Red Leaf Rising!!!

The Leaf Time line: 1987-2005



The Leaf is here.

Its an ominous sentence, because he was already here, its now that he can bee seen, read, or heard. The character was created in 1987 when I wrote and drew (that's a stretch) a bunch of characters in my super-hero world of "The Unknowns" during high school. The Leaf started as a very simple character: a tall robot with a sleek all-black costume and a huge maple leaf, directly from the Canadian flag, strapped to his back ---almost as if it were a hang glider.

Why a robot? It sounded funny. A giant maple leaf running around Canada creating havoc. Naturally I sent a cadre of heroes to apprehend this robot. The group consisted of Neutralator ---my FIRST Canadian hero, the Mountie, and Gadget Girl ---a pretty redhead who was smarter than all the men on the team combined. The became NorthForce. My version of Alpha Flight.

As I said above, I can't draw. My friends tell me I have a tongue-in-cheek style that is a style of its own. That's a nice way of saying "Look at that wonderful car crash!!" But what it did allow me to do was to visualize my creations. It was a crutch to limp me along until 2005 when my long time college friend, Brad Eastburn, jumped back into the graphic design bucket and drew the first OFFICIAL appearance of The Leaf.

The Leaf Summer Slam 2005
Written by john Michael Helmer
Drawn by Brad Eastburn
Cover by Brad Eastburn
4 pages
Comix Express

We printed 500 and handed them out at the San Diego Comic Con is 2005. They were gobbled up. I still have a bunch in a box that I include with sales of current issues as a bonus. The story introduced Michael MacSorly ---the Modern Leaf and his controlling girl friend Susan Ferros, and a throw away villain named Claude. Its a simple tale of a mugging gone wrong and how dangerous situations can handled with skill and preparation. Brad and I were so proud of that flimsy 4 page comic. Today we look back with a critical eye: why did I draw that arm that way? I should have had the character say this or that...

It was a learning experience. And the creativity would simmer for five years until rising from the primordial soup came...The IMPERIALS!

Next...

2005-2009 Winston Churchill's IMPERIALS, novelist C.L.Werner, and comic book artist Sergio Carellio.