Comic strip by Daniel Lareau, later referred to as 'Histoire du Canada', about explorer Jacques Cartier.
Daniel Lareau was a mid-20th century Canadian painter and sculptor. Between 1949 and 1950, he made one known comic strip, published in L'Action Catholique and Le Petit Journal, retroactively titled 'Histoire du Canada'.
Life and career
Daniel Lareau was born in 1910. He studied at the L'École Normale Jacques-Cartier de Montréal and graduated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montréal. Lareau illustrated Raymond Tanghe's book 'Le Devoir' (1945), Gérard Beaudry's 'Le Calcul Vivant, Arithmétique' (1950), Béatrice Clément's book 'Parade Historique' (1950). Active as a painter and sculptor, most of his work celebrated Roman Catholicism and was frequently exhibited. It is unknown when and where Lareau passed away.
Comics career
In the 1940s, Daniel Lareau frequently made illustrations for the Roman Catholic newspaper L'Action Catholique. Another artist who also published in the magazine around the same decade was Jean-Jacques Cuvelier.
Between 23 January 1949 and 8 October 1950, Lareau drew a history comic in L'Action Catholique, which was also printed in another paper, Le Petit Journal. The comic strip chronicles important events in the history of Canada, particularly regarding the era when the country fell under French colonial rule (1534-1759). Key personalities, like explorers Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain, are naturally addressed. In total, Lareau drew 86 comic strips in length, all presented in a text comic format, with narration appearing underneath the images. Oddly enough, the feature had no permanent title. Each episode focused on the name of a different historical character. Comic historians have therefore called the series 'L'Histoire du Canada' ("Canadian History").
Two other artists who made comics about Canadian history were Joseph Hillenbrand and Robert Freynet. A Canadian artist who illustrated books about the history of his country was Jack Tremblay.