Leo Bachle

Leo Bachle

Leo Bachle a.k.a. Les Barker (1926 - 2003) was a Canadian comic book artist and comedian.

In late 1940, fourteen year-old Bachle was hired by John Ezrin, the manager of Bell Features in Toronto, Canada to come up with something exciting for the company's growing comic book line. Bachle's character, Johnny Canuck, debuted in the first issue of Bell's Dime Comics, dated February 1941. In the first Canuck story he confronts Adolf Hitler and propelled Dime Comics to become the best-selling comic in the Bell line. Leo became one of Bell’s key artists, drawing characters like Wild Bill, The Invisible Commando, Chip Pipher, Southpaw, Super Sub, and The Brain. Bachle's success led to the company hiring a number of new, young artists, including Ross Saakel and Jerry Lazare.

Bachle's character, Johnny Canuck, was considered invaluable to the war effort. Apparently, the Canadian government refused to grant Bachle a visa to move to the States until he’d completed a backlog of Johnny Canuck adventures for Bell Features.Fact|date=September 2007 Canuck remains his most enduring creation.

After the war, Bachle changed his name to Les Barker and gave up drawing comic books. He became a well-regarded comedian and toured the globe performing his unique comedy act.

Canada Post put Johnny Canuck on a postage stamp with other Canadian comic book heroes, such as Superman by Joe Shuster, Nelvana of the Northern Lights by Adrian Dingle, Captain Canuck by Richard Comely and Northguard by Mark Shainblum (but not Alpha Flight by John Byrne, often credited as a Canadian).

Leo Bachle died in May, 2003.

In April 2004, Leo Bachle was among the first batch of Canadian comic book artists inducted into the Joe Shuster Awards Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame.

ee also

* Canadian comics


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wikiproyecto:Historieta —   Portal   Géneros   …   Wikipedia Español

  • Johnny Canuck — was a Canadian cartoon hero and superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869 and was later re invented, first in 1942, then in 1975. Johnny Canuck was created as a lumber jack national personification of Canada. He first appeared in… …   Wikipedia

  • Canuck — is a slang term for Canadians.HistoryThe term was coined in the 19th century, although its etymology is unclear. Possibilities include: * kanata [ Random House Dictionary] village (See Name of Canada) * Can ada + uc (Algonquian noun suffix) *… …   Wikipedia

  • Joe Shuster Awards — The Joe Shuster Awards (sometimes referred to as the Shusters or the JSAs ) are given for achievement in the creation of comic books by Canadians. The full name is the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards. The Joe Shuster Awards were… …   Wikipedia

  • Canadian comics — In spite of U.S. dominance of comic book sales in Canada and the overwhelming number of U.S. comic strips printed in Canadian newspapers there is such a thing as Canadian Comics. The only area where there is no American dominance is editorial… …   Wikipedia

  • Brain, The (comics) — The Brain was a character created by Leo Bachle for Bell Features, a Canadian comic company in the 1940s. His secret identity was Gordon Bell and he first appeared in Active Comics #1. [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/brain.htm The Brain at… …   Wikipedia

  • Johnny Canuck — recibe al Tìo Sam, al presidente de EEUU y sus ministros, circa 1910 Johnny Canuck es un personaje típico y superhéroe de historieta. Actualmente se le considera una personificación de Canadá. Fue creado como un dibujo animado de tipo político en …   Wikipedia Español

  • Columbia-Haus — Das KZ Columbia, auch bekannt als KZ Columbia Haus (eine seltenere Schreibweise war KZ Columbiahaus), war ein frühes nationalsozialistisches Konzentrationslager am nördlichen Rand des Tempelhofer Feldes in Berlin Tempelhof. Das Gelände wurde um… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Columbiahaus — Das KZ Columbia, auch bekannt als KZ Columbia Haus (eine seltenere Schreibweise war KZ Columbiahaus), war ein frühes nationalsozialistisches Konzentrationslager am nördlichen Rand des Tempelhofer Feldes in Berlin Tempelhof. Das Gelände wurde um… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • KZ Columbia-Haus — Das KZ Columbia, auch bekannt als KZ Columbia Haus (eine seltenere Schreibweise war KZ Columbiahaus), war ein frühes nationalsozialistisches Konzentrationslager am nördlichen Rand des Tempelhofer Feldes in Berlin Tempelhof. Das Gelände wurde um… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”