LEBLANC Steve
Photo of Steve LeBlanc taken about the time he was drawing Tony Bravado.
A portrait of Steve drawn by R.G. Taylor about the time they were collaborating on “167”.
I came to comics late for most young boys….I was unable to pursue this medium for economic reasons. Instead I turned to the local library … it was there I first encountered the prose of Robert Louis Stevenson. With the added bonus of the books being illustrated by N.C. Wyeth my heroes became people like Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island and Dick Shelton in The Black Arrow. …
These stories [and others like them] profoundly influenced my thoughts about justice and right and wrong and is at odds with the current culture of flawed heroes and nebulous motives.” The Lost Island of Dreams, 2013: Inside front cover.
Steve LeBlanc was born January 30, 1956 in Berwick Nova Scotia and at the age of six years moved to Toronto where he still lives with his wife and two children.
After High School he studied in the cartooning program in Sheridan College in Oakville from 1975 to 1977 and then studied painting from 1980 to 1989 with Michael John Angel who was one of North America’s foremost figure painters in the classical tradition. He was also Director of the National Portrait Gallery in Toronto 1982 to 1988, then Assistant Director of the Florence Academy of Art in Italy 1992 to 1995. During this time Steve established a career in graphic arts with some commercial illustration. He has also done a number of portrait and landscape commissions.
It was in the 1980’s that, he branched out into graphic stories, creating adventure cartoons with Dave Darrigo and James Waley. Steve was introduced to Dave, “a writer looking to work with some artists”, through Nick Poliwko a Sheridan College friend of Steve’s. Both Poliwko and LeBlanc were working at the Auto Trader newspaper. LeBlanc had been cartooning his own stories but he liked the idea of working with a writer “and Dave seemed like a nice guy.” What Dave liked about Steve was that in an industry dominated by artists wanting to do superheroes Steve preferred un-costumed un-mutated humans.
They formed a partnership and in 1985 and worked on two graphic stories, “The Reformed Five” about and group of ex-cons fighting crime and “The Nazi Streets”: the story of a Jewish vigilante in prewar Nazi Germany,. The latter was to appear in Tour de Force but the backers for Tour de Force faded away and “Nazi Streets” faded away with them. However, the Darrigo/LeBlanc team produced one story “Blitzbusters” which appeared in Gideon Steinberg’s Canadian Cavalcade. In addition Steve drew pulp pinups for Dave and these appeared in Wordsmith numbers 2 (October 1985 and 3 (December 1985).
In 1986 Dave asked Steve if he would be interested in a character “Tony Bravado that Dave had created. Steve was very interested and created a “Tony Bravado” that was an amalgam of different Italians that he knew. He did a couple of poster pieces “that didn’t thrill Deni Loubert too much and in retrospect she was probably right.” After a long and frustrating search for an illustrator Darrigo and Loubert finally settled on a team composed of Steve doing pencils and a Québec artist Louis Paradis inking. In the process of getting to know each other, Steve and Louis did a story “The Falling of the Sun”, Steve writing and doing pencils, Louis inking. It appeared in 1987 in Mark Innes’ mini comic Wavemakers no. 4.
The publishing history of this character was one of starts and hesitations as Renegade Press and later Special Studio ran into difficulties with the collapse of the black and white market. Suffice here to say that over issues 1 and 2 Steve became increasingly dissatisfied with Lois’ inking and wanted another inker. However, on reflection Steve later (2010) had this to say, “Looking back at the book, I realize Louis wasn’t the problem, it was more me trying to find my way.” As it worked out Tony Bravado was delayed so many times that Steve wound up inking issues 3 and 4 himself before the periodical was cancelled.
The year 1991 was a busy one for Steve. He and Dave ( using the pseudonym George Stryker) teamed up to do “Knight of Justice” for Black Scorpion no. 1 a Special Studio publication. About this time Steve also became involved in a team that produced “Ali-Baba: Scourge of the Desert”. This involved Jim Waley, another Sheridan College graduate and founder of Orb, Dave Darrigo, Steve LeBlanc and Ron Kasman fleshing out a story originated by Dave Sim creator of “Cerebus the Aardvark”. It later appeared under the title Ali-Baba Scourge of the Desert published by Gauntlet Comics a division of Caliber Press in the U.S. Two issues were published but issue 3 which would have completed the story never appeared. LeBlanc also began a story about a barnstorming pilot in the 1920’s called “Johnny Tempest”. He finished eight pages but by this time Special Studio had ceased operations. One last project was to ink an eight page story for Nick Poliwko for Good Girl Comics no. 18 published by AC Comics out of Florida.
The many still born projects left Steve disillusioned with the comic book business he spent the next ten years painting and making frequent trips to Italy to see the best of Renaissance art. During these visits he would at times drop in on Angel in Florence.
