Just a heads up folks that the pre-Michael Gilbert Canadian version of Mr. Monster has been collected into a single volume for release in October, maybe in time for Halloween or on Halloween itself. Here's the announcement from the RAID publisher website:
MR. MONSTER, THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF DOC. STEARNESKU: 978-1-7750435-4-6 Category: Graphic Novel
DESCRIPTION
Mr. Monster was one of the many heroes created during the Golden Age of Canadian comics. These “Canadian whites,” as they have since been dubbed due to the stark white paper they were printed on, were the result of the War Exchange Conservation Act during World War II. The act restricted the importation of non-essential goods from the United States into Canada, including fiction periodicals. Other notable characters from this era include Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Johnny Canuck, Book Windsor, and Canada Jack. Sit back and enjoy the bizarre adventures of this unique hero collected for the first time in one place.
This collection also includes rare never before seen art and interview with original Mr. Monster creator Fred Kelly. Closing out the book is an afterword by Michael T. Gilbert who resurrected Mr. Monster in the 1980s, and an original pin-up gallery from over two-dozen contemporary Canadian artists!
Mr. Monster originally began life as Doc. Stearne who debuted in WOW Comics #26 from Bell Features in 1945. He was a ‘Doc Savage’ style adventurer that had been popular during the wartime era. Doc Stearne travelled the globe in search of lost civilizations while battling ancient monsters and wartime military threats. With Super-Duper Comics #3 released 1947 Doc. Stearne transformed from a simple adventurer into Mr. Monster, a supernatural avenger. His donning of a brightly coloured costume was perhaps creator Fred Kelly’s attempt to make his character more relevant in a flourishing 4-colour superhero world. This new iteration only lasted one instalment before the series was cancelled due to the influx of post-war American superhero comics. Decades later in the 1980s Michael T. Gilbert’s resurrection and interpretation of Mr. Monster enshrined the character’s relevance in a new era and sparked a kind of cult-fandom Kelly never could have anticipated.
THIS IS A PRE-ORDER ITEM SCHEDULED TO SHIP IN OCTOBER 2021. Follow the link to order.
https://www.raid.world/product/mr-monster/From what I've read of Doc Stearne in the LAC downloads it'll be quite different from Mr. Gilbert's fully fleshed out Mr. Monster character for reasons noted above. The stories were shorter but Fred Kelly was one of the best artists to create at Bell Features. It'll be a treat and go nicely with my other Canadian WW2 collections.
Thanks RAID!
