Father of Captain Canuck returns to Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2017 (3219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Actor Jay Baruchel may be the biggest star to come to Winnipeg as one of the “celebrity guests” of the Central Canada Comic Con this weekend, alongside genre luminaries such as Renee O’Connor (of Xena fame), John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings) and Denise Crosby (Star Trek: The Next Generation). 

But in a way, Baruchel comes to the event riding the coattails of comic book writer-artist Richard Comely, who created and published the maple-flavoured superhero Captain Canuck from Winnipeg back in 1975.

Baruchel is behind the relaunch of Captain Canuck in his capacity as investor, owner and chief creative officer of Chapterhouse, a Canadian comic book publisher tasked with creating a new, unified comic universe for Canadian heroes, including Cap and Northguard.

Comely, 67, on the phone from his home in Ingersoll, Ont., says he will arrive to participate at C4 on Friday, and looks forward to returning to his old hometown, although he emphasizes he was not Winnipeg-born.

“I was born in Oxford, England,” he says, explaining that Winnipeg was ultimately a major stop as his parents immigrated to Halifax and tried to make their way to Vancouver.

Winnipeg, he says, was the perfect place to create the hero because of all the help he received.

“The printers I used were really behind the whole project, and they extended credit when maybe they shouldn’t have,” he says. 

“And the people in Winnipeg… I just felt it was a really good place to do it because of the local support.”

Captain Canuck never really went away between then and now, Comely says, pointing to the Captain Canuck Reborn book series (1993-96), a web cartoon series and more. Renewed interest culminated with Baruchel’s offer to drive the good Captain into the 21st century.

“He was so anxious to impress upon us how much he loved Canada and as far as he was concerned, this was really what he wanted to work on,” Comely says.

“He was very passionate about it.”

In 1975, Captain Canuck arrived at the crest of a Canadian nationalist wave that came as a result of Canadians wanting to distinguish themselves from the United States after the shames of Vietnam and Watergate.

“It appears the time may be right again, given the current situation south of the border.

“Yeah, look who’s president down there,” Comely laughs. “We’re all just puffing out our chests and shaking our heads at the same time.”

The Central Canada Comic Con is on at the RBC Convention Centre all weekend long. Tickets are $24 on Friday and Sunday and $35 on Saturday.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca  Twitter: @FreepKing