Image credit: Sherrie Cannell

By Marty Hastings

THE LYIN' KING

Trump lampooned in Jax and Jillian comic book, a love letter to Canada from Kamloops creators amid tariff threats

Feb 5, 2025 | 6:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — Sherrie Cannell and her son, Tyler Storla, first published Jax and Jillian The Peril From America in 2019, the comic book featuring its protagonist vloggers and a devious villain, the Lyin’ King, a U.S. President Donald Trump lampoon.

The Lyin’ King is an expansionist dictator determined to annex Canada’s economic freedom for his benefit, a character devised in 2017 after Trump announced intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“I talked to my son and said, ‘Oh, my gosh,'” Cannell said. “This is history. This is how countries rise and fall.”

She said Trump’s return to power and recent U.S. tariff threats are uncanny considering the comic’s subject matter.

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“I just went, ‘I can’t believe it,'” she said. “He went away and things calmed down and I was like, phew, I’ll just keep going on with my comic and making my little villain and history lessons and telling about the pride of Canada and each province and how they bring so much to the table, but he reappears — and he reappears darker than ever.”

The comic is a love letter to Canada, with each chapter taking place in a new province or territory, exploring the ranchlands of Alberta, rum-running tunnels of Moose Jaw, Sask., and rivers travelled by voyageurs en route to Hudson Bay.

“The comic’s real strength is showing how each province and characters throughout our history have influenced who we are,” Cannell said, noting first editions come with signed, special covers. “Every comic needs a villain and this villain is too easy to write about.”

Likenesses to Great White North icons the Avro Arrow, Manic GT, Tommy Douglas, John Ware, Louis Riel and Sam Steele can be found in the series.

“It’s amazing,” Storla said of the chance to work with his mother. “Anybody who has grown up with a bit of a nerdy or geeky history, reading comics as a kid or playing video games, when you get a chance to actually create that kind of content and share that with people, it’s not something you expect, right?”

Lifelong artist Cannell draws, pens and paints characters to life by hand before scanning her work and editing on the computer “to make it more comic-esque,” she said.

Storla is the comic connoisseur and his input helps to drive storylines and writing.

“Canadians have been very complacent in our relationship with America,” Storla said. “It’s not that I don’t like America, but as we go over these things … this isn’t the first time we’ve had these problems and we shouldn’t just forget about what’s happened in the past as we go into the future.”

Added Cannell: “Economic terrorism is a horrible thing and trade wars are historically horrific and cause much damage to the world.”

Anti-Trump sentiment has not yet drawn fierce social-media hate, with Cannell and Storla saying most comic lovers understand the genre and don’t take offence, although they have had blowback from family.

“It breaks my heart,” Cannell said. “It’s not that we’re trying to be mean. We’re thinking about a warning more than anything. I’m an artist. I’m going to say it. As an artist, that’s my role in this world.”

The artwork is evolving with each issue while Cannell hones her craft and Trump’s return to the Oval Office has spurred a darker tone to writing.

“Back in 2019 when I began drawing and Tyler and I were writing the comic together, it was softer,” Cannell said. “We tried to be soft. We didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. Oh boy, are we Canadian.

“As the threats increase, suddenly the comic, especially in issue No. 5, which takes place in Ottawa, suddenly now it’s getting a little bit more like, ‘Hey, stop this! What are you doing?”

Storla said readers will find Easter eggs and nods to lesser-known landmarks and hubs, writing material sourced from conversations at conventions.

“I think that’s the best part,” he said. “Everybody has these unique things to their province that I don’t think other Canadians are fully aware of.”

How much money is the mother-son duo raking in on each edition of their self-published comic?

“Zero!” Cannell said with a laugh, noting about 225 have been sold. “This is a passion project. It’s an indy comic. It’s not a Marvel. There’s no money in this game. You do it because you love it.”

Given the current political climate and timely subject matter, business could pick up.

“I think it definitely has the potential to,” Storla said. “We have touched on something that I think has been sitting there for everybody for quite a while now. There’s a bit of humour in there and there is a little bit of truth, and I think that speaks to a lot of people.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Cannell and Storla needed names for their protagonists.

Jax and Jillian materialized when mom and son were bandying about ideas and talked about Jack and Jill going up the hill — Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

The comic can be purchased here.