THE NORTHERN GUARD

Published by the U.S. company Moonstone Books, this serial is the product of writer Ty Templeton, illustrator David Cutler and letterer K.T. Smith. American artist Jason Edmiston illustrated the covers. Only two issues were published and so it is even more difficult than for Stig’s Inferno to guess the narrative’s trajectory.

The setting of the story is a post-apocalyptic 2028. Europe and Africa have been competing for resources with an impoverished but still powerful America. “Dimitri Tomkin”, “the world’s leading theoretical physicist”, who acquired the name “Red Rogue” has recreated “Tesla’s long-aborted ‘Wardenclyffe Wireless’ electric broadcast tower …” in Providenia Russia. It was intended to provide all of Europe’s electrical needs but before it could be turned on, a confrontation erupted between China and Japan threatening nuclear war and so “Dimitri” instead sent out from the tower a powerful vibrational frequency in order to ‘shut down’ the world’s nuclear arsenal before it could be used. He earlier had discovered this frequency degrades radioactive uranium into inert lead. “But the device didn’t work as Dimitri” intended.” Instead, it set off a burst of energy that travelled across North America from Alaska to New York. This burst altered the atomic structure of the world’s conductive materials like copper making them inert and causing a worldwide blackout – except for the territory along the path of the pulse where the conductors were unaffected. It also affected some humans and other animals along this corridor giving them extraordinary powers and abilities.

The story opens in the “Dark Lands” so-called because of the blackout, more specifically north of Fort Nelson in British Colombia. “Anne Knight” the “Guardian Project’s” most powerful agent has come here to investigate why Fort Nelson’s radio signal went dead and a supply plane went missing. She discovers Russians in the territory, and she is surrounded by them. Time to call forth “Nanook Iluak “Spirit of the Polar Bear and Big Woman of the North” and her companion “Nanarook” another supernatural polar bear. The two rout the Russian soldiers but then a figure totally enclothed in a red coverall appears offering peace. He removes his glove and stuns Nanook with an energy blast. We have met “Dimitri Tomkin” aka “Red Rogue”. Switch to “Dr. John Canuck” in his laboratory where “Commander Steele” is knocked for a loop by an explosion from an experiment gone wrong. No harm done. They leave for a border gate entrance to the “Dark Lands”) to get more “inert wiring”. On their way they encounter a hungry mob storming a grocery store and a cocky young man with an “L” on his chest defending it. The mob overpowers him and “Canuck” comes to his rescue, then hires the mob to clean up the mess paying them with food which he buys from the store. This scene is cut short by a call for “Dr. Canuck” to go to “Guardian Headquarters”. He travels there in a vertical take-off aircraft and takes the kid with the “L” now identified as “Freelance” with him. On the way they pass the “Purple Rider” a purple naked woman on a purple horse who protects the skies over Toronto. At the headquarters “Dr. Canuck” greets “Ghost Woman”, “Grey Wing”, “Dr. Destine – The Man Who Lives in the Future” and “Trick Merlin” who wears a Canadiens hockey sweater. The Guardians now learn that the Russian Army has landed in northern British Columbia and that they have lost contact with “Anne Knight” who it turns out is “Dr. Canuck’s” girlfriend. “Canuck” in a frenzy orders “Trick Merlin” to use his power to teleport “Canuck” to the site. He lands in a room where two doctors hoover over an unconsious “Anne” on an operating table. He overcomes the two doctors but cannot revive “Anne”. Also, he has no escape plan. Russian soldiers are now at the door he has blockaded. He continues to attempt to revive “Anne” A kiss works. The soldiers have broken in and shoot “Canuck” but a revived “Anne” summons up or transforms into “Nanook” who grabs up Dr. Canuck” and they fly into the wilderness. “Red Menace” appears on the scene uttering “No I will not be stopped from repairing my mistake, and I will not be a villain in the eyes of the world! When I am done the name Dimitri Tomkin will be spoken in reverent awe throughout history. For I will be the man who saved the human race.” He then causes an eruption of snow and ice in the path of “Nanook” and “Canuck”.

