5 Canadian superheroes

A review of comic book heroes from the Great White North.

1. Northguard: Known in Quebec as “Le Protecteur,” Northguard derived his abilities from a powerful instrument called the UniBand, which gave him the incredible ability to electrocute opponents with a touch of his hand, and allowed him to shoot beams of energy from his arm and create protective shields of electricity. Before being equipped with the UniBand, Northguard was an anglophone Montrealer named Phillip Wise, who worked as the manager of a video store.

2. The Canadian Liberty League: The League was founded by Agent Midnight during the Second World War. Its primary goal was to defeat a Nazi-backed evil mastermind named Fogg, who plotted to set off a doomsday device in Montreal. Agent Midnight was joined by shape-shifter Silk Shadow, the robot called Armada Man and three other superheroes called Ms. Marine, Windstorm and the Redeemer.

3. Wolverine: Famous for his indestructible skeleton, retractable claws and overall gruffness, James “Logan” Howlett is a mutant possessing sharp animal senses and a superhuman ability to heal from wounds. He is also one of the most popular and recognizable members of the X-Men, the troop of mutant superheroes fighting under the auspices of Professor Charles Xavier. Howlett was born in Alberta, raised in a northern B.C. mining town and even fought for Canada in the First World War.

4. Captain Canuck: Tom Evans, a secret agent with the Canadian International Security Organization, gained superhuman strength via contact with aliens, thus becoming Captain Canuck. The red and white costume has also been donned by Darren Oak to fight a global conspiracy, and by an RCMP constable named David Semple, who takes on a biker gang called the Unholy Avengers.

5. Nelvana of the Northern Lights: One of the first female superheroes, Nelvana is the daughter of a mortal Inuit woman and a mythological figure called Koliak. She can turn invisible and travel at the speed of light. She is also telepathic, and can call on the energy of her godlike father to melt metal and disrupt radio signals. Nelvana used her superhuman abilities to fight the Nazis during the Second World War.

This article was updated in September 2017

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