You might be from the great white north if you've noticed his cartoons in the local paper.
His side-job as a political cartoonist started six years ago on a six-inch space in Yellowknifer. Now after a year long process of nearly 600 hours of work, John Henderson is celebrating the release of his first book all about the north.
Henderson launched You Might Be From The Great White North If ... last week, a book of cartoons which highlights the everyday trials and triumphs faced by northern Canadians on an daily basis. The book is an addition to the McIntyrePurcell publishing series You Might Be From Canada If... created by fellow cartoonist Michael de Adder.
Originally from Grand Falls, Nfld. Henderson said he was at a friends house reading the Newfoundland and Labrador version of the series when the idea dawned on him to add an edition to the series which encompasses what it meant to live in the north.
“At that point I had spent three or four years drawing the cartoons for the newspaper so I thought making my own version for the series would be a neat thing to do ... at first only thinking of cartoons exclusively for the NWT,” said Henderson. “Then I thought well if I'm going to do it, might as well make it for all three territories.”
Becoming increasingly intrigued by the idea of creating the book Henderson called MacIntyrePurcell Publishing and asked if the company would be interested in running a northern version.
“In 2016 I sent them a half dozen samples of cartoons that I thought would be fitting the series and that's when they asked for a half dozen more,” said Henderson.
Not having anything in the series that related to the Canadian lifestyle north of 60, the publishing company accepted his offer.
The cartoons in the book feature experiences and observations Henderson has made in his 14 years of living in north; from drinking a sour-toe cocktail in Dawson City, Yukon to visiting the birthplace of hockey in Deline and educating readers about the true geographic centre of Canada located at Baker Lake, Nunavut.
Henderson's book will hit the local Yellowknife book store shelf in a few weeks but it has already been a hit on Amazon and has graced the shelves of different commercial bookstores across the country.
Henderson said the first-wave of copies online were sold out in less than a day.
“It's part-humbling and part intimidating,” said Henderson. “When you're in the same discussion as professional cartoonist who has been to art school and you're just some hack that decided to pick it up when he's 40 and you produce a book that goes into the same series ... it's an interesting feeling.”
Henderson admits he doesn't get excited about much but to him the most exciting part of the process was seeing major retailers carrying the book.
“I honestly didn't know they would carry the book, my expectation was that it was going to be on Amazon and would probably land in the bookstore in Yellowknife and I thought 'if I'm lucky it would end up in the bookstore in Whitehorse',” said Henderson. “Then I saw it was on the shelf of major bookstores in downtown Toronto, it felt surreal.”
Since he was five years old watching Rocket Robin Hood, Spider-Man and Scooby Doo, Henderson said cartoons have always been a part of his life.
Eventually Spider-Man cartoons turned into collecting Archie themed comic books and watching Mystery Inc. turned into watching The Simpsons.
As he continues to see the evolution of the cartoon industry take form Henderson said he is thankful he can continue producing content for the paper on a weekly basis.
“A lot of publications don't have staff-cartoonists anymore,” said Henderson. “It's a dying art... but I guess they find some value in what I do so until they tell me no, I'll keep drawing.”