Retro Review: Captain Canuck Unholy War

Captain Canuck Unholy War
Writer: Riel Langlios
Artist: Drue Langlios
Colourist: Laurie E. Smith, Greg Waller, Drue Langlios
Letterer: Blue Kang, Bryan Senka
Publisher: Chapterhouse

A review by Josh Rose

In a world much like our own, with a very similar history right down to Facebook, an RCMP Constable is tired of the red tape surrounding the law and inspired by comics from his youth becomes Captain Canuck. Originally published in 2004, Captain Canuck Unholy War sees David Semple work to stop the criminal operations of the biker gang known as the Unholy Avengers, which is under the leadership of the supposedly dead Mr. Gold.

Riel Langlois has given us a fun little adventure here and he ties it in closely with the all of the series that came before. To me this would have been a great series had it been cleanly independent from Reborn, and Legacy, but it did open the door to have more stories in the future featuring David. The series also pokes some fun at the idea of secret identities.

The art by Drue Langlios in Captain Canuck Unholy War is a lot of fun to see. The characters’ faces are expressive and full of emotion, and the fights are full of action. His panel layouts are even easy to follow and understand. There were some panels that I thought could use some rearranging or adjusting to make the story flow a little easier but in reality it doesn’t distract from the overall story. Just feels a little awkward. The colours in this series are bright and vibrant, even during the night scenes.

The Verdict
Buy it. Captain Canuck Unholy War, though it sounds gritty and the cover looks like a superhero-zombie mashup, is a fun little superhero romp in Metro Vancouver. It’s complete with an arch-nemeses, crime syndicates, superhero gadgets, and plenty of fighting! Recommended to anyone looking for a light-hearted story while getting maximum, super-heroic effort.