Phil Latter speaks with Captain Canuck historian Martin Boruta about Kaptain Polska, Sequential Magazine, Captain Canuck, and Sequential Magazine-!
First Comics News: My editor/friend and First Comics News’ creator/owner, Rik Offenberger, told me about you and suggested I interview you. I am always thrilled to talk to any comics fan! And I understand that you are the creator of Kaptain Polska, but that also, like me, you are a lifelong Captain Canuck fan, collector, and Captain Canuck historian, to boot. I grew up just in time for the Silver Age of Comics. Did you happen to experience Captain Canuck with the character’s debut issue and first appearance in the summer of 1975, buying that inaugural first-ever issue new off the newsstand at the time? Aside from the fact that we are both Canadian and comics fans, what draws you to this Canadian character, in particular?
Martin Boruta: We Canadians are not known for our flag-waving patriotism, unlike our American cousins to the south. You don’t usually find Canadian flags at every home. But that doesn’t mean we are not proud to be Canadian. I remember devouring Alpha Flight by Marvel Comics in High School because places I knew were in the book. Buildings and people I knew were drawn into the Alpha Flight series. It was a familiar landscape. It sure didn’t hurt that John Byrne was killing it with his art.
1st: I also devoured that series by fellow Canadian and artist John Byrne; he was born in England, but his family moved to Canada when he was very young. And, of course, all Alpha Flight ongoing comics series, including the first one, all those years back, were about a Canadian superhero team set IN Canada, even though their publisher, Marvel Comics, is a U.S. company. In addition to American comics, I also collect Canadian comics from numerous Canadian provinces, including very vintage ones. The six vintage issues of James Waley’s ‘ORB’ mag-sized comics from the 1970s are favourites, as well as the ‘Fuddle Duddle’ political satire comics, the Canadian Whites, and so forth. I could go on and on. Additionally, I collect the self-published and the Canadian government-published vintage comic books of Halifax, Nova Scotia’s own, the late Owen McCarron, who was a friend. I don’t have all of them, but I have many and always want to buy more. So, if anyone reading this has any to sell or trade, why not get in touch? I’m at mailto:philalatter1701@gmail.com
Martin: But to get back to your original question, I didn’t find Captain Canuck on the newsstand back in 1975. My local convenience store spinner rack in Hamilton, Ontario, didn’t carry the book. But when I found my first Captain Canuck comic at a used bookstore, sitting in the pile of used comics, I was immediately drawn to the Canadian identity and that bold hands-on-hips iconic cover. From then on, I was hooked. I needed to know more. Not just about the character and his exploits but also how this comic even came to be. Fortunately, the publishing history of Captain Canuck is a fascinating story with plenty of drama, even today. I started to catalogue that rich history at Marty’s Unofficial Yet Completely Definitive Captain Canuck Comicography (https://captaincanuck.net). I even started a refresh of the site in 2019, which I sadly never finished. The license switch from Chapterhouse to Lev Gleason’s Comic House labels and the many reprints, rebranding, and trade-dress updates felt overwhelming. Perhaps this interview is the kick in the pants I need to get back on that saddle before the URL expires.
1st: I would say, “Please go for it!” I, for one, would love to see the updates, and I bet I can safely say that our readers would love it, too! Besides, NOBODY else has done a Captain Canuck website with EVERY appearance, so you should update it and soon. Although your comprehensive Captain Canuck website is excellent the way it is, so please excuse my enthusiasm! That’s all it is. The publishing FULL history of Captain Canuck is exquisitely confusing without your website, which I didn’t even know about until you provided a link to it! So yes, an update would be very welcome for ALL Captain Canuck fans and collectors!
