Joe Shuster Hall of Fame 2010 - Dave Darrigo Video

More of the Joe Shuster Awards 2010 Hall of Fame Video from Toronto's Innis Hall last June 5. This year's inductees included Deni Loubert, Serge Gaboury and Captain Canuck writer-artists Richard Comely, George Freeman and Claude St. Aubin.

Our next inductee is Dave Darrigo. Dave has a long history of independent publishing and self-publishing through his Special Studios imprint. Despite not seing the same level of public awareness as some Canadian creators, Dave has provided work and a showcase for a great many Canuck artists. He was also one of the original group that founded and got the the Shuster Awards up and running.

The Hall of Fame committee was proud to shine the spotlight on a man who rarely gets such attention and when he does, he usually tries to give it to someone he feels is more deserving!

Though family concerns have taken Dave away from comics creation for a while, he assures us he has some ideas percolating.

Dave's award was presented by Joe Kilmartin, manager of Toronto's Dragon Lady comic shop.

Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame 2010 Inductee: Dave Darrigo from Jill Leger on Vimeo.

Dave doesn't have a big online presence as yet. Time to fix that, Dave! :) His Hall of Fame bio is coming soon though. Keep checking the Shuster Hall of Fame main page.

For more info on the Dragon Lady Comic Shop you can join their Facebook page.

Next up, we'll see the induction of a true founder and builder of the modern Canadian Comics scene. We all owe the very idea of making it as a Canadian Comic artist to this woman and her fellow early movers and shakers. Stay tuned for Deni Loubert!


Beavers Up!

Joe Shuster Hall of Fame 2010 - Serge Gaboury Video

The Joe Shuster Awards have come and gone once again, held this year at Toronto's Innis Town Hall on June 5.

Each year of the Shusters brings surprising and delightful additions to their Hall of Fame and this time around is no different. (*Full Disclosure: I was one this year's Hall of Fame and as usual, debate was lively but respectful.) Inductees included Deni Loubert, Dave Darrigo and Captain Canuck writer-artists Richard Comely, George Freeman and Claude St. Aubin.

I'll be posting video of all the Hall of Fame inductions shot and uploaded by my lovely, talented and oh so indulgent wife.

The night kicked off with the induction of prolific Quebec cartoonist Serge Gaboury. I had the honour of presenting Serge with his trophy and chatting at length with he and his beautiful Mrs. Gaboury after the event.

Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame 2010 Inductee: Serge Gaboury from Jill Leger on Vimeo.

Serge was gracious, humble and quite moved by the event. See more of his comics and animation at his website, www.gabourycartoons.com and at his bdquebec page. If you need a readable Anglais version, here is the Google-translated version.

You can find Serge's Shuster Hall of Fame page here.

For a complete list of Hall of Fame members check out the Shuster's HoF main page.

For those who are interested, here is the text of my speech:

Serge Gaboury was born in Quebec in 1954. By the time he studied Graphic Communication at Laval University, he had already published strips in the Peuple-Tribune and was drawing cartoons for the university’s newspaper. Despite a rise in awareness and recognition of Québec culture during the seventies, the province’s indigenous comics scene was still struggling to find itself when Jacques Hurtibise founded Croc magazine, a hybrid of Quebec comics and satirical humour that became a leading showcase for Quebec’s top cartoonists. Gaboury joined the Croc team in 1979 and never looked back, contributing strips throughout its legendary run.

Since then, Gaboury strips have appeared regularly in comic magazines like Safarir and Les Debrouillards while his cartoons and caricatures appeared in publications as diverse as the Journal de Québec, Le Devoir, Le Soleil and 7Jours, and La Terre dé Chez Nous (Quebec Agricultural Producer’s union newspaper). Gaboury’s animation work has appeared on Radio-Canada and the Canoe website. In the last decade Gaboury’s popularity and renown has only increased with the publishing of his award-winning Glik and Gluk collections. At one point, along with all his comic work, Segre was also designing all the floats for night parade of the Quebec Winter Carnival.

It’s easy to dismiss exceptional, consistent output like that. After years of incredible basketball, we take a Kobe Bryant 50-point night for granted. That’s because someone that good is no longer measured in normal terms. They’re only measured against themselves. That is Serge Gaboury’s legacy. Artist Gabriel Morrisette calls Serge the best gagman in the business and mentioned an old joke about Gaboury, who did comics for every level of government at one time or another… Except for the Ministry of Revenue, because he works for them every time he does a job! Artists and fans admire Gaboury’s versatility – from his caustic humour in Croc and the Lewis Carroll-like adventures of Alys in Titanic to editorial caricatures and children’s books like the funny bees of Zzzzzoé (pronounced hEY!) and his well-known Glik and Gluk series.

Morrisette also points to Gaboury’s generosity with his technical expertise. He was one of the first to move to digital colour and helped teach Gabriel when he needed to learn it for a job. In terms of sheer output, Gaboury is amazingly prolific - the Jack Kirby of Quebec comics, constantly working to support his family. Tonight, since I started this speech Serge has finished another Glik and Gluk collection, an ad for Quaker Oats and a 350 page graphic novel about the history of the pogo stick… all since taking his seat! You might be surprised to find there are very few Serge Gaboury anecdotes. But how could there be? The dude never goes anywhere. He’s always at working. Some might think that a dull life. Maybe… but never dull on the page.

Gaboury’s loose, cartoony style sometimes gets taken for granted but it’s very effective and he is highly regarded by his peers. Pierre Fournier tells tales of everyone at the Croc office gathering around when Gaboury’s artwork came in and laughing out loud at his pages. Even an artist like Henriette Valium, whose extremely underground work is miles from Gaboury’s, used to buy kid’s magazines to read his Glik and Gluk and was terrified to meet the talented Serge in person. As you’ll soon see, Serge is in no way terrifying so that says a lot.

By the way Serge, Pierre requested that I relay a message to you. Usually he meets you at the Quebec Book Fair so you and your wives can catch up. This year Pierre couldn’t make it. He assures me that is because he’s avoiding you, as you suspected.

Fellow Shuster Hall of Famer Jacques Hurtubise did share one anecdote. Croc magazine was the most important Quebec humour/comics magazine of its day. And rival magazine Safarir (or Saf) was very competitive. So when Croc magazine folded, they quickly moved to scoop up three key Croc artists: Pierre Fournier and Real Godbout, who didn’t last, and Serge Gaboury. The Editor-in-Chief of Saf was bragging to Gaboury about the advantages of working for them over Croc and assured Serge that they would never make him draw bloody and violent strips like Croc had him do. Serge happily replied, “They were not forcing me. I love to draw bloody and violent comics!” Dull life? Never on the page.

We are seeing a slow evolution in English Canadian comics. Where once there was a great divide between comic books, comic strips, comic albums, animation, caricature and graphic art, creators are coming to see the link between all these forms. In Quebec that is how it has always been. The meaning of the term “comics” is vast and broad thanks to the versatility of pioneering artists like Serge Gaboury. Gaboury fans were able to find his work not just in comic magazines, but also in newspapers, on TV and in advertisements. The examples set by Gaboury and his peers (like fellow Joe Shuster Hall of Famers Jacques Hurtubise, Real Godbout and Pierre Fournier) inspired a new generation of creators to view comics as an art form with no boundaries.

For over thirty years Gaboury has been a force for Canadian comics in Québec with consistently enchanting, engaging work and we are proud to induct him into the Joe Shuster Hall of Fame. Ladies ad Gentlemen… Serge Gaboury.

(*With thanks to Gabriel Morrissette, Jacques Hurtubise and Pierre Fournier)

Next up, an under-appreciated but potent force in Canadian Comics is inducted -- Dave Darrigo!

Beavers Up!

Ad-Astra: Animation Guest of Honour

This weekend I will be appearing as the Animation Guest of Honour at Ad-Astra.

Not only is it my first time as a Guest, but it's also my first official sci-fi convention... ever!! (Not counting Fan Expo, which I have attended for the comics side). I hope you are all gentle with me and my non-sci-fi wife!

In addition to guesting on several panels and helping to judge Canada's Next Top Zombie (Awesome!!), my panel on Animation will be on Sunday Morning (Opposite Robert Sawyer's writing workshop. Sigh. But who wants to hear what the tremendously successful, engaging, friendly and prolific hack has to say?)

Since I'm not sure what to expect, I thought Id let you know what you can expect!

LIFE IN CARTOONS

Got a question about animation? Wondering why your child is obsessed with Bakugan or where Max and Ruby’s parents are? Want an inside scoop on the making of your favourite - and not so favourite - cartoons? Using his own extensive career as a living example, Animation Guest of Honor Robert Pincombe dishes on the joys and pitfalls of his chosen profession: the trials of breaking in, the challenge of writing for different age groups and different kinds of animation, and the often hilarious cultural disconnects you run into when adapting anime.

The Ad-Astra site is here.

And my bio is here.

And my not quite current imdb page is here.

See you there! :)

Beavers Up!

