Canadian Whites are

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 ...

-era

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 ...

s published in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

that feature colour covers with

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

interiors. Notable characters include

Nelvana of the Northern Lights Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studios' ''Triumph-Adventure Comics'' #1 (August 1941). She is also Superhero#Growth in diversity, one of the firs ...

Johnny Canuck Johnny Canuck is a Canadian cartoon hero and superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869 and was later re-invented as a Second World War action hero in 1942. The Vancouver Canucks, a professional ice hockey team in the National Hoc ...

, Brok Windsor, and Canada Jack. The period has been called the Golden Age of

Canadian comics Canadian comics refers to comics and cartooning by citizens of Canada or Permanent residency in Canada, permanent residents of Canada regardless of residence. Canada has Official bilingualism in Canada, two official languages, and distinct comic ...

Background

For the most part, the "Whites" have colour covers with interiors printed in black ink on white paper, although there are a handful of comics with colour interiors. They proliferated in Canada after the ''War Exchange Conservation Act'' restricted the importation of non-essential goods from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

into Canada, including fiction periodicals. For this reason, this era is sometimes referred to as the "WECA period" and the comics are sometimes referred to as "WECA books." At least four companies took advantage of the situation by publishing comics in Canada, sometimes using imported scripts.

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 ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Maple Leaf Publishing Maple Leaf Publishing was a World War II-era Canada, Canadian comic book publisher active during the Golden Age of Comic Books. They were one of four publishers—along with Anglo-American Publishing, Hillborough Studios, and Bell Features—whi ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

started publishing in March 1941. Later, two other Toronto-based publishers joined in: Hillborough Studios that August, and

Bell Features Bell Features, also known as Commercial Signs of Canada, was a Canadian comic book publisher during the World War II era. They were the most successful of the publishers of " Canadian Whites", and published comics such as Adrian Dingle's Nelvan ...

(originally Commercial Signs of Canada) in September. Some of the more notable "Whites" creators included Ed Furness, Ted McCall, Adrian Dingle, Gerald Lazare, Jon St. Ables, Fred Kelly, and

Leo Bachle Leo Henry Bachle (November 23, 1923 – May 2003), a.k.a. Les Barker, was a Canadian comic book artist in the era of the Canadian Whites, and later became a comedian. Biography Born in Toronto in November 1923, Bachle attended Danforth Collegiat ...

, all of whom would later be 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. This period has been called the Golden Age of Canadian comics, but the age of the "Whites" did not last long. When the trade restrictions were lifted following World War II, comic books from the United States were once again able to flow across the border.

Influence and legacy

In their depictions of heroic positive role models, the Canadian Whites served an important

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

function for Canadian readers during the war years. The animation studio

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

took its name from Adrian Dingle's creation, and one of the studio's first productions was a documentary about the Canadian Whites, ''The Great Canadian Comic Books''. The rediscovery of these comics by a new generation in the 1970s inspired a slew of new Canadian superheroes over the next decades, including everything from obscure

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

, to

webcomics Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

, to

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

by bestselling authors like

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

and

Ken Steacy Ken Steacy (born January 8, 1955) is a Canadians, Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of ''Astro Boy (NOW Comics), Astro Boy'' and of the Comico: The Comic Company, Comico comic series of ' ...

's ''War Bears''. The 2014 documentary ''Lost Heroes: The Untold Story of Canadian Superheroes'' began by covering this era.

Notes

References

External links

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

br>video
on the history of "Canadian Whites" {{Canadian comics History of Canadian comics Comics industry Golden Age of Comic Books

Background

Influence and legacy

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links