True Patriot #7 Available on Comixology Jan 17th

The image below is for the 6th issue of True Patriot Presents but it seems that #7 is coming to us digitally on Wednedsay. The info below was posted on True Patriot Facebook group.

One year later, Dominion Jack’s adventures continue with this week’s release of True Patriot Presents #7...along with new Crude, Red Ensign and the Family Dynamic!

There you go! Now you have something to get you through the Monday blues!

Norlan: Sorceress Of Light

Speaking of Auric earlier...

The above was shared on the Canadian Comic Book Alliance Facebook group in November.

I don't recall a character named Norlan in the Auric book. The character that would best fit the limited information above would be the lady he met in 1912 who granted him his powers and bore a striking resemblance to a classic Canadian heroine.  Hmmm...

CanComicsWiki Awards 2017

The Canadian Independent Comic Book Wiki's construction began in December 2016 with the purpose of creating a record of all independently made comics books by Canadians over the years (and, of course, going forward). Content began to be added early in 2017and the database has grown at a rapid pace.

And what better way to celebrate an active and successful year "in business" than with an awards ceremony?

During the second half of December 2017, founder Brendan Montgomery collected upwards of 300 votes in various categories relating to independent comics publishing. The winners were announced about a week ago, starting with...

Coincidentally, I received the fourth issue of this series in the mail earlier today...

Auric is no stranger to this page, its predecessor, or probably of any fan of Canadian comics for that matter. The ongoing has been very successfully crowd-funded in the past and shows no signs of slowing down.

However, I admit to being far less familiar with the other big winner, apparently to my loss.

Adventurers originated as a web comic. After a couple of hundred strips released over the course of about three years, it also successfully took the crowd-funding route with the goal to release a compilation in print.

What was it about? Says Tindall...

When my oldest daughter was two, I began making drawings of her every day. In order to fit the strips in between my regular work, I made the rule that they had to be in pen, with no sketching beforehand, with only one colour (blue). She was growing up so fast and becoming such a fascinating person that I felt I needed to document it. As soon as she could speak, I realized that it would be a lot funnier to make comics about her 

...

For the first time, I'm going to write and draw the harrowing story of my kid's heart surgery at eight months old. The horrible days leading up to the surgery, the endless night while we waited to hear, and her two-week recovery. 

 I don't know that the description "slice of life" for a book has ever been more appropriate.

Take a look at the complete voting results of these awards. You'll see some familiar faces among the runners-up and honourable mentions, such as Big Nick and Auroraman. You may also be introduced to something pretty cool.

And make a mental note to participate next year. Preferably as a creator, if you've ever had that inclination.

Get To Know...Patriotfire!! (And The Rest Of North Force Alpha)

As work proceeds on the second and third issues of North Force Alpha, as well as a sourcebook about the team and its world, creator/writer/artist Peter Colp has been posting some background information about its members on its Facebook group.  Patriotfire below is an example.

FEELING BETRAYED BY HIS COUNTRY, AND MISTRUSTING OF THE GOVERNMENT, JACOBY "DAGGER" STEVENSON HAS RELUCTANTLY JOINED NFA. HIS "MUTATED" ABILITIES AND APPEARANCE HAVE BEEN A LIFE ALTERING EXPERIENCE AND CAUSED HIM TO HIDE AND BECOME AN OUTCAST FROM SOCIETY FOR MANY YEARS.

NOW, ENCOURAGED AND INSPIRED BY A PAST CANADIAN PATRIOT'S HEROIC DEEDS, HE HAS DECIDED TO AID NFA AGAINST THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS THE OCTAGON!

I'm kind of curious about this "past patriot" part now...

The second issue is expected to be available at the end of January and the plan following that is to release another issue every three months or so. The third issue should introduce a rival team from the United States and THAT's always a good time. ;-)

Colp has also launched a website specific to his team recently. It's still in need of a few tweaks, but you can have a look at that here.

Here's a capsule view of the team. The image below was posted by Colp on the Facebook group.

Fourth Time's The Charm?

The North Shield is a graphic novel project by William Byrne that's been percolating for some time. Here's its elevator pitch:

They thought they killed him, but they were wrong... Rising from the ashes to be found by a secret government agency under the streets of the Toronto as he struggles to understand and cope with his newfound abilities. 

He will be trained by a battle scarred WW2 French Canadian superhero/spy and armed with an alien battle-suit. 

He will claim back his new home from the dark tyranny that threatens to destroy the city. 

