Comic book tells story of RCMP
LOCAL WRITER AND ARTIST JOIN FORCES ON HISTORICAL COMIC BOOK
RCMP around the province are getting a special keepsake reminder of the history of their organization as well as the history of the province in celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial.
The RCMP has procured 5,000 English and 500 French copies of a historical comic book created by Diamond City writer Pete Brouwer and artist Claude St. Aubin.
“The March on Fort Whoop-Up” is a comic book telling the early successes and struggles of Canada’s national police force, known then as the North-West Mounted Police, as they pushed west to Fort Whoop-Up with a goal of establishing a presence in the frontier and protecting Canada’s borders from U.S. incursions during the late 19th Century.
The comic has been updated with three additional pages, and new covers celebrating Canada’s 150th. The comics will be handed out to each member of the RCMP in Alberta.
St. Aubin said the story tells about a vital part of Canada’s history in shaping the west into what it would later become.
“If it hadn’t been for the March to Fort Whoop-Up by the RCMP when they were called the NWMP, the sovereignty of Canada may have been in question,” said St. Aubin. “It’s not just a railway that solidified our country. That march from (the RCMP) may have solidified the unity of our country.”
St. Aubin added while it may not be very well known, the march was a crucial one in ensuring the territory was not taken over by Americans.
“The RCMP has been interwoven with the fabric of Canadian history,” said Staff Sgt. Glenn Henry of the Coaldale RCMP. “This is a nice gesture on your part to highlight the involvement of the RCMP in Canadian history.”
Henry said he was proud of being in the RCMP for more than three decades and the comic made him reflect on those who came before.
“This clearly documents the early guys that came before me,” he said. “They were the people who paved the way for people like myself to come along.
The 1999 RCMP March West reenactment celebrating the 125th anniversary of the RCMP was the source of inspiration for Brouwer. “It’s never been done,” he said, noting there was a very short version of the history of the RCMP done in 1959 as part of a larger comic book.
“Lots of books have been written about it, but this is the only comic book,” said Brouwer.
The comic was originally a feature in the Lethbridge Sun Times and The Prairie Post. Following the run, it was turned into a full comic book. Brouwer said the medium is a good form to introduce history to children.
“Kids would rather read a comic book than a book,” he said.
Brouwer credits his brother with his lifelong love of comic books.
“When I was a kid we never had a dime for a comic book,” he said. “But I had an older brother, and once in a while he’d come home and there was a comic lying around on the table. That’s how I got into it. It was his fault.”
In 2000, Brouwer joined a comic collector’s club in Calgary, where he met St. Aubin.
“I was looking for an artist to do this,” he said. “I was trying to do it myself but it just didn’t work. And (Aubin) is one of the best artists in Canada.”
The result is a uniquely Canadian story with important ties to local history.