Nels Grant

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Created by Charles Spraggett (words) & Adrian Dingle (art)

An early, if minor, comic book eye… chez nous!

NELS GRANT was a middle-aged Canadian private eye who appeared in Canada’s own Triumph Comics back in 1945-46. He lives and works in a generic big city (Toronto?), and seems pretty well-established. Even comfortable. He smokes a pipe and drives a snazzy convertible, and appears pretty content whiling away his time when he’s not on a case, sitting in his office reading mysteries, his “favourite” pastime (note Canadian spelling).

Naturally, he has a pretty (and younger) blonde secretary,  Joy Scott, who calls him chief. He calls her “beautiful” and “gorgeous.”

It’s all pretty much all that’s expected of a comic book private eye of the era. He even wears a suit, a tie, a trench coat and a fedora.

The case, though, is a little more complex, if not particularly complicated, than the usual fare, spread out over four consecutive issues. There’s the expected tough guy patter (“That ain’t a pipe in my pocket”), and while the art by Adrian Dingle is certainly competent, a few of the imaginative page layouts are what really stands out.

Kicking it off is a soon-to-be-dead man bursting into Grant’s office, which soon leads to a warrant Grant’s arrest for murder, an encounter with The Great Borme (a wing nut surrealist who swears a face-enclosing ancient metal helmet  when he paints), a missing masterpiece, the murder of a prominent art collector,  a visit with Joy to a “jive” club, and an unexpected reunion with an old college chum, all before an unexpected through-the-looking-glass wrap-up that suggests an early stab at post-modernism.

Or maybe metafiction.

* * * * *

Anyway, the four-part “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator”  was Grant’s sole appearance, as far as I can tell. It was a four-issue run in Triumph Comics, a anthology of mostly crime and adventure stories. It was one of the “Canadian Whites” that appeared in the early forties, when Canada deemed American comics  “non-essential” imports under war-time restrictions, and a whole new, home-grown industry was born. They were called “Whites” because most of them had color covers but black and white interiors, due to printing costs. It only lasted about six years —after the war, the restrictions were lifted, and American comics once more flooded the market.

All four parts of “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator” ran alongside such made-in-Canada  Triumph Comics regulars as Nelvana of the Northern Lights (a monster fighting Demi-goddess), Ace Barton (fighter pilot and troubleshooter for the Allies), Tang the Wonder Horse, and Captain Wonder, a costumed super-hero very much in the Superman vein. Also appearing semi-regularly was Speed Savage,  a “brilliant young criminologist” and private detective who was also the dreaded White Mask, another costumed crimefighter, although the costume was decidedly low-key, consisting of a trench coast, fedora, cape and a simple Lone Ranger-style mask.

A single page from Nels Grant made it into The Great Canadian Comic Books, a 1971 collection of reprints.

ABOUT THE CREATORS

I couldn’t find a single thing about Charles Spraggett, who’s credited with writing “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator,” but given writer/artist Adam Dingle‘s penchant for quirky humor, inside jokes and breaking the third wall, Spraggett might have been an alias of Dingle’s. Or not… 

Welsh-born Dingle (1912-74) was a big name in Canadian Comics, having drawn not just Nels Grant, but also having created The Penguin, a costumed detective and spy who regularly battled assorted Nazis. Dingle’s work appeared in Triumph Comics, Active Comics, Commando Comics, Joke Comics, Funny Comics, and various other titles by Toronto publisher Bell Features. He was probably best known for his artwork on the iconic Nelvana of the Northern Lights, created by Group of Seven artist Franz Johnston. He was honored with the Joe Shuster Award in 2005, for his contributions to the Canadian comic book industry.

COMICS

  • TRIUMPH COMICS
    (q1942-46, Bell Features)
    Anthology of mostly crime and adventure stories, some humorous. Published in Toronto.
    • “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator (Chapter One)” (June 1942; #26)
    • “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator (Chapter Two)” (August 1945; #27)
    • “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator (Chapter Three)” (1942, #28)
    • “Nels Grant,  Private Investigator (Chapter Four)” (1942, #29)

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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