When Captain Canuck # 1 came out in 1975, the character’s first appearance, I bought the first issue excitedly at a store in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, a store called Nate Bain’s Variety; he also owned a laundromat on the street behind and below it, at the bottom of an incline. Although the cover price was thirty-five cents, whereas all other comics (U.S. comics) were then priced at twenty-five cents, I bought Captain Canuck # 1, circa 1975, right away. Printing was and is higher-priced in Canada, hence the higher price. I ran home to show it to my mother and younger brother, Chris. My mother took one look at it, and even though she wasn’t into comics, she immediately realized that this comic was special! She gave me money to buy several extra copies: one for my brother, Chris, and several more copies. One of those she mailed to a young relative of hers, a nephew, I think, in England, who was a teen then or younger. I was pretty young then, myself! Months later, his mother wrote my mother to ask if my mom could mail a second copy of CC # 1, 1975. The lad had read it so many times that it fell apart! I’d say the very rarest Captain Canuck comics are the two versions (two issues) of the (Canadian comics artist) Sandy Carruthers’-drawn ‘Captain Canuck: Utopia Moments’, issues numbered # 1A and # 1B. Both are the same comic book and with the same cover; however, EACH of the two versions has a different colour cover logo and a different last page; or, to put it another way, each of the two versions has the same comics story, but each of the two versions has a different ending! Only 30 (thirty) copies of each of the two versions were ever published from Doug Sulipa’s Comic World decades ago.
I was lucky enough to be a regular buyer of comics back issues from Canada’s Doug Sulipa (out of Steinbeck, Manitoba) at the time that the two issues of ‘Captain Canuck: Utopia Moments’ were published. He has also been one of the regular annual advisers to Bob Overstreet’s The Comic Book Price Guide for decades. Being a regular customer of Doug Sulipa when the two versions of ‘Captain Canuck: Utopia Moments’ came out, therefore, he offered to sell me a copy of both Captain Canuck: Utopia Moments # 1A and # 1B at the time. I took him up on it. If memory serves, Captain Canuck’s own Richard Comely bought the first five signed and numbered copies right off the press. Do you have those rare issues? If not, I read online, just earlier this week that those two issues are due to be reprinted, shortly.
Martin: I’m a contributor to the Grand Comics Database, so I can submit a fix for any omissions if you like.
While I have never met Doug Sulipa, we have chatted multiple times. Back in the day, he and a fellow in the U.S. named Reynold Jay seemed to be the biggest distributors or resellers supporting the original Comely Comix Captain Canuck run. Doug often finds a case of Captain Canuck treasures in his warehouse that eventually ends up in my collection. I’d say the majority of my CGC Graded world-record Captain Canuck collection of issues came from Doug and Reynold over the years.
I’m not sure Captain Canuck: Utopia Moments is the rarest Captain Canuck memorabilia. I’ve chatted with Mark Shainblum, Sandy Carruthers, and letterer Ron Kasman a few times about this little fanzine, which they self-published and distributed at comic conventions. I’m sure Doug got a few copies, but I don’t believe he was officially a publisher or printer on that fan-made comic. Mark’s publishing house, Matrix Graphic Series, was out of Montreal then. It seems difficult to imagine Doug printing a Montreal-based photocopied fanzine across the country in Steinbach, Manitoba.
1st: I understand. But that’s what I seem to remember. That said, Doug and I talked about this many, many years ago, and so I may have remembered that part of the story wrong.
Martin: I’d say the rarest Captain Canuck comic is what I label as Captain Canuck #4b on my Marty’s Unofficial Yet Completely Definitive Captain Canuck Comicography website I mentioned above. While it is never easy to tell a Captain Canuck publishing story shortly, I’ll do my best. Richard Comely needed funds to continue after the original three issues were printed under the Comley Comix banner. So, he printed off 300 oversized, black and white copies of what would become Captain Canuck #4 to show to investors and to sell, to drum up support. These books are 10”x14.5” with a blank, cream-coloured paper cover. It is signed and numbered by Richard. But that’s not the rarest, not yet. Richard also printed another 15 copies of an oversized Captain Canuck #4. This time, it had a signed and numbered orange plain paper cover.
1st: I actually did, believe it or not, know all about that, but I had somehow, completely forgotten about it until you jogged my memory. Now that you have reminded me, I remember I bought a copy when it came out, in 1977, from Doug Sulipa, one of those 300 copies only copies of the second printing of Captain Canuck (1975) vol. 1 # 4, when it came out from Doug Sulipa’s Comic World. I remember the cost was $ 30.00 or $35.00 Canadian at the time. My serially signed and numbered copy of that (Marvel Treasury Edition sized-CC issue) is # ‘169’; I’ve had it all of those decades. I do (not) own a copy of the edition in which only 15 (fifteen) copies were published. It’s so rare that I’ve never even seen a copy of that edition!
