Canadian Crusader from Pythor Comics

 

You are what you eat!

Canadian Crusader enjoying his favourite food, a hero sandwich!

Now with his own comic book "Canadian Crusader: Heroes Past and Present"!

Canadian Crusader Book 1 from Pythor Comics!

Superhero News: Canadian Crusader is a registered trademark!

Hi everyone. I've posted a video on YouTube in order to create more awareness that the character name "Canadian Crusader" is my registered trademark. I really don't like having to contact people to tell them that they are infringing on my trademark, it's totally an unpleasant thing to do, but I will do whatever is necessary to protect my trademark... which is why I registered it in the first place. 

Here's the video:

It's unfortunate (and very frustrating) that some people don't bother doing any research before they start using a fictional character name for their online content, or for other media such as cosplay, mascots or illustrated characters. Some people simply don't care about respecting intellectual property rights and so they use whatever name they want to. However, if a fictional character name that you use as your persona online, for example, is actually someone else's registered trademark then you are guilty of trademark infringement. 

Granted, sometimes the infringement is totally unintentional and no ill will was intended by the person responsible, that's fine and I get that. However, ignorance of the law is not a valid defense, and as such the trademark owner has the right to request financial compensation if they feel the infringement caused damage to their trademark. Once made aware of the infringement, the decent thing to do is to stop using the name rather than to cause a fuss and refuse to give it up. The person who has the name registered as a trademark isn't the one causing the problem, the person who is using the name without permission is. And it's totally avoidable. 

It only takes a few seconds to do a Google search to see if a fictional character name belongs to someone else. If it pops up, don't use it! When people do a search, it avoids so much fuss and bother for everyone involved! It's also simply the professional thing to do if it's your plan to create your own character and start promoting that character in various media formats, or to start licensing that character on T-shirts and so on. It's not just your job as a creator to do your research to make sure the name you want to use is in the clear, it's your legal responsibility to do so. 

So, to those of you who do care about respecting someone else's trademark rights, I sincerely thank you! The world needs more people like you! People who care enough to do their homework.

It's kind of ironic, people often complain when big businesses have too much control of the market, yet how many of those same people couldn't be bothered to do an easy online search to make sure that they're not infringing on an independent artist's trademark? And doing a quick google search is such a simple thing to do! Or better yet, go to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) website and do a trademark search. It's just as easy and fast as a Google search. And since you're at the CIPO website, do a copyright search too just to be on the safe side. It's so easy peasy!

And I have to say, the elephant in the room is that the folks who don't care about respecting intellectual property rights would be foaming at the mouth if something they created was copied or taken from them and used by someone else without permission. It's so hypocritical!

Well, hopefully this posting will have some positive influence, we'll see!

-Mikey Artelle

aka: Owner of "Canadian Crusader" trademark registration

Ice Hogs Collection!

Many of you know that I am a puppetry geek, but did you know that my geekiness extends to mascots too! Why yes, it does!!! And today (Monday) while thrift store hopping I found one of my "holy grail" items which I've been searching for, for about 30 years!!! I'm talking about the very rare and illusive 1980's Winterlude Ice Hogs plush toy based on the original Ice Hog costume before the mascots were redesigned in the early 1990's!

The one I found is in awesome condition too! Looks like it either sat on a shelf untouched or was forgotten in storage for several decades. Many years ago I bought a pin of the 1980's Ice Hog off of ebay, so I attached it to the scarf. There's also a light brown version of this plush toy which I'm still hoping to find someday! I had no idea that this dark brown one existed until I found it today! The last picture below shows my Ice Hogs collection, which now includes all three of the Ice Hogs plush toys that were made! Someday I'm going to donate this little collection to a museum or the city archives! So happy to have finally found his guy! LOL

Update July 19, 2022

On a hunch, the next day I went back to the thrift shop where I found the dark brown Ice Hog plush toy to have a better look around, and I found the light brown one! I'm just amazed!!!!

They're both in such amazing condition, I'm so happy to have found them! The light brown one was the one I knew about, and I'm so glad to finally have found it! I think these super rare, original Ice Hog plush toys are awesome!!! :)

Canadian Crusader Issue No.1 by Pythor Comics

 

Silly me! I have been so focused on setting up the Pythor Comics website and blog that I completely forgot to post this news on my Art and Puppetry Blog!!! (Sigh!) Well, I'm very proud to announce that my first full colour self-published comic book is now available from Pythor Comics! Canadian Crusader issue No.1: Heroes Past and Present is a comic book version of my live puppet show of the same name. 

For more info about Canadian Crusader issue No.1 please check out the Pythor Comics Blog! 

Pythor Comics Superhero Survey!

This is for anyone who is a fan of superheroes!

Take the survey here: (This survey is now closed)

L to R: Pythor the Barbarian, Moose Man, Goose Gal, Canadian Crusader, Blue Jay Boy, Griffon Shadow, and Dominion Kid.

Thank you for your time and help!

To learn more about Pythor Comics please click here.




Text and Image © Mikey Artelle, 2019

Pythor Comics: Canuck Crusaders poster!

 

Hey there superhero fans! Here's a look at my Canadian superhero team Canuck Crusaders in action! The gang will soon be featured in my Pythor Comics storybooks, now in the works!!! Shown above is Canadian Crusader (aka. Melvin Maples), his trusty side-kick Blue Jay Boy, super heroine Goose Gal, and the mighty Moose Man!

Reminiscing about Mr. Dressup and his puppet pals!

