Captain Canuck #1
Writer & Artist Kalman Andrasofszky
Chapterhouse Comics
The original Captain Canuck from Richard Comely and Ron Leishman debuted in 1975.
I was 15, and an avid reader of comic books.
To see a purely Canadian hero hit the shelves I was all-in without even thinking.
The first cover of CC in front of a fluttering Canadian flag remains a rather vivid image in my mind, not so surprising for someone who grew up, and still lives in Saskatchewan (I include this so American readers can wonder where that is, and how to pronounce it *wink).
The series was the first notably successful Canadian comic book since the Second World War when we saw the Canadian comic book industry fade away.
And admittedly successful in this case is a relative term.
CC was published until 1981, only a half-dozen years, and sporadically even over those years, so it wasn’t exactly a rip-roaring success.
The stories were, as I recall all right, if not epic, but I didn’t care because they were set in Canada, and with a Canadian hero.
But even well-loved things come to an end, and CC was lost after 1981.
So to see the Captain reborn is great.
The first step in the rebirth was a web series, and now Kalman Andrasofszky has brought him back to the comic book medium where he belongs.
Andrasofszky, as artist, does a nice job of positioning the CC book somewhere between the hardcore superhero book of Batman, and the Saturday morning cartoon feel of say the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
As the writer Andrasofszky does a fantastic job of letting readers know this is a Canadian story, with the opening appearance at Cold Lake, Alberta, with an oil sands project set ablaze.
That was enough right there for me to buy-in completely.
This edition of CC is a tad more hi-tech than back in the late ’70s, understandably so.
There is a storyline unfolding with Captain Tom Evans (the man in the CC suit), and his brother. That’s new and intriguing.
The supporting cast; Kebec, Blackbird, Redcoat and others hint at a team feel (think Team Arrow), which I like. In this world a support team is simply needed to make a story feel plausible.
Andrasofszky’s is top drawer as a debut.
Making the book even better is the presence of a back-up story. Great were the days comics all had back-up stories, and the nostalgia value here is not to be overlooked.
By writer Ed Brisson and artist Marcus To, the team behind the earlier incarnation. This glimpse at CC from an early era is simply a great addition to a great book.
- Calvin Daniels
Star Trek / Green Lantern: The Spectrum War #1
Writer: Mike Johnson
Art: Angel Hernandez
IDW Publishing
Star Trek is an icon franchise in terms of sci-fi, and some of the best stories have come via comic books. So it’s always worth a look when a new title launches.
But this one just has a boatload of geek quirk to make it a must read.
The idea of the Star Trek universe, even the less than exciting crew from the most recent movie, meeting up with Green Lantern from the DC universe is just too cool not to jump at.
That is not to say writer Mike Johnson dazzles through this first issue. It is actually a rather workman like effort. There is nothing to rave about, but it’s a solid enough opening chapter that you want to hang around for #2 of this six-issue limited series.
It will be interesting to sees how Johnson weaves the story to make it work, but Green Lantern is a good fit given his connection to a corps spanning many worlds. He is a nice choice to fit smoothly into a Star Trek story.
As for the art of Angel Hernandez, it works, but again this is not a book that will win fans based on stunning art. It is again workman like.
I’ll grant if the book were not focused on two well-known franchises, it would likely not warrant a long look, but it does bring together the likes of Capt. Kirk and Spock with GL, and that is why you want this one.
Sit back, get your geek on big time, and enjoy the ride with this one.
- Calvin Daniels
