THE STORY
U.S.N.A. tells the story of Carol Wheeler, an early 40's lawyer who takes her teenaged son, Carter, on a road trip to Calgary after the mysterious death of her eldest son. Beginning in Toronto, their travel plans are changed when a rebel fugitive, Jean Claude Boisvert, slips into their vehicle and into their lives.

Carol and Carter are lead on a journey of discovery; discovery of the rebel movement in North America; discovery of their historical connections to the various members of the group; and ultimately the discovery of where their true allegiance lies. This multi-character drama takes place in a shifting array of locales throughout the Canadian landscape.
  BACKGROUND
A NEW COUNTRY: THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA

Welcome to the not-too-distant future, just over the political horizon. The United States and Canada have amalgamated into a unified country called U.S.N.A.: The United States of North America.

Economic problems and recurring difficulties around the world make the marriage between Canada and the United States most convenient, especially for the United States. It’s a peaceful takeover, a buyout where the citizens of Canada have received a cash payment.

What was once two sovereign nations nested on the North American continent is now one amalgamated conglomerate: the United States of North America. Where there were two countries consisting of 50 states, two protectorates, 10 provinces and three territories, there are now five political regions:
The Pacific - California, Oregon, Washington State, British Columbia and Hawaii.
The Atlantic - Florida west to the Mississippi River including the eastern states, Maritime provinces and Ontario and Quebec.
North Central - The present states of Montana, North and South Dakota and Minnesota, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
South Central - From the Mississippi west to the Rockies and North to include Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa.
Alaskan - Alaska, the Yukon, the North-West Territories and Nunavat.

The morning streets of Toronto are disturbingly quiet as Atlantic Regional Police vehicles patrol the streets. Their trunks are emblazoned with the words, ‘Your Neighbourhood Protector.’ Large billboards remind citizens to be good neighbours with the message: 'If you talk to your neighbour, you're not alone.’ Few people walk the streets. Paper and litter swirl in the winds, sometimes coming to rest near the beggars; male and female war vets, conspicuous by their missing limbs. They are part of a growing population forced to call the street their home. Every hostel, food bank and retail store has long line-ups. One food store has an electronic sign that reads, "If your personal USNA security number ends in an even number, it's your day to shop!"

It is a time when neighbours are encouraged to watch their fellow citizens. Information given to the authorities is generously rewarded. National lotteries are conducted that award huge cash prizes to those who turn in information to the authorities. Only those who provide information are allowed entry.

As there are no borders, the citizens of the new country enjoy the freedom to travel throughout the North American region. However, security checkpoints are plentiful. Interstate and provincial highways are now called Inter-Regional. The postal systems of the two countries have merged into the United States of North America Postal Service. A new flag, an amalgam of the stars, stripes and the maple leaf, adorns the flagpoles.

The Canadian R.C.M.P. and Provincial Police Forces along with U.S. based Sheriff’ and State Patrols have been disbanded, replaced by regional police forces lead by the F.B.I. Although the title of the new bureaucratic structure is U.S.N.A., the look and feel is very much in the American style.

The family farm is on the endangered list. Most farmers have been forced from their ancestral lands. Huge agribusinesses have taken the land from the people. Corporate farms that fail to turn a profit are now run by the government and populated by a workforce consisting of prisoners and military deserters.

It’s an era where all children who have reached the age of 18 are conscripted into forced military service, to fight in an ongoing war that no one wants.

Within the U.S.N.A. and especially in parts of the former country of Canada, there is a growing discontent. It’s not a fight to return to the days when Canada and the United States were separate countries. It’s about ideals, when the policies of the government represented the best interests of the people, not the best interests of those who govern.The rebels are planning the return of their leader, the exiled ex-prime minister of Canada, Samuel Stern. To combat this threat, a new organization has been created, a covert homeland security force; the Strategic Home Alliance Defense Organization (S.H.A.D.O.). Operating on the fringes of the law, their mission is simple: locate and eliminate any rebel activity using deadly force if necessary.

USNA: The United States of North America is the story of the people’s fight against tyranny. It takes place in our backyard.

 

 

WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL?
"Graphic novels are as disparate from books as is a play or a movie. It's a different experience entirely. Pictures carry another kind of information than words. What is most exciting is that a picture language and a word language can interweave, which can't be done by either one alone."
--Will Eisner

The first modern graphic novel, A Contract With God (now published by DC Comics), was created by Will Eisner in 1978. Eisner used the term graphic novel to differentiate his work, which featured mature themes not previously found in comics. A Contract With God presented four stories about Jewish immigrant families living in a tenement in the Bronx.

Thought of as little more than hardbound comic books in the past, big sales and increasing interest from movie studios in recent years - to wit, both Sin City and the recent film 300, based on graphic novels by Frank Miller - has helped transform these book-length comics into one of the hottest categories in book publishing. Between 2002 and 2004, sales of graphic novels jumped from $110 million to between $205 million and $210 million, according to estimates from the pop culture trade site ICv2. Sales of graphic novels in North America in 2007 are up 30% over sales last year.
"It started in comic book stores and then the chain stores got into it and now libraries and educational markets are getting involved," says ICv2 President Milton Griepp.

Canadian Bookseller Magazine writes in the Spring Issue, 2004:
"Last year, a new book telling the story of a Canadian historical figure was listed as one of the top 5 non-fiction books of the year. What's the big deal? It wasn't a typical book. It was a comic book. More precisely a graphic novel."

In just 2 months, Chester Brown's Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, sold over 6,000 copies and spent time on non-fiction best-sellers list across the country. For graphic novel authors and publishers this was a long overdue nod of respect. Graphic novel subject matter runs the gamut from superhero stories to humour, mystery, erotica, biography, historical fiction and journalism, such as Joe Sacco's graphic novel "Gorazde: War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995."

And consider this; Newsweek reports that in order to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, cadets from the class of 2006 must study Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, 'Persepolis,' a coming-of-age tale set during the Iranian revolution.

Hollywood has adapted movies from many graphic novels, including "Ghost World" and "From Hell," the Jack the Ripper thriller, starring Johnny Depp. Frank Miller's 'Sin City' was released as a feature film in April, 2005. Dozens of other books have been optioned by various studios.

In short, the time to publish a graphic novel has never been better.



  Any and all data, materials, characters, story, images, art and illustrations related to The United States of North America graphic novel are protected under copyright.
©2007 USNA Publishing Inc. 2005 The Reel Write Bros. Canadian Copyright Number: 357430