Issue 2 begins with “Nanook” turning the ice and snow against “Red Rogue” and the Russia forces and escaping. Now realizing his presence has been discovered “Dimitri” races to the Hay River Alberta air base. Meanwhile, “Nanook” deposits “Canuck” in Trillium Centre Hospital in Mississauga. “Nanook” had sensed that “Dimitri” was present in the encounter with the Russians. “Anne” gives the information to “Canuck” revealing that “Dimitri” not only survived the apocalyptic explosion but is now in Canada. “Canuck” rushes to “Guardian Headquarters” and gives the bad news to the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the U.S. Switch to Hay River. The Russian forces attack and the Canadian forces defend. Again “Dimitri” shows concern for human life. “No lives are ‘petty’ Dubois.” He says to his lieutenant who expresses a lack of concern for lives lost. The Russian forces capture a helicopter and two jet fighters and leave for Long Island New York. The “Guardian” team arrives at Hay River and defeats the Russian soldiers. From them the team finds out that “Red Rogue” is headed for Long Island. “Canuck” remembers that Long Island was the termination point for the blackout pulse and the site of the original “Wardenclyffe” tower. Is “Dimitri” going to set off another “electromagnetic shockwave” and end what’s left of civilization? The “Guardians” think so and are intent on stopping him. However, the last scene suggests a different motive. In it “Dimitri” states “It is imperative that we reach the “Tesla” site as soon as possible so that I can undo this terrible thing I have done.”

This was the last issue published.

In Stig’s Inferno, Ty created his own version of the Dante’s Inferno narrative. For The Northern Guard he has taken character names principally Canadian from 1940’s comic books and redesigned the characters to tell a post-apocalyptic story set in 2028. The trio of central characters are “Johnny Canuck” now a physicist and inventor, “Commander Steele” now “Canuck’s” bodyguard and “Nanook Iluak” who is based on “Nelvana of the Northern Lights”. The name “Nelvana” had become the property and name of an animation company. Other appropriated Canadian character names were “Freelance”, “Purple Rider” and “Dr. Destine”. Of these only “Freelance” shows any development in the two published issues.

Other 1940’s characters reflect the blurred boundary between what was Canadian and what was American in the postwar comic book industry. “Trick Merlin” was created by Canadian Wes Chapman who moved to the U.S. It appeared in Captain Hobby Comics 1 published by Export Publishing Enterprises of Toronto. The “Red Rogue” name of “Dimitri Tomkin” comes from a character “Red Rogue” designed by U.S. artist George Marcoux and appearing in Star Studded Comics published in 1945 by Cambridge (a U.S. company) and in 1946 by Superior Comics. Another character appearing in Star Studded Comics was “Ghost Woman”. In the two issues, “Red Rogue” was quite developed, “Trick Merlin” less so and “Ghost Woman” not at all. Two things can be said about all these characters. None of them are vaguely like the 1940’s characters and there is no attempt to make them descendants of these characters. In short they are original characters assigned old names.

From the indications in these two issues, Ty appears to have abandoned the good guy bad guy model of the superhero genre in favour of a more nuanced narrative. His characters are more complex. “Dimitri”

initially attempted to save the world from a nuclear holocaust by discharging a high energy pulse. He erred and is now attempting to correct that error but in doing so he has snuck into Canada without notifying the Canadian government and when he is discovered and has an opportunity to explain himself he reacts with violence even as he expresses his concern for taking human life and tells his assistant all human life is valuable. “Dr. Canuck is portrayed as impulsive. His rushes to rescue “Anne/Nanook” without a plan and has to be rescued by “Nanook”. Yet he is also a physicist and inventor who is working on a solution to the current catastrophe. When confronted with a starving mob attacking a grocery store, he de-escalates the conflict by offering the mob jobs paid for with food he buys from the attacked grocery store. A “Guardian” of Canada did attempt to find out what was going on in Northern British Columbia but once the violence began and the “Guardians” discovered “Dimitri” and the Russian army was involved they assume “Dimitri” is attempting to complete the job of destruction without considering he may be attempting to rectify the disaster he inadvertently caused. What can be read from this initial part of the story is that lack of trust on both sides is preventing them from communicating and resulting in misunderstanding and conflict which is further endangering civilization.