Back in 2001 the Canadian Museum of History, which is located in Gatineau, Quebec, just across the river from Ottawa, had an exhibit about the history of children's television as produced by the CBC. It was called Show and Tell: Growing Up Canadian and featured many of the actual puppets that appeared on kids TV shows from the 1950's through to the 1990's. Alas Casey and Finnegan, the puppets from Mr. Dressup, were not among those in the exhibit. In their place were cut-out photograph stand-ins. I was a bit disappointed about that but it didn't last long, as the exhibit had the next best thing... Casey and Finnegan's treehouse set that was used on the program! Awesomeness!!! As you can see I'm standing next to it, above, with a big smile on my face. I'm definitely in "my happy place" in this picture!

Many of my favourite puppet characters were featured in this same exhibit, so I was quite happy to see them all too, but seeing the treehouse was definitely one of the main highlights!

Being a puppeteer, I have always collected items that have to do with puppetry, such as newspaper articles, records, and other collectables. Here are all of the nifty items that I have relating to Mr. Dressup....

Above is likely the first record albums to be released based on the Mr. Dressup TV series. There are four of them listed on Wikipedia, in which case I'm just missing one. The record album shown above doesn't have a date on it anywhere, though based on the style of the album cover and the photo of Mr. Dressup it was likely released in the late 1960's or sometime during the 1970's.

This record is titled Mr. Dressup: Happy Birthday Alligator Al. Based on the copyright date it was released in 1976.

This record is from 1982. My copy is still in the original unopened wrapper! It's interesting and somewhat bizarre that none of these records state that they were produced or co-produced by the CBC. I have a Canadian Sesame Street record album from 1981 that was co-produced by the CBC and it has the CBC logo on the back, whereas none of these records have the CBC logo.

In the late 1980's puppeteer Judith Lawrence who performed Casey and Finnegan retired. The show continued with new puppet characters that had been slowly phased in prior to her retirement so that viewers wouldn't be shocked at the sudden departure of the original puppets. She currently resides in Vancouver with her famous puppet pals.

The coolest thing by far that I have in regards to Mr. Dressup is this autograph, which has quite an interesting backstory! It's signed "To Mike" but I regretfully never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Dressup. This Mike is a good friend of mine who lives in Toronto. Back in 1994 Mike had the remarkable experience of being in a choir that sang on stage at Parliament Hill in Ottawa during Canada Day celebrations. This was the year that Ernie Coombs, who played Mr. Dressup, became a Canadian citizen during a ceremony on that very same stage.

At some point backstage Mike was able to meet Mr. Coombs who signed the back of his access pass, as shown above. Five years later in 1999 Mike and I met and became friends during the production of Sock N' Buskin Theatre's Little Shop of Horrors. Long after the production wrapped and we had become better friends, Mike later told me this story about the time he had met Mr. Dressup! My friend Mike then gave this autograph to me, knowing how much I adore puppetry and the Mr. Dressup TV show. To this day I'm still in awe of what a kind and remarkable gesturer that was. It meant a lot to me! We both thought it was ironic that the autograph is signed "To Mike" as though it was meant to find it's way to me. So not only is this item awesome because it's Mr. Dressup's autograph, it's also a meaningful symbol of my friendship with Mike! :)

In the late 1990's during his retirement Ernie Coombs toured universities with a stage show titled Tales from the Tickle Trunk. At the time my brother Steven was a professor at Western University, one of the locations on the tour. Above is the poster that was used to promote this event. My brother was thoughtful enough to save one for me. I put it up in my puppet workshop where it's been ever since!

Above left is the flyer for the 2001 exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec where the photo at the top of this page was taken. (The museum changed it's name from "Civilization" to "History" around 2010.) Due to a stroke at the age of 73, Ernie Coombs passed away in September of that year shortly before the exhibit opened in December. Prior to this, the exhibit had been mounted in Toronto at the CBC museum. On the right is a promotional card from the CBC Museum featuring Casey. In addition to promoting the exhibit, instructions on the card explain how to cut out the picture of Casey and attach it to a rod to make a stick puppet!

This is an issue of Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada magazine from 2001. It has a very detailed and well written article about Ernie Coombs.

Here is a look inside the magazine at the first two pages of the four page article. I love this early photo of Mr. Dressup and his puppet pals, just as I remember them!

Here is a CBC home video VHS set from 2002. The CBC logo appears on the bottom of the box. Below are the covers for each of the videos in the set.

Here is a 2 & 1/4 inch pin back button that I found at a nostalgia show in 2018. There's no copyright info on it so I suspect that it's a home-made bootleg item. There's also no date on the button but the photo of Mr. Dressup is from the 1990's, therefore it would have been made at some point between 1990 and 2018.

This is a softcover book from 2004 produced by Kids CBC (ISBN 0-660-19240-3). Two more books are below: Casey's First Day, ( ISBN 0-660-19241-1) and Mr. Dressup's Castle (0-660-19242-X). The illustrations for the "Castle" book are quite strange. Casey is drawn as a freakish looking human boy with a pointy head (though the puppet does not have a pointy head). The last book in this series, which I don't have, is Casey and the Beanstalk.

 

 

Other collectables that I'm aware of include a fourth record titled Mr. Dressup and Friends, and some books:

Mr. Dressup's Things to Make and Do

Mr. Dressup's 50 More Things to Make and Do

The Missing Button Adventure

Casey Visit's the Doctor

While compiling this post and fact checking the info, I came across an online article by CP24 which states "At the 1992 Gemini Awards, comic Mike Myers of Saturday Night Live and Austin Powers listed Mr. Dressup as one of the top five things he loves about Canada." Hear, hear to that Mr. Myers!

It's quite fitting that (on separate occasions) both Ernie Coombs and Judith Lawrence have received the Order of Canada... our country's highest honour.

Text and Photos copyright Mikey Artelle