By the way, there is a second Captain Canuck prose/text novel out there in the wild. I have both. Is the second one on your website? I didn’t see it, but I may have looked in the wrong section. The first was CC: The Terror Birds, and the second was CC: Eye of The Needle. I have both. I haven’t gotten around to reading the second one yet. It came out a few years ago or so. The first one, though, should have been proofread before publication. It’s chock full of *TONS* of typos and run-on sentences a paragraph or longer each, in many places. Many of those passages need to be clarified, even if you re-reread those parts numerous times. The whole thing is an ungodly mess. Oh, I do have the 1997 Time Magazine with Captain Canuck on the cover.
Captain Canuck (first series) # 15 and # 16 were drawn decades ago but only published within the last couple of years or so.
Martin: Sorta.
1st: Sorta?
Martin: Captain Canuck #15 existed previously in a limited hand-printed edition that never saw mass distribution. If you check Richard Comely’s social accounts (co-creator of Captain Canuck, with Ron Leishman), you’ll see #16 was recently drawn and published.
1st: Really? I didn’t know that!
Martin: The original Captain Canuck #15 (2004) was co-written by Richard Comely and George Freeman, drawn by George, and lettered by Jean Claude St. Aubin. Richard printed this issue to present the completed but originally unpublished issue #15 from the CKR run of Canuck. Limited signed and numbered production run and oversized at 11″x7.5″.
1st: I have that rare issue. I remember the blue pages. They are oversized, magazine-sized. The comic is, quite literally, printed on powder blue pages! I bought the later edition of that issue years later, having forgotten that I already had the much earlier, limited edition of # 15. Later, I found I had the earlier printing, which turned out to be one of those blue pages inside —150 serially signed and numbered copies! And I got the first one from Doug Sulipa!
Martin: I had the original Captain Canuck #15, but it was sold off in a divorce-inspired purge of my collection. It’s the only one I haven’t managed to collect again.
1st: Oh dear, I’m so sorry to hear that. I would gladly send you one if I had two of that first print.
Martin: Thanks; that would be fantastic. But if you don’t have two, I’m sure I’ll eventually find one.
1st: A lot of Captain Canuck fans likely don’t even know the CC: Utopia Moments issues exist, in addition to not knowing those issues have been reprinted. There are probably numerous Captain Canuck issues not on the Grand Comics Database online, which millions of fans and collectors regularly access, including me. Oh, and when you add those titles to that site, please let me know so that I can go and look at ’em. That would be cool.
I also have the Captain Canuck Crime Stopper and the Captain Canuck Niagara Falls one-shots. I bought them on eBay, years ago. You actually have a few CC items I don’t have. And I’m a CC completist, except for all the different cover variations. I even have the Walrus issue with a Captain Canuck cover. There are two different Captain Canuck activity books that I have. One of them I bought some years ago, in a Dollar Store.
Martin: Both colouring books are on the old 2018 site. See, all this Captain Canuck publishing history talk is motivating me to update https://captaincanuck.net
1st: I hope you do! Martin, I see that you are in Peterborough, Ontario. I’m in Nova Scotia. I want to ask you one more final Captain Canuck question before we move on. And that is: can you provide our readers, and myself, with a complete list of Captain Canuck comics titles, and how many issues are in each CC title series? Including reprints and collections. I’m asking because, although I do my very best to obtain all of them, I’m almost certainly missing some. To try to figure out how many there have been is confusing, for the following reasons: There have been ‘CC Year One’ (series) issues, ‘CC Year Two’ series’, ‘CC Year Three’ series, possibly a CC Year Four series, and so on, and it would be helpful to know how many issues were in each. Also, some of the Captain Canuck Free Comic Book Day annual issues are numbered, (inside), for example, as, if I remember correctly, as issues # 21, # 22, (I think), and so on. This makes it even more confusing for Captain Canuck owners, to try to figure out what all is out there, regarding the good Captain. And, my possibly not owning all of the CC Free Comic Book Day issues makes it confusing to know how many of those there have been. Do you happen to know how many F.C.B.D. CC issues there have been, and what years they came out? Then, there were Captain Canuck ‘giveaway’ issues (some of which I own), that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Captain Canuck F.C.B.D. issues, and then, specials, and so on. The Grand Comics Database is not that helpful, in this regard, because a lot of these CC issues are just not there. If we had an annual Canadian comic book price guide, that would help, but alas…
Martin: Okay, okay. I’ll do it. I’ll get back to work on the website. Most of the comics you mention were cataloged there before Lev Gleason was formed to take over the license. Older issues are completely covered in the older “2018 Website” section.