The question: where Ty would have taken this scenario must remain unanswered. However, the two issues establish that both “John Canuck” and “Dimitri Tomkin” are seeking to rectify “Dimitri’s technical error and end the dystopia and they have established that in spite of his impetuosity John Canuck is capable of de-escalating confrontations and achieving co-operation. Was the trajectory of the story that somehow communication between the two sides would be established and there would actually be co-operate between us and the Russians to end the dystopia? Given Ty Templeton’s habit of replacing accepted conventions with his own vision makes this a distinct possibility.

MEDIUM:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:

Content serial:

The Northern Guard,1, 2010: “The Northern Guard.” Writ., Ty Templeton. Illus., David J. Cutler.

Col.& Let., K.T. Smith. Moonstone.

The Northern Guard, 2, 2011: “The Northern Guard.” Writ., Ty Templeton & Sam Agro. Illus., David J.

Cutler. Col.& Let. K.T. Smith. Moonstone.

Cover front:

The Northern Guard, 1, 2010.: Illus., Jason Edminston.

The Northern Guard, 2, 2011: Illus., Jason Edminston.

SOURCE:

Article periodical:

Comics Journal, 96, March 1985: “Kitscjh ‘N’ Katz ‘N’ Kanada.” Writ., Steve Monaco: 42-44,

“Will The Real Captain Canuck Please Stand Up?” Writ., Russell Freund: 44-46.

Northern Guardian 1, 2010: “Spotlight On Trick Merlin”:25-29.

Northern Guardian 2, 2011: “Spotlight On Red Rogue:: 20-28.

GALLERY:

The Northern Guard,1, 2010: Front cover.

The Northern Guard, 2, 2011: Front cover.

NORTH WIND

See FAMILY DYNAMIC

 

NORTH Ryan

Born Oct. 20, 1980 in Ottawa Ontario.

This Canadian writer, computer programmer and songwriter is the creator of Dinosaur Comics, a fixed-art webcomic which has run for over 2000 issues and been published in print form by Quack! Media as The Best of Dinosaur Comics: 2003-2005 AD: Your Whole Family Is Made Of Meat. He is co-creator of Whispered Apologies, and Happy Dog the Happy Dog. He writes the cartoon serial “Adventure Time with Finn & Jake’.

He studied computer science with a minor in film at Carleton University then moved to the University of Toronto where he graduated in 2005 with a Master’s Degree specializing in computational linguistics

WORK:

WRITER:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content serial:

Adventure Time …: “Adventure Time with Finn & Jake.” Illus., Shelli Paroline & Braden Lamb. Let., Steve Wands.
1: February 2012.	2: March 2012.	3: April 2012.	4: May. 2012.

Adventure Time, 5, June 2012“Adventure Time with Finn & Jake.” Illus., Mike Holmes. Col., Studio Parlapà. Let., Steve Wands. .

SOURCE:

Internet:

“Ryan North.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_North 18 March 2014.

 

 

NORRIS Leonard Matheson

“Norris was the first cartoonist in Canada to appropriate a distinctive regional culture as a vehicle to caricature and express underlying national attitudes toward current events. Often when he is apparently at his most parochial, he is  dealing with with old associations and new conflicts that are shared by all Canadians.”                                                                                                                      The Hecklers, 121.

Leonard Matheson Norris was born 1 Dec 1913 in London, England. He immigrated with his parents to the Lakehead in Ontario when he was 12 and began his career by doing caricatures of prominent people around Prince Arthur and Fort William (now Thunder Bay), which a local merchant hung in his storefront window. After his father lost his job in a pulp mill in Port Arthur, during the depression, the family moved to Toronto, where young Norris worked as a stevedore loading coal at $12.50 per week.

About the same time he worked on the switch board of the Elias Rogers Coal Company, sketching in his spare time. Frank Dowsett from the company’s advertising department saw these sketches and commissioned Norris to do drawings for the company brochures. Dowsett also introduced Norris to members of the Toronto Star’s art department and they showed Norris how they designed advertising layouts, retouched photos and did other techniques. At night he studied at the Ontario College of Art.

In 1938 he got his first job as a graphic artist for a Toronto advertising agency. He worked there till he enlisted in the Army in 1940. He was posted to Ottawa where he edited and illustrated the Canadian Army Technical Magazine and for his services received an MBE in 1945.

After the war, he worked for Maclean Hunter as an art director for House and Gardens Magazine, while doing freelance work, but his life seemed to be all work. Pierre Berton who was then managing editor of Maclean’s had been a feature writer at the Vancouver Sun. He contacted publisher Don Cromie and suggested Norris was the cartoonist that Cromie was looking for. Norris moved to the West Coast in 1949, and Berton became an influential factor in yet another Canadian cartoonist’s career.

Norris attempted to create a comic strip for the newspaper called “Filbert Phelps” but failed. “I tried to draw cartoons the way everybody thought they should look – big labels and that sort of thing,” he said. “It was hard, and it didn’t work.” He found that he couldn’t draw effective caricatures of prominent politicians. From this limitation, he experimented in a new direction. He focused on “…relating the political events to ordinary people rather than doing the politician himself making the event.” [Hecklers:126}. Norris developed a whole cast of characters including the resurrected juvenile delinquent Filbert Phelps.

For the next 38 years, until he retired, his illustrations featured his trademark characters: pompous members of the Victoria Conservative Club, politicians in swallow-tail coats and nasty, hydrant-shaped children commenting on national and international events. If his characters and settings seem to have an English feel, it is because of the influences of Giles and other English cartoonists.

He won a National Newspaper Award with his first submission in 1951. He never entered again, he said, because he didn’t like the idea of losing. In 1953, as a publicity stunt, Lloyds of London insured his drawing hand for $125,000. Walt Kelly, the creator of Pogo, described Norris as the best in the business, and Hugh Hefner asked him to contribute to Playboy. Norris declined.

Len illustrated writer Jack Richard’s story Johann’s Gift To Christmas published in 1972. It was later turned into a 23 minute clay animation/live action film (1991) of the same name, broadcast by C.B.C. The film was written by Paul Ledoux, and directed by René Bonnière. Illya Woloshyn provided the voice for the mouse Johann, John Neville provided a voice for Viktor the old disenchanted mouse. Heath Lamberts portrayed Father Mohr. Sarah Polley, Zacri Crane and other actors completed the cast. The production company was O’B&D Films Productions.

In 1973 when the University of Windsor awarded him an honorary degree, the President Dr. John F. Leddy described him “unhesitatingly, as the finest cartoonist not only in Canada but in North America.” (160). He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and in 1979 was elected to the Canadian News Hall of Fame. In the same year, he semi-retired, reducing his cartoons to two a week.

He died 12 Aug 1997 in Langley, British Columbia.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content cartoon editorial:

The Art of Political Cartooning in Canada/1980. Ed., Steve Bradley. For., Robert LaPalme. Virgo Press, Oct. 1980: 39, 124, 197, 206, 208.

Best Canadian Political Cartoons, 1983. Ed., N.M. Stahl. For., David Rosen. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Sept. 1983: 22, 36, 74, 94, 106, 109, 197.

Best Canadian Political Cartoons, 1984. Ed., N.M. Stahl. For., Robert LaPalme. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Sept. 1984; 24, 48, 104, 176, 193.

Caricature . Cartoons Canada. Ed., Terry Mosher. Linda Leith Publishing, 2012: 10.

Portfoolio, The Year 86 In Canadian Caricature. Ed., Guy Badeaux. Writ., Charles Gordon. Ludcom Inc. 1986.

Portfoolio, The Year 87 In Canadian Caricature. Ed., Guy Badeaux . Ludcom Inc. 1987.

