Captain Midlands (Sid Ridley) is a fictional character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

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 Midlands was created by writer

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

and first penciled by

Trevor Hairsine Trevor Hairsine is a British comics artist, whose detailed style has been compared to that of Bryan Hitch. In August 2005 Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada named him as one of Marvel Comics's "Young Guns", a group of artists who have the qual ...

and first appeared in ''

Wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...

'' #1 (January 2007).

Characterization

Captain Midlands is a

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

war veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military vete ...

and a right-wing analogue of

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 ...

. An eighty-year-old

Brummie The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding areas. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring to ...

MI 13: Meet Captain Midlands

Marvel.com Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz. The company is a wholly own ...

, September 24, 2008 superhero, Captain Midlands is often portrayed as a grumpy old git. His real name, "Rambling" Sid Ridley, is a combination of

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...

' ''

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The fo ...

'' character ‘Rambling Sid Rumpo’ and

Arnold Ridley William Arnold Ridley, OBE (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor, earlier in his career known for writing the play '' The Ghost Train'' and later in life in the British TV sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977) as ...

who played

Private Godfrey Private Charles Godfrey MM is a fictional Home Guard platoon member, first portrayed by Arnold Ridley in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. and in the 1971 ''Dad's Army'' film. He is retired and was previously a tailor for the Civil Se ...

in the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

''. Captain Midlands' nuanced role sees him more as a down-to-earth hero, with Paul Cornell describing him as:

Fictional character biography

As part of the 1940s British Super-Soldier program, Sid Ridley is transformed into a "perfect" specimen of human development and conditioning then sent off to be part of the British Army's war effort. After serving as Captain Midlands in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Ridley somehow ended up in

British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and do ...

and eventually MI-13. Ridley also suggested that he had "knocked a girl up" (got her pregnant) and married her before she died in 1963. Captain Midlands served alongside other British heroes, including

Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain Weekly'' #1 by writer Ch ...

and

Pete Wisdom Pete Wisdom is a fictional secret agent published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Excalibur'' vol. 1 #86 (February 1995), and was created by Warren Ellis and Ken Lashley. Wisdom is a British Secret Service agent with the mutant ability ...

in MI-13, fighting supernatural threats such as

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

Y Ddraig Goch The Welsh Dragon ( cy, y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'the red dragon'; ) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national flag of Wales. As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of G ...

, alternate reality

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

s and

Martians Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pred ...

. He was also reported to be fighting the Skrull invasion of Britain. When MI:13 refocused itself against a supernatural pandemic, Captain Midlands - while carrying out routine crimefighting - identified a demonic incursion in Birmingham and called it in to the agency. He was captured and imprisoned in a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

basement, being tempted to give his soul for an unknown desire. He was freed by and joined Pete Wisdom's strike team. However, this was a ploy by Captain Midlands to lead the group into a trap so he could get his heart's desire, to spend eternity with his dead wife. Wisdom, disgusted with Sid's treachery, deliberately destroyed the illusion of Sid's dead wife. After the team escaped, he was arrested in view of the public and imprisoned in The Vault, a high security prison in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

. In an act of mercy, Wisdom gave Sid the chance to kill himself and avoid humiliation in a trial - although it was left ambiguous as to which option Ridley took.

Abilities and equipment

Captain Midlands has no superhuman powers, although as a result of the 1940s British Super-Soldier program Sid Ridley was transformed into a "perfect" specimen of human development and conditioning. Captain Midlands' strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, agility, dexterity, coordination, balance, and endurance are at the highest limits of natural human potential, and despite being an eighty-year-old man he still has a body of a superhero. Captain Midlands wears full DPM military fatigues and helmet with a cowl mask (similar to the World War II

Ultimate Captain America Captain America (Steven "Steve" Rogers) is a superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He appears in the Ultimate Marvel line of books, and is an alternative version of Captain America. The character first appeared in ''The Ultimat ...

outfit) and wields a golden circular shield in the design of the traditional lion symbol of Britain and coated in an anti-magic nanominium gloss.

Reception

When the character became popular, creator Paul Cornell decided to add more drama to the character by making him a traitor to the team explaining:

Notes

References

* {{refend

External links

Sid Ridley (Earth-616) - marveldatabase.com
British superheroes Fictional British Army personnel Fictional shield fighters Fictional World War II veterans Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics military personnel Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics superheroes United Kingdom-themed superheroes