Captain Canuck: Canada's FORGOTTEN Superhero Returns!

Captain Canuck #4 (July/August 1979)

What if I told you that in 1990, Canada was the most powerful nation on Earth? That our own maple leaf–wearing super-spy once took down a golden-eyed war profiteer in a rocket-fueled jungle brawl? Today, we’re diving deep into Captain Canuck #4—the historic return of Canada’s premier superhero. But this video isn’t just about the comic’s plot—this is the story behind the story: the wild production journey, the unsung Canadian talent like George Freeman and Claude St. Aubin, rare cameos, and how Comely Comics changed comic history with full-color indie publishing. From nostalgia to national pride—strap in, because we’re putting the spotlight back on Canada’s original caped crusader! Happy Canada Day, lets dig in.

Set in the not too distant future of 1990 where Canada is the world’s most powerful country, Captain Canuck and his teammates in the Canadian International Security Organization or CISO, save the world from emerging threats.

Following up immediately from events of issue #3, an injured Captain Canuck lays helpless in an ambulance as it races to parts unknown. His would-be ‘doctor’ is in actuality a hired gun for the mysterious Mr. Gold. Canuck, accompanied by an innocent but brave nurse, manages to subdue his kidnappers and cause the ambulance to crash. But in his weakened state Canuck is easily captured again and delivered to Mr. Gold, an evil war profiteer with a false eye and plate in his head made of pure gold. With his compatriots Readcoat and Kebec hard on the trail, Canuck and Nurse Lorie are put aboard a rocket ship for parts unknown.

Days pass and Captain Canuck awakens in a makeshift prison cell, easily making his escape. Canuck finds himself in a small South American village, complete with an ancient temple. Finding and rescuing nurse Lorie from an attacker provides Canuck with an opportunity; he steals a guard’s flying patrol car and straps Lorie’s would-be attacker to it, sending it off course and taking many other guards along with it. Meanwhile he breaks into Mr. Gold’s secret hideout in an attempt to destroy his weapons making factory once and for all. After a harrowing battle that sees Canuck and Lorie facing automatic gunfire and flying ships filled with attackers, Canuck destroys the factory, and Mr. Gold’s nefarious empire along with it.

With Canada and the world safe once again, Canuck decides to take the long way home via motorcycle to ease his mind and discover new adventures.

This issue was written & edited by Comely comics founder & Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely. This title was the first independently published comic book to be printed in full color. Comely intended his character to be based on Captain Canada and the term ‘Canuck’ was used as a positive slang for a Canadian.

This issue was the start of the first revival of the title after a four year hiatus. By that time Comely had created CKR productions in Calgary and resumed publishing the series with himself as writer. Comely delegated business management, artwork, and coloring to other employees, positions he originally held himself, in order to focus on improving the storyline. By issue five, Comely served as editor-in-chief. After 13 issues, in 1981, Comely left the production in order to return to freelance design. CKR productions only released one additional issue of Captain Canuck before closing down for financial issues and abandoning the series.

Speaking exclusively to ‘Read the Freaking Comics’, Comely discusses this time in his life: “The artwork for Captain Canuck Issue #4 was completed before we all moved to Cardston Alberta in August 1976. … We moved up to Calgary in February ‘77. I rented a house for my family….. George [Freeman] and Claude [St. Aubin] lived in the basement for about three months. Claude and I found jobs as commercial artists in Calgary and George moved back to Winnipeg. I produced and sold 315 black and white full size copies of issue four and found investors in 1978. We started publishing again in April of ‘79. Issue #4 was the first issue where George did the pencilling and most of the inking and it was also the first edition to be printed at World Color Press in Sparta, Illinois. I did the writing and lettering. All three of us did the colouring which we did by hand painting acetate overlays.”

Speaking of George Freeman, he was the penciler, co-inker and co-colourist on this issue. This was his first comic-book assignment; he would later work on titles such as DC’s Green Lantern & Aquaman plus Marvel’s Jack of Hearts and The Avengers. He also drew a story in Batman Annual #11 written by Alan Moore. In 1991, Freeman co-founded Digital Chameleon, a Winnipeg-based comics coloring and inking studio. Freeman was a 1996 Eisner Awards nominee for Best Colorist on Topps’ The X-Files comic. In 2010, Freeman was inducted into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame.

The other co-inker and colourist to work on this issue was Jean‑Claude St. Aubin, born and raised in Ontario and Quebec, St. Aubin has had a lifelong passion for comics. Finding his way out west to Winnipeg he eventually started working for Richard Comely and moved out to Calgary with him. After Comely Comix, he moved on to DC where his first published work was in 1993 on an issue of Green Lantern, he has also worked on titles like Katana and Aquaman and for Marvel he worked on Spectacular Spider-Man and Captain America.

This issue was the first true appearance of Mr. Gold, seen only in silhouette in the previous issue, which was 4 years earlier. He would continue to be a foil for Captain Canuck for 3 more issues and 2 separate storylines.

There were three men to take up the mantle of Captain Canuck, since the first series was set in ‘the future’ of 1990 and the others were under different publishers, the canonicity of the timeline is in question. However, in the publication’s history of the character Tom Evens was the first true Captain Canuck. Evans was a Canadian secret agent who gained superhuman strength from contact with extraterrestrials. This version ran for 14 issues, plus a summer special, concluding in early 1981. In 2004, the completed issue #15 which was written and penciled by George Freeman and inked, lettered and coloured by Claude St. Aubin was published in 2004 as a limited edition by Comely.

