Tag WECA comics

Developments

Our virtual two-day symposium on Canadian comics: “80 Years and Beyond” seems to have been a proper success—especially for an inaugural effort. We had over 160 people register, and all the sessions were eclectic, engaging, and informative. The sessions brought…

Read MoreDevelopments

Holidays ahead

First of all, best holiday wishes to everybody. Here is a Christmas-themed cover from the December 1935 issue of Montreal’s La Revue Moderne by war-time comics artist Oscar Schlienger done half-a-dozen years before he began working in comics. What a…

Read MoreHolidays ahead

Sort of Heroes

As many of you know, this column began seven years ago as part of my attempt to focus a newly minted retirement on something both interesting and challenging, albeit perhaps trivial in comparison to the struggles we all face daily…

Read MoreSort of Heroes

Resurrection

Christmas is just a week away and the eye-of-the-storm peacefulness and sentiment of the coming Christmas eve and Christmas day, rather than its stressful bustle and rabid commerce, begin to rope me in. This holiday season, I’ve been wistfully thinking…

Read MoreResurrection

Who is Freelance?

Collectors and comic aficionados are quick to knock Canadian war-time black-and-white comics to the lower rungs of the comic book quality ladder and, of the four main Canadian comic book publishers, Anglo-American comic books are seen to occupy the lowest…

Read MoreWho is Freelance?

The Crusaders

Let me put forward an analogy that, I think, sort of explains the nature of the four main Canadian WECA comic book publishers. If you remember, these four are Anglo-American and Bell Features—both based in Toronto, Maple Leaf Publishing based…

Read MoreThe Crusaders

Bert Bushell

Edward Albert Bushell was probably born in 1917 and probably in B.C.  We don’t know much about him except for the comic book work he did for Maple Leaf Publications in Vancouver during the Second World War. His first work…

Read MoreBert Bushell