Lost Heroes Screening - Canadian Superheroes on the big screen!

 Things have bubbling over in the realm of Canadian comic historians and collectors for the last two years, with more communication, sharing and exploration than there has been for years. It’s exciting as many of work to help other achieve goals that have only been dreams in our heads for a long time. 

So it’s time to dust off Comicanuck and celebrate some big events.

I have been mostly silent on this blog in that time… burnout hit me hard. I write up to ten hours a day for my day job and don’t really get weekends off. So writing blog posts into the wee hours after work that was growing more and more difficult. And you may have noticed I tend to write long posts, which significantly increased the amount of time they took to create.

While I can only promise intermittent posting at best, working on shorter posts will help me be here more often than my old way of doing things.

The big news is that the complete adventures of Nelvana are being reprinted for the first time ever!!! (Seriously, you want this).  Check out nelvanacomics.com for more info. 

Few people beyond collectors have seen any of these stories and I suspect a rarified few have actually read all of them until now, including myself. After an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, comic book historians Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey are releasing the book this weekend at the TorontoComic Arts Festival.  

More on Nelvana in a forthcoming post. (See? Short and to the point!)

To kick off the Festivities, there will be a FREE SCREENING of creator Will Pascoe’s Canadian comic book documentary, Lost Heroes, Wed. May 7 at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema at 7 pm. (20 Carlton Street at Yonge). Hope Nicholson, in addition to spearheading the Nelvana project, was a producer on the film.

Here is the info from their Facebook page:

Come join TCAF and Nelvana of the Northern Lights for a screening of Lost Heroes!

Lost Heroes explores the past of the Canadian superhero, from the golden age when millions of children read the tales of Inuit goddess Nelvana of the Northern Lights, to the thrilling days when Canadian superheroes returned to the newstands with Captain Canuck and Cerebus. Lost Heroes celebrates the unique Canadian talent behind these characters and asks why can’t Canada keep their heroes?

The film will be followed by a brief Q&A moderated by Canadian comics historian Robert Pincombe (That’s me!) with Mark Askwith (producer of Space TV’s “Innerspace”), Ivan Kocmarek (Golden Age comics historian), Jason Loo (creator of new Canadian superhero, The Pitiful Human Lizard), Mark Shainblum (creator of superhero “Northguard”), Kalman Andrasofszky (writer/artist of the new Captain Canuck comic series), Mike Valiquette (animation director of the Captain Canuck webseries), and Hope Nicholson (co-publisher of Nelvana of the Northern Lights & Associate Producer of Lost Heroes).

This is a free screening, and all are welcome to attend! Doors are at 6:45pm, with the film starting promptly at 7:00pm.

I will be moderating a short panel after the screening featuring the above line-up of diverse Canadian historians and artists. But the real in depth talking will likely happen at the official after-party up at the Spotted Dick pub, (81 Bloor St. E.) It’s the 2014 TCAF Drink & Draw!  

If you want to know about Lost Heroes, visit their website. 

After the screening, I suspect many of the participants will head up to the Spotted Dick (81 Bloor St. E.) for the official after-party, the TCAF 2014 Drink & Draw. 

Hope to see you there, True Northers!

Beavers Up!