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With his family firmly based in Canada, Johnston spent the remainder of his career launching cartoon projects of a nationalist bent. During the Diefenbaker years, he worked with newspaper columnist Gerald Waring on a syndicated editorial cartoon feature. In May 1960, during one of the tensest periods of the Cold War, he launched Jeff Buchanon, an adventure strip about a Canadian spy. Drawn with flair and confidence in a modified variation of Alex Raymond’s Rip Kirby style, Jeff Buchanon showed real promise. Ferreting out spies, the title character travelled all over Canada, from Cape Breton to Montreal to the Arctic. Johnston’s gift for capturing the feel of different geographical locals shone through in this strip. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long enough to make a mark, fading out a little over a year after it first appeared. (The strip can now be located in the back issues of the Montreal Star and Winnipeg Free Press.)
