlled by aliens -- the very aliens who had accidentally
given C.C. augmented power. Trying to get the boy and his dad to
safety, C.C. is beset by a mob of ordinary people, under the mind-control
of the aliens. Nice beginning to the series' most flamboyant epic;
eerie and exciting. Interesting idea that, since the action takes
place in Quebec city, some of the dialogue is in French (and it probably
helps to have a rudimentary grasp of the language).
Back Up: "BEYOND" continues.
TWELVE Nov./Dec.
"TIME FACTOR" ("CHARIOTS OF FIRE continues"): As C.I.S.O.
tries to alert other governments to the alien threat, C.C. attempts to
make contact and to reason with them (a very interesting idea, given
that most heroes in such stories immediately plot to blow up the alien
baddies). However, C.C. falls through a time portal with bad-guy
alien Nyro-Ka and they both end up in New Brunswick, circa the 11th Century.
Meanwhile, everyone else thinks C.C. is dead. Gold has a cameo. Last
Comely script.
Back Up: "BEYOND"
continues.
THIRTEEN Jan./Feb. 1981
"CHARIOTS OF FIRE" concludes. "EXILES": While
earth governments unite to battle the alien menace, and outfit a moon base
for an assault on the alien spaceship, C.C. -- still in the 11th Century
-- helps some Micmac Indians battle Vikiing invaders. He manages to
return to his time...on board the alien mother ship! His actions
save the day, but his only hope for survival is to leap back into the time
portal for a destination...unknown. 1st Freeman script is good, and
the historical storyline (and how it's presented) is intended as a homage
to Canadian-born comic strip legend Harold ("Prince Valiant") Foster.
Many supporting characters from the series crop up. New cover
logo. No Back Up this issue.
FOURTEEN Mar./Apr.
"FIRE-FIGHT": C.C. stumbles on a deserted contemporary
Ontario town, is "drafted" to fight a raging forest fire, and gets involved
in attempted murder and the stealing of an ancient Aztec artifact. The
development of the (surprisingly complex) story, mingling the various elements
(the eerie opening few pages --with its macabre foreshadowing -- the man-against-nature
fire-fight, and the man-against-man climax) and an actually bonafide mystery-detective
story (plus an edge-of-the-seat climax) make this arguably one of the best
of the issues! A nice job by Freeman on only his second outing as
scripter. Intended as a change of direction story, with C.C.
now in modern times (and the one weakness, as it's not altogether representative
of the body of the issues).
Back Up: "BEYOND"
continues...and is to-be-continued.
LAST PUBLISHED ISSUE! (until...)
FIFTEEN
Originally prepared in 1981, it finally saw print in 2004
as a special limited edition (150 copies) in black & white (well, black
& blue -- it was printed on blue paper).
"THE
STYGIAN": C.C., adjusting to life in the 1980s, investigates a disappearance,
only to be led to a research project that went awry, which released an
entity that feeds on human bio-energy. Written and drawn by Freeman, it
seems to be part of the trend of some of the other issues (Summer Special,
#11-13) of injecting a greater fantasy/SF feel to the series. It starts
out well, demonstrating (as did the previous issue) Freeman's nice feel
for character minutia, and unfolding the story in a restrained, intriguing
way (as C.C. follows the trail left by lost purse) and boasts some striking
visuals (even in black & white) such as the blacked out research lab.
Ironically, it's a bit weaker when the action starts, thanks to some confusing
visuals, and a monster/villain that utters some particularly corny, "I'll
kill you all!" sort of dialogue. The story, unfortunately, is to be
continued, and was never completed. It doesn't end on a cliff hanger,
per se, (the entity merely escapes) so it's still worth a read. Whether
it will ever be published in a mass market form is unknown.
Back Up: Two newspaper strips: the daily, a complete
story in six instalments, and 5 pages of the uncompleted Sunday strip (but
with a story outline detailing the rest of the plot). Both are written
by Comely and drawn by Freeman. The first page of the Sunday had previously
been printed in the First Summer Special.
Extras: an afterward by Richard Comely, detailing
the history of Captain Canuck; plus, a back cover promo for the new series
about the original character from Smash Comics, tentatively scheduled for
2005 (but ultimately cancelled before publication).
2nd summer special
Apparently some of the material for this was also finished,
but never published.
The Second
Series (The Return)
ZERO Sept. 1993
First appearance Darren Oak, Daniel Blackbird, etc. Introduction of Nathan
Oak and conspiracy theme; David Waller and Manuel "Manny" Ferrara (soon
to be Splatter). Story and art by Comely.
ONE Jan. 1994
C.C. attempts to hold a public rally denouncing the conspiracy, but the
conspiracists devise a (kind of clever) scheme to discredit him. First
appearance Splatter, in costume (revised Catman). Introduction of Nelson
McBride (Black Watch) Story and art, Richard Comely, with finishes by Leonard
Kirk (who would go on to some U.S. comics work)
Extras: back up text piece giving background on David Waller
character.
TWO
no info at the moment.
THREE
Final issue.
Captain Canuck: Unholy War(3
issue mini-series)
ONE Sept. 2005
"Heart of Gold"* Introduction of West Coast Captain Canuck/David Semple
as he tries to find proof that biker leader, Mr. Gold, is still alive.
Introduction of "new" Bluefox. 1st appearance reimagined Mr. Gold, Torchie;
reference to Nemisar. If you squint at a newspaper article in one scene,
you can see it alludes to a Captain Canuck in Ottawa, indicating this is
the same reality as the Darren Oak/Captain Canuck (introduced in Series
Two). Story Riel Langlois, art Drue Langlois (*Story titles for the West
Coast C.C. are derived from songs from popular Canadian musicians -- in
this case, Neil Young).
TWO Nov. 2005
"Misguided Angel"* Dave has his first encounter with Nemisar as he protects
a witness who can testify against Gold. Dave gets a souped up bike. 1st
appearance Nemisar. (*Cowboy Junkie's song)
THREE Jan. 2006
"If I Had a Rocket Launcher"* Dave's showdown with Mr. Gold...and a "surprise"
guest star. First appearance Tom Evans/Captain Canuck since original
series -- all three C.C.s begin to be connected as Tom Evans relates
what's happened to him since end of original series. Dave's gadgets and
utility belt tools are detailed. (*Bruce Cockburn song)
FOUR Sept. 2007
"All Good Things"* Belated fourth issue in this, originally, three-part mini-series (and published by Hot Hail Comics as opposed to Comely Comix). You know you've got a comic book universe just like Marvel and DC...when you can devote a whole issue to just trying to clean up tangled continuity -- which is basically what this issue seems to be. The first few pages reprint the short West Coast C.C. back-up featured in Captain Canuck: Legacy #1, then proceeds with new material -- that basically seems to be house cleaning. The original C.C. (Tom Evans) appears and announces he's found a way to return to his own time/dimension, and David Semple decides to give up being a super hero, leaving, one assumes only one C.C. in mainstream continuity -- Darren Oak. Also includes a brief piece, set months later, in which Dave gets beamed up by a spaceship...as a promo for the character's up-coming adventures (presumably totally unconnected to the Captain Canuck mythos) in the Langlois brothers' Superspace (slatted for March 2008 release from their own Hot Hail Comics). Some funny lines, and Drue Langlois' art shows some evolving dynamism in the action scenes and composition, and a nice use of a real life Canadian locale (B.C.s massive Capilano Bridge)...but more of interest for its continuity relevance than as a story, per se, and not crucial to the rest of the Unholy War series. Appearances by C.C. (i), C.C. (ii), Splatter, the new Blue Fox, Torchie and Black Mack. (*Nelly Furtado song; I previously wrote the title wasn't derived from a Canadian song -- I was wrong)
Captain Canuck: Legacy
(proposed 4 issue mini-series)
ONE Sept. 2006
"Premonition" Return of Darren Oak/Captain Canuck as he attempts to stop
an illegal gun smuggling operation intended to destabilize Canada and make
it ripe for Committee Three's political manipulations. 1st appearance
of Thomas Evans Senior, introduction of teenage Tom Evans, Jr.
-- the future (original) Captain Canuck.. Brief app. Splatter. Story and
art, Richard Comely (with Ron Kasman).
Back Up: 6 pages of West Coast Captain Canuck by the Langlois
Brothers; return of Torchie; 1st appearance Black Mack the Lumberjack.
Appearance Splatter. Subsequently represented in Captain Canuck: Unholy War #4. Chapter title: "If I Had a Million Dollars" (Barenaked
Ladies' song).
Return to The Ultimate Captain Canuck
Tribute Page
The picture at the top of the page was done by Scott
Dutton, an Alberta-based comic artist. It mixes in images from the 2nd
Captain Canuck series, but still serves as a nice montage of Captain Canuck.
On my Links page you can find a link to Scott's web page (which features
more of his work, in comics, photography, etc., as well as a page on Assignment:
Earth -- y'know, the Star Trek episode that was intended to be a pilot
for a spin-off series featuring Robert Lansing).