Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Short-listed for the 2007 CBA Libris Awards for Book Design of the Year
What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the "funnies" long before.
Invaders from the North profiles past and present comic geniuses, sheds light on unjustly neglected chapters in Canadas pop history, and demonstrates how this nation has vaulted to the forefront of international comic art, successfully challenging the long-established boundaries between high and low culture. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and colour comic covers and panels, Invaders from the North serves up a cheeky, brash cavalcade of flamboyant and outrageous personalities and characters that graphically attest to Canadas verve and invention in the world of visual storytelling.
— Dan Davidson
"Canada's distinctive contributions to cartooning get a new history all their own in the cleverly designed Invaders From the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe by John Bell."
"The book's 60-plus images rightly place the spotlight on the art ... Kudos to publisher Dundurn for using colour, fully remastered, for all images that originally used it, as well as for using heavy paper stock - there's an almost tactile thickness to the images that gives them an impressive air of scrapbook solidity."
— Gary Butler
"Filled with interesting facts and vivid illustrations, the book chronicles the history of comics and comic art."
— Ria Newhouse
"Invaders From the North is the best kind of pop culture book: quirky and fascinating, with a fresh look at something most of us take for granted."
— John Threlfall
"It's a beauty of a book, a must for the growing legion of fans of an art form that stands as a legitimate bridge between high and low culture."
"... an original work that scholars, collectors, fans, and enthusiasts of all ages should plan on adding to their libraries."
— Alex Good
"Canada's distinctive contributions to cartooning get a new history all their own in the cleverly designed Invaders From the North."
— Nancy Tousley
"... Canada clearly has a comic book heritage worth celebrating, and this is a worthy tribute."
— York Membery
"Bell's book is to be welcomed as part of a larger movement to recover Canada's lost popular culture."
— Jeet Heer
"Bell's book is well researched and illustrated."
— Chris Robinson
"Refreshingly, John Bell takes a more inclusive view in his history of Canadian comics and cartoonists, Invaders from the North ... The research behind Bell's book is impressive, as is its scope."
— Claude Lalumire
"Bell sticks to his strengths and offers a solid history ... Invaders from the North ... is still the most thorough examination of Canadian comics to date."
— Scott Marshall
John Bell is a senior archivist at Library and Archives Canada and a leading authority on the history of English Canadian comic books. His contributions to the comics field include two books, Canuck Comics and Guardians of the North, and the websites Guardians of the North and Beyond the Funnies. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario.