49°18′N123°06′W / 49.3°N 123.1°W /49.3; -123.1
| Status | Defunct (c. 1946) |
|---|---|
| Founded | March1941 |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Headquarters location | Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada |
| Publication types | Comic books |
Maple Leaf Publishing was aWorld War II-eraCanadiancomic book publisher active during theGolden Age of Comic Books. They were one of four publishers—along withAnglo-American Publishing,Hillborough Studios, and Commercial Signs of Canada (later renamedBell Features)—which published "Canadian Whites",black-and-white comic books with colour covers[1][2] that proliferated during the war years when American imports were restricted.[3] Maple Leaf Publishing started publishing comic books in March 1941 and went out of business when the restrictions were lifted after the end of World War II.[1]
Canada declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, enteringWorld War II. In December 1940, with Canada'strade deficit with the still-neutral United States growing, the government passed the War Exchange Conservation Act, which restricted the importing of non-essential goods—including comic books—from the United States.[1][4]
Four Canadian publishers, Maple Leaf, Anglo-American Publishing, Hillborough Studios, and Commercial Signs of Canada (later renamed Bell Features), independently emerged to take advantage of the legislation.[1][4] While the other three were based inToronto, Maple Leaf calledVancouver home.[1][4] Maple Leaf and the larger Anglo-American published their first comic books in March 1941, the others following later in the year.[4]
In contrast to the larger Anglo-American, which for example bought AmericanCaptain Marvel scripts and simply had them redrawn by Canadians,[5] Maple Leaf focused on home-grown, 100% original material.[4] Maple Leaf's first publication,Better Comics #1, is thus considered to be the first trueCanadian comic book.[4][6] It is also credited with the first Canadian superhero,Iron Man,[1][4] debuting in March 1941 in the first issue ofBetter Comics, precedingStan Lee andJack Kirby'sunrelated superhero of the same name by over two decades.[4]
Maple Leaf's comics were modeled on the American regular comic format, minus the colour interiors.[4] Other notable titles Maple Leaf published includeBig Bang Comics,Lucky Comics andRocket Comics.[4][7]
However, with the end of World War II in 1945, American comics were once again dominant in Canada; Maple Leaf, Anglo-American and Bell tried to compete post-war, but failed.[1]
| English |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| French |
| ||||
| Publishers |
| ||||
| Awards | |||||
| Conventions | |||||
| People | |||||
| Shops | |||||
| Books about | |||||
| TV | |||||
| Other | |||||
.svg)
