TORONTO, Ontario – Last week, Captain Canuck helped kick off January as Crime Stoppers Month. The Canadian comic book superhero created by cartoonist Ron Leishman and artist/writer Richard Comely first appeared in July 1975. The series became the first successful Canadian comic book in the nation, with Captain Canuck's adventures being published sporadically since creation.

For its 40th anniversary edition, Captain Canuck partnered with Crime Stoppers and Mac’s Convenience Stores in his crime fighting adventures. Mac’s views this as “a unique and exciting opportunity that will surely generate excellent branding exposure for Mac’s, while reinforcing our continued support for Crime Stoppers across Canada and our commitment to our philosophy of crime prevention through community engagement,” the company said in a statement.

This anniversary comic will be exclusively distributed free of charge at Mac’s Convenience Stores from Ontario to British Columbia and through local Crime Stoppers programs across Canada during the month of January 2016.

Mac’s has a long history of working with law enforcement on crime prevention, recognizing the critical importance of partnerships in the prevention of crime and the accumulative positive impact such collaborative actions can have on protecting the vital interests of a community. The chain also runs a positive ticketing youth engagement initiative, dubbed Operation Freeze and Operation Heat, which has police officers handing out coupons for free beverages (Frosters in the summer and a selection of hot beverages in the winter months) to recognize and motivate Ontario’s youth for positive behavior. Since the inception of this initiative in 2007, more than 1.1 million Operation Freeze and Operation Heat coupons have been issued.