Polite Captain Canuck's dark tales ripped from headlines

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Comely holds Canuck compilation. (WATERLOO REGION RECORD)

CAMBRIDGE, Ont. -- In one lifetime, he was abducted by aliens and given superpowers that he used to fight international criminals in the frozen north.

In another, he's a do-gooder with only his guile and martial-arts skills to secretly battle an evil conspiracy that just happens to be run by his brother.

Take your pick: Captain Canuck still manages to save the day, with muscles rippling through his skin-tight, red-and-white hero suit.

The Captain is less flashy than his over-the-top comic siblings from south of the border. Think of an everyman's hero sipping a Tim Hortons coffee, not a mocha frappuccino at Starbucks.

"My Captain Canuck is less violent and more polite," says Richard Comely, the Cambridge, Ont., man who has drawn the icon for 35 years.

A hardcover compilation of the comic book and newspaper strips was recently produced by a U.S. comic book publisher.

The idea of a Canadian superhero came up in 1971, during a conversation with Comely's artist friend Ron Leishman.

Comely's Captain Canuck may encounter the occasional busty brunette or blunder into a freakish trap, but don't look for him to wallow in fantastically dreary worlds like Batman's Gotham City.

Comely's drawings are brighter, even if his dark tales are ripped out the headlines. Think of fighting gun-running criminals atop a transport truck barrelling down Highway 401.

"I don't take the stories lightly. I want to deal with issues that are serious."

There's nothing odd about a devout Morman writing comic book fiction as he and his wife, Evelyn, raised eight children, Comely said.

Telling a good story is always about conflict -- good versus evil -- with unexpected twists and humour to keep a reader hooked, he said.

Captain Canuck went on hiatus and returned in 1993. Gone were his super powers. Now he was a member of super-rich family who dons his costume to fight crime in secrecy.

While sales continue steadily, Comely has never made a full-time living telling Captain Canuck tales.

Comely is a jack-of-many-trades: commercial artist, video producer, college instructor, children's book writer and maker of video equipment. A little white garage behind his house is the factory where Comely builds cranes, rolling dollies and video camera hand grips.

"This is what pays the mortgage," Comely said.

-- Waterloo Region Record

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 4, 2009 C8