Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studio's Triumph-Adventure Comics #1 (Aug. 1941). She is also one of the first female superheroes, debuting before Wonder Woman but after Fantomah, the Golden Age Black Widow, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil and others introduced in 1940.

The character was created, written and illustrated by Adrian Dingle, who was inspired by tales brought back from the Arctic by Group of Seven painter Franz Johnston. He converted tribal legends about the hideous witch-like daughter of Koliak, King of the Northern Lights to a story of a beautiful superheroine living among the Inuit peoples. Nelvana's superpowers included turning invisible and traveling at the speed of light along a ray of the Northern Lights. She visited lost kingdoms under the ice, journeyed to other dimensions and fought against the Axis Powers during World War II, eventually taking on the secret identity of secret agent Alana North. Her final appearance was in a May 1947 comic book.

On October 5, 1995, Canada Post issued a stamp depicting her, as part of the "Comic Book Superheroes" series that also included Superman, Johnny Canuck, Captain Canuck and Fleur de Lys.

The Canadian animation studio Nelvana is named after her.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

• Grand Comics Database: Triumph-Adventure Comics
• Nelvana of the Northern Lights
• Guardians of The North Superheroes Profile for Nelvana of the Northern Lights
• Nelvana of the Northern Lights (Library and Archives of Canada)
• Nelvana of the Northern Lights postage stamp

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