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
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.