Turning Over A New...Nah, Too Obvious.

Based on the name "Red Leaf Comics", you wouldn't immediately assume that the publisher was based out of Pheonix, Arizona (at least first went into business there).

But they are (were?) and damned if they didn't publish more Canadian characters than most of the other publishers I followed throughout the five years that my previous blog, They Stand On Guard ran. That includes flagship character The Leaf, who spanned multiple generations.

Of late, founder/publisher John Michael Helmer has directed much of his attention to Lucky Comics. That publishing imprint is more geared towards classic, public domain characters, some re-imagined, some less so, and their own original material. The most prominent members of their cast include Beetle Girl (granddaughter of the original Blue Beetle) and both a classic and modern version of The Black Bat, the pulp hero from the late 30s to the early 50s.

And now it seems that Red Leaf's own classic character is getting an update through Lucky. A few days ago, writer Mark F. Davis posted the following comment on his Facebook page:

I made a pitch to John Helmer of Lucky Comics for a new Leaf ongoing comic book for his Lucky Universe, and he dug it enough to launch a new Leaf title and give me full creative reigns on writing the book!  

We've got Laudable Luis Rivera staying up nights working hard on the design for the new character. How can you beat that? Watch for The New Leaf, from Lucky Comics!

And Rivera came through with the following:

Helmer further confirms that...

The character is NOT related to the MacSorly clan (the Red Leaf versions of the character) or any of their classic stories. All New-All Different and published by Lucky Comics!

The book is expected to be out in late summer/fall of this year. Presumably it will follow the now-standard Lucky Comics format of an 8-page pdf available from Drivethru Comics and in print from Indyplanet.

A Glimpse of The Force from Advent Comics

Advent Comics are not a Canadian publisher. I believe they are based out of Maryland, USA. However, their output of Canadian characters is about to explode.

I bought an Advent book in July 2015 on the basis of a Canadian character named Lynx, a member of a UN-sanctioned team called G-8. That's them below, and you probably don't need me to point out that Lynx is at top right.

While providing a greater degree of detail about Lynx at the time, Advent made me aware of a group called The Force (also known as The Canadian Shield, natch) that they intended to include in their comics universe. The plan, at the time, was for the team to be featured in the fifth issue of their Advent Spotlight book.

I have no idea whether having The Force be the focus of that specific issue is still in the works. But a mention of Advent Comics on Twitter on my part resulted in the publisher sharing the image of the team below (to my great gratitude, I might add).

Just a teaser, but encouraging to see that The Force is still on the publisher's radar.

These aren't the only Canadian characters soon-to-be-published by Advent, however. On December first, Advent posted (in part) the following text on their Facebook page.

...Advent Comics will be offering other indie creators and publishers access to Advent Comics’ distribution network in a creator-owned imprint. This imprint should not only help bring worthy creations to life but also shine a light on some of these projects and publishers by getting them out to the masses.

First (and most importantly), this is CREATOR-OWNED!!! The creators of the books will retain all rights - the only purpose of this imprint is to bring their stuff to the masses. Advent Comics is not interested in acquiring these book or characters (but with that said you may see a crossover with Advent Comics characters though). 

There are four initial titles that have been selected for the UNBOUND REALMS Imprint: 

... 

4. Jim Hachey’s SUPERNATURAL AGENTS – Featuring the Dawn of A New Age of Superheroes.

James Hachey's Water Front Studios are based out of Saint John, New Brunswick. For that matter, I believe the Supernatural Agents are as well.

Water Front has been sharing art from the SNA book on their own Facebook group of late, but most of it is of a back-up story about a character named Stunray, based out of Toronto.

Some high-energy stuff from artist Demi Mandir.

Before taking that in, it may be helpful to know that background material about the Supernatural Agents and Stunray can be found in the third issue of Manga Ganda, published by Red Leaf Comics.

You could almost consider that book to be a "zero issue" to the material that Advent will be publishing. Of the 32 pages in Manga Ganda 3, the Agents and Stunray each get eight. The rest of the book is mostly pinups and some brief sci-fi stories, but those 16 combined  pages pack all the history you need to be aware of to leap into the Advent books.

While the Supernatural Agents are going to be the headliners, Stunray will continue to claim eight pages per issue, at least for the first couple. The book is available for pre-order at the moment on the Advent Comics website and expected to be released at the end of this month.