Moncton artist, musician, author and Acadieman creator Dano LeBlanc dies at 55
LeBlanc's character Acadieman was a superhero who spoke almost entirely in Chiac
LeBlanc was an artist, poet, filmmaker and musician, but best known for creating the anti-hero character of Acadieman, the "first superhero acadien" who spoke almost entirely in Chiac.
Acadieman was featured in a number of comics, an animated series and animated feature film and became beloved by many Acadians, especially in southeastern New Brunswick.
According to Andrew Campbell, a retired teacher in Moncton, and the artist's close friend, LeBlanc was most proud of his family, followed by his work on Acadieman.
"Acadieman was his singular creation," said Campbell, to Information Morning in the Summer. "He was quite aware of that. It was a great idea and he knew it right away and ran with it. He was most proud of that."
LeBlanc released a fourth issue of Acadieman in 2017, after stepping away for eight years to be a stay-at-home dad. (Submitted by Dano LeBlanc)
Campbell described him as a good man who mostly kept to himself.
"He had this kind of armour about him," said Campbell. "He just went along and kept to himself. He didn't get into the middle of things, out in the middle of social situations."
Multidisciplinary artist
According to his obituary, LeBlanc was born in Moncton and travelled to Montreal after graduating from Mathieu Martin High School in 1986. He earned a BFA from Concordia University, studying film and English literature, and stayed there working as a filmmaker and musician for several years.
He was a member of the bands The Great Balancing Act and Sunset Industry at one time, according to Radio-Canada, and launched a record label named La Menuiserie.
LeBlanc also played on several recordings of Montreal post-rock group Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
A man of many artistic pursuits, LeBlanc released a poetry collection in 2000, Les Ailes de soi, followed by Omégaville in 2003.
Until 2013, LeBlanc also owned Folio, a used bookstore on St. George Street in Moncton.
For his Acadieman character and comic series, Campbell said LeBlanc drew inspiration from a number of places, including MAD magazine, but also from life as an Acadian in the Moncton area.
"All those moments, they often come from real life and the real connections of people that use that language and have these certain practices," he said. "So the relationship with his mother, with his friends, with employment — all of those things are in there and they're very much about Moncton."
LeBlanc described the character as an Acadian "everyman"— he had a beer belly, worked in a call centre, drank lots of coffee and spoke Chiac.
So what are Acadieman's superpowers? He doesn't actually have any.
"He just kind of pretends to be a superhero, I guess," LeBlanc told CBC in 2006. "There's nothing really heroic that he does except if you look at it from a linguistic level. He's heroic in the sense that he had the nerve to speak in Chiac."
Acadieman first came to the screen in 2006 via community television and according to Radio-Canada, was the first animated Acadian television series.
Chiac is the language of choice for Acadieman. (CBC)
The film Acadieman - Le First Superhero acadien won the jury prize at the Yorkton Film Festival in Saskatchewan in 2006, and three prizes from Rogers Television between 2006 and 2008.
In 2009, it won the Vague-Léonard Forest prize for the best Acadian medium- or long-format film at the Festival international de cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA).
LeBlanc, who had also done comics for Le Mascaret, La Rumeur and Kaboom, published the first issue of the comic series Acadieman in 2007. The second issue followed in 2008, and the third was released in 2009.
In 2017, after an eight year hiatus as a full-time husband and father, LeBlanc launched a fourth issue of Acadieman titled S'échapper de Dieppe.
With files from Information Morning Summer, Radio-Canada
Chiac-speaking superhero Acadieman returns
Dano LeBlanc to release fourth comic in popular series at East Coast Comic Expo May 19 & 20
The chiac-speaking superhero "has been resting" while his creator was busy being a stay-at-home dad to his son who will soon turn eight, LeBlanc said.
"I really wasn't planning on doing any more Acadieman stuff ... I kind of burnt out on it a little bit and then I got a call."
When I talk to my anglophone friends, they rarely come into Dieppe, like deeply into Dieppe.
- Dano LeBlanc
That call came from a friend who had published the first two Acadieman comics and was wondering if LeBlanc would consider a fourth in the series.
"He was looking for a project to be able to colour a comic and so he said, 'Hey do you want to do another Acadieman comic and I'll colour it,' and I said, 'OK,' LeBlanc said, laughing.
As it turned out, LeBlanc had a lot of "pent-up Acadieman energy" inside him because he finished the comic in just a month and a half.
"Really it all kind of just barfed out," he said.
In the past, LeBlanc has described Acadieman as an "Acadian everyman."
He works at a call centre, has a beer gut and speaks the unique regional blend of Acadian French and English, known as chiac.
Acadieman
author Dano LeBlanc says he took a creative break for eight years to be
a stay-at-home dad and was surprised at how quickly he wrote the newest
comic in his series. (Radio-Canada)
"They get really scared and they don't know what to do ... they can't read the signs ... and they end up running into Acadieman, who tries to help them escape from Dieppe, which is where the title comes from."
The idea for this new comic came after living in Halifax for a few years, where he heard very little French spoken.
"I had always lived in a French environment. ...Then I did a little bit of research and realized that Dieppe was the largest francophone city outside of Quebec and that it was the only city or town in New Brunswick that was actually growing and all the rest were shrinking," he said.
"When I talk to my anglophone friends they rarely come into Dieppe, like deeply into Dieppe ... and I thought that was interesting too."
LeBlanc said the cover of the comic was inspired by the 1981 science-fiction cult classic, Escape from New York, in which Manhattan is the country's only maximum security prison.
Chiac is hero's language of choice
The new comic has more English than past Acadieman books because of the story line, but LeBlanc said chiac remains the language of his hero.
"Chiac — it's not as common ... so it's nice that we can actually preserve it in some way."
A limited edition black-and-white version of the new Acadieman comic will be available at the East Coast Comic Expo in Moncton on May 19 and 20.
Chiac — it's not as common ... so it's nice that we can actually preserve it in some way.
- Dano LeBlanc
LeBlanc said in a month or two there will be another release of the full colour comic.
Asked whether there are more Acadieman comics to come, LeBlanc said "definitely."
"Instead of doing one every year and a half I hope to do one every quarter — depending on how well they sell and if people are still interested."
He said so far he's been shocked by the response from Acadieman fans to his new project.
"It's been amazing — it had been so long I thought, 'People just aren't going to give a crap anymore,' because now it's a younger generation out there, they don't even know who he is. But I've had some really great reactions."
With files from Information Morning Moncton
Acadieman series cancelled by TV5
Series creator lost his show and father in one week
The French-language television network TV5 planned to broadcast the New Brunswick-produced series and it commissioned Dano LeBlanc, the creator of Acadieman, to write 13 episodes.
But after just three scripts into the project, LeBlanc said he sensed he and the network had reached a creative impasse.
"They were just saying, 'We don't really like the scripts,' and they weren't telling me why and they weren't giving me any notes," LeBlanc said.
"So I was like, 'How am I supposed to continue if you're not telling me what you don't like and what's not working?'"
The dozen episodes already produced have always attracted young viewers.
Cecile Chevrier, a Moncton-based producer with the show, said the network said the latest scripts were not aimed at the right demographic.
"They wanted adult, prime time and the scripts that we have, have more of a youth orientation as to content," Chevrier said.
Television series started in 2005
Dano LeBlanc, the creator of Acadieman, said TV5 cancelled his
13-episode series over concerns the scripts were not targeting the right
age demographic. ((CBC))
LeBlanc created Acadieman to be a sort of Acadian everyman.
The animated Acadian superhero works at a call centre, has a beer gut, hangs out with his mother and friends in Moncton and speaks a unique blend of Acadian French and English commonly known as chiac in southeastern New Brunswick.
The sudden termination of the television contract capped off a devastating week for LeBlanc.
"Financially, I'm screwed basically at this point because I didn't really have much of a backup plan. You know I thought I'd be working on this for the next couple years," he said.
"My dad passed away and I found out two days later that I lost the series so it all happened within a week."
LeBlanc said the character of Acadieman will live on in comic books, but that he's exhausted all avenues on French-language television.
He said he may try to resurrect the character for a project aimed at English-language television.
Disappointed fan
LeBlanc will take the next month off so he can mourn the loss of his father and sort out his financial issues.
While Acadieman may be resurrected on an English network in the future, the news of the Acadian superhero's sudden demise has disappointed at least one super fan.
"I just learn a lot about the culture, the Acadian culture and all that. So I'm really disappointed they cancelled the show and it really sucks I can't see it anymore," said Patrick Veysey, a Dieppe teenager.
