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Captain Ultra

For the Japanese television series and superhero, see Captain Ultra (TV series).

Captain Ultra (Griffin Gogol) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas, George Pérez, and Joe Sinnott, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #177 (December 1976).[2][3] Captain Ultra has been a member of the Revengers at various points in his history.[4][5]

Captain Ultra
Captain Ultra
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceFantastic Four #177 (Dec. 1976)
Created byRoy Thomas (writer)
George Pérez (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoGriffin "Griff" Gogol
SpeciesHuman mutate
Team affiliationsRevengers[1]
Defenders
Initiative
Notable aliasesCaptain Ultra
Abilities
  • Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability
  • Super breath
  • Intangibility
  • Ultra-voice
  • Flight

Development

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Concept and creation

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Roy Thomas asserted, "Captain Ultra was a parody character that George Perez and I made up for FF #177, in our own spoof of DC's auditions for the Legion of Super-Heroes (it had that quasi-legion of rejected heroes, remember?). We deliberately gave him what I've always called a "church-window" costume... one that has a zillion design pieces, and nearly as many colors, with nothing to really focus the eye. But of course, since he was a virtual Superman, we had to give him a "Kryptonite," so we made it fire, as a sort of homage to the Martian Manhunter. The joke was that the Frightful Four, if they had let him join, would have been going up against the Fantastic Four--with its Human Torch--aided by a man who passed out in the presence of any kind of flame."[6]

Publication history

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Captain Ultra debuted in Fantastic Four #177 (December 1976), and was created by Roy Thomas, George Pérez, and Joe Sinnott.[7]

Fictional character biography

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Griffin Gogol was a plumber who underwent psychological treatment and hypnosis to cure his smoking habits. Unbeknownst to him, his psychologist is an alien, and the hypnosis unlocks his innate superhuman abilities. Donning a clashing, colorful costume, Gogol became the superhero Captain Ultra. However, it is revealed he suffers from severe pyrophobia (fear of fire) as a side-effect.

Captain Ultra subsequently applies to join the Frightful Four. They eagerly accept him, but later reject him after he faints in the presence of a match.[8] He also works with the Defenders in New York, but never considers joining them.[9]

Soon after, he moves to Chicago. He has since had a minor career as a solo superhero, often teaming up with heroes like Thor to battle minor villains.[10]

Ultra later overcomes his pyrophobia after undergoing therapy with Doc Samson and becomesma comedian.[11] His comedy career takes him across the country. Superheroics interfere with this, such as when the underground dirt creature 'Mud Pi', kidnaps his entire potential audience, the citizenry of 'Wash Basin', Texas. Captain Ultra manages to safely rescue them all.[12]

Doorman begged him to join the Great Lakes Avengers, but Captain Ultra angrily rejects him.[13]

Griffin then became the leader for the Nebraska team of the Initiative program, part of a government controlled superhero program. After two of his teammates, Paragon and Gadget are killed, Griffin briefly fights Iron Man to protect the rest of his group.[14] He is seen investigating the circumstances of Paragon and Gadget's tragic deaths with Doc Samson and Iron Man. During the course of their investigation it is revealed that there are two new Initiative recruits in the process of being fast-tracked to the Nebraska team, although Captain Ultra expressed irritation at the prospect of having to "babysit the punks".[15]

Captain Ultra is recruited by Wonder Man to join his Revengers. During the Revengers' attack on Avengers Mansion, he is scared off when Doctor Strange uses an illusion spell to make him believe he is on fire.[16] He and the rest of the Revengers were defeated by all three Avengers teams and were remanded to the Raft. Captain Ultra's reason for joining the Revengers is that despite the fact that he was on the Initiative, he resents being disrespected despite having as much power as an Avenger.[17]

During the Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Captain Ultra appears as an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D.[18]

Powers and abilities

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Captain Ultra acquired a range of superpowers through hypnosis by an alien. He possesses superhuman attributes, such as superhuman strength, speed, durability, and stamina. He also gained the psionic ability to become intangible at will, see through substances (X-ray vision), and the ability to project his breath forward with great concussive force — among others. Captain Ultra has the power of flight.

Reception

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Critical response

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Daniel Jurlan of Comic Book Resources ranked Captain Ultra 4th in their "15 Obscure Marvel Characters Who Deserve Their Own Movie" list.[19]

In other media

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References

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  1. ^ The New Avengers Annual vol. 2 #1 (2011)
  2. ^ Stone, Sam (May 31, 2020). "The Revengers: What Is Marvel's Anti-Avengers Team?". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Bjork, Juliette (July 1, 2018). "The 20 Weirdest Marvel Characters That Even The MCU Couldn't Sell To Fans". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Ridgely, Charlie (November 9, 2017). "Who Are The Real Revengers?". ComicBook.com. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  5. ^ Allan, Scoot (April 2, 2022). "Every Team Venom Has Joined In The Comics". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  6. ^ ""Hero Envy" the Blog Adventures: THE ROY THOMAS MARVEL COMICS CHARACTERS, CONCEPTS AND CREATIONS PART 1". January 2020.
  7. ^ Morris, Jon (2015). The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half Baked Heroes from Comic Book History. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Quirk Books. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-1-59474-763-2.
  8. ^ Fantastic Four #177
  9. ^ The Defenders #62-64
  10. ^ Thor #336
  11. ^ Marvel Comics Presents #50
  12. ^ Marvel Holiday Special 1993
  13. ^ G.L.A. #3
  14. ^ Iron Man vol. 4 #22
  15. ^ Iron Man vol. 4 #24
  16. ^ The New Avengers vol. 2 Annual #1 (2011)
  17. ^ The Avengers vol. 4 Annual #1
  18. ^ Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Omega #1
  19. ^ Kurland, Daniel (January 23, 2023). "15 Obscure Marvel Characters Who Deserve Their Own Movie". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  20. ^ "Marvel Animation Age - Fantastic Four (2006)". July 12, 2007. Archived from the original on July 12, 2007. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  21. ^ "Captain Ultra Voice - Ultimate Spider-Man (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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