Richard Comely (born October 9, 1950) is 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 ...

creator Creator or The Creator may refer to: Film and television * ''Creator'' (film), a 1985 film starring Peter O'Toole, Vincent Spano, Mariel Hemingway, and Virginia Madsen * ''The Creator'' (1999 film), a French film written and directed by and sta ...

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing ...

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic-book-reading experience. The l ...

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

. He created and wrote the ''

Captain Canuck Captain Canuck is a Canadian comics, Canadian comic book superhero. Created by cartoonist Ron Leishman and artist/writer Richard Comely, the original Captain Canuck first appeared in ''Captain Canuck'' #1 (July 1975). The series was the first suc ...

'' comic book series which has been in and out of publication since its original release in 1975. In 2011, Minds Eye Entertainment bought the rights Captain Canuck to produce a live-action film adaptation. In 2012, Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with CEO of

Chapterhouse Comics Chapterhouse Comics was a Canadian comics, comic book publishing company that publishes books featuring classic Canadian comics, Canadian comic book characters such as Captain Canuck and Northguard in a unified comic book universe. In 2020, Cha ...

Fadi Hakim to produce animation, merchandise, and a new comic book series under Captain Canuck Incorporated.

Life and career

Richard Comely was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England in 1950 and relocated to Canada as a child in 1953. Comely was baptized into

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) in 1971. Married since 1975 to Evelyn, Comely is the father of eight children. Comely had worked as a sign painter; crest designer; fashion and embroidery designer; an illustrator/paste-up artist for a printer; and a graphic designer for newspapers, magazines, and advertising. Comely has also written and illustrated children's books, syndicated newspaper features, and greeting cards. Comely has also published a newspaper. He designed and manufactures the ComelyCrane; a portable, extendable jib arm. He also produced a best-selling art education video "Drawing from the Pros". He began publishing the ''

'' comic book series in early 1975 with co-creator Ron Leishman whom he met at an LDS Church meeting. It was the first independently published comic book to be printed in full color. Comely had no experience with comic books having never read or collected them as a child. Comely and Leishman had planned to create a Canadian-themed comic book based on Captain Canada as early as 1971, but were unable to obtain funding. The character was named Captain Canuck as a variation of Captain Canada. Despite being criticized for appearing to be a prank, the name was intended as a positive slang term for a Canadian. ''Captain Canuck'' " utsoldall other comic books in Canada in 1975," with 170,000 copies initially sent to stores and newsstands in the United States and Canada. Letters from the Canadian prime minister and the Canadian governor-general were published in issues of the series. As a member of the LDS Church, Comely used the comic book series as a proselytizing tool. He informed readers of his church membership in the first issue; reprinted an article from an LDS Church affiliated magazine called the ''

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

'' in the second issue; and published missionary pamphlets and letters from Ron Leishman, who was serving a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for the LDS Church at the time, in subsequent issues. The first issue of the series was criticized by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine as "amateurish" with "often clumsy artwork and storyline". Two other issues were released in 1975 until Comely Comix went out of business the same year and left the comic at a cliffhanger because they were unable to keep up with publishing costs. In 1979, Comely created CKR productions in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and resumed publishing the series at issue four with Comely resuming his position as the writer. Comely delegated business management, artwork, and coloring to other employees, positions he originally held himself, in order to focus on improving the storyline. By issue five, Comely served as editor-in-chief. After 13 issues, in 1981, Comely left the production in order to return to freelance design. In 1982, he published a new comic series called ''Star Rider and the Peace Machine'', but only two issues were released before the project folded. CRK productions only released one additional issue of ''Captain Canuck'' before closing down for financial issues and abandoning the series. Comely and his production staff released ''Captain Canuck Reborn'' in 1993 which was intended to be a new series with different characters and a different origin story. However, Comely only released four issues before it and a Captain Canuck newspaper strip went out of publication in 1996 due to difficulties navigating the Canadian publishing industry. Comely served as editor of a limited Captain Canuck series called ''Captain Canuck: Unholy War'' in 2004, created by Riel and Drue Langlois. Comely released a new Captain Canuck series in summer 2006. In September 2006, Comely began instructing in comic books, storytelling, and comic strips at

Mohawk College Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public college of applied arts and technology located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1966, the college currently has five main campuses: the Fennell Campus on the Hamilton Mount ...

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

where he created a one-year course for comic book illustration and scripting. According to the ''Panama City News Herald'', Comely said that he has more interest in promoting his character Captain Canuck than creating new comics. In 2012, Richard entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Fadi Hakim, CEO of

to produce animation, merchandise, new Captain Canuck comic book series, and pursue licensing ventures under Captain Canuck Incorporated. In 2011, Minds Eye Entertainment acquired the right to Captain Canuck with intentions to adapt the series into a live-action film. In 2012, they hired Arne Olsen to write the screenplay; however, as of 2020, there have been no updates on the film adaptation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comely, Richard 1950 births Living people People from Portage la Prairie People from Cambridge, Ontario Canadian comics creators Artists from Oxford Writers from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo