Captain Future: Lost Hero of the Golden Age

[@timepoet77]

Captain Future is now written by Allen Steele starting in 2014 by Tor Books, and now currently published by Amazing Stories Books from 2018 onwards. Though there's a more modern sensibility to the character, the pulp SF vibe is alive and well.

[@MichaelRBrown-lh6kn]

Agree. Read and reviewed this new works and are pretty good. Steele is working on a new one as well.

[@angusmacfrankenstein7227]

Just read a sample of _1500 Light Years From Earth._ I'm intrigued, but... Is it absolutely necessary to read them in order? And is _Captain Future in Love_ as sappy as the title suggests? Sounds like the sample of the book I read is a four-part series starting with _Cap in Love..._ EDIT: replaced “court” with “four;” couldn’t do it on the Kindle Fire KZbin app; fixed it with something else. Apology post remains for the sake of completion.

[@angusmacfrankenstein7227]

Replace "court" with "four" on original post--I can't edit posts on Kindle Fire! Sorry!

[@davistalhone9482]

Amazed to hear that this 40s pulp hero is still going! Aside from Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, so many others are lost to the annals of time. Curious if he just pulled it out of the public domain.

[@TJRex01]

Haha, I came here to comment about his story “the death of captain future”, had no idea he had picked it up again

[@karamurat4173]

The first time I read there will be a Captain Future movie was in 2010. Christian Alvart, a German producer hold all the rights in his hands but up to today nothing happend. Recently, he gave the rights into other hands. It's a pity that in a world, where every Marvel or DC character comes alive on the screen, there is no interest for a Captain Future movie or series. Keeping watching the anime from the 70th.

[@MezTZO]

Being a Filipino born in the 70s and growing up in the 80s, I first learned of Captain Future from the anime adaptation that showed on my country's airwaves around the mid-80s.

[@abh623]

Yes, I also remember the anime being aired on local television during that time.

[@wtk6069]

Edmond Hamilton was the original inventor of space opera in his Interstellar Patrol stories in the 1920s, so he was the perfect writer to make Captain Future work. His most famous fan was someone who grew up to become an even more famous sci-fi writer: Isaac Asimov. Asimov famously edited collections of classic sci-fi later in his long career, and he began three separate collections with Edmond Hamilton stories. As a comic writer, he also wrote some of the most famous Sixties Superman and Batman stories, and he was the writer most responsible for developing the Legion of Super-Heroes into a cult favorite that lasted decades after his time on it.

[@FizzFop1]

Hi wtk6069! Thanks for watching. That's very interesting. I wonder what their relationship was? From what I was reading, the Futurians turned on each other and took their bickering to a level ten. I wonder if Asimov's support of Hamilton created friction inside the group?

[@wtk6069]

​@@FizzFop1In one Asimov collection that started with a Hamilton story, Asimov did write a brief intro to each selection. For Hamilton, he wrote that Hamilton was his "favorite writer growing up" so he did couch it in those terms. But Asimov's own sci-fi writing definitely is influenced by pulp sensibilities. In many ways, he wrote Futurian stories overtop classic Hamiltonian space opera plots, so he was kind of a synthesis of the two.

[@kaboombox1581]

Charles Schultz would repeatedly have “World Famous Author” Snoopy start his stories with “It was a dark and stormy night…”

[@amazingstoriestv4624]

Captain Future was not created at the first Worldcon in 1939. Hamilton was contacted by Marguiles and Weisinger, took their treatment and substantially changed it. Captain Future was ANNOUNCED at the first Worldcon. Hamilton himself recounts the origins of Captain Future in an interview which can be found in Weird Heroes # 6 in 1977 and it will be reprinted in an upcoming volume of Allen Steele's Captain Future series from Amazing Selects.

[@Francois424]

The "Captain Future" anime was an absolute favorite of mine in the early eighties (Actually the french version "Capitaine Flamm"). The fact it was a bit more "cerebral" than the other shows out there really got me into it. I got the DVDs for it a few years back. A guilty pleasure of mine.

[@Francois424]

@Jetsetbob3 Yep, "Il était une Fois... l'Espace" -- Awesome show as well. I have those DVDs too 🙂

[@Francois424]

@Jetsetbob3 Ca ce sont les Humanoïdes, dans le dernier arc de la série. Bonne mémoire ! Je crois qu'il y a une version HD disponible pour les DvD. Bonne chance 🙂

[@christianemden7637]

As a German my introduction to captain future was of course the animated series, which needed to be rescored entirely for the german market, with a music, that is recognizable to this day. And the redesign of the spaceship comet, is still my absolute favorite spaceship design.

[@BrokenCurtain]

The Comet really is an awesome design: it uses distance for radiation shielding, has radiators to manage the heat generated by the main engine, has maneuvering thrusters on pylons arranged in an X shape for extra leverage, like the Starfuries from Babylon 5. I can easily see a ship like this in a hard-physics sci-fi series like "The Expanse".

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Fizzpop dropp'd! This series is essential viewing and incredibly well made

[@astrocohorsclub]

The anime not only brought Captain Future to Germany, it helped keeping him alive here. Two of the characters (Grag and Otho) were voiced by famous German actors F. G. Beckhaus and Wolfgang Völz who over ten years before starred in a German scifi series, "Space Patrol". After the anime aired there was a German-only comic series with Captain Future in the design of the cartoon. In recent years, Hamilton's stories got re-released in Germany, even as audio dramas. In addition there was a rumour about a Captain Future movie going around and a video with concept art was leaked (because obviously a German producer has the movie rights to Captain Future now). But until today nothing has come out.

[@rovanderby759]

I'm from the Netherlands, as a kid I watched a lot of german television. We only had two channels over here back then, and they didn't show half as much of the cool stuff (SF, horror movies and such) as they did on german tv. Captain Future was one of my favorite shows.

[@zarcon85]

The Rights were sold AGAIN....Alvart doesn't own them anymore

[@astrocohorsclub]

@@zarcon85 Okay, I guess that's about it for a Captain Future movie.

[@skullcultist]

I grew up in West Germany, on the Dutch border, and yeah, Captain Future was huge there at the time (early-mid 1980s). My dad was thrilled to see the German-dubbed anime with me, as he was a fan of Captain Future in the 1940s when he was a kid.

[@zarcon85]

The MUSIC of the german version is a experience in FUNK. I love it like mothing else in that era.

[@metalnerd1979]

i love captain future since i was a child in the 80s. and here in germany there still is a captain future radioplay produced right now. so here it isnt as forgotten...

[@rayvenkman2087]

Seeing this one makes me want to see that Doctor Omega episode and see a deep dive into it beyond the eerie resemblance he has to Doctor Who’s First Doctor decades before the series was even conceived in a different part of the world. See what other occurrences of this brand of coincidence exists in the world of fiction where someone comes up with a concept before someone comes up with a more famous equivalent without any knowledge of the other person having already come up with the idea.

[@sneakyskunk1]

FizzFop is so incredibly good at this that I am frankly astonished this channel hasn't shot up in subscriber numbers with each upload. This is just more in a long line of fantastic videos. I wish FizzFop could do this full time. The videos are just that good.

[@stillbuyvhs]

"City at World's End" is a good little novel, & a decent critique of the sort of society the Futurians might've liked. Never knew much about the author; thanks for the info.

[@andrewkaye2108]

Back in my 8th grade English class, my teacher assigned me an extra credit book.report and I picked an old copy of a Captain Future book that was in the classroom. Yes it could be campy with such a straitlaced hero, but it was not a bad read and I enjoyed the concept of the different artificial men and the author took great effort to explain the differences between them in the story. I do not think Curtis Newton faced off against an evil magcian from Mars in this story.

[@gmmeier321]

Great, missed you.

[@abyssal113]

Lol. Can't believe it took me until you mentioned that it got an anime adaptation before I remembered "Capitán Futuro" and the memories started flashing back. Damn. Hadn't thought about it in like 30 years.

[@georgeseal8463]

Great video! The Captain Future (Capitán Futuro) was a great hit among kids in Chile during the 80s. I loved it and have the series on DVD. It was really good and had a lot of science fiction and astronomy concepts. Very good plots and drama. I was surprised to know it was based on old sci fi novels and was quite faithful to the original concept. I recomend this anime to all sci fi fans.