1988 Portfoolio, The Year In Canadian Caricature. Ed., Guy Badeaux . Writ., Charles Gordon. Eden Press. 1988.

BOOK GRAPHIC COLLECTION:                                                                                      No publisher identified unless otherwise noted.

Content cartoon editorial  & Cover book:

Norris Cartoons In The Vancouver Sun, probably 1952.

2^nd Annual Book of Norris Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1953.

3^rd Annual Book of Norris Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1954..

5^th Annual Collection of Norris Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1956.

7^th Annual Collection of Norris- 101 Selected Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1958.

8^th Annual Collection of Norris 101 Selected Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun  prob. 1959.

9^th Annual Norris Cartoon Collection From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1960.

10^th Anniversary Collection of Norris Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1961.

11^th Annual Collection of Norris 101 Selected Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1962.

12^th Annual Collection of Norris 101 Selected Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1963

13^th Annual Collection of Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1964.

14^th Annual Collection of Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1965.

15^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1966.

16^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1967.

17^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1968.

18^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun,  prob. 1969.

19^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun,  prob. 1970..

20^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1971.

21^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1972.

22^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1973.

23^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1974..

24^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1975.

Norris 25^th Anniversary Collection 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1976.

Norris 26^th Annual Collection 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1977.

27^th Annual Collection Norris 101 Cartoons From The Vancouver Sun, prob. 1978.

The Best of Norris As Selected By Himself. McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1955.

The Best Of Norris. McClelland & Stewart Ltd.,1984.

ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOK TEXT:

Content story text & Cover book front:

Johann’s Gift to Christmas. Writ., Jack Richards. J.J. Douglas Ltd., 1972.

PERIODICAL TEXT:

Content folio sketch: 

Maclean’s, …: “…”: ….

…, 15 August 1950: “At The Sunday School Picnic”: 17. …, 1 January 1951: “Len Norris Goes To A New Year’s Party”: 22. …, 15 January 1951: “Len Norris Goes To A January Sale: 22. …, 1 March 1951: “Len Norris Goes To A Minor League Playoff”: 41. …, 18 May 1953: “Len Norris’ B.C. Sketch Book”: 18-21. …, 15 April 1954: “Len Norris Visits A Home And School Club”: 36.

 Content story: 

Maclean’s, 1 July 1953: : “The Binghams Came To Blows”. Writ., F. H. Herbert: 11, 12. 

Maclean’s, 14 May 1955: “Our strange stay at Miss Pickering’s” Writ., Eileen J. Bassing: 32-33.

SOURCE:

Article book:

The Hecklers. Writ. & Ed.., Peter Desbarates & Terry Mosher. McClelland & Stewart Ltd.,1979: 116, 119-130, 246.

Internet:

“Leonard Norris.” Writ., Alan Hustak. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leonard-matheson-norris .

GALLERY:

A cavalcade of Len Norris Characters, Best of Norris, Front cover.

A cavalcade of Norris Characters continued, The Best of Norris, Back cover

Vancouver Sun, 16 Nov. 1951.

Vancouver Sun, 19 July 1963

Vancouver Sun, 28 May 1964

Vancouver Sun, 9 Aug. 1977.

Vancouver Sun, 18 Oct. 1977.

Vancouver Sun 14 Dec. 1977.

Vancouver Sun, 28 Apr. 1978.

 

NORD Cary

CO-ILLUSTRATOR:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:

Cover front:

Captain Canuck, 2, June 2015: C.

THE NOODLE: THE MIGHT MITE

From the similarity in the name and costume, it appears that Ross Saakle created “The Noodle” to make fun of his friend Leo Bachle’s “The Brain”. Saakle was one of the few Bell cartoonists, to stay with his creation over its entire run.

MEDIUM:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:                                                                          All published by Bell Features & Publishing Co.

Content:

Serial:

Active Comics …no date: “The Noodle: The Mighty Mite …” Cartoonist, Ross Saakle..
Begins with 4: 12-14. 5: 12-15. No feature.	6: unknown. 7: 14-17.	8: “…The Misadventures of Mild Will”: 29-31.

