Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe

What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the "funnies" long before.

Invaders from the North profiles past and present comic geniuses, sheds light on unjustly neglected chapters in Canadas pop history, and demonstrates how this nation has vaulted to the forefront of international comic art, successfully challenging the long-established boundaries between high and low culture. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and colour comic covers and panels, Invaders from the North serves up a cheeky, brash cavalcade of flamboyant and outrageous personalities and characters that graphically attest to Canadas verve and invention in the world of visual storytelling.

What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators — Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada — artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet — far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the "funnies" long before.

Invaders from the North profiles past and present comic geniuses, sheds light on unjustly neglected chapters in Canada's pop history, and demonstrates how this nation has vaulted to the forefront of international comic art, successfully challenging the long-established boundaries between high and low culture. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and colour comic covers and panels, Invaders from the North serves up a cheeky, brash cavalcade of flamboyant and outrageous personalities and characters that graphically attest to Canada's verve and invention in the world of visual storytelling.

VOYA

Bell presents the story of how Canadian comics came to be. Filled with interesting facts and vivid illustrations, the book chronicles the history of comics and comic art in that nation. Chapters are separated by year and follow a linear time line, outlining comics from 1849 to 2006. Two thirty-page "spotlights" are included to describe the lives and works of Johnny Canuck and Chester Brown. Teens will learn everything, from the fact that Canada has already experienced a "golden age" of comics to the idea of "alternative visions" within the industry. At times, niche books have a difficult time reaching their intended audience. This text-packed book with many full-color comic illustrations seems to suffer this ill fate. The book itself is dense and uncharacteristically not action packed, considering the fact that it is the story of the birth of comic books. Bell focuses specifically on the Canadian comic book industry, which makes for an interesting tale, but one that might not resonate much with many teens. The story is plagued with big words (ephemeral is one example from the introduction) and the text name-drops unfamiliar Canadian strongholds that teens likely will not recognize. This book may find a home in the hearts of comic book and graphic novel aficionados, but for a general reading audience, the book itself and the subject matter serves only a small niche and does so at a higher level than most teens will reach.

John Bell is a senior archivist at Library and Archives Canada and a leading authority on the history of English Canadian comic books. His contributions to the comics field include two books, Canuck Comics and Guardians of the North, and the websites Guardians of the North and Beyond the Funnies. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario.