1 - Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Quebecois

Unfortunately, Monsieur Duceppe would have to be cast as a villain or at the very least some sort of conflicted anti-hero. The entire reason for the Bloc Quebecois to exist is to pull Quebec out of Federation. In essence, destroy Canada. So he is equally feared and respected. Hero to one person, foe to another.

I think this guy is up there as far as “misunderstood” goes to define him as a character. He’s the Quebecois version of Black Adam. But on the other hand his first language is French at that generally means villainy in comics.

Let’s have al look at his slogan and logo. I’m not much on the logo. I could take it or leave it. It certainly is a bit too “robin’s egg blue” to strike fear into the hearts of do-goodnicks and average citizens – or as a symbol to rally around if you are Quebecois(se). Although it does have bevelled edges - ooohh, photoshoppy! It must be new and modern it's faux 3D. It's fauxtramodern.

What about the slogan he would shout as he runs headlong into battle with the Federalist Forces of Canada? “Je me souviens.” Not bad. For you non-French speaking folk it says “I am unstoppable you dolts!” Or, “I remember” which is the “national” slogan for the province of Quebec. Explain that one to your kids. "Yeah, so it's a province, but it has a national assembly and a national slogan. Isn't that a provincial slogan and provincial assembly if they're only a province. Yes, just don't say that to their faces, they get test - but that could just be indigestion from the poutine."

For the most part, Gilles is looking pretty good so far. He’s got a quick slogan that taps into a feeling of national pride. It claws back through the veil of history and says, oooh, I remember, I won’t forget what you English tete-carres did to us on the Plains of Abraham (ironic that they refer to English Canada as "blockheads" don't you think?). Then you see the rest of the slogan. “Je me souviens…du scandale des commandites.” Huh? For you non-French speaking folk, it translates to “I am unstoppable you dolts! Now get me some crackers or see my wrath!” Or maybe it says, “I remember the sponsorship scandal.” That’s not so evocative of the national pride there GD, what gives?

So let’s see Monsieur in costume. Yowzas! Since Quebec is quickly becoming known as a major producer of cheese, I’ve decided that M. Duceppe will be a cheese themed anti-hero. The first major crime of the Bloc and M. Fromage was to stop the use of the cafeteria for the house of Commons. When the Bloc first became the official opposition the cafeteria was where all MPs would gather and discuss stuff outside of party politics or party lines and what not. When the Bloc was elected, fraternizing with the enemy was not really good as it would reduce their hard line. Plus the cafeteria was serving up really expensive food so they started campaigning against it and the use and reputation of the cafeteria plummeted. This is an honest to goodness true story by the way.

Then there is this story about some mysteriously disappearing cheese. What convinced a personally rational man to sink $50,000.00 of good cheddar into the Baie-de-Ha!-Ha! Is beyond me, but I see some sort of influence from Golden Age Batman villains. Only someone caught up in a wretched hive of villainy would dump perfectly good cheese into the ocean. Then it was named the “Bay of Ha! Ha!” – how the Joke is NOT from Saint Louis de Ha! Ha! is also a question I want answered – or at least why he never tried to invade the place to make it his world headquarters. I guess it all comes back to Cheese boy here. His powers of cholesterol manipulation, errant hairs (hence the hairnet) and bowel issues would be enough to keep any English pig-dog at bay. If all else fails he could slowly kill them by force feeding poutine to his victims while using the Ludvico technique with this offshoot of cheese culture.

Superhero Name – Bloc de Camembert or Cpt. Camembert (I can't decide).
Super Powers - Cholesteol manipulation, Can digest anything, Can communicate in own language, Cannot acknowlege the passage of history or defeat in battle.
Weakness - Too many people think Quebec is too cute to be scary (or serious), affinity to hats and the ladies.
Superhero Team – Les Blocistes (with anscilliary female group Blocenistas)
Overall rating - B