Obscuralia nine

Obscuralia nine will cover the heroes of Canada. My old Linux agnostic inkjet printer/scanner finally gave up the ghost, but I now have a brand new leet specced dedicated scanner, and a sweet new laser printer. So things will be getting very interesting around here. With the exception of Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and his former Alpha Flight teammates, Canadian superheroes at both DC and Marvel are usually the sidelined redheaded stepchildren of their respective universes.

First up we have Maginnis a Canadian Royal Mounted Policeman, and the earliest appearing Canadian character from DC Comics, he also has the second most appearances of any Canadian character behind Plastique. He debuted in New Comics #4 (June 1936), and returned in issues 5 through 11, ending with New Adventure Comics #12 (January 1937).

Monty of the Mounties is yet another Canadian mountie, sadly Monty only had one appearance. Monty debuted in New Adventure Comics #23 (January 1938).

Sergeant O'Malley of the Red Coat Patrol (yeah another mountie). O'Malley is one of the oldest Canadian characters that I could find, but there may be other Canadian mounties and trappers in DC's archives. O'Malley debuted in More Fun Comics #39 (January 1939).

Next up we have Hyperman, Charles Leblanc from an imaginary story in Superman #200 (October 1967). This is just one of many DC characters named Hyperman. In the imaginary story, Kal-El's brother Knor-El wins the right by combat to become Superman, his alter ego is Kent Clarkson a reporter at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. And later Kal-El becomes Hyperman, aka Charles Leblanc, a reporter for the Montreal Star in Quebec.

As Hyperman, Kal-El basically wears a copy of the Superman costume, but replaces the traditional "S" shield, with an "H" shield. I personally prefer the Hyperman costume worn by Chester King, the Hyperman of planet Oceania. Now if they ever re-introduce Hyperman, this is what he should wear.

The Flying Fox is one of the coolest forgotten heroes in DC's arsenal, he's up there with all their other underused native american heres like: Super-Chief, Owlwoman, The Butcher (john butcher to his friends), Apache Chief (heh heh), Black Condor, Arak, Manitou Dawn, Seneca, Willpower, Man-Of-Bats, Raven Red, and Night Eagle. Flying Fox was a member of a World War II superhero team known as the Young All-Stars, he debuted in Young All-Stars #1 (June 1987).

Curiously enough, DC had a Golden Age character named the Flying Fox, he was a globe trotting mercenary adventurer whose country of origin was never explicitly stated. Rex Darrell the Flying Fox debuted in More Fun Comics #37 (November 1938).

Plastique has had the most exposure of any Canadian character published by DC Comics. She's gone from villainess,  to antihero member of the Suicide Squad, to heroic ally of the Justice League, and everywhere in between. For a while there she was even married to Captain Atom, but like Peter Parker's marriage it was not to last. Plastique debuted in Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982).

Centrix is the go to guy in every message board discussion of DC's Canadian superheroes. He hasn't had a lot of appearances but people never forgot him. Centrix debuted in Justice League Quarterly #17 (Winter 1994).

Frostbite was a member of the Young Heroes, and apparently was some sort of "snow elf". He debuted in Young Heroes In Love #1 (June 1997).

Corona was the superhero name taken by Kako an Inuit woman who was the ex-lover of Aquaman, and mother of Koryak. Kako disappeared just before Jason Rusch as Firestorm was named the fire elemental, and has not been seen since. Kako debuted in Aquaman: Time and Tide #3 (February 1994), and became Corona in Aquaman vol. 5 #7 (March 1995). 

Koryak was the firstborn son of Aquaman, conceived with his lover an Inuit woman named Kako. He roamed the spectrum  between hero and antihero for the duration of his appearances until his fictional death. Koryak debuted in Aquaman vol.5 #5 (January 1995).

Donna Carol Force, D.C. Force (directed current, its a pun), or Sparx as she preferred to be known, was the only member of Canada's Force Family not to have developed a metahuman ability.After a tip from cousin Orrie a S.T.A.R. Labs employee, Donna and her uncle Harry traveled from Canada to Metropolis. They both intended to deliberately trigger her metagene, by allowing Gemir one of the parasitic aliens from the Bloodlines event to bite her. Sparx debuted in Adventures of Superman Annual #5 (1993).

The Force Family debuted in Adventures of Superman Annual #5 (1993) with uncle Harry Force who transforms into a massive were-creature, and cousin Orrie who works for S.T.A.R. Labs in Metropolis.

Allure Force-Botier, is an implied multiple murderess, and the black sheep of the Force Family. She has survived four husbands, lives in New Orleans, and literally transforms into a black widow werespider. Allure debuted in Showcase 94' #6 (June 1994). Unseen family member Hank Force supposedlty hung out  with a "team of caustic mutant types", as explained by a letter from Donna to Harry in the backmatter of Blood Pack #3 (May 1995). 

The rest of the family debut in Superboy and the Ravers #10 (June 1997), and later return in issues 13, 15, and 17 (i'm really trying to forget that InterC.E.P.T. ever existed). The Force Family are the largest and probably only mainstream continuity supergroup in DC Comics' Canada. Their closest Marvel analogs are the Clan Destine. The Force Family lives in a rustic yet high tech Fantastic Four styled compound in the fictional town of Timberton, British Columbia. And it appears that the entire town of Timberton is populated by members of their extended family. The town of Timberton also hosts a Force Family museum, filled with statuary which seem to indicate that they have been operating since the time of the Roman Empire. The "special forces" of the Force Family prefer to use their powers to secretly help people, Sparx is the only member of the family to buck tradition, go public, and wear a costume.

Known Force Family members are: Iris Force the precognitive matriarch and grandmother of Donna Carol Force, Gail Force who controls the wind mother of Donna, Tetrad Force husband of Gail and father of Donna who can create four duplicates of himself, Harry Force Donna's uncle who can become a werebeast and nearly got her killed, Doc Force is Donna's uncle who has X-Ray vision and runs the local doctor's office, Smith Force runs the town smithy (don't ask about Flicka Force, no one talks about Flicka Force) and is a large man with superhuman strength. A young boy named Stat Force has superspeed, Minnie Force can either shrink or is permanently small, Piston Force appears to be living metal, Anastasia Force is an empath who can soothe the emotions of others, Calvin Force is Donna's brother whose metagene was triggered after Harry pushed him into a vat of chemicals. Donna Carol Force is better known as Sparx and has electrical abilities, Allure Force-Botier is Donna's aunt and becomes an orange black widow werespider. There are other named and unnamed family members visible in their six appearances, these include Donna's cousins Hank, and Orrie. 

The Family Dynamic is an out of continuity Fantastic Four styled team that really should have launched in continuity. Their four team members are Pyralis (fire), Scirocco (air), Troylus (water) and Terran (earth). They reminded me a lot of an updated version of DC's own Elementals from Superfriends #14 (October 1978).

They are based in the fictional location of Storm City, and the family get their powers from four special "elemental power rings". Hmm those multicolored symbols remind me of something that came much later. Brightest Something?

They aren't the only superheroes in the family, non-powered Blackbird and Little Wing also operate in Storm City.

Anyway the Family Dynamic exist in a universe where Defender their Superman is a black hero from Detroit. Yet another reason why they should have kept this thing in the DCU and just have this guy be an updated Hyperman. Defender's secret identity is that of newspaper reporter Dwayne Day. The Family Dynamic debuted in The Family Dynamic #1 (October 2008).



No Wikipedians were harmed during the construction of this article.