Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's not, and who's not. This week's list induces...
EDMONTON — Look, up in the sky! It’s a goose. It’s an Avro Arrow.
No, it’s Captain Canuck!
And he’s staring down his nastiest nemesis: a red-tied Republican bent on making the Great White North his 51st U.S. state.
How will our auspicious avenger stop him?
In the most Canadian way possible: a finger wag.
That wag is the brainchild of Richard Comely, creator of the iconic Canadian comic book superhero, who toured the country this year as his creation turned 50.
During U.S President Donald Trump’s first term, Comely designed a cover showing Captain Canuck manhandling the leader.
Earlier this year, when Trump was handed a second term, Captain Canuck was called back into action.
“When tariffs were being threatened and annexation was being threatened on us by Trump, (my publisher) said, ‘You’ve got to do something similar.’” Comely said in an interview.
So he sketched the now-viral cover: Captain Canuck, clad in red and white spandex with a Maple Leaf mask, towers over Trump, firmly gripping the president’s upper left arm and wagging a finger.
“He’s not being overtly violent,” Comely said. “He’s telling (Trump), ‘We’re not going to put up with this.'”
An empty speech bubble protrudes from the hero’s mouth, inviting readers to add their own words.
Comely said fans often ask him to fill in the empty bubble on their copies, turning them into something resembling protest art.
One fan, he said, wanted Captain Canuck to tell Trump, “Apologize, you orange Muppet.” Another wanted the demand, “Poutine, not Putin,” referencing what critics call Trump’s kid glove handling of the Russian leader.
Americans have also asked Comely if they can put his work on their protest signs, with phrases like “No kings” and “Hands off Canada.”
“I’m happy that people have found some meaning in it,” he said.
“A lot of Canadians are looking at Captain Canuck as … a symbol of greater independence, of greater resilience and even defiance against the United States.”
The kindly crusader came to life in the mid-1970s. Comely, then in his 20s, lived in Winnipeg. Canada had recently turned 100, and the din of the Cold War brought about a collective feeling of patriotism, Comely said.
He and fellow artist Ron Leishman felt Canada ought to have its own superhero.
“I got a loan for $8,000,” said Comely, now 74. “I started working on it in late 1974.”
There was one problem: Comely didn’t have a clue about comic books. His background was in graphic design. He quickly built his knowledge from the ground up.
The first issue hit newsstands in May 1975. Set in the then-futuristic year of 1993, it tells the story of Tom Evans, a deeply religious Mountie and scout leader from Flin Flon, Man., who gains super strength from contact with aliens.
A national security agency taps him to be their showpiece under the name Captain Canuck.
“The first issue, it’s hard to look at,” Comely said. “It looks old-fashioned, the story’s kind of clumsy, and I had critics tell me that.”
Copies still sold – faster than a speeding bullet. “I had stores phoning me telling me they had sold out; how can they get more,” Comely said.
The first issues saw the hero battle aliens, a mad scientist, a Communist spy and a master manipulator out to conquer the world — or at least Canada. In later years, he fought cult leaders, drug czars and crooked politicians.
He even had a love interest with nurse Heather Eve Lorie.
Production halted. Then it started again. Then it stopped.
What happened?
“I ran out of money,” Comely laughed. “Twice!”
In those days, printing in Canada wasn’t cheap, he said. While he felt it was important to print a Canadian comic book north of the border, he eventually signed with a cheaper print shop in Illinois.
Comely stressed Captain Canuck wasn’t totally dead in the off years. Newspapers published occasional features, and past issues were still available in stores.
And while his alter egos changed — from Evans in the ’70s to David Semple in the early years of this century — Captain Canuck has stayed a Dudley Do-Right, Comely said.
“Call him a boy scout,” he said. “He wants to be a protector … he wants to help the underdog.”
In the days since his inception, there have been Captain Canuck T-shirts and action figures. He once made the cover of Time magazine and received his own postage stamp and coin.
Unlike American superheroes, he never got the Hollywood treatment. But that’s not for lack of trying, Comely said.
“Even though I’ve had contact with American companies that express some interest, they would always come back with, ‘Captain Canuck is not well enough known in the U.S.'”
But surprisingly, he said, 80 per cent of Captain Canuck comic book sales are in the U.S.
With his character’s newfound popularity, Comely said he’s not for slowing down, teasing a possible documentary and biography, as well as a collaboration with Archie Comics in 2026.
“(After) all those comebacks, we got a little stronger every time,” he said.
“Every time we came back, we gained a little more speed.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2025.
Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press