Active Comics … no date: “The Noodle…” Cartoonist., Ross Saakle..
9: 30-31. 10: 39-42.	11: No feature. 12: “…vs. The Red Skeleton”: 35-38.

Active Comics … no date: “The Noodle.” Cartoonist, Ross Saakle..
13: 12-15. 14: no feature.	15: no feature. 16: 12-15.	17: 9-12. 18: no feature.	19: 9-12.

Active Comics … no date : “The Noodle…” Cartoonist., Ross Saakle.
20: “… For Mayor”: 9-12. 21: 9-13. 22: 43-46. 23: “…And The Log Cabin Mystery”: 30-33.	24: 46-49. 25: No feature. 26: 30-33. 27: 28-31.

GALLERY:

Active Comics, 12: 35.

NOKONY Dennis

Born 1951 in Oxbow Saskatchewan, this Regina based illustrator and art teacher contributed editorial cartoons to Canadian Dimension, This Magazine and various labour magazines.

SOURCE:

Article book:

The Hecklers. Writ. & Ed.., Peter Desbarates & Terry Mosher. McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1979: 246.

NOIR Sam

A Toronto writer for publications like Steampunk Originals, Monstrosity and groups like Comic Lab Press and Toronto Cartoonist Workshop.

WORK:

WRITER:

BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content history:

Toronto Comics, v. 3, Ed., Steve Andrews, et al. Toronto Comics Anthology, May 2016:Chinatown’s Lost Movie Palaces.” Illus., Matthew Tavares: 269 .

Content story:

Toronto Comics v. 2, Toronto Comics Anthology, May 2015: “Major North.” Illus., Christopher Yao: 116-127.

Toronto Comics, v. 3, Toronto Comics Anthology, May 2016: “A Work In Progress.” Illus., Gwen Howarth : 89-95..

Monstrosity, v.2, 2014 “Zip Kramer”: Illus., Marvin Law.

BOOKLET GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content story black & white:

Low Society, Ed., Rob Walton. Comic Lab Press, 2013: “Everything.” Illus., Rina Rozsas: 9-14.

TEAM EFFORT:

 BOOKLET GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content story:

Slinky Kat, no publisher (probably Kirlian Press), no date, print run 50.:                                     “A Work In Progress”, (2016). Co-writ. & Illus., Gwen Howarth. Co-writ. & Let.,                  Sam Noir: 1-7.                                                                                                                    “A Work In Progress: Restrooms”, (2017).  Co-writ. & Illus., Gwen Howarth. Co-                writ. & Let., Sam Noir: 8-12.                                                                                               “Postmodern Prometheus”, (2019). Writ. & Let., Sam Noir. Illus., Gwen Howarth:              13-18.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Toronto Comics v. 2, Ed., Steve Andrews et al. Toronto Comics Anthology, May 2015: “Sam Noir”: 197.

NOELLE Amber

An Edmonton cartoonist.

WORK:

CO-CARTOONIST:

BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content story:

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love. Ed., H. Nicholson & S.M. Beiko. Bedside Press, 2018: “My Heart Still Beats For You.” Co-car., Amber Noelle:138-145.

NOBLE Dennis

                                                    dennisnobleart.com/biography

“In illustration, I solve a visual problem – I put what I have to put on  canvas. Painting for myself is different – I put what I want to put on canvas. Still, I really enjoy solving problems.”                                                                                                  Dennis Noble, “This Week.”

Born in 1940, in London England, He immigrated to Toronto from England when he was 13 years. According to “This Week” in the Canadian, “He soon ‘fell madly in love’ with a girl who studied art, and followed her to art class one day – only to fall even more madly in love with art.” He studied at the Ontario College of Art and graduated in 1966. Between 1966 and 1987, his art appeared in shows at Art Gallery of Ontario, Hazelton Lane, Paguarian, and Market Galleries: all in Toronto. His illustrative work appeared in periodicals The Canadian, Maclean’s, and Toronto Life. In 1974 he won two silver medals for his illustrations both of which appeared in The Canadian. He illustrated book covers and children’s books. He has produced for Canada Post: a lighthouse series in 1981 which won the Stamp of the Year Award, a series of ten maple tree stamps for Canada Day in 1994, and a series of berry stamps in 2003. He has won awards in the U.S.A. and Japan as well as Canada.

