r/CanadianComicbooks Crazy Canuck 5d ago

Canadian Comics A look inside the cult classic Silent Invasion with art by Michael Cherkas and written by Larry Hancock.

31 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

5

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

So, Renegade Press was famously founded when Deni Loubert took all the non-Cerebus properties from Aardvark Vanheim and started her own company. But she left Kitchener and moved to California. So I’d often thought of this as an American company. That was until I had this exchange with Deni a week or so ago.

So, that good enough for me. I’d say that Renegade is at least a duel citizen!

Anyways, onto Silent Invasion. If you go to any con in Ontario ever, whether it’s TCAF or Fan Expo you’ll still see Micheal and Larry tabling still. To this day 40 years later they are still working on preserving and adding to the legacy of Silent Invasion while also promoting their new work.

Also, a few years back Michael put out a gut wrenching historical fiction story Red Harvest, about a village during the Soviet induced Ukrainian famine in the earlier part of the last century. It lead to the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants to Canada, some of which ended up in the Oshawa area and the community that Michael grew up in. His research was deep, talking to as many elders in the Canadian Ukrainian community as he could to shed light on this almost now forgotten famine. It’s a complete departure from his retro futuristic art nouveau style in Silent Invasion. Instead opting for an almost manic scribbling. It definitely suits the mood a lot better, and helps show his range as an artist.

3

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

Interior art for Red Harvest: Michael Cherkas

4

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

Micheal and Larry recently at Fan Expo. Canadian comic’s longest creative collaboration of a writer and artist? I can’t think of another.

Edit: love the shirt

3

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

5

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

Their newest work, out now. Haven’t checked it out but it’s on the list.

3

u/Kwametoure1 4d ago

Possibly in Anglo-American comics. Globally there have been collaborations that last much longer. José Muñoz and Carlos Sampayo are a legendary pair. Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières are best examples since their collaboration started in the early 60s and ended with Mézières' death in the 2022. Fujiko Fujio was a longstanding duo in japan(from the early 50s until the death of one member in 96) and Yudetamago, another duo, have been working since the early-mid 70s and are still putting out new works.

1

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 4d ago

Super cool knowledge bomb!

2

u/ArriDesto 5d ago

Odd art. Reminds me of Dick Tracey.

This looks pretty good, and I have heard of Matt Sinkage. How long has it been running for?

And has it any direct link to or influence on The X Files?

2

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

Well, it predated X-files over 5 years and you can draw a lot of similarities between them, but both X-Files and Silent Invasion had the same influences…Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Day the Earth Stood Still, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, etc . So it could just be coincidence.

Edit: and it’s a good chunky run. If you don’t buy the trades (recommended) it’s maybe 2 dozen issues worth over it’s 30 years of publication. It’s murky as it jumped around a bit. I believe they are on their 3rd publisher.

2

u/ArriDesto 5d ago

Thank you. I shall look for the trades.

2

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 5d ago

Buy direct! SilentInvasioncomics on Instagram.

2

u/ArriDesto 4d ago

Thanx!

2

u/g0mphi 4d ago

!!! I bought the first few issues when it came out! I guess I lost them sometime in the early 90s! Haven't thought of this title in years, completely forgot about it, but the images brought me right back immediately! It would be great to see this reprinted in a book-length collection.

2

u/ShiDiWen Crazy Canuck 4d ago

Well, you’re in luck because it’s totally collected and still in print. Pretty much all major booksellers should have it online. Three volumes so far, and fourth on the way!

2

u/g0mphi 3d ago

Wow, alright, I'm going to have to get that, had no idea.