Ed Furness (1910–2005) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

artist associated with the "

Canadian Whites Canadian Whites are World War II-era comic books published in Canada that feature colour covers with black-and-white interiors. Notable characters include Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Johnny Canuck, Brok Windsor, and Canada Jack. The period ...

", Canadian comic books published during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Furness, originally from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, grew up in Dunnville, Ontario. Furness graduated from the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

in 1933, and after a few years of working as an illustrator he was hired by

Anglo-American Publishing Anglo-American Publishing was a Canadian comic book publisher during the World War II era. While they published a number of Canadian creations, they also printed Canadian reworkings of scripts bought from American publisher Fawcett Comics. As o ...

to produce comic book stories for their burgeoning line of comics. In 1941, Furness, along with writer

Ted McCall Edwin Reid McCall (born 1901 in Chatham, Ontario, died 1975) was a Canadian journalist, and a comic strip and comic book writer. He was best known for creating the first comic strip based on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, '' Men of the Mounte ...

created the character of

Freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

for Anglo-American's Freelance Comics. Furness also drew

Commander Steel Commander Steel (also known as Captain Steel, Citizen Steel and Sergeant Steel) is the name of three superheroes appearing in media published by DC Comics, all members of the same family. The first Steel appeared in ''Steel, The Indestructible ...

Grand Slam Comics Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

from 1941 and many other comic book stories, eventually becoming the lead artist for Anglo-American Publishing. The

War Measures Conservation Act War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

ended in 1946, and reopened the distribution of American comic books in Canada again, which led to the end to many Canadian comic book publishers. Anglo-American made one last-ditch effort to distribute their periodicals in the United States in color and failed. Anglo-American Publishing shut down production in 1956. Furness went on to do commercial art and landscape painting. Ed Furness was one of five comic book creators inducted into the

Joe Shuster Award The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (or Joe Shuster Awards) are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadians. The awards, ...

s Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame in April 2005.

See also