Captain Action #1-5 (Ongoing)

is a new ongoing comic book series written by Fabian Nicieza and published by Moonstone. The title character is based on the 1966 Captain Action toy action figure that was the Ideal Toy Company's answer to Hasbro's GI Joe — although the protagonist dolls of both toy lines were created and designed by the same toy- and idea-man, Stan Weston. The action figure was equipped with a wardrobe of costumes allowing him to become Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Aquaman, the Phantom, The Lone Ranger (and Tonto), Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Sgt. Fury, Steve Canyon, and the Green Hornet. DC Comics (then ) acquired the license from Ideal and published five issues of Captain Action in 1968, but, because of the near-impossibility of obtaining licenses for the costume changes, the ability to change into different characters was entirely dropped... Instead, Captain Action came to possess magical coins, each of which provided him with a spectacular power from a Greek, Roman, or Norse mythological god (in a similar way to the original Captain Marvel). Captain Action was given a real name of his own, Clive Arno, and was identified as a widowed archaeologist and museum curator, and was described as having located "the coins of power" in a buried city. His sidekick Action Boy's comic-book alter-ego was Carl Arno, son of Clive. His arch-enemy Dr. Evil was given a back-story too, having been Captain Action's father-in-law, then going mad in a mishap... But then again, the Moonstone character is an entirely different re-imagining of Captain Action, having features in common with both the original Ideal toy and DC Comics' mythos. The introductory issue #0 does just that, excellently, and the included historical background provided by Michael Eury not only brings the reader up to speed on the character's comics history, but let's you appreciate all the more the exciting new Captain Action. The series currently runs at 6 issues (#0-5), with issue #5 the concluding issue in the series' first story arc.

It's the final chapter in the opening gambit of the new Captain Action! The first shot fired in the takeover of the United States happened not with a bang, but with a whisper. Ride along with us as we discover who's been infected with the Red Crawl, who hasn't, and who's who! And what or who is Dr. Evil? And what is the President going to do about ? This smash-mouth issue delivers! --

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