REX BAXTER

Rex Baxter, a Flash Gordon type character, was created by Edmond Good for Bell Feature’s Dime Comics. The initial adventure subtitled “The Island of Doom” began in the premier issue Dime February 1942 and ran for 13 episodes, all done by Good, each with a cliff hanger ending.

Baxter was introduced as an “adventurous young soldier of fortune returning aboard the S.S. Luxor to enjoy a well earned rest from duty with the British army in northern Africa”. A Nazi U-boat torpedoes the Luxor and Baxter and a shipboard acquaintance Gail Abbott are set adrift. They land on a tropical island where they encounter two strange men Captain Zoltan and Tula aboard a flying metal sphere. These men take them underground to the lost cavern empire of Xalanta, the setting for a curious mixture of futuristic inventions and ancient buildings.

Shortly after their arrival, Riona, queen of Xalanta is dethroned by her adviser Lerzal who sets himself up as dictator and upon learning of the existence of the surface world, embarks on a plan to become master of that world by unleashing germ warfare. Rex, Gail, Riona and Zoltan escape to carry on the fight against Lerzal and after a series of adventures right prevails.

With Dime Comics issue 14, Adrian Dingle took over the strip. Edmond Good left for the U.S. to work on “Scorchy Smith”. Dingle introduced a new series called Xalanta’s Secret which took Rex and Gail to the South Pacific in search of Zoltan their Xalanta friend who had been missing since the flying sphere bringing them back to the surface world crashed at sea and sank.

Dingle then did a subsequent adventure entitled Rex Baxter United Nations Counterspy, a post war story in which Baxter was assigned the task of tracking down Adolf Hitler, a quest that took him to the undersea kingdom of Mu.

As can be seen below, after Good left, the length of the stories was about halved and they lost their science fiction/fantasy character. “Rex Baxter” not only lost its prevalence as a cover feature, but appears never to have graced a Dime Comics cover again. The “Rex Baxter Adventurers Club” which appears as a separate entry, was also dropped. It can be safely said that under Good, “Rex Baxter” was the preeminent feature in Dime Comics.

When Bell converted Dime to colour Rex Baxter was dropped and Dime became a catch-all for reprints of minor U.S. strips.

MEDIUM:

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

Content serial:

Dime Comics… no date: unless stated. “Rex Baxter and the Island of Doom.” Car., Edmond Good:… Black & white.
No title. 1-1, Feb. 1942: 1-20. No title. 1-3: 1-20.   “The Land That Time Forgot.” 1-6: 1-15.	No title. 1-9: 1-15. “Captured By The Devil Men.” 1-10: 1-15. “Gateway To Freedom.” 1-13: 1-14.

Dime Comics … no date: “Rex Baxter and Xalanta’s Secret.” Car., Adrian Dingle:… Black & white.
1-17: 1-7.	1-18: 1-7	1-19: 1-7.	1-20: 1-7	1-21: 1-7	1-22: 1-7.

Dime Comics, …no date: “Rex Baxter: United Nations Counterspy.” Car., Adrian Dingle:.. Black & white.
1-23: 1-7.	1-24: 1-7.	1-25: 1-6		1-27: 1-6.

Cover front:

Dime Comics …. Illus., Unidentified.
1-1, Feb. 1942,	1-3, no date.

Dime Comics …. No date: Illus., Edmond Good.
1-6	1-9	1-10	1-13.

SOURCE:

Article book:

The World Encyclopedia of Comics. Ed., Maurice Horn. Chelsea House Publishers, 1976: “Rex Baxter (Canada).” Writ., Peter Harris. 580.

GALLERY:

 Dime Comics, 1-9: Front Cover. Illus., Edmond Good.

  Dime Comics, 1-13: Front Cover. Illus., Edmond Good.

REX BAXTER ADVENTURERS CLUB

This club which which was the fan club for the hero “Rex Baxter”  began in Dime Comics issue 1-6 and ended with issue 1-13 when Edmond Good left Bell Features & Publishing Ltd. “Rex Baxter” stamps continued in a lack luster way.

MEDIUM:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content:

Advertisement:

Dime Comics… “Enrollment.” Bell Features & Publishing Co. Ltd. Black & white.
1-6: 15.	1-9: 15.	1-10: 15.

Newsletter:

Dime Comics…: “Rex Baxter Adventurers Club News.” Bell Features Co. Ltd. Black & white.
1-9: 17.	1-10: 16.	1-13: 15.

GALLERY:

Dime Comics, 1-6: 15.

Dime Comics, 1-9: 15

Dime Comics, 1-10: 16.

