Day 601.2 - Comic Review!

Day 601.2 October 11^th  

Comic Book Review!

So something very new here on PoaA is this…a comic book review!  Now I am not into the critical, rip books and stories apart to find deep and hidden meanings…I read comics for good and fun stories so I will let others go in depth while I share stuff I love!  Give it a try and you might find you love it too!

Canadian Corps #1

 

A print of the regular cover to Canadian Corps #1

So first up is a brand new Canadian independent comic book – Canadian Corps issue #1 from September 17 Productions.  S17 is an independent comic publisher based in Manitoba, Canada, headed up by writer Andrew Lorenz.  Previous to Canadian Corps he has the flagship title Legacy as well as a second book titled New Guard.  He writes some fantastic stories and has collected some amazing people to work with him on all these titles!  Ok on to the meat and potatoes!

 

Officially released at the Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo 2015!  L to R - Blank sketch variant, the Kickstarter exclusive variant cover with a personal thank you note and finally the standard edition cover!

Canadian Corps is the story of the Canada-based superhero team set in the S17 Universe as they band together in an attempt to beat back an invasion and save the world from an army of alien conquerors. Andrew handles the writing, while pencils and inks are handled by the talented Justin Shauf!  I have known Justin for a number of years now, as our fates have seemed to be predestined to link (this will be the topic of another blog post as I truly enjoy examining this bit of history).  I really like his art style, as it is not super smooth and hyper realistic like many artists today; it is a bit more angular and outside the norm…part of why it appeals to me so much is that it reminds me of my favourite artist, Tony Harris, and how his work was on Starman.  I have read some people call Justins art ‘cartoony’ and while it might not be to their liking I personally love it as it fits in how I like comics to be more fun!  The colours are done by Donovan Yaciuk, who does great work, and also has his own self-published book, Spacepig Hamadeus – more great fun!  Having met Donovan recently I can say he is an entertaining guy and hard worker!  The book is lettered by Rod Salm.  These guys all come together to create a well-crafted, new piece of Canadian comic book lore!  Earlier this year Andrew launched an Kickstarter to help raise funds to help offset the cost of making the book as well as to help spread the word and build interest in this new venture.  With an initial goal of $2, 500 the fans rallied behind this fresh idea and the project finished with a total of $4, 327 – almost double the goal!  As with most crowdfunded projects there were many great perks offered as well as some awesome stretch goals achieved by going so much over the initial goal amount.  To me the biggest perk has been the book itself!

The original art pages for a double page spread in the first issue, featuring the whole team together!

The characters of Canadian Corps are:
WARRANT- Ottawa-based RCMP sergeant with the power to control gravity.
SHIELDMAIDEN- Hard-working hockey mom who can turn into a powerful warrior woman, able to take on armies.
IMPACT- Spotlight-loving teen who moved to Canada to play soccer and along the way gained the ability to absorb and emit kinetic energy.
THUNDERHAWK- The winged warrior of Canada's First Nations people. He seeks to use his powers not only to defend his people but to inspire them as well.
KID MERCURY- Calgary-based speedster who gained her powers in the same incident as Impact. A pop culture and science geek, she loves being a superhero.
FLUX- A former science teacher of East Indian ethnicity, he now works in a garage as his degree was not recognized in Canada. Undeterred, he continues to use his knowledge and his ability to bend time and space for good. His love of science is only rivaled by his love of hockey.
AZURE- The latest guardian of her family's magic bracers, Azure seeks to balance her university schooling with her obligations as Chinatown's costumed champion in Vancouver.
Like I previously mentioned, the book is well written and Justin’s art makes it flow beautifully!  The first issue does a nice job setting up the initial story without clogging the initial outing with a bunch of back story which adds to the ease to get into it.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to issue number two as well as where the book carries on from there!  A huge point for me on this book is that it is an amazingly well crafted superhero comic book AND it is an ALL AGES book!  I am sure I will blog my rant on that topic down the road yet but needless to say this book is proof that they do exist!

A full colour print made of the double page spread.

If you like what you see here, check out these links to be able to get your own copy and connect with the team behind it!

September 17 on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/September17Productions?fref=nf
Canadian Corps #1 digitally on Drive Thru Comics:
http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/157178/Canadian-Corps-1?term=canadian+cor

One of the stretch goals was this print, done by James Zintel!  I had the rest of the books team (minus the letterer Rod) sign this at the Sask Expo!

All three prints hanging in my classroom at work!  I also have a copy of the first issue there for students to read!