Johnny Canuck
Canadian cartoon hero and hockey team logo.
Johnny Canuck first appeared as a political cartoon in 1869, then was reimagined as a wartime superhero in 1942. Today, a hockey-playing version of the character serves as one of the logos for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Their minor-league affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, uses it as their primary logo.
Quick Facts
- First appearance
- 1869
- Creator of comic hero
- Leo Bachle
- First comic issue
- Dime Comics #1 (February 1942)
- Publisher of comic
- Bell Features
- Nhl team using logo
- Vancouver Canucks
- Ahl team using logo
- Abbotsford Canucks
Facts from the source article.
Political cartoon
Before Uncle Sam or John Bull had a Canadian counterpart, a fictional lumberjack named Johnny Canuck appeared in 1869 political cartoons. He stood for the nation and was shown as their younger relative. Depending on the drawing, he might wear the clothes of a farmer, logger, soldier, rancher, or habitant. Simple-minded and wholesome, Johnny often stood up to bullying from his American and British elders. For three decades he was a regular in editorial cartoons, but by the early 1900s his use had faded.
Comic book hero
Johnny Canuck first appeared in Bell Features' Dime Comics #1, released in February 1942. The character was created by cartoonist Leo Bachle, who was still a teenager when he took on a challenge from a Bell executive. Unlike many later heroes, Johnny Canuck had no superpowers. Through his comic strip adventures, he fought Nazism on Canada's behalf, even confronting Adolf Hitler and, in the story's telling, nearly winning the war by himself. After World War II, this kind of patriotic stock character faded from popularity. In 1975, Richard Comely introduced Captain Canuck, a costumed superhero in red and white tights with a maple leaf on his mask, unaware that Johnny Canuck had come before. Canada Post honored the earlier hero in 1995 with a postage stamp series featuring Canadian comic-book superheroes; Johnny Canuck appears in his flight jacket, goggles, leather headgear, and boots. The character was revived by Ty Templeton and Moonstone Books in a comic first titled Johnny Canuck and the Guardians of the Northern Lights, later renamed The Northern Guard, which ran for two issues in December 2010 and March 2011.
Vancouver Canucks
Long before they joined the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League, using a lumberjack character on their jerseys. That design was borrowed from a senior hockey team in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. When the Canucks entered the National Hockey League in 1970, they dropped the lumberjack in favor of the "Stick-in-Rink" logo. Decades later, in the mid-1990s, Harold Berndt—who had worked as director of marketing and assistant general manager for the New Westminster Bruins—visited the BC Sports Hall of Fame. There he found a photo of the old 1950s logo, which by the 1960s fans had started calling "Johnny Canuck." Berndt created a major redesign and launched an online campaign in December 1996 pushing for Johnny Canuck to become the Canucks' new logo. In October 1999, Kevin Sander filed a trademark for a Johnny Canuck logo and later sold a slightly different version to the team. The character reappeared in 2006 on a vintage-style goalie mask worn by Roberto Luongo, and even more prominently on his mask the following season. Starting in the 2008–09 season, Johnny Canuck appeared as a shoulder patch on the Canucks' third jersey. Graphic designer Evan Biswanger recreated the full-body logo in 2009. In 2021, the logo became the primary mark for the team's new AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. The following year, in October 2022, the Canucks released a reverse retro jersey with Johnny Canuck as the main logo.
More in Canadian Folklore
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced