Richard Comely (born October 9, 1950) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

creator,

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

, and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. He created and wrote the ''

Captain Canuck Captain Canuck is a Canadian comic book superhero. Created by cartoonist Ron Leishman and artist/writer Richard Comely, the original Captain Canuck first appeared in ''Captain Canuck'' #1 (July 1975). The series was the first successful Canadi ...

'' comic book series which has been in and out of publication since its original release in 1975. In 2011, Minds Eye Entertainment bought the rights Captain Canuck to produce a live-action film adaptation. In 2012, Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with CEO of

Chapterhouse Comics Comic House (formerly Chapterhouse) is a Canadian comics, comic publishing company that publishes books featuring classic Canadian comics, Canadian comic book characters such as Captain Canuck and Northguard in a unified comic book universe unde ...

Fami Hakim to produce animation, merchandise, and a new comic book series under Captain Canuck Incorporated.

Life and career

Richard Comely was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England in 1950 and relocated to Canada as a child in 1953. Comely was baptized into

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) in 1971. Married since 1975 to Evelyn, Comely is the father of eight children. Comely had worked as a sign painter; crest designer; fashion and embroidery designer; an illustrator/paste-up artist for a printer; and a graphic designer for newspapers, magazines, and advertising. Comely has also written and illustrated children's books, syndicated newspaper features, and greeting cards. Comely has also published a newspaper. He designed and manufactures the ComelyCrane; a portable, extendable jib arm. He also produced a best-selling art education video "Drawing from the Pros". He began publishing the ''

'' comic book series in early 1975 with co-creator Ron Leishman whom he met at an LDS Church meeting. It was the first independently published comic book to be printed in full color. Comely had no experience with comic books having never read or collected them as a child. Comely and Leishman had planned to create a Canadian-themed comic book based on Captain Canada as early as 1971, but were unable to obtain funding. The character was named Captain Canuck as a variation of Captain Canada. Despite being criticized for appearing to be a prank, the name was intended as a positive slang term for a Canadian. ''Captain Canuck'' " utsoldall other comic books in Canada in 1975," with 170,000 copies initially sent to stores and newsstands in the United States and Canada. Letters from the Canadian prime minister and the Canadian governor-general were published in issues of the series. As a member of the LDS Church, Comely used the comic book series as a proselytizing tool. He informed readers of his church membership in the first issue; reprinted an article from an LDS Church affiliated magazine called the ''

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

'' in the second issue; and published missionary pamphlets and letters from Ron Leishman, who was serving a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

for the LDS Church at the time, in subsequent issues. The first issue of the series was criticized by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine as "amateurish" with "often clumsy artwork and storyline". Two other issues were released in 1975 until Comely Comix went out of business the same year and left the comic at a cliffhanger because they were unable to keep up with publishing costs. In 1979, Comely created CKR productions in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and resumed publishing the series at issue four with Comely resuming his position as the 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. In 1982, he published a new comic series called ''Star Rider and the Peace Machine'', but only two issues were released before the project folded. CRK productions only released one additional issue of ''Captain Canuck'' before closing down for financial issues and abandoning the series. Comely and his production staff released ''Captain Canuck Reborn'' in 1993 which was intended to be a new series with different characters and a different origin story. However, Comely only released four issues before it and a Captain Canuck newspaper strip went out of publication in 1996 due to difficulties navigating the Canadian publishing industry. Comely served as editor of a limited Captain Canuck series called ''Captain Canuck: Unholy War'' in 2004, created by Riel and Drue Langlois. Comely released a new Captain Canuck series in summer 2006. In September 2006, Comely began instructing in comic books, storytelling, and comic strips at

Mohawk College Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public college of applied arts and technology located in Hamilton, Ontario. Established in 1966, the college currently has five main campuses: the Fennell Campus on the Hamilton Mountain, the M ...

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

where he created a one-year course for comic book illustration and scripting. According to the ''Panama City News Herald'', Comely said that he has more interest in promoting his character Captain Canuck than creating new comics. In 2012, Richard entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Fadi Hakim, CEO of

to produce animation, merchandise, new Captain Canuck comic book series, and pursue licensing ventures under Captain Canuck Incorporated. In 2011, Minds Eye Entertainment acquired the right to Captain Canuck with intentions to adapt the series into a live-action film. In 2012, they hired Arne Olsen to write the screenplay; however, as of 2020, there have been no updates on the film adaptation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comely, Richard 1950 births Living people People from Portage la Prairie People from Cambridge, Ontario Canadian comics creators Artists from Oxford Harold B. Lee Library-related 21st century articles