Books

Captain Canuck vol. 2

By Patrick Bérubé
March 13, 2010 - 17:25

Captain Canuck is back in this second volume collecting the Summer Special and #11 to #14 of the regular series. This time around we are treated to various stories from the summer special and most importantly the “Chariots of fire” story arc, which explains the Captain's origin in detail. After an alien race realizes that they might have altered the future of earth by giving a man (Capt. Canuck) super powers and erasing his memory of the events, they are determined to correct the situation. However, everything does not go as planned as C.I.S.O. is there to guard our planet against any threat. In the process, Capt. Canuck is accidentally sent in the past where he meets Mic Mac Indians and Vikings. How will he return to his time? We might never know since the series ended there...

The plot in this volume is a welcome change compared to the previous one. Not that it was actually bad but by presenting a larger and more ambitious story arc, Richard Comely made the reading experience more interesting and engaging. There is a cohesion that I felt was missing that is now very present. It looks like Mr. Comely was much more comfortable with his writing skills later in the series and he was just starting to get the ball rolling. Too bad the series ended with #14. It would have been interesting to see where he could have taken the character next.

The art also sees a nice improvement over volume 1, especially on the colors. I don't know if it's just the restoration process that got better or, if like Richard Comely, George Freeman and Claude St. Aubin grew more comfortable with their skills as the series moved forward, but most of the reservations I had with the first issues are now almost all gone.

I would definitely say that Captain Canuck vol. 2 is an improvement over the previous volume. If you have not enjoyed vol. 1, I suggest that you still give this second hardcover a chance and I would even go as far as to say that you might actually want to start with it if you want to discover the Captain's adventure for the first time.

Rating: 7.5 /10

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20