Thursday, March 14, 2013

Pandemonium Reigns! Riots! ... And Looting!

So, just for giggles, I check out the Captain Video comic book adaptation of the television series.  I didn't know much about the series going in, but apparently he was the "Greatest Adventure Hero of Them All!" so you can see how much we've missed out.


For those of us just getting to know the good Captain, we are given the origin blurb:


And that's all we're getting.  To be fair, I don't think any of adaptations, be it television, comic or movie, gave us much more in the way of details.  His kid sidekick is known only as "The Ranger," which seems rather impersonal to me, but it could just be Captain Video's way of not getting too attached, lest the kid be eaten by a giant scorpion or something.

Anyway, I'm not familiar with the television show, but the comic gave us great moments like this:


Captain Video had a nemesis named Dr. Pauli,  who makes his appearance in comic book form for the first time right here:



Whether you are supposed to be reading that with a German or a Russian accent isn't clear.  The year is 1954 or therebouts, so probably Russian. 

 Anyway, chaos ensues.  Thusly:


Captain Video had a "ray gun."  Yes, that's what he called it.  I'm not sure what it did other than make "Blat! Blat!" noises.  Thusly:


Hey, the Ranger did almost get eaten by a giant scorpion!  Give Captain Video credit for his foresight.

And there were fighter jets fighting giant insects, which is always worth your dime:


And if you have an hour to kill, here's the actual series:



I couldn't make it through the first four minutes, but Jackie Gleason was a fan, so there must have been something to it.  I don't know.  It was a comic, so I read it.  And there are four more.  Then again, I wasn't able to get all the way through U.S. 61, so who knows what the future has in store?

Stay tuned, cadets!  See you tomorrow!



2 comments:

James Robert Smith said...

Well, what do you know. Capt. Video sucks ass. Jackie Gleason must have been mentally retarded.

Tracer Bullet said...

The mortality rate for Robins is worse than diamond mine in Sierra Leone these days, so Cap'n Video is probably smart to keep his kid sidekick at arm's length. No sense in getting emotionally involved with the cannon fodder.