Johnny Canuck is aCanadiancartoonhero andsuperhero who was created as apolitical cartoon in 1869 and was later re-invented as aSecond World Waraction hero in 1942. TheVancouver Canucks, a professionalice hockey team in theNational Hockey League (NHL), currently use a hockey playing "Johnny Canuck" logo as one of their team logos. In addition, the Vancouver Canucks'American Hockey League affiliate, theAbbotsford Canucks, use it as their main logo.
Johnny Canuck is a fictionallumberjack and anational personification ofCanada.[1] He first appeared in early political cartoons dating to 1869 where he was portrayed as a younger cousin of theUnited States'Uncle Sam andBritain'sJohn Bull. Dressed as ahabitant,farmer,logger,rancher orsoldier, he was characterized as wholesome and simple-minded and was often depicted resisting thebullying of John Bull or Uncle Sam. He appeared regularly in editorial cartoons for 30 years before declining in usage in the early twentieth century.[2]
The character re-emerged duringWorld War II in the February 1942 issue ofBell Features'Dime Comics #1.[2] CartoonistLeo Bachle created the character as a teenager, apparently on a challenge from a Bell executive. Initially, Johnny Canuck had no superpowers. Johnny Canuck's cartoon exploits helped Canada fight againstNazism. LikeCaptain America, he metAdolf Hitler and almost single-handedly ended the war.
The use of suchstock figures diminished in popularity after World War II, but in 1975, a new comic book character,Captain Canuck, emerged. Created by Richard Comely (who at the time was unaware of the earlier Johnny Canuck character), Captain Canuck was a costumedsuperhero rather than just a hero, and he wore red and white tights and bore a redmaple leaf emblazoned on the forehead of his mask.
In 1995,Canada Post issued a series of Canadian postage stamps celebrating Canada's comic-book superheroes.[3] Johnny Canuck is depicted as he appeared in the comic books, dressed in flight jacket, goggles, leather headgear and boots. Johnny Canuck is linked to a tradition of stalwart, honest, upstanding Canadian heroes.
Ty Templeton andMoonstone Books resurrected the character in a comic originally calledJohnny Canuck and the Guardians of the Northern Lights and then re-titledThe Northern Guard, which published two issues in December 2010 and March 2011.[4]
In the mid-20th century, theVancouver Canucks, a major professionalice hockey team of thePacific Coast Hockey League and laterWestern Hockey League, used a lumberjack character inspired by a Dawson Creek BC senior hockey teams logo.[5] When the Canucks moved to theNational Hockey League in 1970, they discontinued the lumberjack logo, in favour of the "Stick-in-Rink" logo.
In the mid-1990s, Harold Berndt, the former director of marketing and assistant general manager for the major juniorWestern Hockey League'sNew Westminster Bruins,[6][7] visited theBC Sports Hall of Fame. He obtained a photo of the vintage 1950s logo, originally inspired by a Dawson Creek BC team,[5] and by the 1960s had begun to be referred to by fans as "Johnny Canuck". He created the first major redesign and a campaign for "Johnny Canuck" to become theVancouver Canucks' new logo,[8] Berndt released his logo redesign to the internet by December 1996[9] advocating that "Johnny Canuck" would make the best new logo for the Vancouver Canucks.[10]
In October 1999, Kevin Sander applied for a "Johnny Canuck" logo as a trademark and subsequently sold a similar modified version to the Canucks.[11]
In2006, a vintage-inspiredgoaltender mask worn by Canucks' goaltenderRoberto Luongo featured the older style "Johnny Canuck" logo.[12] Thefollowing season, Luongo's new mask once again featured a "Johnny Canuck", but more prominently than his previous design.[13] Beginning in2008–09, the Canucks introduced "Johnny Canuck" on the shoulder patch of theirthird jersey.[14] The full body Johnny Canuck logo was then recreated by graphic designer Evan Biswanger in 2009.
In 2021, "Johnny Canuck" logo became the logo for new AHL farm team, theAbbotsford Canucks, inAbbotsford, British Columbia.[15]
In October 2022, the Canucks revealed their reverse retro jersey which featured Johnny Canuck as the logo.[16]
In 1974, Toronto's Factory Theatre staged a play based on the Johnny Canuck character, written by Ken Gass and entitled "Hurray for Johnny Canuck".[17]
By the turn of the century Johnny Canuck was being used to personify Canada in the same way that John Bull personifies England and Uncle Sam the United States.
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