Ottawa:
The world has heard of Donald Trump the businessman, then came Donald Trump the President, but amid growing resentment in Canada, the US President emerged in a new avatar – a supervillain.
Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada and make it the 51st state of the United States followed by his move to unleash punishing tariffs have breathed new life into a superhero from the 1970s – Captain Canuck, Canada’s version of Captain America.
The Canadian superhero, cloaked in a red-and-white bodysuit and a face mask featuring the maple leaf – a prominent symbol of Canada, is a government agent with superhuman strength, whose mission is to save Canada and defend the nation’s sovereignty from the ‘bad guys’.
Speaking about Captain Canuck’s resurgence, 74-year-old Richard Comely, the artist who co-created the comic book character, said, “All of a sudden Canadians are looking to Captain Canuck as a symbol. And it’s basically, to them, Captain Canuck symbolizes independence.”
Captain Canuck, whose alter ego is Tom Evans, is a Mountie – a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – who gained his special powers after an alien encounter.
‘SUPERVILLAIN TRUMP AND HIS SIDEKICK MUSK’
Within days of taking office, President Trump had managed to evoke an anti-American sentiment among Canadians and a feeling of resentment for him. It all started when he called the Canadian Prime Minister “Governor”, and followed that up with a threat to annex US’ larger northern neighbour.
President Trump, who now finds himself as a supervillain in Canadian comic books and a graphic novel-based animated series, had offered to “buy” Canada, to which the Canadian government swiftly made a counter-offer to purchase the US state of California.
Moreover, in most of his press briefings, President Trump started referring to Canada as “the 51st state”, justifying how that will be “a great move” to ensure better national security for “all Americans” while also be economically wise for Canadians. This led to widespread protests against Trump with posters and placards reading “Canada Not For Sale!”.
But for Canada, President Trump was behaving just like a classic graphic novel ‘supervillain’ – refusing to let go – in this case, of his rhetoric of wanting to annex Canada. He imposed punitive tariffs – first at a bilateral level across several industries and sectors – and then announce further “reciprocal tariffs” and some non-reciprocal ones in an attempt to crush Canada economically. So great was the pressure that Canada’s interim prime minister called for sudden snap polls in order to bring a decisive government with a strong mandate to counter Donald Trump’s threats and actions.
By now, Canada, an immediate neighbour of the United States and one of its closest allies for many decades, distanced itself. The two governments went from being friends to foes in a matter of weeks. Canadians never felt more strongly that the American leadership couldn’t be trusted anymore.
Canadians, who take pride in their “liberal values and views” also despised the way Elon Musk was allegedly “interfering” in government beyond the United States. Some even cited Musk’s moves to reportedly back the right-wing and the far-right in Europe as an example of his intentions.
And so, like in some classic comic books, Musk was portrayed as ‘supervillain’ Trump’s sidekick – both of whom are shown being graphically manhandled and thrown out by superhero Captain Canuck. While in one frame, the comic shows Donald Trump being physically stopped by Captain Canuck, in another chapter, it shows Trump and Musk being dragged by the collar.
Captain Canuck was back in action – and an instant hit across Canada. Stores and libraries have their shelves stacked up, and Canadians seen lining up to get a copy for themselves.
CANADA NEEDED AN ICON – IN THE 1970s AND NOW
Mr Comely, the co-creator of the superhero, said he created the character in the 1970s – at a moment when he thought Canadians wanted their own icon, given that the United States had Captain America.
“I think there was an undercurrent, so to speak, in Canada in the ’70s. So I think Canadians were starting to feel like, you know, like they should acknowledge the fact that we had our own country, and we had our own culture and be proud of the fact that we were Canadians,” Mr Comely said.
Since the first publication in 1975, there have been 4 million Captain Canuck-themed comic books, books, and graphic novels in print worldwide, Mr Comely said, adding that his original storyline envisioned Canada as a world power that faces challenges from groups seeking to infiltrate, destabilize and take over the country.
“Of course, never, never in any of those stories was it America that was going to be taking over Canada,” Mr Comely said.
For the cover of Captain Canuck’s 50th anniversary issue, Mr Comely depicted the superhero wagging his finger at Donald Trump, who wants Canada to become a US state. “It’s got a lot of Canadians, you know, thinking about their identity as Canadians and feeling more united as Canadians. We feel like, okay, we’ve got to stand in opposition to these proposals,” he said.
Captain Canuck and Mr Comely have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the comic book world since their start in 1975, falling silent when Comely stepped back to help raise his large family, with a brief return in the ’90s charting out a different storyline in “Captain Canuck Reborn.”
Since 2012, when Mr Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Chapterhouse Comics, Captain Canuck has become a mainstay in the comic book scene, expanding his reach with an animated web series and memorabilia.
Mr Comely said he has received more calls from Canadian companies that have expressed “keen interest” in the fictional character due to the political tensions between the two neighboring countries.
“So in a sense, we have Mr. Trump to thank for a bit of resurgence,” he said.
(Inputs from Reuters)
