Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe

by John Bell

Overview

Short-listed for the 2007 CBA Libris Awards for Book Design of the Year

What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the "funnies" long before.

Invaders from the North profiles past and present comic geniuses, sheds light on unjustly neglected chapters in Canadas pop history, and demonstrates how this nation has vaulted to the forefront of international comic art, successfully challenging the long-established boundaries between high and low culture. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and colour comic covers and panels, Invaders from the North serves up a cheeky, brash cavalcade of flamboyant and outrageous personalities and characters that graphically attest to Canadas verve and invention in the world of visual storytelling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459720749
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	11/11/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John Bell is a senior archivist at Library and Archives Canada and a leading authority on the history of English Canadian comic books. His contributions to the comics field include two books, Canuck Comics and Guardians of the North, and the websites Guardians of the North and Beyond the Funnies. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

John Bell, who was born in Montreal and grew up in Halifax, has written extensively on various aspects of Canadian history and culture. His most recent books are Confederate Seadog: John Taylor Wood in War and Exile, and Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe. Recently retired from his position as a senior archivist at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, he now lives in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Bell sticks to his strengths and offers a solid history ... Invaders from the North ... is still the most thorough examination of Canadian comics to date."

Editorial Reviews

Bell presents the story of how Canadian comics came to be. Filled with interesting facts and vivid illustrations, the book chronicles the history of comics and comic art in that nation. Chapters are separated by year and follow a linear time line, outlining comics from 1849 to 2006. Two thirty-page "spotlights" are included to describe the lives and works of Johnny Canuck and Chester Brown. Teens will learn everything, from the fact that Canada has already experienced a "golden age" of comics to the idea of "alternative visions" within the industry. At times, niche books have a difficult time reaching their intended audience. This text-packed book with many full-color comic illustrations seems to suffer this ill fate. The book itself is dense and uncharacteristically not action packed, considering the fact that it is the story of the birth of comic books. Bell focuses specifically on the Canadian comic book industry, which makes for an interesting tale, but one that might not resonate much with many teens. The story is plagued with big words (ephemeral is one example from the introduction) and the text name-drops unfamiliar Canadian strongholds that teens likely will not recognize. This book may find a home in the hearts of comic book and graphic novel aficionados, but for a general reading audience, the book itself and the subject matter serves only a small niche and does so at a higher level than most teens will reach.

VOYA - Ria Newhouse

"This is a scholarly book, complete with footnotes, a bibliography and website addresses where you can find out more about this subject and even look at some samples of that new phenomenon, online comics. This was an interesting study."
— Dan Davidson

The Whitehorse Star

"Canada's distinctive contributions to cartooning get a new history all their own in the cleverly designed Invaders From the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe by John Bell."

The Calgary Herald

"It's a beauty of a book, a must for the growing legion of fans of an art form that stands as a legitimate bridge between high and low culture."

From the Publisher

"This is a scholarly book, complete with footnotes, a bibliography and website addresses where you can find out more about this subject and even look at some samples of that new phenomenon, online comics. This was an interesting study."

The Whitehorse Star - Dan Davidson

"The book's 60-plus images rightly place the spotlight on the art ... Kudos to publisher Dundurn for using colour, fully remastered, for all images that originally used it, as well as for using heavy paper stock - there's an almost tactile thickness to the images that gives them an impressive air of scrapbook solidity."

Quill and Quire - Gary Butler

"Invaders From the North is the best kind of pop culture book: quirky and fascinating, with a fresh look at something most of us take for granted."

Monday Magazine - John Threlfall

"It's a beauty of a book, a must for the growing legion of fans of an art form that stands as a legitimate bridge between high and low culture."

Toronto Star

"... an original work that scholars, collectors, fans, and enthusiasts of all ages should plan on adding to their libraries."

The Record - Alex Good

"Canada's distinctive contributions to cartooning get a new history all their own in the cleverly designed Invaders From the North."

The Calgary Herald - Nancy Tousley

"... Canada clearly has a comic book heritage worth celebrating, and this is a worthy tribute."

British Journal of Canadian Studies - York Membery

"Bell's book is to be welcomed as part of a larger movement to recover Canada's lost popular culture."

Literary Review of Canada - Jeet Heer

"Bell's book is well researched and illustrated."

Ottawa X Press - Chris Robinson

"Refreshingly, John Bell takes a more inclusive view in his history of Canadian comics and cartoonists, Invaders from the North ... The research behind Bell's book is impressive, as is its scope."

The Gazette - Claude Lalumire

"Bell sticks to his strengths and offers a solid history ... Invaders from the North ... is still the most thorough examination of Canadian comics to date."

New Brunswick Reader - Scott Marshall

"Filled with interesting facts and vivid illustrations, the book chronicles the history of comics and comic art."

Ria Newhouse