Captain Battle is a fictional hero and one of the features in Lev Gleason's Silver Streak Comics, from the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The character is a wounded World War I veteran who has devoted his life to stopping war. He was created by Carl Formes and Jack Binder.[1]
Publication history
The character appeared in Silver Streak Comics from issue #10 (May 1941) to #21 (May 1942).[2]
The character was popular enough to get a brief solo series, published in Summer and Fall 1941.[3]
Jonathan Battle was the youngest combatant in World War I, and lost his eye.[5] Since then, Jonathan Battle uses his jetpack, called a luceflyer, and a series of fantastic inventions to prevent World War II from taking place, including a Curvoscope, which allows him to see anywhere on the Earth by following the curvature of the Earth, and Dissolvo, which breaks down nerve and bone tissue into gelatin.[1]
In his first three-part story, Captain Battle fought an Asian wizard known as the Black Dragon, and his army of Deaglos, humans that the Dragon had transformed into angry bird-men. At the end of the story, the surviving Deaglos were changed back to human — including an orphan, Hale, who became Battle's ward and teenage sidekick.[6]
During his run he had three sidekicks: Hale, Kane and Captain Battle, Jr. (his son, William Battle).[7]
The villains that Captain Battle faces include Dr. Dracula,[8] Herr Skull, Herr Death, Sir Satan, Baron Doom,[1] and Friar Diablo.[9]
Film
In 2013, the film Captain Battle: Legacy War was released.[10]
Notes
In the second story of Captain Battle #1, Captain Battle fights a group of German spies who steal a film about to be shown to a military audience. The Captain apprehends the spies and brings them to an agent friend of his - who doesn't recognize him in costume even though the Captain wears no mask! - then returns to the theatre, where he claims to have slept through the film. Clearly this story was meant to feature another character entirely, as the Captain normally doesn't use a dual identity.