RENEGADE PRESS                                                                                                          Location: 4201 West Alameda. #20, Burbank California.                                                    Owner? Publisher: Deni Loubert.

Renegade Press in California U.S.A. published about 20 titles. It was founded by Deni Loubert after her marital and business break up with Dave Sim and Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc. With the break-up of the Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc. partnership on January 1, 1985, nearly all of the southern Ontario artists joined Deni and her new company which gave Renegade Press the unusual distinction of being a U.S. company composed almost entirely of Canadian creators.

PRODUCT:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:

Arn Saba’s Neil The Horse. Car., Arn Saba. Assist. Barb Rausch & David Roman.
1-1, Feb. 1983. 1-2, Apr. 1983. 1-3, June 1983. 1-4, Aug. 1983.	1-5, Nov. 1983. 1-6, Feb. 1984. 1-7, April 1984. 1-8, June 1984.	1-9, Sept. 1984. 1-10, Dec. 1984. 1-11, April 1985. 1-12, June 1985.	1-13, Dec. 1986. 1-14, July 1988. 1-15, Aug. 1988.

Cases of Sherlock Holmes. Writ., & Illus., Dan & David Day.
1, May 1986. 2, July 1986. 3, Sept. 1986. 4, Nov. 1986.	5, Jan. 1987. 6, Mar.1987. 7, Mar.[May?] 1987. 8, July 1987.	9, Sept. 1987. 10, Nov.1987. 11, Jan. 1988. 12, Mar.1988.	13, May.1988 14, July.1988 15, Sept.1988.
Apparently there was issue 16. Issue. 17, 1989 was published by Northstar Publishing

The Silent Invasion. Writ., Larry Hancock. Illus., Michael Cherkas.
1, April 1986. 2, June 1986. 3, Aug. 1986.	4, Oct. 1986 5, Dec. 1986. 6, Feb. 1987.	7, May 1987. 8, July 1987. 9, Sept. 1987.	10, Nov. 1987. 11, Jan. 1988. 12, March 1988.
The Silent Invasion then moved to Caliber Press.

Suburban Nightmares, Team, Larry Hancock, Michael Cherkas, John Van Bruggen
1 of 4, July 1988.	2 of 4, July 1988.	3 of 4, August 1988.	4 of 4, August 1988.

Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter, Writ., Dave Darrigo. Pen., Steve LeBlanc. In., Louis Paradis
1, Aug.1988	2, n.d. has the Renegade logo but was actually published by Special Studio.
Tony Bravado Trouble Shooter issues 3 & 4 published under the Special Studio logo.

Wordsmith, Writ., Dave Darrigo. Illus., R.G. Taylor.
1, Aug. 1985. 2, Oct.1985. 3, Dec.1985.	4, Feb.1986. 5, May 1986. 6, Aug.1986.	7, Nov.1986. 8, Feb.1987. 9, May 1987.	10, Aug. 1987. 11, Nov. 1987. 12, Jan. 1988.

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Gene Day’s Black Zeppelin. Editors, Gale Day & Joe Erslavas.
1-1. Apr. 1985 1-2, June 1985.	1-3, Aug. 1985.	1-4, Mar. 1986.	1-5. Oct. 1986.

Jacques Boivin’s Love Fantasy, 1-1, May 1987. (Erotic publication as opposed to pornographic.)

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC COLLECTION:

Starbikers,1, September 1988: Car., Ron Sutton. A single issue gathering stories from several periodicals.

Renegade Press also published a number of titles by U.S. creators.

SOURCE:

 Article periodical:

Comics Journal, 96, March 1985: “Two new publishers; A-V spin-off Renegade Independent Comics Group”: 15.

 Article newspaper:

Toronto Star, 27 February 1987: “Here’s your guide to superheroes of Canadian comics”: D6.

 

 

RENEGADE ARTS ENTERTAINMENT                                                                              Location: 25 Prospect Heights, Canmore, Alberta.                                                            Publisher: Alexander Finbow.

Awards: Robbie Burns Witch Hunter won three prizes at the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance

 

PRODUCT:

BOOK GRAPHIC:

Department of Monsterology: Monsterology 101. Writ., Gordon Rennie. Illus., P.J. Holden. Col., Jim Campbell. 2013.

Department of Monsterology: Sabbaticals. Writ., Gordon Rennie. Illus., P.J. Holden. Col. Jim Campbell. 2015.

Dust-ship Glory. Car., Elaine M. Will. Fenruary 2018.

Frank. Car., Ben Rankel. Let., Ryan Ferrier. Cover illus., Ben Rankel & Ryan Ferrier May 2018

The Loxleys and the War of 1812. Writ., Alan Grant. Illus., Claude St Aubin. Colourist, Lovern Kindzierski. Let., Todd Klein. War of 1812 Summary, Mark Zuehlke. Illus., C. St-Aubin. Ed., Alexander Finbow. Portraits, J. M. Burns & C, St-Aubin. Ed., A. Finbow Apr. 2012.

The Loxleys and Confederation. Writ., Mark Zuehlke, Alex Finbow & Niigaanwewidam J. Sinclair. Illus., Claude St Aubin. Colo., Christopher Chuckry. Let., Todd Klein. “From The Diary Of Lillian Stock 1867. Illus., C. St-Aubin. “Afterword: Looking For Kanata.” Writ., Niigaanwewidam J. Sinclair. Illus., C. St-Aubin. Ed., A. Finbow. Apr. 2012.

Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter. Writ., Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby. Illus., Tiernen Trevallion. Let., Jim Campbell. November 2014.

Shame, pt. 1, Conception. Writ., Lovern Kindzierski. Illus., John Bolton. Let., Todd Klein. 2011.

Shame, pt. 2, Pursuit. Writ., Lovern Kindzierski. Illus., John Bolton. Let., Todd Klein. March 2013.

Shame, pt. 3, Redemption. Writ., Lovern Kindzierski. Illus., John Bolton. Let., Todd Klein. March 2015.

Sharkasuarus. Writ., Spenser Estabrooks. Illus., Jethro Morales. Col., Adraino Augusto. Let., Derek Mah. April 2018.

Tales of the Buddha (Before he got enlightened). Writ., Alan Grant. Illus., Jon Howard. 2013.

Underworld. Writ., Lovern Kindzierski. Illus., G.M.B. Chomichuk. Let., Ed Brisson. October. 2015.

When Big Bears Invade. Writ., Alexander Finbow. Illus., Nyco Rudolph. April 2017.

 

RENÉE Monique

This resident of Nackawic New Brunswick and psychology graduate of St. Thomas University was a close associate of Mary Ann Bramstrup who brought her to the attention of Matrix Graphic Series.

She created the entity Cybercom which at least initially was a battle robot TX-19 who was also female. It came from a planet circling a distant star. The story included a father Ramon Ortega and his daughter Chemaine. The true nature of the robot and the direction of the story failed to materialize as Matrix Graphic Series ceased operations after this single issue was published. The demise of Matrix also ended Renée’s “Acro-don Team” series in Dragon’s Star, before it was completed.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:

Content:

Serial:

Cybercom, 1-1, Winter 1987: “Cybercom: Heart Of The Blue Mesa.” Let., Peter Iro. Matrix Graphic Series.

Story:

Dragon’s Star,…: “The Acro-don Team ….” Matrix Graphic Series.
1-2, February 1987: “… Part 1”	1-3, February 1987: “… Part 2’”

ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content story :

The True North. Ed., Derek McCulloch. The Comic Legends Legal Defence Fund, 1988: “Real Life”: Writ., Mary Ann Bramstrup: 17.

SOURCE:

Article periodical:

Cybercom, 1-1, Winter 1987: “Introduction”: Inside front cover.

GALLERY:

 Cybercom, 1-1, Winter 1987: 18.

REMEN Steve:

Creator of the character “HIM” with the later addition of a female equivalent “HER”. He was part of a self publishing collective of cartoonists under the name of  Lethargic Comics.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

BOOK GRAPHIC COLLECTION:

Content serial & Cover book front:

HIM. Birthday Girl Press, 1998. Collected from Lethargic Comics.

REIDFORD, James G.

His first drawings were heavy grease crayon cartoons filled with labels and  symbols. However, by the time of his retirement, he had evolved a new and distinct linear style that was highly lyrical and filled with his particular brand of light humour.                                                                                                      The Hecklers, 248.

Reidford was born in Scotland in 1911, and came to Toronto as a baby with his family. He studied at the Ontario College of Art and was employed as a commercial artist in Toronto and London in the early 1930’s. He moved to Los Angeles in the U.S. in 1938 and studied at the Chouinard Institute. He worked as an animator for the Walt Disney Studios for several years.

He returned to Canada and in 1941, began working as an editorial cartoonist for the Montréal Star after the death of A. G. Racey. In 1951 he moved to the Globe & Mail where he worked till his retirement in 1972.

