Canadian Whites Explained

Canadian Whites are World War II-era comic books published in Canada that feature colour covers with black-and-white interiors. Notable characters include Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Johnny Canuck, Brok Windsor, and Canada Jack. The period has been called the Golden Age of Canadian comics.

Background

See also: The Great Canadian Comic Books. For the most part, the "Whites" have colour covers with interiors printed in black ink on white paper, although there are a handful of comics with colour interiors. They proliferated in Canada after the War Exchange Conservation Act[1] restricted the importation of non-essential goods from the United States into Canada, including fiction periodicals.[2] For this reason, this era is sometimes referred to as the "WECA period" and the comics are sometimes referred to as "WECA books."[3]

At least four companies took advantage of the situation by publishing comics in Canada, sometimes using imported scripts. Anglo-American Publishing of Toronto and Maple Leaf Publishing in Vancouver started publishing in March 1941. Later, two other Toronto-based publishers joined in: Hillborough Studios that August, and Bell Features (originally Commercial Signs of Canada[4]) in September.

Some of the more notable "Whites" creators included Ed Furness, Ted McCall, Adrian Dingle, Gerald Lazare, Jon St. Ables, Fred Kelly, and Leo Bachle, all of whom would later be inducted into the Joe Shuster Award's Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame.[5]

This period has been called the Golden Age of Canadian comics,[6] but the age of the "Whites" did not last long. When the trade restrictions were lifted following World War II, comic books from the United States were once again able to flow across the border.

Influence and Legacy

In their depictions of heroic positive role models, the Canadian Whites served an important propaganda function for Canadian readers during the war years.[7] The animation studio Nelvana took its name from Adrian Dingle's creation, and one of the studio's first productions was a documentary about the Canadian Whites, The Great Canadian Comic Books.[8]

The rediscovery of these comics by a new generation in the 1970s inspired a slew of new Canadian superheroes over the next decades, including everything from obscure fanzines, to webcomics, to graphic novels by bestselling authors like Margaret Atwood and Ken Steacy's War Bears.[9]

The 2014 documentary Lost Heroes: The Untold Story of Canadian Superheroes began by covering this era.[10]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. The War Exchange Conservation Act, 1940. S.C.. 1940-41. 2. https://archive.org/stream/actsofparl194041v01cana#page/6/mode/2up.
  2. Web site: Beyond the Funnies: Canadian Golden Age of Comics, 1941-1946. Library and Archives Canada. John Bell. John Bell (historian). 2011-12-18. 2002-06-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007031905/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/comics/027002-8300-e.html. 2011-10-07. dead.
  3. Web site: Why WECA? . Kocmarek . Ivan . March 21, 2013 . Comic Book Daily . June 6, 2024 . “WECA” is an acronym for the War Exchange Conservation Act brought into being by the parliament of Canada on Dec. 6, 1940 prohibiting the importation of “non-essential” materials into the country including magazines and comics from the U.S. This produced a comic vacuum in our country and before March (though the cover dates were indeed March, we well know that comics physically appear on newsstands at least a month ahead of their cover dates) of the next year a few enterprising young men in Toronto and Vancouver had Better Comics No. 1 and Robin Hood Comics No. 1 in the hands of eager kids across the land..
  4. Web site: Undervalued Spotlight #103: Better Comics #1, Maple Leaf Comics, March 1941. 2011-12-18. Walter Durajlija. 2011-11-22. comicbookdaily.com.
  5. Web site: Canadian Golden Age Comics Online. 2011-12-18. Joe Shuster Awards. 9 June 2009.
  6. Book: John Bell. John Bell (historian). Canuck Comics. Special contributions from Luc Pomerleau and Robert MacMillan; Foreword by Harlan Ellison. 1986. Matrix Books/Eden Press. Downsview. 0-921101-00-7.
  7. Web site: The Relatable Hero: The Inception, Impact and Novelty of the Canadian Comic Hero During World War II in Commando Comics No. 16 . Maxwell-Turanski . Victoria . April 3, 2017 . Children's Literature Archive . June 6, 2024 . These comic book heroes were role models that gave unique hope to their avid readers..
  8. Web site: The History of Nelvana . Sanza . Eli . November 3, 2022 . Entertainment Junkie Blog . June 6, 2024. An ad agency actually said the name “Laff Arts” was too wacky to be taken seriously, so Hirsh, Loubert and Smith all decided to found a new studio in 1971 called Nelvana, named after the Canadian superhero Nelvana of the Northern Lights, created by English-Canadian cartoonist and illustrator Adrian Dingle and the first female superhero from Canada..
  9. Web site: Ken Steacy teams up with Margaret Atwood to explore the Golden Age of Canadian comic books . van Koeverden . Jane . Jun 19, 2019 . . I knew a lot about comics history, knew a lot about the trials and tribulations of creators and their relationship with their publishers and their relationship with the characters that they create and the intellectual property they create. I thought this was a wonderful opportunity to expand on that. I contacted Margaret and pitched the idea of doing more with it. She was intrigued and we had spent a lovely afternoon brainstorming what was initially a three-issue mini series, which then became the graphic novel..
  10. News: A drink with a producer of Lost Heroes documentary. The Toronto Star. 28 February 2014. Veillette. Eric.