He was part of a group of Canadian illustrators Jamie Bennett, David Chestnutt, Julius Ciss, Heather Cooper, Ken Dallison, Blair Drawson, Gail Geltner, Roger Hill, Tina Holdcraft, Jeff Jackson, Douglas Johnson, Anita Kunz, Doug Martin, Willi Mitschka, William Russell, Joseph Salina, Mark Summers, Maurice Vellekoop and Rene Zamic, who gained an international reputation in the 1970’s and 80’s. After the recessions of 1974-1975 and 1979-82, which hit the illustration market hard, Dennis left both the gallery circuit, illustration, and Toronto. He purchased a historic cobblestone church in Belleville which he renovated into the Stonechurch Museum of Art which became his studio, gallery and repository for his paintings. It housed a series of paintings called “The Lover” which he began in the early 1990’s and continued to work on till his death.

He died in June 2014.

WORK:

ILLUSTRATOR:

PERIODICAL TEXT:

Content:

The Canadian …: “…”. Writ., Unknown (unless otherwise noted): ….

… 8 May 1976: “Murray The Fence”: 13. … 7 August 1976: “The Sounds Of Silence: … … 25 September 1976: “Shaking It Rough”: 5. … 13 November 1976: Front cover. … 7 January 1977: “City Span”: … … 19 February 1977: “A Gift Of Four Years”: 6. … 2 April 1977: “A Few Uninterrupted Words About Stuttering: 16. … 27 August 1977: “The Grip Of Fear”: 3. … 29 October 1977: “Rural Roots”: 2-4, 7 & front cover. … 4 February 1978: “City Span”: 2d, 22d. … 11 February 1978: “City Span”: 2c. … 11 March 1978: “City Span”: … … 25 March 1978: “City Span”: … … 1 April 1978: “City Span: How to Carve Up Your Enemies”:… … 29 April 1978: “A Sampler of Cdn Soul Music”: 7. … 27 May 1978: “City Span”: …. … 03 June 1978: “City Span: Holding Fast, The Pleasures of the absolutely empty belly”: … … 10 June 1978: “The Discovery of Canada 1978”: 10. … 5 August 1978: “…: “City Span: The Bad Boy’s Guide to Bed and Breakfast”: 28 …22 August 1978: 2c. … 16 September 1978: “The Celtic Connection”: 9. … 7 October 1978: “Crime On The Hoof”: 9. … 21 Oct. 1978: “…: “City Span: Trial By Jury Duty”: 2a … 11 November 1978: “Megamedicine”. Writ., Andrew Allentuck: 3. … 21 December 1978: “City Span: Stick It”: 2. … 2 June 1979: “Ring Madness”: 11. … 21 July 1979: “Destination Tokyo”: 15. … 28 July 1979: “Hen Infinite Variety”: 19. … 25/26 August 1979: Front cover. … 20/21 October 1979: Help a W.O.E. Across the Street”: 25. … 5 January 1980: The Gulag Graduate”: 11.

The City, Toronto Star Sunday Magazine, 3 February 1980: “Tastes: “Of The Wild”: 23.

Toronto Life, June 1978: Gorman”: 40.

Toronto Life, November 1978: “Luck In Men’s Eyes”:17.

SOURCE:

Article periodical:

The Canadian, 25 Sept. 1976: “This Week.”

Internet:

Some information was taken from Dennis Noble’s website 12 Aug. 2015.

Dennisnobleart.com/biography Accessed 20 March 2024

dennisnoblefineart.com/pages/artist-biography Accessed 20 March 2024.

GALLERY:

                            The Canadian, 3 June 1978: “City Span”

Toronto Life, November 1978:17

The Canadian 20/21 October 1979: 25.

The City, Toronto Star Sunday Magazine, 3 February 1980: 23.