He won three National Newspaper Awards one each in 1950, 1956 and 1957. In 1953, he received a public interest award from the National Safety Council’s 1952 Christmas safety cartoon project. The cartoon depicted “ …the front of a car and its headlights looking back at the drinker out of a glass of liquor …”. Apparently the award was American as it is stated the award was “… in competition with 133 entries from the finest editorial cartoonists in the United States.”

In the 1950’s he illustrated at least two books, by fellow Globe & Mail employee, journalist Lex Schrag. Whether this was the extent of his work or whether he illustrated other books cannot be determined.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

PERIODICAL TEXT:

Content editorial cartoon:

Family Herald & Weekly Star, Canada’s National Farm Magazine,…: “…”: …. All previously appeared in The Montreal Star)

ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOK TEXT:

Content humour & Cover dust jacket front:

Mortgage Manor. Writ., Lex Schrag. Ryerson Press, 1955.

Crater Country. Writ., Lex Schrag. Ryerson Press, 1958.

SOURCE:

Article book:

The Hecklers. Writ. & Ed.., Peter Desbarats & Terry Mosher. McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1979: 118, 248.

Article newspaper:

Globe & Mail, 17 April 1953: “Globe and Mail Cartoonist Wins National Safety Award.” 25.

GALLERY:

Family Herald & Weekly Star, Canada’s National Farm Magazine, 8 February 1950: 30.

Family Herald & Weekly Star, Canada’s National Farm Magazine, 22 March 1951: 30.

Mortgage Manor, 1955: Dust jacket

REID FLEMING: THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST MILKMAN

Created by Vancouver cartoonist David Boswell and published by Eclipse Comics It has been described as a bizarre social commentary.

The character began in June 1978 as a single episode in Boswell’s cartoon strip “Heartbreak Comics” which began in Vancouver’s underground paper the Georgia Straight 14 July 1977. It was immediately popular and replaced “Heartbreak Comics as “Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman. It was published for six months and transformed into periodical format in October 1980.

In the meantime “Heartbreak Comics” was reworked into a novel format beginning 13 February 1981. It also included “Reid Fleming.”

In 1986, he began another novel called “Rogue to Riches” which was serialized in five parts By Eclipse Comics.

MEDIUM:

BOOK GRAPHIC:

Content novel & Cover book front:

Heartbreak Comics. Featuring Lanzlo: Great Slavic Lover. Car., D. Boswell. Eclipse Books, May 1988.

BOOK GRAPHIC COLLECTION:

Content story & Cover book front:

Fun with Reid Fleming World’s Toughest Milkman., Car.David Boswell. Eclipse Books, 1991.

Reid Fleming World’s Toughest Milkman, v.1. Car., D. Boswell. IDW Publishing, Dec. 2010.

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:

Content novel & Cover front:

Reid Fleming World’s Toughest Milkman ….: “Rogue to Riches …” Car., D. Boswell. Black & white.
1, October 1986. “…Chapter 1”. 2, March 1987. “…Chapter 2”.	2-3, Jan. 1990: “Chapter 3”. 2-4, Nov. 1989: “Chapter 4”. 2-5, Nov. 1990: “Chapter 5”.

MERCHANDISE:

Buttons:

SOURCE:

Article book:

Heartbreak Comics. Eclipse Books, May 19: “Heartbreak Comics.” Writ., D. Boswell: 88.

Reid Fleming World’s Toughest Milkman, v.1. IDW Publishing, Dec. 2010: “History.” Writ., D. Boswell.

Article periodical:

Comics Scene, 20, August 1991: “So, where’s the Milk?’ Writ., Darcy Sullivan: 57-60, 68.

Article newspaper:

Toronto Star, 27 February 1987: “Here’s your guide to superheroes of Canadian comics”: D6.

GALLERY:

Fun With Reid Fleming World’s Toughest Milkman: Front cover.

REID Corey

From western Canada to Toronto via Tokyo.

WORK:

WRITER:

BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Content story:

Toronto Comics, vol. 3, Ed., Steve Andrews et al. Toronto Comics Anthology, May 2016: “Buried, Not Forgotten.” Illus., Cleopatria Peterson. Let., Corey Reid: 206-213.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Toronto Comics, vol. 3, May 2016: “Corey Reid”: 205.

REEVE Alan

He was born in New Zealand in 1910. He established himself there and in Australia as an editorial cartoonist in the 1930’s. In the early 1940’s he was in Ottawa, working as a cartoonist for The Evening Citizen. He later became a war artist for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

SOURCE:

Book text:

The Hecklers. Writ. & Ed.., Peter Desbarates & Terry Mosher. McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1979: 248.