1st: I am, of course, aware that Lev Gleason had to do with Golden Age 1940’s Daredevil comics, Boy Comics, and several crime comics titles. Do you happen to know why Chapterhouse changed its’ name to Lev Gleason? Or do I have that wrong? Did Chapterhouse Comics go under, and then, a little later, a new company formed, taking up the name Lev Gleason from the 1940s?
Martin: Oh, boy. That could be a whole interview all by itself—so many intriguing twists and turns. Long story short, again. Canadian company Chapterhouse Publishing Inc. printed a book, American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason, by Brett Dakin. Brett is Leverett Gleason’s great-nephew. That relationship resulted in some Chapterhouse owners gaining the rights to the old Lev Gleason Publications publisher name and access to their library of characters like Dare Devil, Silver Streak, and Crimebuster. This new American venture was called Lev Gleason Inc., and most of the Chapterhouse licenses were moved to an imprint of Lev Gleason Inc., Comic House.
Martin: Chapterhouse initially did a super bright thing when they got the Captain Canuck license. They used Free Comic Book Day each year to “launch” their various Canuck series. Starting in 2015 Captain Canuck #0 introduced a new direction and a fresh new costume designed by Kalman Andrasofzky. In 2017, the FCBD release was the first issue of the Captain Canuck Year One origin series. Later, Chapterhouse would rename this series as Season: Zero. FCBD of 2018 was Invasion # 0 (Season: Four), 2019 was Equilibrium Shift #1 (Season: Five), and the final one in 2020 was Canuck Beyond and Captain Battle #1. Lev Gleason Comic House is continuing this initiative, and the 2023 FCBD release was Crimebuster.
1st: Okay, I’m going to take the maple syrup out of my veins now, and move on. Smile. How did you end up working at Sequential Magazine, and what can you tell our readers about that? Is this an internet-only magazine, or is there a print version, as well? And, how long has Sequential Magazine been around? How many issues are out of Sequential magazine thus far, and when did it start?
Martin: The current Sequential Magazine was Brendan Montgomery’s brainchild. I don’t know Brendan’s origin story in detail. Still, I assume he was involved with Salgood Sam at the Sequential Pulp website (https://sequentialpulp.ca), which is focused on raising the profile of Canadian comic creators and Canadian comic publishing history. That darn maple syrup is still flowing. Sequential was available in print and digital editions for seventeen brilliant issues. Brendon has new priorities in his day job/life, so the magazine is reorganizing and rejuvenating. I can’t recall how far and wide the physical magazine’s distribution was, but the digital editions are, obviously, available to all.
1st: LOL I’m actually One Proud Canadian who HATES the taste of maple syrup. I think it’s disgusting, and just the taste of it makes me want to retch. Some Canadian I am!
Martin: I honestly can’t remember how I got involved at Sequential Magazine. I’m terrible at that. I do not know what the first comic book I read was, either. But I knew Brendon from comic conventions and interacting on the various Canadian comic book social media groups. Having written for First Comics News, I thought it might also be fun to contribute to Sequential. However, in another case of changed personal priorities, I didn’t get to contribute to every issue—something I regret. However, I am particularly pleased to have an article about the 1970s comic publishing scene in Sequential Magazine, issue #8.
1st: That sounds great! I spent decades writing and doing illustrations for numerous comics fanzines, and I’ve had stuff in Roy Thomas’s Alter Ego magazine, as well as some other comics (and Pulps) prozines. And I’ve had several pages of my art published in several Zorro (the guy all in black with the mask, cape, hat, and sword_ books, two of those from Bold Venture Press. Now that I think of it, it seems I may have seen Sequential Magazine in at least one specialty comics store in my area, Strange Adventures, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Is that possible?
Martin: Absolutely! The wonderful folks at Strange Adventures Comix & Curiosities offer tremendous support for independent Canadian comics. I do not doubt that they carry Sequential Magazine.
