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

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Most people are unaware of how much Canada has contributed to shaping
one of the world’s most popular forms of popular literature. Starting
as one-panel political cartoons in late-19th-century newspapers, comics
eventually developed into “the funny papers” at the turn of the 20th
century, and then free-standing comic books devoted to one extended
theme by the 1920s. Although inundated by American competition, Canada
did develop its own independent strips like “The Doo Dads,” “Men
of the Mounted,” and “Johnny Canuck.” Just as importantly, many
Canadians went south to the United States and made comic-book history by
creating such world-famous characters as Superman, The Brownies, Prince
Valiant, and Spawn.

Bell, a senior archivist at Library and Archives Canada, mentions the
problems inherent with studying Canadian comics. Printed mostly on
self-destructing paper and handled roughly by youthful readers, few
early comics survived to make it into the archives. Fortunately, Bell
has tracked down many rare samples that he reproduces in full colour in
this beautiful book. His themes include the rise of the funny paper
strips; the invention of new genres like adventure, horror, and even
porn (called the Tijuana Bible); and the impact of censorship on the
comic-book industry. His easy-to-read, fact-packed text is as
informative as it is entertaining. The foreword is provided by Seth, one
of Canada’s most famous comic-book artists and writers. Endnotes, a
bibliography, and an index round out the volume. This is Bell’s third
book on the subject of Canadians and their comics.