Number 2394: Captain Video vs A.I.

Growing up in the fifties, besides comic books I read a lot of science fiction. Some of that science fiction (as well as comic books) used robots. Sometimes the robots were smarter than the people in the story. Sometimes they wanted to take over from humans. I was able to assure myself that it was all just fiction. Nowadays I worry about the near-future when robot cars share the road. The funny thing about fiction is that sometimes it turns into fact.

Captain Video and his ranger meet up with some smart robots who have killed their creator, and are in the process of taking over. Since comic books are produced by humans and not robots the prejudice is for the flesh and blood guys and not the artificial guys.

The television program, Captain Video, was on the air for a few years from the now long defunct Du Mont Network. Du Mont also manufactured televisions, as you can see here with this luxurious 1951 model.

Because of their money problems the television productions were low budget, including Captain Video, where it would be obvious when they were cutting corners with the futuristic stuff, like space helmets. The satire from Mad #15, “Captain TVideo,” drawn by Jack Davis, points out some of the cheap props. Did they actually use shirt cardboard cut to look like a space helmet? I don’t know, but it’s a funny idea.

At least the story I am showing today is free from budget constraints. No budget for props in a comic book. Whatever a writer can think up and an artist can draw costs the same as any other comic book. “Island of Conquerors” is the last Captain Video story from Fawcett, after six issues in 1951. It is from issue #6 (1951), no writer credited, but drawn by George Evans and Martin Thall.

Number 1072


Captain Video and the Ring of Orgon


Captain Video, the comic, came from Captain Video, the television series. The show was broadcast in the early days of TV by the DuMont Network, which was a hand-to-mouth organization, broadcasting mainly in the Eastern United States. We didn't see their programs in the West, where I was raised. My only connection to Captain Video was the classic "Captain TVideo" parody by Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis in Mad #15.

The DuMont Network lasted until the mid-'50s, and most of the archives that remained, kinescopes made of their programs including Captain Video, were destroyed in the 1970s. Captain Video was real low budget. The Mad story spoofs that. In a comic book there is no budget for special effects, just what the artist can design. The assignment went to comic book journeyman George Evans, a very fine illustrator, who later made his mark for EC Comics. The story is from Captain Video #4, 1951.

As well drawn as it is, the printing left a lot to be desired. I cleaned up the scans as best I could, but I have worse than a low-budget operation, I have a no-budget operation.

Number 300


Calling all Video Rangers!


To celebrate Pappy's #300 I'm bringing you two stories drawn by George Evans from Captain Video #1, a Fawcett comic from 1951. Evans went on to comic book glory with his stint at EC Comics. Fawcett stopped publishing comics in 1953. Captain Video lasted six issues as a comic book, and vanished from the airwaves as the network carrying his adventures went out of business in 1955.

To read some background on the TV program and the DuMont Network where it appeared, read this article. The show had its fans in the larger Eastern U.S. markets where it was carried. In the American hinterlands where I was raised, we had no idea it existed except for the Fawcett comic book and the great parody by Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis in Mad #15.



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