Captain Canuck, the patriotic Canadian superhero, is celebrating his 45th birthday in 2020. Created by cartoonist Ron Leishman and artist-writer Richard Comely, the stalwart hero was introduced in Captain Canuck #1 (July 1975), published by Comely Comix. The series ran off and on until ’81, followed by several other iterations including Captain Canuck Reborn, Captain Canuck Unholy War, and Captain Canuck Legacy.
A few different characters have taken the name of Captain Canuck, each possessing superstrength and superspeed. The first was Tom Evans, a costumed secret agent of the Canadian International Security Organization who gained powers from contact with extraterrestrials. It was set in the then-future of 1993 when “Canada had become the most powerful country in the world.” Drawn mostly by George Freeman, it ran for three issues through ’76 then returned three years later for 11 issues and a summer special.
Darren Oak became the second Captain Canuck in 1993 under the Semple Comics imprint. This series was set in the present with Canuck working to thwart a global conspiracy. Written and drawn by Comely, Leonard Kirk, and Sandy Carruthers, it ran for four issues then transitioned into a newspaper comic strip.
David Semple was the third character to wear the maple leaf. Also known as the West Coast Captain Canuck, he was in Captain Canuck: Unholy War, written and drawn by Riel and Drue Langlois. In this version, he was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable who becomes Captain Canuck to stop a biker gang known as the Unholy Avengers. The three-issue miniseries ran in 2004-2005.
In 2006, Comely published the miniseries Captain Canuck: Legacy, featuring two stories. One saw the second Captain Canuck trying to keep illegal weapons out of Canada and the second continued the third Captain Canuck’s story.
IDW Publishing published a few volumes that collected Captain Canuck comics, including Captain Canuck: The Complete Edition that contained issues 1-15, the summer special, Captain Canuck: Legacy #1.5, newspaper strips, and sketches.
A five-episode animated web series aired in 2013, featuring Kris Holden-Reid as Captain Canuck, Paul Amos as the antagonist Mr. Gold, Tatiana Maslany as Redcoat, and Laura Vandervoort as Blue Fox. The web series’ success led to the 2014 one-shot, Captain Canuck Summer Special, published by Chapter House.
A year later he starred in his own Free Comic Book Day special issue followed by a fresh series that reimagined Canuck as the head of Equilibrium, a global crisis intervention agency. That series ran for 11 issues.
Chapter House restarted the series again in 2017, with Tom Evans leaving Equilibrium and his brother, Michael, becoming Captain Canuck. His first major mission was to take on an extraterrestrial incursion in a four-issue series.
With his heroic determination and penchant for steadily returning to comics, it’s only a matter of time before Captain Canuck comes back to save the day again!