He will become the hero the city/country and the world needs!

Byrne attempted to kickstart it on three separate occasions earlier this year. The first campaign was cancelled for reasons which escape me now and the next two failed to meet their goals.

But...Byrne deserves some credit here, for a variety of reasons.

1) Many people would have called it quits after the first attempt. Byrne believes in his project and persevered.

2) Byrne received quite a bit of press over his project including the CBC, local newspapers and of course a variety of comics sites. That's not always easy to do so clearly he managed to strike a chord with some people.

3) While he didn't reach his goal, he was still able to obtain thousands of dollars in commitments.

Referring back to point one, after the third attempt did not meet expectations, Byrne stated that he and his character would be back soon. Honestly, I've read this claim a dozen times from folks who were never heard from again so I admit I've begun to think of it as the standard farewell speech.

Prior to writing this, I went over the past few months of activity on The North Shield Facebook group to look for news I might have missed since the end of the last fundraising campaign. There are two types of posts by Byrne that stand out; Those relative to his various attempts at improving his product and the more general ones about not giving up on a goal.

Then today, Byrne shared a post from Toronto artist Loc Nguyen which displays a redesign of The North Shield character.

Pretty smooth, eh? It builds nicely on Marvin Law's art above (I don't know if Law was involved in the original design or only as the artist on the book). Nguyen's use of darker colours and the added detail work very well here.

Byrne's own hard work, public requests for feedback, positive attitude and a sleek new look for the main character all indicate that he truly has not given up on seeing his graphic novel published. Don't be surprised if The North Shield appears on Kickstarter once again before long.

ICYMI Art: Dominion Jack by Steve Rude

Jack Briglio shared the image yesterday as part of his Merry Christmas message to friends, family, etc.

As a True Patriot & Dominion Jack treat, thought I’d share an image of a gift I received from none other than the “Dude” himself, Steve Rude! His take on Dominion Jack and Mashup. Cool or what, eh? 🙂 Enjoy! 

I’ll have some shots from the next True Patriot Presents Dominion Jack chapter that Hugh and I are cooking up in the new year! The story is heating up...

No better gift than one you can also share.

The "Hugh" being referred to is no doubt Hugh Rockwood. Hugh has handled art duties on the last couple of installments of the Dominion Jack stories in True Patriot Presents and apparently will continue to do so. He also contributed the cover below to the third issue of Captain Canuck Chapterhouse Archives book. Alas, it never saw print.

Looking Ahead to 2018 Some More!

The last chronological post here displayed the cover for Deborah Daring #4 but as the year comes to a close, I should take the time to mention some of the other great books that are schedule to become available in the early part of the new year.

These three covers are displayed in the order that I remember seeing them in. It is not a reflection of the order in which they might be released or indicative of my affection for the product and/or its creator(s). ;-)

Big Nick #3

Auric #5

It's good to see the Auric cover. I have yet to receive #4 after supporting it in the recent Kickstarter campaign. I have no concerns about it reaching me, as the team behidn Auric and Great North comics has always been reliable in that sense, but seeing work on #5 already being shared makes me hopeful that there will be a little less time between these two issues.

Project I.M.P.A.C.T. #1

More serious fare here. I'd been hoping a coloured version would come quickly after the black and white one was revealed a few days earlier.

I know work continues on North, Oktana @ Co, North Force Alpha, the Lucky Comics version of The Leaf, Psychosis and more as well. One book that met its fundraising goal and that should be coming my way soon is Atticus Drake. Here's the cover for that.

Find out more about that project here. It may end up being a one-and-done, but I'm always all-in for a good war story. I wish I'd been more vocal in supporting it (for whatever little good that might actually do) so I was quite glad to see it meets its goal.

If you are aware of other projects involving Canadian characters, creators, settings and publishers, get in touch with me at jf4nier(at)gmail(dot)com.

Deborah Daring #4 Getting Kickstarted Soon!

I've praised the folks behind the Psychosis book a few times over the handling of their crowdfunding campaigns but Rob McKinnon, the man behind the Deborah Daring limited series, deserves those same accolades as well.

Rob sent a campaign update earlier today in which he apologized to some backers over a delay in shipping the collected edition of the book that they'd pre-purchased. I've backed individual issues and have encountered no such delays. If any of the three books were late, it wasn't particularly noticeable.

The update came with cover art for the next issue which I very much plan to support again. Artist Jae Korim is a great choice for this book.