In 2004 he returned to graphic storytelling realizing that he missed the genre. He produced a graphic story in four parts called Hogtown Jaz: The Perfect Fall Guy which was edited by his former associate Dave Darrigo. It is about an ex-Montreal cop and what happens to him when he moves to Toronto. The story has appeared both in print and online. This story was followed by Turista Menu a book of short stories set in Italy. The first story “Code Name: Pearl – A-Riva-Derci” introduces us to a female agent who returns in “Red Star Conspiracy” in Drama Drama, a periodical. The second story is about a woman movie star called “Honey” which is also the name of the story. He founded his own company Via Di Malcontenti to publish these works..
After “ “Pearl: What’s All The Hullabaoo” Drama Drama 7, in 2016, Steven detoured into contract work. He pencilled 24 pages of Larry Blamire’s digital comic Steam Wars, 2 which was inked and coloured by Nick Poliwko. He illustrated a 15 page story written by Antonio Solinas for the anthology Stazione 31 published by Passenger Press in Italy. “Jack e Rodolfo” is a surrealistic story about a passing meeting between Jack Kirby and Santos a Mexican wrestler at a train station. He picked up on the vampire novel called Bloodlust written by Roger Slifer & Bryan Sullivan after Will Meugniot did the first thirty pages. Steven did the next 142. As of January 2019 it had not been published.
In 2018, Steven returned to finish “Pearl: What’s All The Hullabaoo” in Drama Drama 7. In addition he illustrated an 8 page science fiction story written by Mark Shainblum. This story may be part 1 of a new serial.
The ongoing adventures of “Pearl” and “Honey” can be seen on Steve’s Website www.steveleblanc.ca.
WORK:
CARTOONIST:
BOOK GRAPHIC:
Content novella & Cover book:
The Island of Lost Dreams. Via di Malcontenti, 2013.
BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Potlatch presents The 1980 Comics Annual. Ed., Ian Carr. Potlatch Publications, 1979: “Haab the Luckless”: 41-43.
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
The Comic Eye, December 2007: “Telling Stories”.
Quadrant,7, 1986: “The Girl Who Could See Tomorrow”. Let., Cindy Holmes.
Romantic Eye, 1, June 2007: “Lauren’s Dream”.
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC COLLECTION:
Content:
Serial:
| Drama Drama,….: “Honey.” Via di Malcontenti, Black & white. | ||
| 1, 2008: … | 2, October 2009: … | 3, April 2011: … |
| Drama Drama,…. :“Pearl: Red Star Conspiracy.” Via di Malcontenti, Colour | |||
| 1, 2008: … | 2, Oct. 2009: … | 3, April 2011: … | 4, Feb. 2012: … |
| Drama Drama…:. “Pearl: What’s All The Hullabaloo.” Via di Malcontenti, Colour. | ||
| 5, Sept. 2014: … | 6, Oct. 2015: … | 7, Jan. 2019: … |
Story:
| Drama Drama …. Via di Malcontenti, Black & white. | |
| 4, Feb. 2012: “Meltdown.” | 5, Sept. 2014: “The Fly”: 21-24. |
| Drama Drama , 8, October 2020: “….”: … Via di Malcontenti, |
|
“The Fool On The Hill”: 1-8. Colour. “The Garden Of Earthly Frights”: 11-18. Black & white. “Oblivion”: 17-18. Black & white. “Dead Man’s Hand”: 19-24. “Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mortes)”: 25-28. This story was inspired by “Les Feuilles Mortes” sung by Yves Montand |
| Turista Menu,1, January 2007: …. Via di Malcontenti, Black & white. | |
| “Code Name: Pearl – A-Riva-Derci.”
“Dante e Beatrice.” |
“Giacomo.”
“Whispered Thought’s on a Spring Day.” |
ILLUSTRATOR:
BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Drawing the Line Again, Apr. 2006: “Breathe.” Writ., Reay, Jespersen. 97-100. A story without words.
BOOK TEXT & GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content:
Poetry:
Canadian Children’s Annual, 1982. Ed., Robert F. Neilson. Art Dir., Mary Tach. Potlatch Publications, 1981: “The Witch’s Curse.” Writ., Nancy Prasad: 90.
Story:
Canadian Children’s Annual,1980. Ed., Robert F. Neilson. Art Dir., Mary Tach. Potlatch Publications 1979: “Ginko Biloba – The Oldest Tree On Earth.” Writ., Eileen Cade-Edwards. 170-172.
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:
Cover:
Front:
| Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter, …. Special Studio. | |||
| 1, August 1988 | 2, n.d. | 3, December 1989. | 4, March 1990 |
Back:
Ali-Baba: Scourge of the Desert, 1-1, 1992. Caliber Press.
Content:
Portrait:
Drama Drama , 8, October 2020: “Rendezvous”. Via di Malcontenti, Colour.
Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter, 3, Dec. 1989: “Tony Bravado.” Advertisement: 26.
| Wordsmith,….: “Pulp Pinup.” Renegade Press. Black & white. | ||
| 2, October1985.: 23.
3, December1985.: 23. |
5, May 1986.: 28.
