The Ages of Canadian Comics

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I'm trying to frame and label the Ages for Canadian comics history. Hopefully others will contribute their thoughts and ideas. A major resource on the subject is John Bell's work in Invaders from the North (Dundurn, 2006) and Beyond the Funnies. Here, I have used some of his dates and designations.

The focus here is on English comics--while similar developments occurred in French Canada, I haven't attempted to include those. I've also given more attention to some periods in Canadian comics history than other periods.


THE GOLDEN AGE--1941 - 1947: As a consequence of World War II trade restrictions with the United States and in the absence of American comics north of the 49th parallel, a home-grown industry flourishes, with Canadian publishers like Maple Leaf in Vancouver, Bell and Anglo-American in Toronto.

THE BRANCH PLANT AGE--1948 - 1956: New post-war restrictions allow foreign publishers into the Canadian market, but they must go through the national publishers to get their comics into Canada--including publishers like Superior and Bell. At the same time an anti-crime public investigation will lead to greater restrictions on comics and inspire the same south of the border.

THE PUBLIC SERVICE AGE--1957 - 1966: The restrictions that prevented American comics coming directly into Canada disappear, allowing the American product to dominate the market completely; however, Canadian comics survive in the form of giveaways from government and corporations, mainly intended for public education purposes. The two major publishers to package these giveaways are Ganes Productions in Toronto and Comic Book World in Halifax.

THE UNDERGROUND AGE--1967 - 1974: With the domination of American comics in above ground publishing, the 60s counter-culture gives rise to many underground publications. The Georgia Straight newspaper in Vancouver, Logos newspaper in Montreal, Gronk magazine in Toronto, and others become venues for these "comix." Comic books like SFU Comix, Snore Comix, The Collected Adventures of Harold Hedd, etc. are published and distributed in the underground market.

THE SILVER AGE--1975 - 1988: Beginning with the short lived Orb magazine, Canadian comics enter the mainstream (more or less). Almost at the same time as Orb in Toronto, Captain Canuck is published in Winnipeg and both reach national distribution, but also quickly die out--a symptom of the Silver Age as publishers struggle to produce and distribute their product. Captain Canuck will return a few years later (with a new publisher in Calgary). In 1977, Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark is published in Kitchener--as many small press comics surface throughout the country, although unlike them Sim's publication will eventually survive and thrive. By the early 80s, other publications like Reid Fleming World's Toughest Milkman and Neil the Horse Comics and Stories join Captain Canuck and Cerebus to make an impression on the comics market in Canada and beyond its borders. However, by 1988 this Canadian comics boom has gone bust.

THE INDEPENDENT AGE--1989 - ???*: With the bust, many Canadian creators who hadn't already given their services to the American publishers now found work there. Meanwhile, the growth of independents in the U.S sparked the same thing in Canada. The magazine Drawn and Quarterly offered a home for these independent creators (including international contributors) and in turn spun off other books by these creators, establishing Canada as a major centre for sophisticated comics entertainment outside the mainstream.

*I'm open to suggestions when and if the Independent Age ended in Canada and what if any age followed that.

[dupont2005]

I don't know much about Canadian comics. I have a few though. I'd love to track down all the Nightwynd comics. I have one
Are those easy to find at Canadian cons?

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I don't know much about Nightwynd (or Night Wynd) and Aircel comics. They seem to have had a brief but big explosion of titles before going bust in 1988, when they were absorbed by Malibu, which allowed them to continue publication into the early 90s. See this blog for more info--Comic Syrup: Aircel and Nightwynd.

Searching eBay.ca can sometimes produce desired Canadian comic book titles, although it's pretty much a shot in the dark. Nevertheless, I think you're more likely to find Canadian comics from this period than earlier--and for Nightwynd odds are good that someone has them to sell, especially because of the connection with Malibu.

Here's a list of their titles, including the continuations with Malibu, that I was able to find on the internet:

AIRCEL/NIGHTWYND PRODUCTIONS/NIGHT WYND ENTERPRISES/BARRY BLAIR (Ottawa,
ON)
*=under original name Nightwynd **=As Night Wynd
Adventurers (according to Overstreet, three volumes were copublished by Aircel & Adventure, in which case:27 issues, #1-10, 0 with 3 versions of #1, Book II#1-9 & 0 with 2 versions of #1, Book 3#1-6 with 2 versions of #1 1986-90; according to The Comc Book, however the above was just published by Adventure with Aircel having a version not referred to in Overstreet; in this case: 2 issues 1986; Slings & Arrows agrees with the Comic Book without listing Book 2-3)
Blood 'N' Guts (3 issues 1990-91)
Body Count (4 issues 1990)
Bomarc (5 issues 1992-93)**
Born to Kill (3+ issues 1991-?)
Cat and Mouse (18 issues 1990-91)
Chaser Platoon (5 issues 1991)
China Sea (4 issues 1991-92 as Night Wynd)
Darkewood (5 issues 1987-88)
Debbie Does Dallas (6 issues 1990-91)
Demon Hunter (4 issues 1989)
Dragonfire (8 issues v1#1-4 v2#1-4 1992)**
Dragonfire: the Classified Files (4 issues 1992)**
Dragonfire: the Early Years (8 issues 1993)**
Dragonfire: the Samurai Sword (2 issues 1993)**
Dragonfire: UFO Years (4 isues 1992-93)**
Dragonforce (13 issues 1988-89)
Dragonring (1982)*
Dragonring (21 issues #1-6, v2#1-15 1986-88)
Dragons in the Moon (4 issues 1990)
Elfheim (16 issues v1-4#1-4 1991-92)**
Elfheim: Dragon's Dreams (4 issues 1993)**
Elfheim: Shade Wars (1 issue? 1993-94)
Elfheim: Time of the Wolf (1993)**
Elflord (15 issues 1-14, v2#1, 1980-82)*
Elflord (36 issues #1-6, v2#1-30 1986-89)
Elflord Chronicles (7 issues 1990-93)
Elflord: Dragon's Eye (1993)**
Elflord: Shadow Spell (1? issue 1993-94)**
Elflord: Summer's Magic (1993)**
Elflord: the Return of the King (2 issues 1992-93)**
Elflore (10 issues #1-4 v2#1-4 v3#1-2 1992)**
Elflore: Fire Mountain (1? issues 1993-94)**
Elflore: High Seas (4 issues 1993)**
Elflore: Land of Dreams (4 issues 1993)**
Fireteam (6 issues 1990-91)
Gun Fury (10 issues 1988)
Gun Fury Returns (4 issues 1990)
Hardkorr (1991)
Jake Thrash (3 issues 1988)
Kiku San (6 issues 1988-89)
Leather and Lace (25 issues 1988-91)
Lizard Lady (4 issues 1991)
Maelstrom (13 issues 1987-88)
Mara of the Celts (4 issues 1990-92)
Men in Black (6 issues v1#1-3 v2#1-3 1990-91?) co with US's Malibu
Men in Black Graphic Novel (1991) co with US's Malibu
Mummy's Curse (4 issues 1990-91)
Mutant Zone (3 issues 1991)
Nocturne (3 issues 1991)
Paragon: Dark Apocalypse (4 issues 1993-94)
Pendragon (2 issues 1990)
Ripper (6 issues 1989-90)
Samurai (4 issues 1984-85)*
Samurai (22 issues 3 printings #1 2 printings #2 1985-88) Canuck claims this used both Aircel & Nightwynd names, Overstreet claims just Aircel; further confusing things: the Comic Book, which goes with the Aircel name (though this book generally lists only one co name per title) lists a 23rd issue and claims the series ends in 1987; it also lists v2#1-3 1988 and v3#1-7+ 1990-?, bringing the total to 23+; v2+3 aren't listed by Overstreet, but Overstreet tends to be sleective of Independents; confusing matters still Slings & Arrows claims there were only 20 issues
Samurai: Death of a Legend (4 issues 1993)**
Samurai: Demon Sword (4 issues 1992-93)**
Samurai: Vampire's Hunt (4 issues 1992)**
Samurai: Yakuza's Revenge (4 issues 1993)**
Sapphire (10+ issues 1990-?)
Scream Play (2 issues 1992)
Scum of the Earth (3 issues 1990-91)
Shadowalker (3 issues 1988-91)
Silverstorm (4 issues 1990-91)
Southern Squadron (4 issues 1990 according to Slings & Arrows, 1990-91 according to Comic Book)
Stark: Future (17 issues1986-87)
Starstone (3 issues 1991)
Stratonaut (4 issues 1992)**
Tower of Blood (nn 1982)*
Warlock 5 (27 issues #1-22, v2#1-7 1986-89) Overstreet lists 5 issues but Comic Book and Slings & Arrows say 7
Warlock 5 Compiliation (2 issues 1988-nd)
Warlock 5: the Gathering (1+ issue 1993-?)
Warlocks (12 issues+ 1988-?)
Warlocks Special Edition (1983)
Windblade (1982 co aka Arkum Books)*

[Parch]

Nice. I must admit I knew very little about these Canadian comics. I haven't even heard of most of those titles and would imagine they'd have smaller production runs making them hard to find. Worth keeping an eye out for just for the fun factor of experiencing some Canadian comic history.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I've been reading up on my Canadian comics history--and reading some Canadian comics--so watch this space for future updates. Canadian comics history does often tie in with American comics history, sometimes in weird and mysterious ways. Like you wouldn't believe! There will be some Canadian content on my 12 days of Christmas list, too, I think (if I can find them).

[TheyStandOnGuard!]

Cool thread, this. I didn't know much about Nightwynd but I'll be checking them out.

As to the ages, while not an expert by any stretch, I certainly don't see much to debate there.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I feel at cross purposes with myself, because when it comes to all the ages applied to American comics--copper, platinuim. lead, mercury, tin, iron, gold, nameless--I've become fed up with them. Yet here I am making categories for Canadian comics--but it is a convenient way to break down the history and development of comics in Canada.

[dupont2005]

Hey thanks for the list! Only thing now is finding them

[TheyStandOnGuard!]

Man alive, I hadn't realised that Aircel/Nightwynd had put out so much stuff.

Cat and Mouse was a book I often wondered about getting but never pulled the trigger. I could probably get them pretty cheap now, for kicks.

Can anyone tell me what Bomarc was about? I am not at all familiar with that one.