Heroes Of The Home Front

Being deeply interested in Canadian comics history, I backed this crowdfunding project shortly after its launch, hardly needing to give it a second glance in deciding to do so. I'd come across the campaign 's founder's name (Ivan Kocmarek) in the past and the possibility of acquiring up to 300 pages of historical data about 40s Canadian comics publisher Bell Features was too good to pass up.

It is now in its final week and I am truly hopeful that it will meet its funding goal. As I find out more information about it, it becomes quite clear that a great deal of time and effort went into the project and that it is an extreme labour of love.

My initial concern, partially caused by the image of Nelvana on the campaign page, was that I would be purchasing material I already owned from supporting prior reprinting efforts (such as the Nelvana and Johnny Canuck books at the left of the page). I didn't want to pay for a 300 page book just to find that only a couple of dozen of them are new to me.

I referred back to a First Comics News interview with Mr. Kocmarek which put that concern to bed. I've copied Kocmarek's answer to a question about content below. It describes the book better than the Kickstarter campaign page does, in my opinion.

...The book is about the art and artists who worked for Canadian WWII comic book publishing company, Bell Features Publications, which was based in Toronto and which put out original Canadian comic book material between 1941-46. 

The book is a 300-page 9” X 12” volume that reproduces more than 150 pages of original art from the Bell Features collection held by the Library and Archives of Canada in Ottawa. It also reproduces an additional 25 Bell Features original art pages from private collections. Each of these original art pages is reproduced as a full 9” X 12” page in the book and have never been reproduced in this way before. 

The rest of the book is text with photos sharing some of the backstory of the artists who made those pages. There are about 30 sections in the book each one about a different Bell Features comic book artist. The basic structure of each of these sections is: 

-A backstory on the life of the artist 

-An index of his/her work for Bell Features 

-An interview with the artist where possible or an interview with a direct family member. 

-Pages reproducing a selection of that artist’s original page drawings for Bell Features.

Kocmarek states in no uncertain terms in an answer to another question later in the interview that there are no reprints in this book. In effect, this is an encyclopedia specific to that publisher, or at least its talent.

If you have an interest in classic Canadian comics, characters, or creators, I hope you are supporting this project, or will now choose to do so. Instead of duplicating past reprint effort, it appears that this book will serve as a great to complement to them.

Thunder #5 Now Available From Two Gargoyles Comics

In my previous post (August 22nd, chronogically) I mentioned coming across a few surprises from Indyplanet, among them an addition to the Group Of Seven series. The other major one was a print version of Thunder #5 being available.

The book has gone through a number of changes since the last issue was released, including a new artist (Myk Emmshin) and a name change for one of the characters. Nonetheless, this issue continues the story begun in the previous four, but is a bit of a transition issue. Thunder's training continues, he plans a return to Asgard and Vancouver begins to react to the superhero activity within city limits. Here's a glimpse at the new-look Thunder.

Now even though I happened to see the book on IndyPlanet, I would avoid buying it from them unless you plan to do so in digital format. The shipping costs from print books are simply brutal.

When I pointed this out on Twitter recently, writer Michael McAdam offered to ship the books to me if I bought directly from him. There's still a cost involved, of course, but it is reduced significantly.

I doubt McAdam offered this to me because I'm particularly awesome (though it's entirely possible). I'm sure the offer applies to any potential customer. So if you decide to get your hands on individual issues of Thunder, go straight to the source or contact McAdam through the Two Gargoyles Twitter account.

And coincidentally, as I was confirming Two Gargoyles Twitter account name, McAdam happened to post a picture of a new promotional poster for Thunder. Have a look below, and Mike, if/when you read this, remind me to add one to my order when I get Thunder #6 from you some day.