Saskatchewan father-daughter comic book duo ready to release latest issue
Jeff Burton officially became a comic book writer in 2016, with the release of "The Adventures of Auroraman."
"Auroraman is just a regular guy. He's a husband and a father, a high school teacher, and one night he happens to find a cosmic powered staff, and decides to become the superpower of the prairies,” said Burton.
Burton, who a high school teacher in Englefeld, Saskatchewan, says the name inspired by aurora borealis, and just like the many of the themes and villains in his comics, is an homage to living life on the Prairies.
"Everybody thinks the Prairies are pretty quiet and tame, but there's lots of wacky and zany things happening,” he said, referring to characters like monsters made out of wheat and grain, and even werecows.
"Everybody knows that werewolves are a thing, but you dig into that lore a little bit and it could be any animal, so I just thought it was rather appropriate to be a cow. My dad was a livestock farmer for a long time and most of my life, so it just kind of fit.”
One of the latest villains in the series, Gamemaster, was created by his 15-year-old daughter Kyrra, who has written the latest issue: The Adventures of Auroraman #9.
"It's pretty crazy, I never really thought it would happen,” said Kyrra of taking the reins of her dad’s comic book series.
"I was very nervous. That's one of the reasons why I actually created Gamemaster because then, one of the main characters can be someone I created myself so I didn't have to worry about getting them right.”Burton says Kyrra, who was recently diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, would join him at comic shows like the Saskatoon Entertainment Expo over the years, so the idea of her writing alongside him wasn’t surprising.
"We just kind of seemed to meet on this idea that she had, and eventually now has blossomed to her writing it,” he said.
She assures fans of the series the latest issue won’t have much of a departure in style.
"I don't think they’ll notice too much, because (my dad) was very influential with the whole process and making sure that what I was writing was good,” she said.
"She's being very modest,” said Burton. "My help was more for formatting and style, I did not change a whole bunch when it came to the actual writing. She writes a little funnier than I do so, I think they might notice that the humor is a little more … I don’t know, better.”
"It's more together,” Kyrra added. "It's pretty much if I come up with an idea, I can show it to dad and if he likes it, I can write it down and then we just go from there.”
Now Kyrra is the one answering questions at comic shows — even signing a comic for her principal — and will join her dad at Amazing Stories Comics in Saskatoon for the release of The Adventures of Auroraman #9 on August 14.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING 9 suspects arrested in gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport: Peel police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police announced Wednesday.
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Canada is expected to win 22 medals at the Paris Olympics
Canada is expected to win a total of 22 medals, including six gold, at the Paris Summer Olympics, which open on July 26.
500 Newfoundlanders wound up on the same cruise and it turned into a rocking kitchen party
A Celebrity Apex cruise to the Caribbean this month turned into a rocking Newfoundland kitchen party when hundreds of people from Canada's easternmost province happened to be booked on the same ship.
Liberals must now sell a budget they say will help younger Canadians catch up
It's now up to the federal Liberal government to sell a spending plan it says will help younger Canadians catch up to their elders.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
Ontario woman out $30K after investing in mortgage company accused of being unlicensed
An Ontario nurse is fighting to recover tens of thousands of dollars in savings she invested in a mortgage company that has since been accused of operating without a licence.
Young New Brunswick songwriter makes appearance on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show'
Eight-year-old songwriter Zuri Hamilton from Miramichi, N.B., got to show off her talent on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' on Monday.