7, November1986.: 24. |
8, February 1987.: 28. |
Serial:
| Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter,…. “ ….” Writ., Dave Darrigo. Special Studio. Black & white. |
| 3, December 1989: “Point of No Return Part 2”: 1-25. “
4, March 1990: “The All American Nightmare”: 1-30. |
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content:
Serial:
Black Scorpion, 1, Apr. 1991: “Knight of Justice.”. Writer, George Stryker (Dave Darrigo). 1-16. Special Studio. Black & white.
Story:
Canadian Comics Cavalcade, 1-1, Summer 1986: “Blitzbuster vs the Earth-Cracker.” Writer, Dave Darrigo. 8-13. Black & white.
The Comic Eye, Dec. 2007: “Feast or Famine.” Writer, James Waley . Black & white.
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC COLLECTION:
Cover:
Front:
| Drama Drama’…. Via di Malcontenti. | |||
| 1, 2008.
2, October 2009. |
3, April 2011.
4, February 2012. |
5, September 2014
6, October 2015 |
7, 2019 |
Wraparound: Turista Menu, January 2007. Via di Malcontent.
Content:
Serial:
Drama Drama, 7, January 2019: “Ares Unbound, Pt. 1, Deicide”. Writ., Mark Shainblum. Via di Malcontenti. Colour. No further episodes.
Sketch landscape:
Turista Menu, January 2007: “Engagement in Sirmione”: 10. Via di Malcontent. Black & white.
PENCILLER:
BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Drawing the Line May 2004: “Above and Beyond.” Writ., James Waley. In. & Let., Ron Kasman. 50-51.
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:
Content:
Drawing:
Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter, 2, no date: Adver. In., Louis Paradis: 32. Special Studio. Black & white.
Serial:
| Ali-Baba: Scourge of the Desert, 1-1, 1992: “ …”…. In. & Let., Ron Kasman Caliber Press. Black & white. |
|
“Prologue.” Writ., James Waley: 1-8. “The Blood Temple Beckons.” Writ., Lay., D. Sim. Writ., D. Darrigo: 10-17. “Warriors Beyond the Veil.” Writ., Dave Darrigo & J. Waley: 18-25. “Dark Goddess Rising.” Writ., James Waley: 26-38. |
Ali-Baba: Scourge of the Desert, 1-2, 1993: “ Aladdin Rules!” Writ., J. Waley. In., Terry Pallot. Let., R. Kasman: 1-24.”. Caliber Press. Black & white.
| Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter:… “….” Writ., Dave Darrigo, In., Louis Paradis., Black & white. |
| 1, Aug. 1988: “Dirty Jobs: 1-28. Renegade Press.
2, no date: “The Point of No Return Part 1”. Let., Cindy Holmes: 1-23. Special Studio. |
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Wavemakers ,4, February 1989: “The Falling of the Sun.” Writ., Steve LeBlanc. In. Louis Paradis. Let., Cindy Holmes: 25-27. Black & white.
INKER:
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Good Girl Comics, 18, 1995: “No title”. Writ., and Pen. Nick Poliwko.
WRITER:
BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Growing Up With Comics. 2008: “167.” Illus. R. G. Taylor. 27- 31. Desperado Publishing, Black & white.
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:
Content story:
Negative Burn, 21, June 2008: “167” Illus. R. G. Taylor. Black & white.
Wavemakers, 4, Feb.1989: “The Falling of the Sun”. Pen., Steve LeBlanc. In., Louis Paradis. Let., Cindy Holmes: 25-27. Black & white. Also appeared in colour in Drama Drama 6 see below.
WRITER & ILLUSTRATOR:
Content story & Cover book front:
| Hogtown Jaz, …: “The Perfect Fall Guy.” Via di Malcontenti. Colour. | |||
| 1 of 4, May 2005. | 2 of 4, Jan. 2006: | 3 of 4, Feb. 2006. | 4 of 4, March 2006. |
WRITER , PENCILLER & COLOURIST:
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC COLLECTION:
Content story:
Drama Drama, 6, October 2015: “The Falling of the Sun.” In., Louis Paradis. Let., Cindy Holmes: 22-24. Colour. Also appeared in black & white in Wavewakers see above.
PUBLISHER:
SOURCE:
Article book:
Growing Up With Comics. Ed.& Illus., R.G. Taylor. Desperado Publishing. 2008: “Creator Biographies.”
Article periodical:
Ali-Baba,1-2, 1993: “Sands of Time.” Writ., James Waley…
Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter,1, Aug.1988: “A Bit of Background to Bravado.” Writ., Dave Darrigo.
Correspondence:
Dave Darrigo to Robert MacMillan.
Steve Leblanc to Robert MacMillan.
GALLERY:
Hogtown Jaz, 2 0f 4: 16.
Drama Drama, 5: Front cover.
Turista Menu, 1 Jan. 2007: Wraparound cover.
The Lost Island of Dreams, June 2013: 9.
“Jack e Rodolfo” Stazione 31: 4-5.
Drama Drama, 8, April 2020: 1.
“Rendezvous”. Drama Drama 8, April 2020: 10
Drama Drama, 8, April 2020: 11.