Captain (comics)

Superherobox|

caption=Art by Stuart Immonen
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Captain
real_name=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Nextwave #1" January 2006
creators=Warren Ellis
Stuart Immonen
alliance_color=background:#ff8080
alliances=Nextwave
H.A.T.E.
aliases=Captain ☠☠☠☠, Captain Power, Captain Ron, Captain L. Ron, Captain Universe, Captain Ultra, Captain Avenger, Captain Avalon, Captain Marvel, Captain Kerosene
powers=The generic powers of Superhuman strength, endurance, flight & enhanced sight

The Captain (formerly Captain ☠☠☠☠, where ☠☠☠☠ is an unknown highly offensive expletive) is a fictional character, a satiric Marvel Comics superhero appearing in the book "Nextwave". He was created by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen and first appeared in "Nextwave" #1 (January 2006).

In 2006 Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada stated that Nextwave's setting was in a universe separate from the main Marvel continuity. [Wade Gum (2006-07-01). "Heroes Con: Joe Quesada Panel", http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/000765389.cfm] However, recent issues of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, as well as "Civil War: Battle Damage Report", consistently place Nextwave's activities in mainstream continuity.

According to Warren Ellis' series proposal (within Volume 1's collection of stories), he stated that the Captain was pretty much every pointless character who utilized "Captain" in his codename.

Fictional character biography

Nextwave

Little is known about the Captain's past before he joined H.A.T.E., the organization which assembled Nextwave. One of the few facts known are when he was a child, his mother hanged his favorite teddy bear, Special Bear; due to this, he dislikes teddy bears even in adulthood. He claims to be "from ☠☠☠☠ Brooklyn".

The Captain gained his powers from "the Heartstar of the space between the galaxies", [Nextwave #4] also referred to as the "Messianic Siddhe-complex," which was bestowed upon him by a pair of small, green, altruistic extraterrestrials named Spa-Fon and Squa-Tront (both named from interjections frequently uttered by BEMs in EC scifi comics) in order to make Brooklyn a better place. As the Captain was incredibly drunk at the time, it is unknown if he remembers this event exactly, as he immediately attacked both aliens, believing them to be gold-bearing leprechauns.

By his own admission, he used to go by Captain ☠☠☠☠, a moniker so offensive that when he met Captain America, the Avenger beat him severely and left him in a dumpster with a bar of soap in his mouth. The Captain used a lot of codenames as well, all of them starting with 'Captain', and had to abandon them all because someone else was already using them. In "Nextwave" #7 he mentions that he had to pay a "marine-looking melon farmer" to even use his current codename.

The Captain continues to use his codename in the Nextwave group while the other members have dropped them; according to Aaron Stack, this is due to an inability to remember his real name. Whether this memory loss is caused by his powers, a specific past event, or simply overindulgence of alcohol is not yet known. According to the official theme song of the comic, in tone with the satyrical quality of the stories, he doesn't have a name anymore at all, with "The Captain" serving both as a moniker, both as an impromptu first name.

Similar to the rest of Nextwave, the Captain dresses in civilian clothes — sneakers, camouflage pants, a trenchcoat, and a white T-shirt with a black star which resembles the Heartstar — despite becoming a superhero "for the mask," as he stated in issue #1. Presumably he gave up his mask along with whatever alias he was using at the time.

The Captain is extremely cynical, foul-mouthed, and hard-drinking. His age is as yet undetermined, but his mother conceived him while listening to Roxy Music's 1982 album "Avalon" which would make him at most 26 years old, although years of hard living and general unkemptness arguably make him look older. While he appeared to be an adult during his origin, it is possible that he was actually in his mid-teens, meaning he may have had his powers as long as 7 years or more.

Despite his name, he is not actually the captain of anything.

Initiative

The Captain and other "Nextwave" members appear on the to "". [ [http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.947 Avengers: The Initiative #1 Character Map] ]

Powers and abilities

The Captain has, as of issue five, displayed superhuman strength, durability, the ability to fly unaided, and enhanced vision. He is strong enough to break one of the digits of the giant dragon Fin Fang Foom, and survived being at the epicenter of an explosion that did considerable damage to an entire city block. However, during his quest for a superhero name, he mentions he had been beaten up or easily intimidated by a number of individuals. The Captain's powers apparently are not hindered by alcohol, as he once drunkenly drove a man's spine through his chest merely by patting him on the back.

According to dialogue by the aliens, his powers are magical in origin.

He has referred to his powers as "My generic set of super-hero abilities", alluding to both the satiric nature of his design and his own cynical personality. Whether or not this joke alludes to other "generic" powers (superspeed, energy projection and other enhanced senses) is yet to be seen.

Uni-Power?

In "Nextwave" #10, Forbush Man makes the entire team experience life through 'Forbush Vision', showing each team member's life as if they had had a depressing, mundane, or cliched existence. The Captain's personal nightmare turned out to be an existence in which he had accepted the burden of 'Captain Universe' and ruined his life thereof. The Captain is freed from his nightmare, and it is unrevealed whether it had any element of truth in it.

Footnotes

Related links

* [http://www.marvunapp.com/list/appcharc.htm List of obscure Marvel characters named 'Captain ____']