Sometimes, it's easy. You come across an independent small press publisher's book. It's called The Leaf, the lead character is wearing red and white, has a cape shaped like a maple leaf, has a maple leaf in his logo, the publisher is called Red Leaf and you figure "you know what? This dude just might be Canadian and therefore good content for my little blog about Canadian comic book characters".But it's not always that easy. Not everyone is so eager to identify their product, or even him(or her)self, as Canadian.
I guess Canada is not always considered a "sexy" setting by some and therefore not much of a marketing point in solicitation text. It's fine if you feel that way, I suppose. I'll never invite you to my awesome cottage then, and that's just something you'll have to live with for making me work harder, doosh.
This is what the "Canuckdrum" series of posts is about. It refers to books that sure seem like they take place in Canada but don't really announce themselves as doing so. Or if they do, they do it quite quietly (perhaps that's just part of stereotypical Canadian humility).
And so we start this mini-series off with Peelers.
I did not know a single thing about Peelers until a few weeks ago when the creator of Deborah Daring: The Private Eye With Attitude contacted his Kickstarter backers (a group to which I belong) to make us aware of his plans for the third issue of that fine, fun series (cover at right, by Jae Korim), subtitled "Russian Face-Off". To those who are unfamiliar with Deborah, she is a sassy, sexy, private detective with a boring-ass day job but is based on the creator's (Rob MacKinnon) wife, so mind how you speak about her. And if you take a glance at the left side of that cover, it will be quite clear that the book takes place in Toronto (no, not Seattle, smart guy).
But what the hell is Peelers? When the Kickstarter campaign was announced for issue three, it was said to be a "double feature" along with a Peelers book, sub-titled "Double The Fun". I had never heard of such a book in my life.
That's because it isn't a book, but a movie. The book that is being funded is a prequel to the flick.
As for Peelers, the official website for the film describes it as...
What starts out as the last hurrah on the closing night of an infamous small-town strip club, quickly turns into a night of bloodshed when a crew of coal miners shows up and with them a deadly contaminant. Former baseball player and current club owner, Blue Jean Douglas has decided to hand over her bar to a new owner and leave town for good, but her plans are thwarted when she discovers the magnitude of the epidemic that has been unleashed. With victims piling up, Blue Jean must step up to the plate to protect her family, her friends and her bar before it's too late and she loses everything she holds dear.It was shot in British Columbia (Coquitlam, I believe) and lead actress Wren Walker is Ontario-born. Hell, IMDB identifies it as a Canadian flick. Plenty to raise a glass of maple whiskey to right there. I just can't quite seem to nail down whether the story actually takes place in Canada. But I can't identify that it DOESN'T, so let's just assume...
The Kickstarter campaign is just over 75% funded as I write this, with two weeks to go, so it seems like a safe bet that it will meet its goal just as the previous two issues of Deborah Daring did. If you missed those and are now interested, the campaign's structure makes it easy to catch up, focus on Deb, or on Peelers. Whatever suits your fancy. There's plenty of preview material there as well.
If you're still unsure, maybe check out a splatterfull trailer for Peelers first.
