You may not have heard of Brok Windsor or Johnny Canuck, but back during the Second World War they were part of Canada’s Golden Age of comic books. Comics from the U.S. were deemed “non-essential” imports under wartime legislation and as such were not allowed into Canada. But kids were already hooked on superheroes, adventure comics, humour books and more. So a homegrown Canadian comic book industry was born — and it lasted until the end of the war.
Last year, Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey raised funds through Kickstarter for a reprint collection of Nelvana of the Northern Lights, one of the premier superheroes of the Canadian Whites. (The comics were called that because due to printing costs the interiors were black and white.) It was the first time these adventures had ever been collected, and most of them had been out of print for nearly 70 years. You can read a bit about that here.
But thanks to the success of the Nelvana project, Nicholson and Richey are each spearheading separate projects: Brok Windsor and Johnny Canuck, respectively. I interviewed each of them and the story was published in the Winnipeg Free Press. Check it out!
