TITLE: NORTHGUARD #1
PUBLISHER: Chapterhouse
WRITER: Anthony Falcone
ILLUSTRATOR: Ron Salas
COLORS: Irma Knivila
LETTERS: Ed Brisson
EDITOR: Tony White
COVER: Ron Salas
VARIANT COVER: Ian Herring
PRICE: $3.99
RATING: 
WEBSITE: Chapterhouse.ca
SUMMARY: Leaping from the pages of Captain Canuck comes Northguard, Canada’s newest super-hero! His first mission: Track down The Aurora Dawn, a mysterious cult hoping to bring about the end of the world! Chapterhouse Comics’ Captain Canuck reboot has garnered praise and critical acclaim now sees our take on another classic Canadian superhero, Marc Shainblum, and Gabriel Morrisette’s Northguard!
COMMENTS: I knew there was a character called Northguard, but I never read the Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette stories. So I can’t tell you if Chapterhouse’s Northguard is better or worse than the original. It was an enjoiable story about a reluctant hero on loan from Canada to the CIA. This brings up an interesting question, are there any American heroes in the Chapterhouse Universe. I assume not and that is why Northguard is on loan to the CIA. In this story Northguard (Phil Wise) goes after Auror Dawn, a religious paramilitary group. Phil is more James Bond than superhero, but despite his complaints he is a full fledged superhero. Anthony Falcone tells a fun story that has a different tone and pace, separating itself nicely from Chapterhouse’s other two superheroes, Captain Canuck and Human-Lizard. Ron Salas’ art is clean and crisp, the characters look like real people and not body builders. When Kint shows up there is a huge difference in size and build which would be lost if all the characters were muscle bound. The only problem I had is visually I didn’t know Kint was female, I only discovered that in the text. The normalcy of this comic was very refreshing, and gave it a spy story feel. Not to give anything away but all of a sudden the book ties into the Chapterhouse Universe with some strong continuity. This comic is less super than Captain Canuck, and unlike the Human-Lizard this comic isn’t pitiful. So I am looking forward to seeing how Northguard fits into the Cahterhouse Universe as the story continues. Anthony leaves us with a nice cliffhanger followed by the cover for Northguard #2. Those two items make it hard to wait a month for the next issue.
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