The University of Western Ontario Alumni Gazette Summer 2009 : Page 15
f ea tur e illustrator and co-developer for Pro- grammed Learning. In 1967, inspired by the centennial celebrations of that year, Johnston devot- ed his full-time energies to the creation of his most lasting nationalist comics feature, “It Happened In Canada.” Offering short illustrated lessons in Canadian history, the single panel strip fed the growing national appetite for information about Canada's past. Mixing anecdotes about famous Canadians with folklore and "amazing but true" facts, the strip was both entertain- ing and informative at the same time. As with Jeff Buchanon, the highlight of the strip was Johnston's art: his solid sense of composition made the strip visually inter- esting, but he was careful to be accurate in showing how people dressed and looked in the past. In its mixture of human-interest sto- ries with historical lore, the strip antici- pated the expansion of popular historical knowledge which characterized Cana- dian nationalism during the 1970s. At the height of its popularity, It Hap- pened in Canada ran in more than 60 newspapers and was collected in fi ve sep- arate volumes. The newspapers that ran the strip included the Kitchener-Water- loo Record, The London Free Press, the Winnipeg Free Press, and the Calgary Herald. Taking references from a number of sources, Johnston made extensive use of the historical resources at The Univer- sity of Western Ontario's D.B. Weldon Library. The success of the series is all the more remarkable considering the fact that for most of its run Johnston did not have a newspaper syndicate backing him up. His daughter Lucinda Johnston remembers that her dad had to always be thrifty, using both sides of any piece of paper. He recruited his daughter to help with the production of the strip: it was their job to make sure that every week the proofs of the strip were sent out to subscribing newspapers. In the early 1970s, Johnston created the comic “It Happened At Western” – a campus history spinoff of his national comic success. The panels appeared regularly in the Alumni Gazette from 1971 to 1979. As a cartoonist trying to make a living in mid-century Canada, Gordon Johnston (July 11, 1920 - August 3, 1983) didn't have an easy time of it: he had to constantly struggle to fi nd venues for his work. To a large degree, he was working against a vacuum, since there was little institutional support or critical recognition given to cartoonists in Canada during those years. The fact that he persevered so long, and man- aged to create some lasting strips along the way, is a testament to his character and commitment. Sources: Ralph Thompson, "It Happened...result of research, sheer hard work" London Free Press, August 2nd, 1975. Jeet Heer is a Toronto-based cultural reporter who often writes on comics. His articles have appeared in The National Post, Slate.com, the Boston Globe, The Walrus, the Literary Review of Canada, This Magazine, Books in Canada and Toro. Additional information was provided by Gordon Johnston's daughters, Lucinda Johnston and Mairead Johnston- Spooner, and Alumni Gazette editor, David Scott. Summer 2009 | Western Alumni Gazette | 15
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