1st: Yes, they do; I remember, now. The Halifax chapter of Strange Adventures, one of their long-term staff members, a comics writer and artist, self-publishes his own locally published Canadian comic books, various series, and some one-shots, always in full colour throughout, and they’re always entertaining. His name is Dave Howlett. He’s a nice guy and very talented, too! There is a large Canadian local area comics and artists-created comics series, a great many different series by numerous creators, in my area, graphics novels too, and Strange Adventures owner/founder, Calum Johnston, supports all of them.
In addition to Strange Adventures comics stores in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, another location that carries that magazine is Halifax’s ‘Atlantic News’, which, since 1973, is a huge magazine store that carries thousands literally (yes, thousands) of monthly magazine titles; current month, that is, not back issues, and even some major U.S. daily newspapers, like The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc.
Martin, what can you tell our readers – and me – about your creation, Kaptain Polska? And please tell us ALL about that as if I know absolutely nothing about it – which is, quite literally, true. We want to hear all about it! I have actually seen the action figure online, though. Based on the hairstyle and the mustache of this guy, isn’t it true that Poland’s Very Own Superhero, Kaptain Polska, is secretly Rik Offenberger?
Martin: Kaptain Polska is my original character. Being the son of Polish immigrants who came to Canada in the 1960s, I am very patriotic about being Canadian, but I’m also very proud of my Polish roots. I also have the very typical Canadian sense of self-deprecating humour. Ergo, the satirical character of Kaptain Polska. Even his name is satire, as Kaptain is not the correct spelling in Polish of Captain.
“Jaki znak twoi? Orzel Bialy! – What is your symbol of strength? The Polish Eagle! He’ll fight for freedom wherever there’s trouble, Poland’s Favourite Son, Kaptain Polska is there.”
“Zbigniew Bielszowska grew up on the family farm in Ochaby, a small town in Southern Poland. Always the strong and silent type, Zbigniew would step in whenever he saw one of his fellow classmates being bullied. The young Zbigniew later took a job at the massive shipping docks in Gdansk along the coast of the Baltic Sea. His sense of fair play earned him a position with the dock unions.”
“Late one night, while unloading an unusual ship that seemed to have no Port of Origin, a chain broke, sending barrels of a strange, glowing green sludge crashing to the ground. The slime coated a nearby Zbigniew, who let out a howl of pain as he fell into the cold and icy Baltic Sea.”
“Waking up days later on a rocky beach in Finland, Zbigniew picked himself up and felt a surge of strength in his already muscular frame. The strange slime had given him unnatural strength and endurance.”
“Polish dock worker and union steward by day, avenger of the oppressed by night (except Tuesdays, which is Dart Night at the Legion) Zbigniew uses his unnatural strength … Kaptain Polska!”
Kaptain Polska owes his creation to another ironic and satirical fictional character, Brick Mantooth of Plaid Stallions fame (https:// www.plaidstallions.com). Back in 2013, I wandered around Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, Ontario (at one time, the third largest comic show behind San Diego Comic-Con and New York City Comic-Con). I found a booth selling a few books, stickers, and a Mego-style action figure. I had several Mego action figures as a child, so my interest in Mego dolls peaked, and I brought home that Brick Mantooth doll.
1st: The only other time in my life that I have heard that surname was from the real-life actor Randolph Mantooth, who starred in a long-running U.S. television series about two paramedics, called ‘Emergency!’ (1972-1979.) Charlton Comics had two different comic book series based on that TV series, all those years ago. Mayhaps Randolph and Brick are related? Heh, heh!
Martin: Through my interactions with the beautiful folks in the Mego collecting community, I decided to design my retro Mego-like figure, and thus came Kaptain Polska. I assembled thirteen figures using Captain America boots, Robin’s belt cast in red, an old Space 1999 figure’s head (thanks, Prentis), and a custom-printed and sewn costume. That initial run sold out quickly amongst family and friends, and somehow, he caught on virally on social media sites. Demand outpaced supply but never enough to warrant a commercial production run.
