ComelyArt Gallery
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Richard Comely
Illustration, Script Writing, Editing, Graphic Design, PrintingRichard Comely won a number of art competitions as a child and was given a scholarship for art classes at Allied Arts in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba at age 11. He worked as a sign painter, crest designer, clothing designer, portrait artist and graphic artist before creating and publishing Captain Canuck from Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1975. He married his wife Evelyn that same year and they are the parents of seven boys and one daughter and grandparents to ten.
He has written and illustrated 14 children’s books and 280+ greeting cards. Comely has written and illustrated for advertising, newspapers and magazines over the past 40+ years. This includes dozens of articles for U.S. video production magazines, The Children’s Friend (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publication), the Calgary Sun, the Calgary Herald, the Toronto Star, Time Magazine and many other publications. He worked as publisher and editor for the weekly Westwind news in 1976. He created and published Star Rider and the Peace Machine in 1982 and created and produced two syndicated newspaper comic strip features Trumpet and Wabbits. The weekly children’s feature Trumpet was carried in over 65 newspapers in five countries. He also produced the Captain Canuck comic strip in 1995 and 1996. Captain Fresh Pac, Fan Guys and Gemini Force are publishing and promotional projects created by Comely.
Over 3 million Captain Canuck comic books and books have been printed. A Captain Canuck postage stamp was issued in 1995 and Comely illustrated a Time magazine cover featuring Captain Canuck in 1997. He has also illustrated covers for other national magazines including a Captain Canuck painting that was used for a cover for Walrus magazine. The Royal Canadian Mint released a Captain Canuck coin in May 2018. It sold out within two days of its release.
Richard Comely’s original artwork and his art for the Captain Canuck comic book series and newspaper comic strip have been exhibited in a number of galleries in Ontario. His paintings have been exhibited in Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario. Much of the Captain Canuck series original art is housed in the Library and Archives Canada in Gatineau. Brigham Young University has also acquired artwork, correspondence and scripts from Comely for their collection with a showing in Provo Utah scheduled for 2024.
Richard has taught drawing since 1989. He taught drawing and cartooning as continuing education courses at Mohawk College and Conestoga College. He has also been a guest lecturer at SCAD in Savanah Georgia. Richard helped design the one year post graduate course in comic book scripting and illustration for Mohawk College. His Drawing from the Pros video was a best seller in the educational market in the United States and Canada.
Comely has made author visits and given presentations in dozens of schools and for many organizations across Canada, in the United States and Mexico. Comely has been a guest artist at numerous comic conventions beginning in the late 1970’s. Comely wrote the Captain Canuck Crime Stopper edition in 2017. 218,000 copies were distributed across Canada.
Comely was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creators Hall of Fame in 2010.
He is working with publisher and producer Fadi Hakim and others on exciting new ventures for Captain Canuck and other titles. New comic book series, books, an animated series and a Captain Canuck live action television series are in the works.
Comely was born in Oxford England and came to Canada with his parents at age 2.
All illustrations are available for licensing. Artwork Copyright Star Rider Productions Inc. You can contact Richard and Evelyn at:
| Star Rider Productions Inc. | USA | Canada |
|---|---|
| 1421 Deer Trail Denton, Texas 76205 Toll-free: 866.740.7837 |
109 Barlow Place Paris Ontario N3L 0G8 Toll-free: 866.740.7837 |
To inquire about licensing images contact:
Star Rider Licensing
To License Captain Canuck images contact:
Captain Canuck Licensing
