Captain 3-D is a 1953
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
in
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
published by
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfr ...
. Created by the team of
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...
and
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...
, the character marked an early attempt to produce a
3-D comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
.
Publication history
Created by the writing and art team of
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...
and
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...
, whose characters include
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
'
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
,
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
'
Manhunter and many others, Captain 3-D starred in one issue of an eponymous
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfr ...
title,
cover-date
The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
d December 1953. A second issue of ''Captain 3-D'' was partially completed, but the fad for 3-D was waning even as Captain 3-D first appeared. This issue also features inking by
Steve Ditko
Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
, in his first published superhero work.
Fictional character biography
Around fifty thousand years ago, a battle between two opposing civilizations takes place, one society populated by
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
s, the other a race of Cat People. The Cat People succeed in all but wiping out the humanoids, with only a tiny number of survivors hanging on in underground bases.
A humanoid scientist, Professor Five, devises a way that one of his people might survive to oppose the Cat People in the future. The Chosen One will be kept in a sort of "two-dimensional half life" in a specially prepared book, the Book of D, able to be released for brief periods of time by someone wearing a special pair of glasses.
Professor Five entrusts the book to a group of primitive men, who promise to guard it. Shortly afterwards the Cat People kill Professor Five and the other remaining humanoids, leaving the Chosen One the last survivor of his race. However the Cat People are all but destroyed themselves when their continent sinks beneath the ocean.
The handful of Cat People survivors are forced to hide in disguise among mankind, although they never give up their dreams of conquest. Knowing that in their weakened state the Chosen One might be able to lead humanity against them, they hunt for the Book of D, but every time they manage to catch up with the Book's guardian and kill him, someone else spirits the Book away to safety and becomes its new guardian.
In the early 1950s a strange, badly injured man stumbles into a
book shop
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of libra ...
that has been inherited by teenager Danny Davis. Probably feeling the best place to hide a book would be in a shop full of them, he hands Danny the Book of D and begs him, "Keep this one. Never sell it." Seconds later he is killed by one of the disguised Cat People. Danny disarms the killer, who flees.
Examining the book afterward, Danny finds a pair of strange glasses inside it. The only other thing inside the book is an illustration of a strangely dressed man. Looking at the picture through the glasses, Danny is astounded when the man springs to life off the page. His arrival is timely as it coincides with the appearance of more gunmen, who identify the man from the book as Captain 3-D.
In spite of being outnumbered, Captain 3-D easily subdues the attackers, then has Danny examine them through the same strange glasses that brought him to life. Danny sees that the "gunmen" are Cat People. The Chosen One, who has become known over the years as Captain 3-D, tells Danny that he is the new guardian of the Book of D. Danny realizes this means he is now a target, but Captain 3-D reassures him that he will not be alone. With that, he returns to his sleep in the Book of D.
Powers and abilities
The last survivor of an otherwise extinct humanoid race, Captain 3-D is gifted with superior intellect and physical attributes. He is fitter, stronger and faster than normal humans, to a level unspecified in his one brief appearance. Able to survive for millennia stored within the Book of D, Captain 3-D can only be released by the special glasses developed and built by Professor Five.
See also
*
3-D Man
3-D Man is the name of two fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first superhero to use the name 3-D Man is a composite of two brothers, Charles and Hal Chandler, and the second is Delroy Garrett. T ...
, a Marvel hero inspired by the character
References
External links
Digital Comic Museum: ''Captain 3-D'' #1at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archivedfrom the original on April 9, 2012.
*
{{GoldenAge
Harvey Comics titles
Harvey Comics superheroes
Comics characters introduced in 1953
Characters created by Joe Simon
Characters created by Jack Kirby
Stereoscopy