Action Boy in his 1st issue box. Action Boy TM & © Captain Action Enterprises, LLC.
RIGHT: House ad in Captain Action #2 announcing Dr. Evil’s appearance in the next issue. Art by Gil Kane. Captain Action and Dr. Evil TM & © Captain Action Enterprises, LLC.
Krellik’s up to no good on this original art page to page 2 of DC’s Captain Action #2. Art by Wood, story by Shooter. Courtesy of Heritage. Captain Action TM & © Captain Action Enterprises, LLC.
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Arno, who, along with his duplicitous colleague Krellik, unearthed ancient coins imbued with the abilities of the gods of myth. The altruistic Arno wields the tokens as the superhero Captain Action, while Krellik, empowered by the coin of the god of evil, Chernobog (Loki), unleashes a crime spree, usurping Arno’s Captain Action identity as well as many of the coins. Wally Wood was tapped by Weisinger to launch the series. Since Shooter at the time drew breakdowns instead of typing scripts, on Captain Action #1’s splash page Wood credited himself as artist plus “Story by Jim Shooter” (at this time, the majority of DC’s comics were published uncredited). The writer told me in 1998, “It was the first time I got a credit. Wally considered me an artist, because I did layouts.” DC had contracted with Ideal for a five-issue run, the company’s first toy tie-in. Longtime Green Lantern artist Gil Kane stepped in as penciler with issue #2, with Shooter scripting and Wood remaining on as inker. This issue concluded the Krellik storyline. By the time the third issue of the bimonthly series went into production in late 1968, Weisinger passed off Captain Action to editor Julius Schwartz. Schwartz offered Gil Kane the opportunity to write as well as draw Captain Action, which Gil relished. Kane brought Ideal Toys’ Dr. Evil into comics with issues #3 and 4. Issue #5 pitted Captain Action and
Action Boy against a persuasive demagogue. Despite dynamic storytelling and gorgeous artwork, DC’s Captain Action premiered too late to capitalize upon the toy line’s momentum and was not renewed. Kane confessed to me in 1998, “It broke my heart when it ended cold.” From time to time, the good Captain seemed primed for a comeback, including Lightning Comics’ A.C.T.I.O.N. Force #1 in 1987 and a Captain Action #0
ashcan edition in 1995. Finally, in 1998, Joe Ahearn, who thirty years earlier had been one of those kids playing with Ideal’s Captain Action, convinced toy manufacturer Playing Mantis to release a new line of Captain Action super-hero figures, including additions to original line such as the Green Hornet’s ally Kato and villain costumes for Dr. Evil. In the years since, Captain Action’s fate has been charted by Ahearn and his business partner Ed Catto. Their Captain Action Enterprises venture has kept the hero in the public eye through additional figure and costume releases (including an impressive array of Marvel uniforms), action figures of various sizes, comic books, novels, T-shirts, and other merchandise. Of the many super-heroes introduced during the Camp Age, Captain Action is one of the few who has proved durable. Looks like his boast on the cover of his first DC issue was right: This really is a job for Captain Action! Portions of this essay appeared in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #45 and appear here in edited form.