Canadian Whites are

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s published in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

that feature colour covers with

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

interiors. Notable characters include

Nelvana of the Northern Lights Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studios' '' Triumph-Adventure Comics'' #1 (Aug. 1941). She is also one of the first female superheroes, debutin ...

Johnny Canuck Johnny Canuck is a Canadian cartoon hero and superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869 and was later re-invented as a Second World War action hero in 1942. The Vancouver Canucks, a professional ice hockey team in the National Ho ...

Brok Windsor Brok Windsor is a Canadian comic book character, debuting in Maple Leaf Comics' ''Better Comics'' Vol. 3 #3 April/May 1944. Publication history The character was created, written, and illustrated by John Stables John is a common English ...

, and Canada Jack. The period has been called the Golden Age of

Canadian comics Canadian comics refers to comics and cartooning by citizens of Canada or Permanent residency in Canada, permanent residents of Canada regardless of residence. Canada has Official bilingualism in Canada, two official languages, and distinct comic ...

Background

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'' restricted the importation of non-essential goods from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

into Canada, including fiction periodicals. For this reason, this era is sometimes referred to as the "WECA period" and the comics are sometimes referred to as "WECA books." At least four companies took advantage of the situation by publishing comics in Canada, sometimes using imported scripts. Anglo-American Publishing of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Maple Leaf Publishing Maple Leaf Publishing was a World War II-era Canada, Canadian comic book publisher active during the Golden Age of Comic Books. They were one of four publishers—along with Anglo-American Publishing, Hillborough Studios, and Bell Features—whi ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

started publishing in March 1941. Later, two other Toronto-based publishers joined in:

Hillborough Studios Hillborough Studios was a short-lived Canadian comic book publisher, founded in 1941, most notable for publishing Adrian Dingle's Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Overview In August 1941, Hillborough was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Adr ...

that August, and

Bell Features Bell Features, also known as Commercial Signs of Canada, was a Canadian comic book publisher during the World War II era. They were the most successful of the publishers of " Canadian Whites", and published comics such as Adrian Dingle's Nelvana ...

(originally Commercial Signs of Canada) in September. Some of the more notable "Whites" creators included

Ed Furness Ed Furness (1911–2005) was a Canadian comic book artist associated with the " Canadian Whites", Canadian comic books published during World War II. Furness, originally from the United Kingdom, grew up in Dunnville, Ontario. Furness graduated fro ...

Ted McCall Edwin Reid McCall (born 1901 in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Chatham, Ontario, died 1975) was a Canadian journalist, and a comic strip and comic book Comic book writer, writer. He was best known for creating the first comic strip based on the Royal Cana ...

, Adrian Dingle,

Gerald Lazare Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Irish ...

, Jon St. Ables, Fred Kelly, and

Leo Bachle Leo Henry Bachle (November 23, 1923 – May 2003), a.k.a. Les Barker, was a Canadian comic book artist in the era of the Canadian Whites, and later became a comedian. Biography Born in Toronto in November 1923, Bachle attended Danforth Collegiate ...

, all of whom would later be inducted into the

Joe Shuster Award The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (or Joe Shuster Awards) are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadian comics, Canadi ...

's Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame. This period has been called the Golden Age of Canadian comics, 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 Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

function for Canadian readers during the war years. The animation studio

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

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''. 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 A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

, to

webcomics Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...

, to

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

by bestselling authors like

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

and

Ken Steacy Ken Steacy (born January 8, 1955) is a Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of ''Astro Boy'' and of the Comico comic series of ''Jonny Quest'', as well as his graphic novel collaborations w ...

's ''War Bears''. The 2014 documentary ''Lost Heroes: The Untold Story of Canadian Superheroes'' began by covering this era.

Notes

References

External links

* CBCbr>video
on the history of "Canadian Whites" {{Canadian comics History of Canadian comics Comics industry Golden Age of Comic Books

Background

Influence and Legacy

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links