The second Captain Canuck was Darren Oak, this incarnation came out in 1993 and was set in the ‘present’, which ironically places it around the same time as the 1975 series. Darren Oak fought a global conspiracy to save the world, unfortunately this title lasted only four issues.

A third incarnation, edited by Comely but written and drawn by brothers Riel and Drue Langlois, appeared in 2004 under the banner of Comely Comics, entitled Captain Canuck: Unholy War. This time RCMP Constable David Semple, adopts the guise of Captain Canuck, to take on a biker gang called the Unholy Avengers. “Unholy War” was slated as a three-issue mini-series however, the series came out with a fourth issue in August 2007, which fully concluded the character.

In 2013 Captain Canuck was reimagined for a five-episode animated web series by Captain Canuck Inc and Smiley Guy Studios. Kris Holden-Reid voices the Captain and Paul Amos his antagonist, Mr. Gold.

This issue includes a mini-story introducing the world to Catman, a Comely Comics creation. Catman is Jason Corey, who is rescued from certain death in the snowy Canadian north while on a hunt for Bigfoot. His rescuer turns out to be a benevolent alien with fabulous technology, however this alien refuses to let Corey return home. Corey uses the alien technology to escape which inadvertently gives him purple skin and increased speed and strength. Calling himself Catman, Corey vows to fight crime by first vindicating his father who has been wrongfully accused and jailed.

This issue also features a one-page comic called ‘The Canuck Kid’, these original cartoons were created during the 1940’s in Canada, after World War 2 the publisher discontinued the series. Richard Comely was able to secure the rights to print these previously unpublished one-pagers by original author Edward Letkeman. The premise of The Canuck Kid follows a young boy and his dog being displaced in time by Father Time himself. This particular one pager features our young hero witnessing the arrival of Jaques Cartier in Canada in July 1534.

On pure nostalgia and patriotism alone this comic is worth its weight in gold. I picked up this issue at a garage sale and was really happy I held on to it all these years. The art in issue 4 is vastly superior compared to the first 2 issues and the writing also shows a marked improvement. Freeman and St. Aubin take this character to another level with their professional interiors and the awesome cover. I am a firm believer that representation matters and to have a bonafide Canadian hero battling it out on Canadian soil really gives me a sense of pride.

This character could have gone on to be a true comic book icon had Comely and company been able to manage both the business and creative side of comic book publishing. While it is nice to see attempts at reboots and relaunches I have my doubts about seeing this comic hit the mainstream anytime soon.

Yes as Canadians we have Wolverine, Deadpool and Alpha Flight, but they’re part of America’s zeitgeist now, Captain Canuck was ours, and for a while there, he was wildly popular.

Being a bit more rare due to the limited distribution, I have found some issues of various quality at a wide range of prices. I found an issue available on Ebay for $8.89, Abebooks.com has one on sale for $49.95 and comicbookrealm.com is selling one for $315 dollars.

Comely Comics and Captain Canuck are forever intertwined, the idea for a Canadian superhero came to Comely while working at a sign shop alongside co-creator Ron Leishman in the early 1970s. However it was only a few years later that the idea took flight, Comely started seriously looking into what it would take to make Captain Canuck a reality. In 1974, he set up his own comic imprint, Comely Comics, and started work on the first issue, which hit newsstands in April of 1975.

Captain Canuck outsold all other comic books in Canada in 1975, with 170,000 copies initially sent to stores and newsstands in the United States and Canada. To give you a sense of scale, Canada at that time had a population of 23 Million, just about the total population of California that same year.

The comic book industry was not very prominent in Canada in 1979, many businesses felt that advertising on that platform was not profitable. As such there are only a couple of genuine advertisements in this issue, and of the 2 only 1 is for another Canadian company.

The Auto Upholstery Institute was running an advertisement for their services, and looking for future salesmen and women to join their ever growing team out of Orange, California. Just in case you wanted to add some shag carpet to your sweet van. Meanwhile Maxwell J. Seeley was offering a comic book back issues delivery service out of his shop on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal.

Aside from those two ads, Comely Comix was busy promoting Captain Canuck Posters, Buttons, Visitors, Pens and Notepads, no doubt some of these are worth quite a bit of money today.

This issue mentions ‘Smog Ridden Sudbury’, so I decided to find a comic shop in the Sudbury, Ontario region. I recommend you check out Comics North Hidden Level Games located at 106 Elm Street in Greater Sudbury, Ontario or check them out on Facebook at comicsnorthhiddenlevelgames.

And that’s Captain Canuck #4—a hidden gem of Canadian comic history and a major turning point for indie publishing in the ‘70s. If you enjoyed this deep dive, hit that like button to show your support for Canadian heroes. Subscribe to Read the Freaking Comics! for more forgotten classics, creator backstories, and full-on comic book nerdery. Got a favorite issue, series, or character you think deserves the spotlight? Drop it in the comments—I read every one. And hey, share this with a friend who still thinks superheroes only come from New York City. Until next time, let’s read the freaking comics together!