One of the fun things I like to do at comic conventions is ask artists to sketch Kaptain Polska. This seemed like a fun assignment to the crew of artists, who were likely a little bored with constantly drawing superheroines trapped in the glue. Soon, some of my comic book creator friends started dropping Kaptain Polska in cameos in their books. I have a script I’ve been working on for my own Kaptain Polska comic, but do you remember those personal priorities I mentioned above? Yeah, it just hasn’t happened yet.
1st: Do it! Do it! Do it! Smile.
Martin: Kaptain Polska’s actual, published first cameo appearance is as a pinup in the Adventures of Auroraman by Jeff Burton. Polska’s first supporting role appearance is in The Adventures of Auroraman Annual #1. Maybe I’ll play some Hulk #181 shenanigans and claim another issue is the “first appearance.” Satire. I did mention satire. Kaptain Polska was also featured in a supporting role in G-Man Comics, Simon N. Kirby: The Agent #3.
1st: Those sound like they’d be a lot of fun to read! Adventures of Auroraman Annual # 1, huh? Do you have a cover and some interior shots of that annual that you can share with us, that include the, ah, Good Kaptain? You DID know that Kaptain Polska has always been my # 1 favourite hero, right? Yep, that unique Canuck sense’a humour. Our MOM, Rik Offenberger, probably thinks we are insane! LOL
Martin: But I am SERIOUSLY excited to co-write and have Kaptain Polska team up with G-Man Comics’ Sgt. Flag in an upcoming issue. The story is fun, and the art is BRILLIANT!! I won’t let any other details slip through on that project. But check your Kickstarter in February 2025: wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
1st: Yeah, no worries. Don’t tell anybody else. It’s our secret. Shhh! I mean, HEY, it’s not like anybody is gonna read this, anyway, right-? LOL
I understand that you also write for First Comics News. How long have you known Rik Offenberger (the site’s creator and owner), and how did you come to write for the site?
Martin: Another lost origin story. Perhaps Rik Offenberger knows the answer or remembers the details better. Somehow Rik and I connected, likely over Captain Canuck, and I was invited to write for First Comics News. It’s a fun gig, and I genuinely appreciate all the freedom Rik gives me to cover what I like and add a bit of a Canadian flavour to my content and his site. But … those darn personal priorities again. I wish I had the time to contribute way more than I do.
1st: Yeah, my memory of all those years ago is about as good as yours — Speaking of satire. Rik has a much better memory of how I first got involved with him writing for various comics-based websites, including First Comics News — over twenty-five years ago, he tells me. The crispness of Rik’s memory going back all of those years ago is like the edge of a brand-new shaving razor! I asked Rik a few years ago how I first got involved with writing for his and other comics websites with him, decades ago, and he told me, in great detail. Most of that I had forgotten about! We both wrote for various other comic websites until he left the last one many years ago, created First Comics News, and invited me along! It’s like Indiana Jones once said in one of his movies: “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage!”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I met Phil on the Mighty Crusaders Message Board. I met Marty through his Captain Canuck website in 2015. I ask him to write a short hero history of Captain Canuck to support the Chapter House Captain Canuck #1 launch and he turned me down. A year later he reconsidered joining the team in 2016).
Martin: Our live radio show turned podcast, The Hey Kids Comics Radio Show (https://heykidscomics.ca), was also featured on First Comics News. That show is also on a hiatus and should be rebooted shortly. However, there are over 200 episodes available to listen to on the home page.
1st: Wow. That’s a lot of episodes!
Martin: By the way, Phil, here is the only other interview I have ever done about Kaptain Polska and Kaptain Polska’s Teepublic shop. (Note: the links are at the very bottom of this interview!)
1st: I clicked on that link and read it, Martin. It’s VERY FUNNY! Readers, click on that link for that interview and also head to the podcast for hours of entertainment!
Martin: Well, Phil. This has been a blast. Thanks so much for reaching out, and it was a pleasure to meet another devoted Captain Canuck fan.
1st: Same here, Martin! I really enjoyed talking with you! Thanks so much!
Kaptain Polska interview by Doctor Stevil https://youtu.be/rtzWk1hmL80?si=VlsAkmehSdzG5DqM
Marty’s Unofficial Yet Completely Definitive Captain Canuck Comicography https://captaincanuck.net
The Hey Kids Comics Radio Show https://heykidscomics.ca/
Kaptain Polska merch at Teepublic https://www.teepublic.com/user/kaptainpolska