Nelvana of the Northern Lights

Nelvana of the Northern Lights
Nelvana, as drawn by Adrian Dingle (1941)
Publication information
Publisher	Hillborough Studios Bell Features
Created by	Adrian Dingle
In-story information
Alter ego	Alana North
Partnerships	Koliak the Mighty (father), Tanero (brother)
Abilities	Telepathy Invisibility Travel at light speed Heat ray

Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studios' 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. Nelvana of the Northern Lights is Canada’s first distinctly Canadian female superhero.

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.

A Kickstarter campaign to republish Nelvana of the Northern Lights for the first time since the original publication was launched in October 2013 by Hope Nicholson. It was fully funded within five days of being launched.

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. Franz Johnston had met a young women, either Cecile Nelvana or Connie Nelvana in his stay in Coppermine, NWT (now Kugluktuk, Nunavut), and was taken by this 'arctic Madonna' to create a superheroine. 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.