The 1980s

Back in the 1980s, there was an age of heroes in the north, much smaller than the one in the States, when figures like Major Snow (the Canadian super-soldier) and his nemesis Lord Reign made life hard for each other, eventually going out in a spectacular blaze of glory that served as a cautionary tale ending that age of heroes and villains.

Current day: Toronto

Casey Van Allen, the offspring of the fallen legendary Major Snow, has inherited all of her father's fortune but none of his good sense. She is impatient, impetuous, and has learned that the monster responsible for her father's death (Lord Reign) is alive and well, and has been living the good life in retirement after effectively staging his own death years ago. Obsessed with her father's legacy and determined to bring his killer to justice, Casey suits up and uses her vast inheritance to con a team of unsuspecting outcasts into helping her on her mission, accidentally setting off the second age of heroes and villains in the north.

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The Journey of North

Best to keep
things modest

The premise

In NORTH, superheroes are more an “American thing”. Canada hasn't had active superheroes or villains for decades.

South of the border, the American dream mentality has manifested in larger-than-life heroes and villains centered mostly in major cities around the States, while their humble cousins to the north had only a handful of masked heroes back in the eighties and that ended catastrophically…for all of them.

Since then, masked good and evil in the north and the tragedy that resulted has become a part of our history…

‘Best to keep things modest.’

Split portrait: Major Snow and Lord Reign
Villain / Hero — Lord Reign and Major Snow from NORTH in the '80s

Current day: Toronto

An old vendetta

Casey Van Allen, the offspring of the fallen legendary hero (Major Snow), has learned that the monster responsible for her father's death (arch-villain Lord Reign) is alive and well, living the good life after effectively staging his death years ago. Determined to follow in her father's footsteps and bring in the man who killed a national treasure, the young woman suits up and unearths a team of gifted misfits to help her in her mission.

With special abilities that combined should be enough to apprehend the now elderly Lord Reign, Casey's team bites off more than they can chew and accidentally awakens a beast that has laid dormant for the last thirty years. The well-intended group accidentally triggers the country's second age of super-powered heroes and villains and only a mysterious flag-wearing mentor can keep them alive through the journey ahead.

NORTH #1 variant cover: the team in the snow
Faces of the '80s — Major Snow, Wolf and Fleet Fox

From the pages

Casey suits up for an old vendetta
Casey suits up for an old vendetta.
Casey reveals her roots to the team
Casey reveals her roots to the team.

Kickstarter Campaigns

Funded by
the fans

Two campaigns, 407 backers, and over CA $22,000 raised to bring NORTH to print.

The first campaign · 2016

Where it started

The first Kickstarter campaign launched NORTH issues #1 and #2. Watch the original campaign video.

The results

First campaign cover: NORTH issues 1 and 2

First campaign · 2016

NORTH #1 & #2 fully funded

231Backers pledged
$12,181CAD raised
178%Funded
Second campaign cover: NORTH issue 4

Second campaign · 2019

NORTH #4 fully funded

176Backers pledged
$10,010CAD raised
118%Funded

Behind the pencils

Pencil page in progress Pencilled character pages Pencilled comic page Pencilled comic page

Order the issues

North has ‘issues’!

NORTH is currently four issues into its thirteen-issue, volume one story arc.

NORTH issue #1 cover

North Issue #1

Casey suits up. The second age begins.

NORTH issue #2 cover

North Issue #2

Lord Reign is alive.

NORTH issue #3 cover

North Issue #3

The team takes shape.

LatestNORTH issue #4 cover

North Issue #4

Launched at Fan Expo 2022.

Place your order

Choose your issues and tell us where to send them. You will be contacted within 24 hours to confirm.

Issues

Read digitally

Prefer a screen?

NORTH is also available on Comixology, one of the world's biggest digital comic platforms, and as a free download of the first volume.

Download NORTH →

Gallery

Illustrations

Covers, pin-ups, pages and merch art from the world of NORTH. Select any image to view it full size.

NORTH pin-up, colored Adanac NORTH #1 variant cover NORTH #2, page 18 NORTH Vol. 1 interior NORTH Vol. 1 interior NORTH #1 cover NORTH #2 cover NORTH #3 cover NORTH #4 cover Second Kickstarter campaign cover First Kickstarter campaign cover NORTH interior panel Happy Halloween: NORTH Monsters NORTH team tee, black NORTH tee, white NORTH tee NORTH pin-up

Comics to Screen

The NOVEL Universe
of Heroes series

Original indie comic series NORTH jumps mediums to team-up with original hero television series SPLIT CITY for a world-building opportunity on the small screen.

Slated for several seasons of adventure, Volume One of Scott Sawyer's indie original comic series NORTH boasts a multi-cast of new heroes and villains fit for any medium. And any company looking to start building a universe of their own (Marvel or DC style) would do well to consider the dynamic cast of characters in NORTH.

And if NORTH's heroes are the NOVEL universe's Avengers, then Sawyer's original dramatic action series SPLIT CITY is the answer to its X-Men, offering a dark and different genesis via a cast of heroes and villains whose stories help build to the crescendo of a crossover between the two series.

The Avengers

NORTH

Canada's second age of heroes and villains.

Download

The X-Men

Split City

A dark and different genesis.

Download

Practically raised by Stan Lee, Sawyer has studied the Marvel way his entire life… shares the love and knows the recipe.

Following in the footsteps of the giants that came before him, but with his own new twists.

On tour

Conventions

Launches, signings and booths across Ontario since 2016.

Timeline

  1. Fan Expo 2022

    Booth A517 · Metro Toronto Convention Centre

    NORTH issue #4 was launched at Fan Expo 2022.

  2. Fan Expo

    Booth #802 · Silver Snail table

    NORTH issue #3 was launched at Fan Expo 2017.

  3. Toronto Comic Con

    Metro Toronto Convention Centre · Artist Alley, table A97

    Real success for NORTH #1! We were able to reach a larger readership and looked forward to #2.

  4. Comixology

    Comixology, one of the world's biggest digital comic platforms, carries NORTH with an international readership!

  5. Silver Snail Toronto

    NORTH had its official book launch and signing!

  6. Fan Expo 2016

    The Silver Snail table

    NORTH issues #1 and #2 were launched.

The NORTH booth at Fan Expo 2022
Fan Expo 2022 — the issue #4 launch

In the media

Press

TV, radio, podcasts and articles featuring NORTH and its creator.

13Features
6Podcasts
3TV & radio
2016–20Coverage

About the artist

Scott W W Sawyer

Writer. Filmmaker. Comic book creator. Toronto.

Scott Sawyer holding issues of NORTH

Scott is a Canadian-born writer, filmmaker, and comic book creator residing in Toronto. His devotion to the story is unwavering.

Sawyer's love affair with film and comic books that started as a child still burns brightly as ever. In the role of writer, director, author, and illustrator (even single father), Sawyer's goal is always to create that same sense of wonderment in his expectant audience. Whether you're reading his scripts, watching his films, or reading his comic series, by honoring beloved old conventions and pushing them aside to break new ground, Scott's stories will catch you by surprise and always leave you thinking.

Ask Scott his favourite film and the answer is ‘Yes.’

Sawyer is the writer/director of the feature film ONE GOOD REASON, distributed by Factory Film Studio, and has a second feature film (ENFORCER) currently in development with producers Alex Jordan and Michael Patrick Lilly. He wrote and created the short film SPLIT CITY and is the writer/illustrator of the published comic book NORTH by NOVEL Comics.

  • One Good Reason · Feature
  • Enforcer · In development
  • Split City · Short film
  • NORTH · Comic

Contact

Send a signal north

Press, conventions, screen rights or a question about the comic. We will get back to you very soon.

Looking to buy?

Order the issues

Printed copies of NORTH #1–4 are available direct from the creator.

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