Wow Comics Archives • Comic Book Daily

Wow Comics and Edmund Legault

by Ivan Kocmarek | Jul 17, 2019 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 3 |

What became Bell Features Publications Limited of Canada started in the summer of 1941 with the...

Last Bells

by Ivan Kocmarek | Jan 2, 2019 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 5

The early post-war period was one of turmoil for publishers of Canadian comics. Montreal’s...

October Comic Link Auction

by Ivan Kocmarek | Oct 31, 2018 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 11 |

The Comic Link auctions have been, perhaps, the primary source for obtaining Canadian wartime...

Bell Cover Stars

by Ivan Kocmarek | May 21, 2014 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 8 |

For this post let’s stick to the Bell heroes as they appeared on the cover of six of the seven titles; we’ve got to make an exception of The Funny Comics because it featured one central character, Dizzy Don, who got every cover appearance for the 20 issue run with Bell. Also, the first 13 issues of Commando Comics feature generic soldier covers as one would expect and there are a couple of more generic soldier covers in the runs of the other titles (e.g., Dime 18 and 19, Wow 21). So let’s just look at the covers for the runs of Wow, Triumph, Dime, Active, and Joke Comics and see which characters are most featured on their covers.

ComicLink Whites Auction

by Ivan Kocmarek | Feb 27, 2014 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 65 |

The latest ComicLink online auction finished last night and on offer were three dozen slabbed Canadian comics with all but two of them WECA books. The biggest irony of the final tally for me was that the highest prices were commanded by essentially reprint material.

Lazare: The Orphan Strips

by Ivan Kocmarek | Nov 20, 2013 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 4 |

Some of the most interesting Lazare creations are the orphan “left-overs,” those stories that were one-shot “try-outs” or “fillers” and there were eight of these. The first three were in consecutive issues of Triumph Comics Nos. 20-22 which is a Bell title for which Lazare never did a feature character.

Lou’s Goose

by Ivan Kocmarek | Oct 30, 2013 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 9 |

I attended an auction in Vineland this past weekend and it prompted me to write another short piece on one of the WECA artists. I went to the auction because, among other things, they were offering seven Toronto-themed coasters from the early thirties.

Stamp of Approval

by Ivan Kocmarek | Sep 26, 2013 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 2 |

If a comic book concept with a fairly slender thread connecting it to Canada (Joe Shuster the illustrator behind the creation of the character was born in Canada) can merit this ceremony, why can’t a 75th anniversary of the birth of our own genuine and rock solidly Canadian comic books merit at least an equal value. I know we had that issue in 1995 that contained stamps of Johnny Canuck and Nelvana but this is different.

Home Ice

by Ivan Kocmarek | Sep 12, 2013 | Whites Tsunami, WECA Splashes | 3 |

Let me then try to point to a few times in the WECA books that specifically locate the action on Canadian soil or at least, in some way, make it clear that the story is taking place in Canada or, finally, directly connect the story to Canada.