- Captain Canuck
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"Captain Canuck" is also a nickname for former Vancouver Canucks captain Trevor Linden.
Captain Canuck
The Original Captain CanuckPublication information Publisher I: Comely Comix/CKR, II: Semple Comics, III: Comely Comics/Hot Hail Comics First appearance I: Captain Canuck #1
(Comely Comix, July 1975)
II: Captain Canuck: Reborn # 0
III: Captain Canuck: Unholy War # 1(2004)Created by I:: Richard Comely
Ron Leishman
II: Richard Comely
III: Riel Langlois
Drue LangloisIn-story information Alter ego I: Tom Evans
II:Darren Oak
III:David SempleAbilities I: Super-strength, super-speed Captain Canuck is a fictional Canadian comic book superhero. Created by writer Ron Leishman and artist/co-writer Richard Comely, the original Captain Canuck first appeared in Captain Canuck #1 (July 1975).
Three characters have worn the maple leafed costume of Captain Canuck. Described as a cross between Captain America and Flash Gordon, the first Captain Canuck patrols Canada in the (then) futuristic world of 1993, where "Canada had become the most powerful country in the world." He was the costumed agent of the Canadian International Security Organization (CISO).
Like most independent comics, Captain Canuck's adventures have been published sporadically. However, he has built-up a strong cult following among both Canadian and American collectors.
Captain Canuck is sometimes confused with Marvel Comics's Guardian, leader of Alpha Flight, created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne in 1978. Both characters have very similar costumes, and both are Canadian.
Contents
Publication history
Tom Evans
Canuck's first appearance was in 1975, published by Comely Comix of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The story followed Tom Evans, a Canadian secret agent who gained superhuman strength from contact with extraterrestrials. This first version of the Canadian superhero ran for three issues before going on hiatus in 1976. In 1979, it came back, with Comely being backed by CKR Productions, and publishing 11 more issues, plus a summer special, concluding in 1981; it was drawn mostly by George Freeman, taking over from Comely, who was pushed out of CKR about midway through the run. In 2004, the completed issue #15 was finally published in a limited edition by Comely.
Darren Oak
Since the original there have been two newer incarnations of the Canadian icon: Comely launched a second version in 1993, under the banner of Semple Comics. Set in the present, Captain Canuck: Reborn featured a new Captain Canuck, Darren Oak, who fought a global conspiracy. This title lasted only four issues (#0-3) and was drawn by Richard Comely, Leonard Kirk and Sandy Carruthers with inks by Eric Theriault. That incarnation continued as a newspaper comic strip for a short while.
David Semple
A third incarnation (sometimes called the "West Coast Captain Canuck"), edited by Comely but written and drawn by brothers Riel and Drue Langlois, appeared in 2004 under the banner of Comely Comics, entitled Captain Canuck: Unholy War. Yet another man, RCMP Constable David Semple, adopts the guise of Captain Canuck, to take on a biker gang called the Unholy Avengers. "Unholy War" was slated as a three-issue mini-series, the third and final installment being published in January 2005. However, the series came out with a fourth issue (under the 'Hot Hail Comics' banner) in August, 2007, which fully concluded the character.
Captain Canuck: Legacy
A new Captain Canuck miniseries began in the fall of 2006. Entitled Captain Canuck: Legacy. The series contained two continued stories: one detailed the efforts of the second Captain Canuck to prevent illegal weapons from reaching Canada, whilst the second chronicled the continued adventures of the third Captain Canuck.[1][2] While the series has remained in limbo for some time, the official Captain Canuck website now states that the remainder of the series will be completed in 2009. The Captain Canuck: Legacy series will then be published in its entirety as a Graphic Novel (which will also include additional content). 2009 came and went without this happening.
Captain Canuck Collections from IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing has announced they will publish collections of the original Captain Canuck 1975–1980 series (issues 1–14 and the 1980 double size Summer Special) in hardcover and trade paperbacks. Their first release in June 2009 featured issues 4-10 in a hardcover edition. The 1980 Summer Special and Issues 11-14 was released in December of 2009.
Comely had announced plans to reprint issues 1-3 and 15 in trade paperback form via his Comely Comix but has not announced a date for its release.
In November of 2011, IDW will release a complete edition with issues 1-15, the Summer Special, and the newspaper strips.
Captain Canuck Movie
Captain Canuck is being developed as a feature film by Minds Eye Entertainment, 480 Henderson Drive, Regina, Saskatchewan, CANADA S4N 6E3 it was announced at the San Diego Comic Con in 2011, it is in development but no release date has been set yet, no casting choices yet either, although Richard Comely said he’d love to see a Canadian play the Captain, adding that Ryan Reynolds, currently starring in Green Lantern, would be a likely candidate. There are currently no scriptwriter or director attached to this project. [3][1]
Influences
Captain Epic, the lead character of Team Epic, a comedic Canadian television and web series is a direct parody of Captain Canuck and other traditional Canadian superheros both in costume and character traits.
See also
References
- ^ "4 Issue Captain Canuck Miniseries Planned for Summer (press release)". Newsarama. May 30, 2006. http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72167. Retrieved 2006-06-03.
- ^ "Captain Canuck Legacy news". Captaincanuck.com. http://www.captaincanuck.com/news/news_main.html#legacy. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
- ^ "Captain Canuck News Releases". Captaincanuck.com. http://www.captaincanuck.com/news/news_main.html. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
- General
- Captain Canuck (Tom Evans) at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
- Captain Canuck (Darren Oak) at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
- Captain Canuck (David Semple at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
Further reading
- Comely, Richard (2009), Captain Canuck, Volume 2, IDW ; London : Diamond, ISBN 9781600105739, http://books.google.ca/books?id=1nsOCYgtjt8C&lpg=PP1&dq=Canuck&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
External links
Categories:- Comics characters
- Comics characters introduced in 1975
- Comics characters introduced in 1993
- Comics characters introduced in 2004
- Culture of Winnipeg
- Fictional Canadian people
- Fictional captains
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