Grand Opening: Aug 12; Last Update: Sep 5
Changes to This document
This section only
covers those adventurers, powered or non-powered,
who
fit into the Superman or Batman model of what a superhero is. Characters
had to have debuted in Canada but need not be Canadians themselves
(though
most are).
To put things in perspective: if I was in danger, if I wanted
someone who
was physically capable of stopping a bad guy, I'd choose Cerebus over
Captaine Kebec. But if I wanted help from someone I could be sure would
actually bother to help me, I'd choose Kebec over Cerebus.
Category note: Powers is used for people with natural/artificial
superhuman abilities. abilities is used for crime fighters relying
on
extensive training and the like.
BEAVER BOY
Creators: Stanley Berneche & Peter Evans
Alter Ego:?
First appearance:Fuddle Duddle#4 1972
Most recent appearance: Fuddle Duddle#5; may also appear in a
third story
held by the National Archives
Powers:Super-intelligence
Foes:Media Master
Allies: Captain Canada (2) (he is the Captain's sidekick), Pam
Comments:supporting hero in a humour strip; presumably like his
partner
had to injest muskeg to retain power
BRAIN
Creator:?
Alter Ego:?
First appearance:Active Comics#? 1942 Commercial Signs
Most recent appearance:?
Powers:Super strength
Foes:?
Allies: ?
Comments:None
CANADA JACK
Creator:George M. Rae
Alter Ego:?
First Appearance:Canadian Heroes#5 1943, Educational Projects
of Montreal
Most recent appearance:1945?
Abilities:Jiu-jitsu, horseman, gymnast
Foes:Nazis, "firebugs, reumour-mongers, black marketeers, shipyward
saboteurs, kidnappers, POW escapees and railway saboteurs"; in his
final
adventure: a blue jay(!)
Allies:Canada Jack Club (young sidekicks based on a real life
club the
magazine set up)
Comments: Adventures mostly in the home front
CAPITAINE KEBEC (1)
Creator (primarily):Pierre Fournie
Alter Ego:?
First appearance:Les Aventures du Capitaine Kebec 1973, Les Editions
de
l'Hydrocephale
Most recent appearance:Titanic#7? BD 1983
Powers:super strngth, super speed, flight (brought on by meditation
and
other counterculture activities)
Foes:Frogueman, Bebitte
Allies: unnamed admirer, Josie, who becomes Capitaine Kebec (2)
Comments:humour character; possibly first French Canadian superhero;
counter-culture hero; may be part of a long line of CK's (but none
feature
prominently in the mythos)
CAPITAINE KEBEC (2)
Creator:Pierre Fournier
Alter Ego:Josie
First appearance:Titanic#5 (as Josie), #7? (as Kebec) BD 1983
Most recent appearance:Titanic#7?
Powers:same as CK (1)?
Foes: Bebitte
Allies: Capitaine Kebec (1)
Comments: A rare case of passing the torch among homegrown Canadian
heroes
CAPTAIN ATLANTIS/CAPTAIN FREEDOM/MADAMOISELLE
Creators: Geoffrey & Scott Stirling
Alter Egos:?
First appearance: Sunday Herald's Captain Newfoundland strip?
Most recent appearance:?
Abilites:?
Allies: each other?, Captain Canada (2)
Comments: Supporting heroes in Captain Canada's strip; Captain
Atlantis
recruited Canada into heroism; if anyone knows any more about these
heroes
I will later give them separate entries
CAPTAIN CANADA (1)
Creator:Gary Dunford
Alter Ego:?
First appearance: Bruno Gerushi Show (1969) radio
Most recent appearance: Bruno Gerushi Show (1970)
Powers:?
Foes:?
Allies: Groon (played by Bruno Gerushi)
Comments:Unlike the other characters in this document,
Captain Canada
(1) never appeared in comic books. He was played by Allan McFee; comedy
hero
CAPTAIN CANADA (2)
Creators:Stanley Berneche & Peter Evans
Alter Ego:
First appearance:Fuddle Duddle#4 1972, JRD
Most recent appearance: Fuddle Duddle#5 1972; a third story is
held by
the National Archives of Canada
Powers:Super-Strength
Foes: Media Master, Ottawa counterculture
Allies: Beaver Boy, Pam
Comments:humour character; injested muskeg to sustain powers;
pro-Establishment hero
CAPTAIN CANADA (3)
Creators:Geoffrey & Scott Stirling
Alter Ego:Daniel Eaton
First appearance: Sunday Herald's Captain Newfoundland strip
1980, (comic
book format reprint:) Captain Newfoundland 1981
Most recent appearance:
Abilities: Athletic
Foes:Japanese robot
Allies: Captain Atlantis/Captain Freedom/Madamoiselle (qv)
Comments: the first non-humour Captain Canada; recruited into heroism
by Captain Atlantis
CAPTAIN CANUCK
Creator: Richard Comely
Alter Ego:Tom Evans
First appearance: Captain Canuck#1, Comely Comics
Most recent appearance: Captain Canucks Preview#0
Powers: Double normal strength and speed
Foes: aliens that gave him powers including Nyro-Ka, Communists,
Vikings,
Blue-fox
Allies: Kebec (qv), Canadia International Security Organization
(CISO),
Micmac
Comments: Considered the first "Canadian Silver Age" superhero
CAPTAIN FREEDOM: see CAPTAIN ATLANTIS
CAPTAIN TAXTIME
Creator:?
Alter Ego:?
First Appearance: Capt. Taxtime#1?, 1990s
Most Recent appearance:?
Powers:?
Foes:?
Allies:?
Comments: satirical hero designed as an attack on the then proposed
GST
tax
FLEUR DE LYS
Creators:Mark Shainblum & Gabriel Morrisette
Alter Ego:Manon Deschamps
First appearance:?
Most recent appearance:?
Abilities: Martial artist
Foes:Manifest Desinty (ManDes)
Allies: Northguard (qv)
Comments: Quebecois superhero; supporting character in Northguard's
strip
FREELANCE
Creators: Ted McCall (writer) and Ed Furness (artist)
Alter Ego: ?
First appearance: Freelance#1 1941, Anglo-American
Most recent appearance: Freelance#35 1946
Abilities: Athletic; high stamina
Foes: Super Six
Ally: Big John Collins
Comments: grew up in a lost Antarctic tropical valley tribe
IRON MAN
Creator: Vernon Miller
Alter Ego: ?
First appearance: Better Comics #1? 1941, Anglo-American
Most recent appearance: ?
Powers: Super strength, indestructibility, near-flight leaping
Foes: Nazis, pirates, etc.
Allies: Jean and Ted
Comments: the first Canadian superhero; lived in a sunken bubble
city
JOHNNY CANUCK
Creator:Leo Bachle (who later become entertainer Les Barker)
Alter Ego:?
First Appearance: Dime Comics#1 1942, Bell Features
Most Recent Appearance:?
Abilities:Athletic; had a strong jaw
Foes: Axis, including Adolf Hitler himself
Allies:?
Comments:a high school student at the time, Bachle tended to
make many of
his real life rivals villains in the strip; most of Johnny's adventures
took him abroad
KEBEC
Creator: Richard Comely
Alter Ego:?
First appearance:Captain Canuck#?, Comely
Most recent appearance:
Powers:?
Foes:?
Allies: Captain Canuck
Comments: first French Canadian hero in an English American comic
LONE GUARDIAN
Creators:T. Casey Brennan (American, writer) and John Allison
Alter Ego:?
First appearance: Orb#2 1974, Punk Publications
Most recent appearance:Orb#3, 1974 Orb Publications
Powers:?
Foes:Martian High Council
Allies: Northern Light (qv)
Comments:non-feature hero in the Northern Light strip; his job
was to
protect Mars from humanity's evils
MADAMOISELLE: see CAPTAIN ATLANTIS
NELVANNA OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Creator: Adrian Dingle
Alter Ego: Alana North
First appearance: Triumph-Adventure Comics#1, 1941, Hillborough
Studios
Most Recent Appearance: Super Duper#7, 1947, FE Howard
Powers: Flight, Travel at light speed "along a giant ray of the
Aurora
Borealis", call upon Northern Lights' other powers (eg Koliak's ray:
melting, disrupt radio communications), invisibility, shape shift,
transform her brothern Tanero with her cloak, telepathy with brother,
immortality
Foes: Kablunets (led by Toroff), Nazis, Vultor, Manchurian wolves,
One-Ear Brunner, Dwarfo
Allies: Tanero, King Rano, Prince Targa (both of the Glacians),
Corporal
Keene of the RCMP
Comments: First Canadian patriotic hero and first Canadian female
superhero
NORTHERN LIGHT
Creators: T. Casey Brennan (writer, American) and John Allison
(artist)
Alter Ego: Ian Davis
First appearance: Orb#2 1974, Punk Publications
Most recent appearance:(in Canada) Orb#5 Orb Publications 1976
(anywhere)
Power Comics#4 1977, Power Comics, a US co
Powers:Transform into invisble light, uncontrollable light burst,
travel
on light beams, super-strength
Foes:Martian High Council; other aliens who experiment on him,
giving him
his powers, Conquermind
Allies: Lone Guardian (qv), Alert (secret agency)
Comments: First story originally intended for E-Man. Names rejected
for
the character included Phantom Canadian and White Light
NORTHGUARD
Creator: Mark Shainblum (writer), Geoff Isherwood (pre-debut
artist),
Gabriel Morissette (debut artist)
Alter Ego: Phillip Wise
First appearance: New Triumph Featuring Northguard 1984
Matrix Graphic
Most recent appearance:(Canada) New Triumph Featuring Northguard#5
1986
(anywhere):Northguard#3 (Caliber; American co)
Powers:Uniband (cybernetic weapons system; gives him the firepower
equivalent to an army batallion)
Foes:Manifest Destiny (ManDes)
Allies: Progressive Allied Canadian Technologies (PACT), Fleur
de Lys
Comments:real world setting superhero
ROACH
Creator: Dave Sim
Alter Ego:?
First Appearance: Cerebus The Aardvark#11 ? date, Aardvark-Vanaheim
Most recent appearance: Cerebus the Aardvark#?
Abilities: Strong, able to survive extreme damage
Foes: Cerebus (sometimes)
Allies: Cerebus (sometimes), Elrod, Astoria
Comments: Roach is the default name for a hero who switches code
names in
most appearances, often parodying popular heroes. Perhaps missing the
point, his debut in some of these identities actually boost the value
of
certain issues of Cerebus. Lives in same land as Cerebus and is probably
unaware of Earth's existence
SPEED SAVAGE
Creator:?
Alter Ego:?
First appearance: Triiumph Comics#? Hillborough Studios or Bell
Features
Most recent appearance: Triumph Comics?#?
Powers:?
Foes:?
Allies: ?
Comments: wore grim looking costume
THUNDERFIST
Creator:?
Alter Ego:Randy King
First appearance:Active Comics#? 1942 Commercial Signs of Canada
Most recent appearance:?
Powers:Lightning powered
Foes:?
Allies: ?
Comments: alter ego a reporter
WING
Creator:?
Alter Ego:?
First appearance:Joke Comics#? 1942 Commerical Signs of Canada
Most recent appearance:?
Abilites: Two-fisted hero
Foes:?
Allies: ?
Comments: female superhero
Sources:
Bell, John (1992) Guardians of the North. Ottawa: National Archives
of
Canada (quotations above from that source)
Rovin, Jeff (1985) The Encyclopedia of Super-Heroes. New York:
Facts on
File Publications
E-Mail Assists: Wes Watts (Captain Taxman info)