A Paralympic Pledge from Alpha Flight's Box - Part Two: Handicapped Heroes and Wheelchair Wonders

Hey there comicanuckers! Box here again -- Alpha Flight’s man of metal.

We’re continuing on with our Paralympics inspired look at handicapped comic book heroes. Check out part one, A Paralympic pledge from Alpha Flight’s Box – Part One: Differently Super-Abled Superheroes.

Last time out we talked about amputee avengers and paralyzed protectors so let’s check out super dudes and dudettes on two wheels!

For most of comics history, we only saw a hero in a wheelchair when the writer needed us to see the hero at rock bottom. The hero is completely physically incapacitated. See? He or she’s even in a wheelchair! It provides a potent visual for the hero literally getting back his or her feet, like Moon Knight here.

Wheelchairs also provided a terrific source of emotional turmoil for seventies love comics! Check out this post over at the awesome Sequential Crush - DC's Pity Party!

Wheelchairs also serve to show how bad-ass a hero is when they can kick butt from a rolling wheelchair despite their injuries. Jonah Hex here is classic example!

Sometimes all it takes to show how wicked wheelchair-bound characters can be is a way-cool toy like these two Prof. X action figures.

Or you might prefer the new Avatar Jake Sully action figure, which are augemnted with some very wild technology, as described over at Coolest-Gadgets.com:

"These Avatar toys use augmented reality, something that I have referred to as the Coolest Gadget ever. It works when one of the toys is placed in front of a webcam. Software provided by Total Immersion then takes over, and the monitor will display information about the character, 3-D animations of the character, and even more pictures. There is also a plan for bonus features for the “deluxe figures”. These are figures with a 3-D tag, or i-TAG, on the back of them. Scanning these guys will cause them to come to life on the user’s monitor, and placing two i-TAGs together will have them interact."

The two grandfathers of wheelchair-bound heroes would be the dueling professors -- DC Comics' Niles Caulder of the Doom Patrol and Marvel’s Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men.

Prof. Charles Xavier started out a terrific visual metaphor -- A harmless looking, paralyzed man of peace who had one of the most powerful mutant brains in the entire world. There have been so many X-Men adventures over time that Charles has grown to become an interesting, if inconsistent character by default.

Out of that mountain of tales it's only natural some terrific Prof. X stories emerge.


Prof. X's character is all about his mission: to lead mutant-kind into a peaceful partnership with mankind. The chair is almost never his motivating factor and that makes him far more interesting and compelling. That said, his chair can also be pretty cool. Especially this steampunk version designed by Daniel "Smeeon" Valdez.



Dr. Niles Caulder, aka The Chief, beat Professor X to the printed page by several years and he was a dark character from the beginning. Caulder tricked and teased his way into the lives of three misfit freaks who had suffered traumatic accidents and gained tremendous powers. Niles Caulder felt responsible for their situations and for the many horrifying inventions his research had set lose on the world. He had a lot to make-up for and a short temper to boot! And best of all, ALL of the Doom Patrol were murdered at the end of their series run.


Unlike The Chief and Prof. X, some superheroes are not limited in their abilities when they’re in their heroic disguise. Daredevil’s previously-mentioned radar sense is a great equalizer, as is Dr. Mid-Nite’s blackout bomb.

Marvel Comics Navajo hero, Jesse Black Crow was paralyzed in a construction accident and had vision of the plight of American Indians. When the ancient spirit from that dream transforms him into a mystic warrior he has full use of his limbs and a multitude of magic powers (transforming into a lightning bolt or crow, summoning fog, limited telepathic ability) at his disposal. When his job is finished, Jesse returns to his normal form and loses all that magic mobility.

There's another completely paralyzed character who gains full mobility when his powers kick in. He’s the bringer of death for Jack Kirby’s New Gods and always a threat to take gold on the slopes – the Black Racer! Sgt. Willie Walker, a bed-ridden Vietnam War Vet, first appeared in Jack Kirby’s New Gods issue 3.

After Darkseid brought his war of the Gods to Earth, Walker was in is hospital bed contacted by the Source, a semi-sentient shared consciousness power in the DC universe. When a New God is near death, he Source transforms Walker into the deadly and inescapable Black Racer, who takes their essence to Hadis (Kirby’s Fourth World version of Hades).

In Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers version of Mister Miracle, the Black Racer is not Willie Walker, he’s a Caucasian man in a wheelchair. Man, Kirby and Morrison. Two very wild creators firing on Bizarro batteries.

Paul Grist’s ongoing series Jack Staff introduces a new, marketable character every three or four panels it seems. Like my own Alter-ego Box, Tom Tom the Robot Man from Paul Grists's Jack Staff series, is in fact a large robotic suit piloted by 11-year old wunderkind Patricia Carthy. Paralyzed in the explosion that killed her inventor parents, Patricia used their robot suit (designed for Space Exploration initially) to become the mechanical defender of Castletown.

The one character to challenge for Professor X’s crown as the most interesting comic book character with a handicap is Barbara Gordon. For years she fought crime on her own and alongside the dynamic duo as Batgirl until The Joker shot her in the spine in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Batman graphic novel, The Killing Joke.


Much was made of Barbara being one of a long line of female characters attacked or killed simply to motivate a male protagonist. But Moore was attempting to write a definitive Batman story and wanted to give the Joker’s madness punch and weight. He wanted to really test Batman’s resolve not to kill. In other words, the people crying out where pretty much right!

But was Barbara really a fully fleshed out character when all she did was dress up as a female version of Batman? Was she really more than attempt to guard DC’s copyright to any bat-related character? I don't’ think so. And the proof is in what DC did with her character after the traumatic event. Barbara used her Detective skills and upgraded her computer tech to became Oracle, a hub of superhero and villainous information for the DC universe.

In the hands of writers like Gail Simone, Barb has been treated (generally) like a woman with intellect and personality first and foremost. Her handicap is a fact of her existence, not the defining feature. And she can still beat up toughs with the best of them!

Barbara Gordon/The Oracle -- has taken on a much greater symbolism and power by fulfilling a unique niche in the DCU, not being defined by a costume and being a good role model for all the wonderfully imperfect people reading her books – be they men or women and be they handicapped or fully functional... with multiple points of articulation like Babs’ action figure included in the Birds of Prey action figure set below.

We've managed to make a fairly impressive list . But since this blog is unabashedly Canadian, let's end it with a couple of Canucks. You could be forgiven for missing the first and only appearance of this next, all-Canadian Superhero...

In the early nineties, Marvel produced five “Kids in Trouble” Spider-Man comic books for the Canadian Association of the Chiefs of Police, the Alliance of a Drug Free Canada and a host of sponsors, including, hilariously Shopper’s Drug Mart. Over three million comics were handed out to Canadian children by Police Officers and teachers. So I’d have to call that campaign pretty successful.

The series debuted with a highly touted Todd McFarlane cover featuring the least subtle portrayal of the dangers of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and needles ever committed to a the comic book page…

The various adventures find excuses for Spider-Man to travel through Canada and interact with local semi-celebrities like the Montreal Expos and The Toronto Blue Jays and Herb Carnegie, the almost NHLer who was blocked due to fifties racism turned community servant. Spider-Man gets caught up in kid’s lives while he fights a who’s who of Marvel’s third-tier villains. Various streetproofing themes are touched upon in the five books, like say no to drugs and bike safety, thanks to one or two panel appearances by the Canadian bike safety brigade, the Right Riders.

All five issues were under the Amazing Spider-Man banner but each had an individual cover title. Skating on Thin Ice followed Spidey as he tracked Electro to Winnipeg and helped a kid named Alan avoid alcohol and drug abuse. Double Trouble moves the action to Fredericton for more anti-drug speechifying. Hit and Run sees Peter Parker in Toronto covering a Jays/Yankee baseball game, bike safety and tracking a drunk driver with the help of the Ghost Rider (who, unlike Spidey, chooses threats over speeches to reach the kids!)

The fifth issue, Deadball, finds old webhead in Montreal fighting off the Green Goblin.

But it’s issue four where the magic happens, in a tale by Canadian artist Jim Craig and Scott Lobdell (he of the worst coming out story in comics with his ridiculous, insensitive and borderline incompetent outing of my Alpha Flight comrade, Northstar). In an issue entitled Chaos in Calgary, we finally meet -- Joline Cargill, aka TURBINE! (SOLEINE to our French compatriots!)

Hey, Boxy! Can't I tell I tell my own story? Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeease? I get even less spotlight time than you do and you’re all dead and stuff!

Oh sorry, Joline. Sure, go right ahead. Tell everyone how cool you are.

I hear the sarcasm, Mr. I-Went-Crazy Pants. Well, my story IS cool. Really cool. So there! Yeah, I’m paralyzed from the waist down but that doesn’t keep me from being awesome! So my Dad, who’s like a doctor and stuff but apparently has no first name buts till won a Nobel Prize, right?

So Dad took to me to the Calgary Stampede, but not like any Stampede, one that was totally celebrating the city’s anniversary, right? And people were wearing cowboy hats and pretending they weren’t actually just cubicle drones at some bank or oil company, right? And Marvel’s western super-team the Rangers where performing.

