This post was written by Rory M., one of our summer students before he left to return to BU. Rory is a Music major at Brandon University.
While they didn’t fly, have capes, gadgets, or coloured ink, for Canadian kids of the 1940s, Canadian-made superheroes lived even larger than the Avengers. Drawn by Canadian artists, printed in Canada, and patriotically fighting battles for Canada against wartime enemies, the “Golden Age of Canadian Comics” was a brief but extraordinary period where Canadian comics filled the newsstands for Canadian children from coast to coast. Strategically designed and born out of wartime necessity, the comics of the day represented the values, struggles, and need for patriotism of the era. While Canadian superheroes during WWII were not mutants or gods like many other popular superheroes, they stepped up for duty as everyday Canadians (much like many Armed Forces members of the time) and provided when the world needed them most.
The history of comic books themselves stems from their birth near exclusively in the United States, with characters like Superman (who was coincidentally created by a Canadian) becoming early front runners in the industry. As the medium sprang from early comic strips in newspapers to long-form comic books, superheroes quickly became some of comics’ biggest stars, armed with futuristic technology and superhuman powers. During the 1930s, American publishers dominated the North American market, and many Canadians, including Superman creator Joe Schuster, from Toronto, had to head south to make a living in comics. By 1939, Canadian comic books were more or less negligible – until the war changed everything.
When Canada declared war on Germany, the country soon began to enact many saving measures to contribute to the war effort. One of such measures was the War Exchange Conservation Act (WECA), which restricted the import of non-essential goods from the US, including comic books. According to the official wording from the National Post, “The clause in the budget which banned import of ‘pulp’ fiction magazines and comics from the United States has been followed by a ruling prohibiting also the import of materials from which these may be printed, such as mats, stereos, etc. Accordingly, if these magazines are to be distributed in Canada, it will be necessary that they be produced entirely here.” [“Public Savings Turned Into War Channels,” NATIONAL POST, Dec. 14, 1940]
WECA was therefore the beginning of a period of opportunity, where Canadian artists and entrepreneurs had the chance to build a new Canadian comic book industry from the ground up. These new comics, often nicknamed “The Canadian Whites” (for their black and white interiors to conserve ink), marked the birth of Canada’s Golden Age of Comics.
By the peak of comic book production in 1943, in the Canadian comic book industry there were suddenly three major comic publishers. Maple Leaf Publishing out of Vancouver, which was well known for heroes like Vernon Miller’s Iron Man, Bell Features of Toronto and their characters of Johnny Canuck and Nelvana of the Northern Lights, and Educational Projects of Montreal, which blended fictional patriotic adventures with the stories of true wartime profiles. During this period, there were more than 20 major titles appearing regularly, including the genres of war, superheroes, westerns, and science fiction.
Two of the three major Canadian superheroes of the period were unlike Americans like Captain America, who had special abilities or weaponry; Canadian heroes were distinctly human. They were everyday characters, like athletes, adventurers, or patriots armed with courage and belief in the protection of our national identity. Take Johnny Canuck, a Bell Features character who was created by a 16-year-old Leo Bachle. Following his rejection from underage service at the age of 15 in the Canadian army, Bachle created crime-fighting patriot Johnny Canuck. Canuck, originally designed as the cousin of American “Uncle Sam” in the 1860s, was portrayed as a Nazi fighting teenager in its reiteration, who with his bare hands and Canadian pride, almost single-handedly takes down Adolf Hitler and ends the war. A second “everyman” Canadian superhero of the period was Canada Jack, an athletic horseman, gymnast and jiu-jitsu expert who fought spies, saboteurs and black marketers. One of the efforts by Educational Project, the publisher of Canada Jack, was the war bonds effort “Canada Jack Club,” which recruited youths from across Canada to organize and participate in activities contributing to the war effort. Educational Projects also made the effort to promote the stories of many active members of the Canadian Armed Forces and published real stories in their Canadian Heroes line of comics.
The primary supernatural character also of Bell Features during WWII was known as Nelvana of the Northern Lights, who was a trailblazing female Inuk superhero, debuting a full three months before the well-known trailblazing female superhero Wonder Woman. Nelvana was inspired by writer Franz Johnson’s experience with the people of Kugluktuk, NU, and was based on Inuk mythology to protect the people of the north from fictional Nazi super-powered agents. She was the second Canadian superhero to headline her comic book and one of the first female superheroes in the world, making her a significant cultural milestone for comics and Canada.
As the war came to a close in 1945, the monopoly on Canadian comic entertainment caused by the War Exchange Conservation Act began to dissolve. American comics, like Superman, Batman, and Captain America, once again flooded the entertainment of Canadian children. Unfortunately, the Canadian black and white comic market was unable to compete with the marketing power and budgets of American comic companies, and by the late 1940s, the Golden Age of Comics had come to a close, with many Canadian comic publishers beginning to close their doors.
Though it had a short-lived shelf life, the Golden Age of Comics left a special and uniquely Canadian impact on the lives of children during WWII. The era proved, like many other ambitions in the war, that Canadian artists could craft heroes every bit as exciting as their American counterparts – while reflecting the lives of everyday heroes who reflected Canada’s values, contributions to the war and unique identity. These comic books, while intended for children, served as a cultural and social ambassador for the war effort and spurred many youth movements such as the collection of war bonds and the Canada Jack Club.
Today, “Canadian Whites” original issues are a valuable collector’s item preserved in archives across the country, serving as a reminder of a quirky and brilliant chapter of Canadian popular culture. In an age where American culture and comic characters dominate Canadian cinema, the story of the Golden Age of Canadian Comics is a testimony to the genius of Canadian artists and the ordinary Canadian heroes who preserved the freedoms that we enjoy today.
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial 