Captain Future is a

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

hero — a space-traveling scientist and adventurer —originally published in his namesake pulp magazine from 1940 to 1944. The character was created by editors

Mort Weisinger Mortimer Weisinger (; April 25, 1915 – May 7, 1978) was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' ''Superman'' during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books. He also co-created such features a ...

and

Leo Margulies Leo Margulies (June 22, 1900 – December 26, 1975) was an American editor and publisher of science fiction and fantasy pulp magazines and paperback books. Biography Margulies was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, but was raised in ...

. The majority of the stories were authored by

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

. A number of adaptations and derivative works followed. Significant was a 1978-79 Japanese

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

(キャプテン・フューチャー), which was dubbed into several languages and proved popular, particularly in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Arabic. His francophone name is , although he is better known in francophone countries under the name .

Origins

Although sometimes mistakenly attributed to

writer

, who indeed authored most of the Captain Future stories, the character was created by Better Publications editors

and

during the

1st World Science Fiction Convention The 1st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held on 2–4 July 1939 in the Caravan Hall in New York City, United States, in conjunction with the New York World's Fair, which was themed as "The World of Tomorrow". It was later retroa ...

in 1939.Allan Steele, ''The Death of Captain Future'' (with introduction and author's note) in ''The Space Opera Renaissance'', ed. David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, 2006, p.556-586 The original character was published by

Ned Pines Ned L. Pines (December 10, 1905 – May 14, 1990) was an American publisher of pulp magazines, comic books, and paperback books, active from at least 1928 to 1971. His Standard Comics imprint was the parent company of the comic-book lines Ne ...

' Thrilling/Standard/Better publications company. A different Captain Future was published in Pine's

Nedor Comics Standard Comics was a comic book imprint of American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines (under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics) and paperback books (under the Popular Library name). Standard in t ...

line.

Stories and art

The stories were published in American

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

from 1940 to 1951, featuring bright-colored cover illustrations by Earle K. Bergey and two fellow pulp artists. Captain Future's originating adventures appeared in his namesake magazine, which ran from 1940 to 1944, coinciding with World War II. Bergey painted twelve of the seventeen ''Captain Future'' covers, and all ten subsequent ''Startling Stories'' covers under which additional Captain Future novels and novelettes were published. Of note, Bergey's art for ''Captain Future'', beginning with the third issue, marks the start of his groundbreaking work in the fields of science fiction and fantasy illustration. While the first four issues of the ''Captain Future'' pulp are subtitled, "Wizard of Science," the remaining thirteen issues bear the header, "Man of Tomorrow," shifting focus to the humanity of the titular hero, whose given name is Curtis Newton. A brilliant scientist and adventurer, Newton roams the solar system as Captain Future—solving problems, righting wrongs, and vanquishing futuristic supervillains. Published by Better Publications, an imprint of the expansive Thrilling Group of pulps, ''Captain Future'' gave readers the only explicitly science fiction and fantasy pulp hero in the history of American pulps. The series makes assumptions about the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

which are outlandish by modern standards but which still seemed plausible, at least to most readers, when the stories were written. Every one of the planets of the Solar System, and many of the moons and asteroids, are suitable for life; most are occupied by humanoid extraterrestrials. The initial adventures take place in the planets of the Solar System. Later installments (after Captain Future invents the "vibration drive") take the hero to other stars, other dimensions and even the distant past and almost to the end of the Universe. As an example, they visit the star Deneb, who are the origin of Earth humans, as well as many other humanoids across the Solar System and beyond.

Story overview

Initially, the story was set in 1990. Hamilton quickly avoided exact dates except for past events such as the voyages of the astronauts who first landed on most of the other planets of the Solar System. In later stories, if the date was asked or revealed, it was done so discreetly. The series begins when genius scientist Roger Newton, his wife Elaine, and his fellow scientist Simon Wright leave planet Earth to do research in an isolated laboratory on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, and to escape the predations of Victor Corvo (originally: Victor Kaslan), a criminal politician who wished to use Newton's inventions for his own gain. Simon's body is old and diseased and Roger enables him to continue doing research by transplanting his healthy brain into an artificial case (originally immobile—carried around by Grag—later equipped with lifter units). Working together, the two scientists create an intelligent

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

called Grag, and an android with shape-shifting abilities called Otho. One day, Corvo arrives on the moon and murders the Newtons; but before he can reap the fruits of his atrocity, Corvo and his killers are in turn slain by Grag and Otho. The deaths of the Newtons leave their son, Curtis, to be raised by the unlikely trio of Otho, Grag, and Simon Wright. Under their tutelage, Curtis grows up to be a brilliant scientist and as strong and fast as any champion athlete. He also grows up with a strong sense of responsibility and hopes to use his scientific skills to help people. With that goal in his mind, he calls himself ''Captain Future''; Simon, Otho and Grag are referred to as the ''Futuremen'' in subsequent stories. Other recurring characters in the series are the old space marshal Ezra Gurney, the beautiful Planet Patrol agent Joan Randall (who provides a

love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

for Curtis), and James Carthew, President of the Solar System whose office is in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and who calls upon Future in extreme need. Captain Future faces many enemies in his career but his

archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional cha ...

is Ul Quorn, who is the only recurring

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

in the series and appears in two different stories. He is part

Martian 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 pr ...

— therefore called the ''Magician of Mars'' — but also the son of Victor Corvo, who murdered the Newtons. Quorn is a scientist whose abilities rival those of Captain Future.

Stories

Characters

; Captain Future: Tall, athletic and handsome, with red hair, Captain Future was born on the Moon as Curtis Newton. After the death of his parents, he was trained by Professor Simon, Otho and Grag in all scientific and athletic pursuits necessary to fight crime and injustice across the solar system. ; Prof. Simon Wright: A human brain living in a transparent, nuclear-powered life support case, with tentacle-mounted optics. He is Captain Future's mentor and chief consultant in scientific matters. ; Grag and Otho: Grag is a seven-foot-tall metallic robot. Otho is a white-skinned android. Both were created by Roger Newton with

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

and human emotions to be friends and helpers to mankind. Grag and Otho have a friendly rivalry. Grag is big and strong, but not very bright, while Otho is quick-witted, agile, and (with the aid of a special chemical) able to alter his physical appearance. ; Eek and Oog: Grag and Otho's pets, respectively. Eek is a moonpup, a canine creature which does not need air to survive and consumes soft metals for food. Oog is an amorphous being called a mimic, an artificially created pet that can change its shape as Otho does. Both are telepathic, and are attached to their respective master. ; Joan Randall: A beautiful female agent of the Planetary Police on Earth. She has brunette hair (or blonde hair in the anime adaptation). She shares a mutual romantic attraction with Curtis, but their respective duties and Curtis' social awkwardness prevent them from taking their relationship further. ; Marshall Ezra Gurney: A high-ranking veteran officer in the Planetary Police. ; Ul Quorn: Son of Victor Corvo, the man who murdered Captain Future's parents. A scientific genius, he has chosen to use his intellect for evil purposes. ; Johnny Kirk: An orphan boy and a dedicated fan of the Futuremen. During his debut appearance in "The Magician of Mars", he impresses Captain Future with his determination to become one of his crew, and is later entrusted to Joan and the Planetary Police to be trained as a future crew-member. He has an expanded role and different name (Ken Scott) in the anime.

Technology

Captain Future's spaceship, named the ''Comet,'' has been designed by himself and is superior to all other spaceships in the solar system. A research ship, the ''Comet'' has a compact on-board laboratory. It is also equipped with a camouflage device giving it the appearance of an actual comet, and armed with "proton cannons". She only receives faster-than-light propulsion late in the series of novels. In the animated series, she also has a small auxiliary shuttlecraft called the ''Cosmoliner.''

Adaptations and other derivative works

Anime

In 1978, one year after Hamilton's death,

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

produced a

television series of 53 episodes, based on 13 of the stories. Captain Future's later-iconic suit design itself was designed by Tadanao Tsuji. Despite the differences in cultural references and medium, the animated series was true to the original in many ways, from the didactic scientific explanations to the emphasis on the usefulness of brains as opposed to brawn. The series was translated in several languages and distributed globally. The four episodes comprising the series' second story arc were dubbed into English and released on video by

ZIV International ZIV International was an American production and distribution company founded in 1971 by Irv Holender. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it distributed Americanised versions of European animated cartoons and Japanese anime series, and produced ...

in the early 1980s as ''The Adventures of Captain Future''. In the late 1980s, Harmony Gold dubbed the series' initial four-part story as an edited "TV movie" simply entitled ''Captain Future'', but with alterations regarding some character names (different from those in Hamilton's stories - whether for licensing law or other reasons, remains a broad field for speculation). A Blu-ray Box in Japanese only was released in September, 2016 (Box 1) and November, 2016 (Box 2). A German "Limited Collectors Edition" Blu-ray Box was released in December 2016, featuring not only the remastered Japanese uncut version (with German subtitles) but also the heavily cut German version. While only eight episodes in total were dubbed into English, the series met huge success particularly in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, where the title and lead character's name were changed to "Capitaine Flam", in Italy with the translated title of "Capitan Futuro", in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

with the title "Capitán Futuro", in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

with the title "太空突擊隊" ("Space Commando"). The Arabic-language version has the title of فارس الفضاء (Faris al-Fadha'a, or "The Knight of Space") and was broadcast many times during the 1980s. The series was also broadcast in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where it appeared under its original title. However, this version was cut by about a quarter of the original length, which mainly affected violent scenes or those considered "expendable" for the storylines.

Score

The original incidental music was composed by

Yuji Ohno is a Japanese jazz musician. Ohno is known for his musical scoring of Japanese anime television series, particularly ''Lupin III'', and most famously the 1977 series '' Lupin III Part II'' and the feature film ''The Castle of Cagliostro''. Ea ...

, while the English-dubbed version had a new

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

composed by

Mark Mercury Mark Gibbons, Better known as Mark Mercury is an American composer. He has arranged, produced, recorded, and composed music since the 1970s. Career Mercury is an American composer whose music falls into several genres: space, electronic, electr ...

. Mercury's work survived on the Latin American version, but a new opening was added for it, composed by

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...

and sung by Chilean performer Juan Guillermo Aguirre (a.k.a. "Capitán Memo"). For the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

version, a completely new soundtrack was created by German composer Christian Bruhn. To this day, the futuristic synth disco funk soundtrack is considered cult for giving the series the right feeling. A soundtrack CD was released in 1995. A remix of the theme ''Feinde greifen an'' ("enemies attack") by German DJ Phil Fuldner, called "The Final", entered the top ten of the

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n single charts in 1998. The German publisher Bastei-Verlag released a ''Captain Future'' comic series with original adventures.

Episodes

Related works by Allen Steele

"The Death of Captain Future" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', October 1995) is a novella by Allen Steele set in Steele's "Near Space" realistic near future setting of expansion into the solar system. Here, Steele contrasts the more gritty setting with the naïvety of the titular character. In story, a man named Bo McKinnon collects "ancient pulp magazines" and acts out a fantasy life based on the Captain Future stories. The novella won the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novella. An

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

version of the story appeared as a play produced by Seeing Ear Theater. "The Exile of Evening Star" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', January 1999) continues and concludes the story. It includes many quotes from the original magazines. Steele's ''Avengers of the Moon: A Captain Future Novel'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese sci ...

2017) is a

continuity reboot In serial fiction, the term "reboot" signifies a new start to an established fictional universe, work, or series. A reboot discards continuity to re-create its characters, plotlines and backstory from the beginning. It has been described as a ...

which gently updates the narrative (including the science) to fit with a more modern sensibility. It was authorized by Hamilton's estate. The novel features the main characters from the original stories and presents a new

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a Character (arts), character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reason ...

for its protagonist. ''The Return of Ul Quorn'', a quartet novella series published by the revived ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...

'' magazine, followed as the sequel of ''Avengers of the Moon''; the first entitled ''Captain Future in Love'' (2019), the second entitled ''The Guns of Pluto'' (2020), the third entitled ''1,500 Light Years from Home'' (2021), and the fourth entitled ''The Horror at Jupiter'' (2021). ''The Guns of Pluto'' included a reprint of Hamilton's story "The Harpers of Titan" and ''1,500 Light Years from Home'' included a long-lost musical parody.

Feature film

In March 2010, German Director

Christian Alvart Christian Alvart (born 28 May 1974 in Jugenheim) is a German filmmaker and screenwriter. Prior to working in the film business Christian Alvart worked in various positions, most recently as a senior editor at Filmmagzin X-TRO. In 1999, he mad ...

(''

Pandorum ''Pandorum'' is a 2009 German/British science fiction horror film, with elements of Lovecraftian horror and survival adventure. The film was directed by Christian Alvart and produced by Robert Kulzer, Jeremy Bolt and Paul W. S. Anderson, t ...

'', '' Case 39'') secured the film rights for Captain Future and is working on a live-action adaptation in 3D. In 2015, a short trailer of a CGI version of ''Captain Future'' by Prophecy FX was leaked. The trailer was said to be a study for a yet-undisclosed project. In March 2016, Chris Alvart confirmed in an interview on a RocketBeansTV podcast to have acquired the design rights from TOEI Animation so that the movie will have the look and feel of the animated series.

Other appearances

*The Japanese TV series ''

Captain Ultra Captain Ultra (Griffin Gogol) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history He first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #177 (Dec. 1976) and was created by Roy Thomas, George Pérez and Joe Sinnott ...

'', a placeholder series between two actual

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...

series, was more or less a live-action adaptation of the ''Captain Future'' series (which has remained popular in Japan as well). The characters were all present, even if the names were changed. *In the TV series ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on C ...

'', a Captain Future magazine cover is featured as a wall poster beside the entrance door in

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

's and

Sheldon Sheldon may refer to: * Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia * Sheldon, Queensland *Sheldon Forest, New South Wales United Kingdom *Sheldon, Derbyshire, England *Sheldon, Devon, England * ...

's apartment. *In ''

Cat Planet Cuties is a Japanese light novel series by Okina Kamino with illustrations by Eizo Hoden and Nishieda. The series, which consists of 20 volumes, was published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J label from October 25, 2003, to February 25, 201 ...

'', Episode 9 features a well known song from the anime television series of Captain Future. *In the Pre-Crisis

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 ...

, a character named Edmond Hamilton was featured as a minor adversary of Superman. This character, as a result of his homonymy with the

science fiction author This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) *Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) * Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Abn ...

and his most famous work, took up the identity of Colonel Future and ended up battling Superman despite having heroic intentions.''Superman'' #378 (December 1982) and #399 (September 1984) This character is a homage to the real Edmond Hamilton and his work in DC Comics.

Moons of Pluto

''Calling Captain Future'' is notable for naming three (then undiscovered) moons of Pluto as Charon, Styx, and Cerberus after mythological characters associated with the Greek god Pluto. Three of Pluto's five moons were ultimately given the names Charon, Styx, and Kerberos (the Greek spelling of Cerberus).

References

Internet Speculative Fiction Database The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

* *
Captain Future Convention 2010( 20th Birthday event of Curtis Newton Captain Future)
{{Toei Animation 1978 anime television series debuts Characters created by Mort Weisinger Comics characters introduced in 1940 Fictional military captains Fictional orphans NHK original programming Science fiction anime and manga Science fiction characters Fiction about the Solar System Animated space adventure television series Space opera 1979 Japanese television series endings Japanese science fiction television series Toei Animation television American novels adapted into television shows Anime and manga based on novels Television shows based on American novels Fiction set in 1990