Captain Canuck Panel

Panelists: Fadi Hakim, Richard Comely, Paul Gardner, Dean Henry, Mike Valiquette, Kalman Andrasofszky, George Zotti.

The panel started with a viewing of the Captain Canuck web-series in its entirety.  The web-series is an animated adventure that introduces (or re-familiarizes) Canada with their very own hero Captain Canuck.  You can catch the series on the Captain Canuck website.

The “Captain Canuck Team” had many different avenues that they could proceed to bring Captain Canuck back.  The production team decided that the animated series was the way to go first.  After a successful crowd-funding campaign, they were able to generate enough revenue to produce the first season, with a second season on the way.

But animation isn’t the only project that is on the way for Captain Canuck.  The panel also announced that there is more on the way: comics, merchandise, toys.

Captain Canuck is coming back to the printed page starting with a 6 issue arc comic written and illustrated by Kalman Andrasofszky.  Each issue will include a 16 page lead story, featuring the modern Captain Canuck (which was redesigned by Kalman), and a supporting back story feature that will build more on the biographies of the Captain Canuck characters.  There are plans for 2 story arcs for the comics, and depending on the success of the series, it may lead into it becoming an ongoing title.

Kalman Andrasofszky announced that the Captain Canuck comic’s goal is to be a Canadian production.  Canadian artists will be featured on the series, and will use Captain Canuck to showcase Canada’s uniqueness and culture.

The other goal of Captain Canuck is to be an aspirational hero.  He is someone to look up to.  Captain Canuck isn’t a dark and gritty character like Batman or the Punisher.  He is someone we can show off with Nationalistic pride.

In the coming years there will be a variety of different merchandise coming out for Captain Canuck as well.  The merchandise has been split into two “eras”.  The classic Captain Canuck (Richard Comely’s version) and the modern Captain Canuck (Kalman’s vision of the character).  The classic Captain Canuck merchandise if being produced and marketed by CBD’s own Walt Durajlija, while the modern era is being spearheaded by Silver Snail’s George Zotti.  George Zotti’s goal is to have an action figure come out for the modern Captain Canuck.  There are production plans for a classic Canuck… but I’ll talk about that at a future date.

The other big revelation at the panel was Captain Canuck showing up to make a personal appearance.  Captain Canuck showed up sporting a new costume designed by UD Replicas.  UD Replicas “creates screen-accurate replica garments based on some of the most enduring heroes (and villains!) in popular culture.”  Captain Canuck has now joined the ranks of one of their designs.

There is a lot on the horizon for Captain Canuck, and we are only seeing the start of it now.  It has been a lot of long hard work for the Captain Canuck team, but it has been a labour of love.  All of the production team started off as fans of the character.  You could tell there is a huge demand for Captain Canuck.  There are some of us who forgot who the character was.  There are some who are discovering him for the first time.  Fans in general are looking for hero we can identify with.  A hero of our own.

The one comment that stayed with me after the panel about the creation of Captain Canuck. ‘Richard Comely landed on something iconic.  He created a legacy that the new creators are carrying forward, but also doing right by what Richard started in 1975.’