Anyway, my Dad is there and we meet this totally cute photographer named Peter Parker, right, who’s like covered in awesomesauce with a side of nice buns, you know?

Joline, can you rein in the hormones a litttle? It's a family blog and you’re what, thirteen or something?

That’s what you think! The story actually never tells you how old I am so I could be anywhere from eight to fifteen! So there. I’m a woman of mystery and I’m totally smart for my age too.

Anyway, the Frightful Four (In this case, the Wizard, The Trapster, the Dreadknight and the Man-Bull) tries to kidnap my Dad in broad daylight in front of thousands of witnesses. Which makes me think their leader, Mr. Wizard, should kinda rethink his name. So in the fight, the bully Man-Bull dope wrecks my wheelchair so cutey-pattotey Parker carries me back to my Dad’s van. Sigh!...

But what nobody knows is that my Dad made me a solar-powered turbine cycle that flies and everything and hid it in our van, right? It moves superfast, flies kinds facing down, and generates really powerful winds. Not like that boy in my class, Gabriel says he can do I mean, real, strong, non-stinky wind.

Then I totally fought the Frightful with the Rangers and Spidey. I blew Dreadknight’s horse over and rammed a Trapster trap. Did you know he used to be called Paste Pot Pete? Gross.

And in the end Spider-Man totally congratulated and promised to look me up when he got back to Calgary. I’m still kinda waiting to hear but it’s not like he took down my e-mail or anything. Same with Peter McMagicMuffin. Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them. Anyway, that’s my tale!

What about my tale? I’m a handicapped hero too!

Hey! Get out of here fellow handicapped superhero Takashi “Taki” Matsuya, alias WIZ KID! You're way less super than I am! This is a Canadian blog and you’re totally American!

You can't make me leave, Joline: also known as Tur-WHINE. After all, you totally stole my flying wheelchair bit.

Oh yeah? Well you totally stole your whole, manipulating-machinery mutant power from Alpha Flight member Madison Jeffries! So there! And flying chairs were around for Jack Kirby’s New Gods with that creepy Metron guy – the New God’s ultimate science nerd.

You’re just jealous because since my first appearance in X-Terminators #1, I’ve appeared in more stories than you. I was in X-Factor!

Yeah? And look where it got you.

You're lost in limbo without a regular comic now, just like me.

Well get this, not only did I lose my parents and my ability to walk in a car accident, I’m also dyslexic, which is a very hot handicap right now. So I’m due for a revival any time.

And my origin is way more awesome than yours! When my mutant friends were kidnapped by the demon N’astirh my mutant ability to rearrange machinery – herewith referred to as “technoforming” burst forth and I turned my wheel chair into an awesome flying weapon and sweet ride. I also know computers inside and out and I’m a Rank 13 Field Marshall in WoW (World of Warcraft).

Well, so what? You were totally depowered on M-Day and you’re still stupid for never letting me ride your stupid hovering wheelbarrow or whatever you call it.

You-you’d… like to ride on my chair?

Maybe. It's kinda cool I guess. And you're kinda cute under that dorky helmet.

Look who's talking!

Okaaaaay. Well, as young love works its magic I'll end our salute to the spirit of the Paralympic as seen in comic books.

Let's end this on a bang with the greatest handicapped hero ever in the history of anything!!! And he's Canadian character to boot (which rhymes with out).

Yes, the mother of all, "I have to read this to believe it" characters comes from our golden age of Canadian comic books -- MAJOR DOMO AND JOJO!!


Created by artist Avrom Yanovsky for Bell Features in the forties, ex-Paratrooper Major Domo was a special agent for UNIB, the United Nations Investigation Bureau. He was aided by his moustachioed, powerful dwarf assistant, Jo Jo. In addition to Jo Jo's extremely bushy moustache, he also had the biggest pupils ever given to a non-manga cartoon character.


As you can see, the Major was extremely handy with his feet in a fight. The funniest thing about our hero is the fact that he was an undercover agent! Nope. Major Domo didn't let a little thing like having no arms keep him from donning a disguise and entering the criminal underworld.

In fact, his ace in the hole Ace on his back?) was Jo Jo, who would ride on Domo's back under his coat, pretending his overlong, powerful arms were Domo's! Yet no criminal ever noticed the sizable hump on Domo's back!

Seriously awesome!

I promise to do a more extensive post on Yanovsky and Major Domo in the future because they both occupy a unique place in comic book history.

Coming up next week: We'll present a final (I promise) Olympic and Paralympic wrap-up post and also bring you the second part of "Speed Savage: Murder Has the Puck!"

Beavers Up!