Fans line up to buy DVD of Moncton's comic anti-hero
Creator Dano LeBlanc releases DVD of Acadieman series
A hit Moncton cable series featuring an unlikely Acadian superhero is expected to win more fans this holiday season, with the release of a DVD.
People lined up Thursday in Moncton to buy the DVD, and Annie France Noëlwas one of the first to get one. "I bought a DVD for my little brother for Christmas. He's a big fan."
Nathaniel Anderson also stood in line for a copy, and says Acadieman's cult-like following is inspired by his ordinariness. "He doesn't have the superpowers, but he's just like regular people. He works in call centres and that, but he's got a whole whack of crazy friends," he said.
Moncton's Dano LeBlanc created Acadieman to be a sort of Acadian everyman. The comic character works at a call centre, has a beer gut, hangs out with his mother and friends in Moncton and speaks a unique blend of Acadian French and English known as chiac.
Speaks in chiac
He's not a caped crusader. He can't leap over tall buildings and he'd definitely never be caught in tights, but Acadieman's creator say he's no less a hero.
"He just kind of pretends to be a superhero I guess," said LeBlanc. "There's nothing really heroic that he does except if you look at it from a linguistic level. He's heroic in the sense that he had the nerve to speak in chiac."
Chiac was once dismissed as an impure linguistic hybrid, but many Acadians embrace it, just as they're now embracing Acadieman, who speaks just like them.
"Some words we say are not even words, but he uses them anyway. You know, it's just funny," said Acadieman fan Chantal Arsenault
LeBlanc created the character when he was in high school and thought an Acadian superhero was long overdue. The character evolved, and three years ago started as a comic strip in a community paper. Last year, Acadieman make the leap to community television.
Starting second season
With the release of a DVD compilation of the first season, LeBlanc is hoping to find more mainstream fans. "I've heard stories of ladies in old folks homes who sit together and watch it. Because of the way, obviously, it's the way they talk. And it's got to do with humour," he said.
Moncton fan Graham Sheppard says the series connects with New Brunswick's cultural underdogs, and that's why people like it. "It's funny-corny, but also reflective because it speaks to what people are doing in our region. My son did work for a call centre for awhile."
LeBlanc will introduce his hero at the Francophone festival in France next summer, hoping Acadieman's appeal will translate to an international market.
Leblanc says his hobby has become his job as he prepares to write a second season. "It feels amazing, I mean, I couldn't ask for anything better. I don't know how long it'll last as a full-time job but for now I'm definitely enjoying it and appreciating it."
Print:
Daniel Omer “Dano” LeBlanc
February 23, 1968 to July 15, 2023
Dano LeBlanc, the creator of Acadieman, died on Saturday, July 15, 2023, after a long illness, at Maison Albert Hospice in Moncton. He was 55.
Born Daniel Omer LeBlanc in Moncton in 1968, Dano is survived by his wife, Patricia King, and son Caedus Campbell. He is also survived by his mother, Freda (Goguen) LeBlanc, sisters Denise LeBlanc and Monique (Eric) Harrigan, nephew Drew and niece Ella, in-laws Dave and Marie King, and brother-in-law Charles (Nadine) King. He was predeceased by his father, Omer LeBlanc.
He went to Montreal after graduating from Mathieu Martin in 1986 and took a BFA from Concordia University (1990), where he studied film and English Literature. He stayed in Montreal and worked as a filmmaker and musician for some years.
After he returned to Moncton from Montreal, Dano created his most memorable character, Acadieman, the first Acadian superhero. During the next decade, a number of comics, an animated series and an animated feature film followed. Acadieman’s almost exclusive use of Chiac generated vigorous debate, not only in the Acadian community, but in the halls of academia as well. Scholars from Germany, the United States and elsewhere are still producing linguistics papers about Acadieman and his use of language.
The success of Acadieman allowed him to open Folio Books on St. George Street, a quiet space filled with the great classics, and a basement used by local bands to rehearse. Dano would look up from his book, through the stacks of volumes awaiting placement, and glance at you, knitted cap on his head, as you came in the door. If he knew you, he raised a hand in greeting, and if he did not, he nodded politely and went back to his reading.
Folio Books closed in the mid 2010s. He married Trish King in 2016, became a full-time husband and father, and continued writing and watching films. He was a devoted and wonderful father. He loved his family without reservation, and they returned that love.
Visitations will be held at the Passage-Chartersville Funeral Cooperative, 363 Amirault Street, Dieppe on Thursday, July 20, 2023 from 2:00-3:00 pm. At 3:00 pm the funeral service will be held in the Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Scott and Lindy Brown, young dairy farmers who are rebuilding their dairy farm that recently burned to the ground, at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-scott-and-lindy-brown, to the Moncton Albert House, or to the charity of one’s choice.
The family invites you to sign the book of condolences at www.funerairepassagefuneral.ca.
Arrangements under the professional care of Passage Funeral Cooperative and Cremation Center, 363 Amirault Streel, Dieppe, NB, E1A 1G1 (506-857-1901).
Dano LeBlanc
Daniel
Omer (Dano) LeBlanc est né à Moncton en 1968. Il a vécu une dizaine
d'années à Montréal où il a fait ses études en cinéma et en littérature
anglaise à l'Université Concordia. En tant que musicien, il a fait
partie du groupe
The Great Balancing Act et son nouveau projet Sunset
Industry. Il commença sa propre maison de disques appelée La Menuiserie
en 2009. Il publie son premier recueil de poésie, Les Ailes de soi, en
2000.Un deuxième recueil, Omégaville, paraît en 2003 aux Éditions
Perce-Neige. Il a publié plusieurs textes pour les revues Vallium,
Satellite, Éloizes et Ven'd'est, et il représenta le Nouveau-Brunswick
dans la catégorie poésie/littérature aux IVe Jeux de la Francophonie,
Ottawa 2001.
Acadieman est né a tchèque part dans le sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick. Quand il était juste un p'tit boutte ses parents l'ont laissé dans les bois par mistake (ils étaient late pour leur favorite show The Price is Right)
Les personnages
L'acadie man
Le First Superhero acadien (ouèlle sort of...), le café é à Acadieman ce que le spinach é à Popeye. un lover of the great indoors, y aime pas prendre dés grandes marches pis y aime pas skier non plus. Y aime hanger out aux cafés pis s'moquer du monde pis de s'faire gâter.
Acadieman est l'official Pirate de la langue française. Sa favorite show à la TV cé « Passions » pis y écoute any musique qu'a dés tchuilléres dedans. Cé favorite foods sont dés tétines de souris, la posse-pierre, dés pètes de sœurs, dés poutines à trou, dés poutines (acadiennes), dés fried piss-clams, du houmard, pis du chiar.Johnny Dieppe Le « self-proclaimed » stud muffin de la gang, Johnny est Dieppenamese, pis y enjoy fourrer, flirter, pis fourrer. Il aime écouter du « Kenny G » pis « Barry White » (pour mettre lés femmes dans la mood) pis du Slayer quand'sse qui é sad. Cé favorites movies sont « Strangers on a Train » pis « Debbie Does Dallas ».
Coquille
Origine (unknown), la conscience de la gang, peureux et gêné, il aime nager pis manger d'la salade. Il a une peur mortelle dés pet stores pis il est un animal activist. Cé favorites movies sont « Turtle Diary », « Ghost in the Shell » pis « Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ». Cé bands préférées sont "The Turtles", "Tortoise", pis "Turtle Island String Quartet". Yé aussi le sidekick à Acadieman.
Farty
Le Fart Mentor à Acadieman, il habita dans lés bois jusqu'à ce qu'il a eu un freak fart accident pis y meurt. Après sa mort, il devient comme le Obi One Kanobi à Acadieman. Il apparaît periodically quand Acadieman la besoin, usually y cé qui vient parceque ça commence à sentir le pète.
Acadiemère
Ouèlle, cousse tu peux dire about y'elle? Mère poule à l'extrême, elle pense que Acadieman à encore 10 ans. Le worse cé que Acadieman la laisse faire, cé favorites movies sont « Misery » pis « Psycho ». Elle écoute « Sweet People » pis « Julio Iglesias », cé passe-temps sont cooker, faire le lavage, rotater lés tires du car, pis faire sur que Acadieman à cé Fruity-O's.
Ti-Gris
Minou extraordinaire, il a un butt odor problème, y pu dés fesses basically, pis cé pour ça qui y'é tout l'temps en train de se fripper. Son passe-temps cé d'essayer de sortir d'la maison, pis tombre dans la bathtub. Il est aussi connu comme 009 superspy but dit pas à personne.