[@tapinewoods3937]

Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton began all these Si Fi conventions. We got to give him some respect and mention.

[@pdworld3421]

Aww, Man! You don't suck at it. You're genuine and honest and I really appreciate the fact that you don't use an AI voice. Thanks so much for introducing me to this character.

[@godlaydying]

Side-note: Hamilton's widow, Leigh Brackett, wrote the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back.

[@brianmurphy250]

Thank you for these time capsules! Truly a labor of love!

[@TheGameGetterKuzuri]

Cosplay in the 30s is so cool!

[@BretAHart]

Thanks for another great video, I hope you're doing well!

[@keithsmith8543]

Very interesting podcast! And welcome back! 👊👍

[@rayvenkman2087]

For the canon-wielders; Comic Captain Future is an ancestor of the Pulp Captain Future and the latter took on his name from the former. Pulp Captain Future’s father Roger might have inherited his intellect from Andrew Bryant alongside some of his genetics and the surname Bryant might have changed to Newton in the years since either due to Victor’s oligarchy forcing people to adopt names per his policy or an inheritance from another family line. The comics are either fictional or biographical accounts of his actual adventures and Pulp Captain Future’s nemesis might have descended from one of Comic Captain Future’s foes or someone who knows of them.

[@MichaelRBrown-lh6kn]

NO. There is no connection between the comic and pulp Captain Futures. While published by the same company, the creators were working totally separately. I have NEVER seen any pulp researcher claim a connection between the 2.

[@CinemaniacComicsCorner]

Another entertaining and interesting FizzFop video! Awesome!

[@RobertAustralia]

Well, this is a cool bit of history... 👍😁👣

[@dravenvandross8281]

Good to see you Back I have never heard of this character but now I am definitely going to look him up awesome video man.

[@steveharrison9901]

Really nice job! I loved that deep dive into the first Worldcon and NYC sf fandom and the inevitable feuds and fractioning. Good stuff! I’m a bit surprised at the lack of mentioning the Doc Savage connection. Part of the reason for the creation of Captain Future was the success of Doc Savage. There are some (not me!😁) who have disparaged Captain Future as just weak sauce Doc Savage copycatting. There are undeniable similarities but the SF gives Captain Future a much broader canvas for adventure. One fun thing is that the Solar System in Captain Future is (if I remember correctly) completely inhabited! EVERY planet has its own race making for some real weirdies! Luckily the control of gravity makes interaction safe and easy. Mentioning that the Captain Future anime had ‘worldwide release’ is somewhat a misnomer. It didn’t find a home in the United States except for a tv industry ‘pilot film’ produced by Ziv International that was sold to a home video company sometime around 1980. Two tapes were produced, one with a fairly decent translation and good voice acting, and one that was way less good. See also the story of Ziv’s attempt to release Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Both these anime releases on tape were low effort attempts to get on that Star Wars money train. Read one and a half of Steele’s reboot. Don’t care for it at all. It lacks something and it may be nothing more that ‘gosh wow sense of wonder!’ . I can read the original stories over and over. One request? If by some chance you do make a Buck Rogers comic in a couple of years, please don’t lean on A.I. art to get it done.

[@tazzahmed511]

I thought Captain Future is still being written?! But, I always thought the comic version was the same as the Pulp magazines! Your always a breath of fresh air! Keep on the great work! 🙏

[@rayvenkman2087]

There’s a certain something attached to these pre-1960’s vintage science fiction works. Something that’s alluring and mysterious which is missing in a lot of recent works.

[@FizzFop1]

I feel the same way. There's something really magical about art deco period science fiction.

[@rayvenkman2087]

@@FizzFop1 Maybe it’s the lack of established conventions and tropes we’d have today, the lack of writer diaries explaining their insights, how they’re a response to their own era or the fact they come at the tail end of the pre-atomic age of science fiction that established the genre as it is today following its own evolution. The anything goes mentality reigning supreme and the commercialisation of science fiction as well as their relationship with fandom culture becoming more linked together like Doctor Who not being much of a thing yet by this point.

[@VorpalDerringer]

More Fizzfop! Hoorayyyyy!!!

[@ComicExcitement]

😃 Thanks for the great amount of information and visuals, in this engaging video!👍

[@neilreynolds3858]

Frederik Pohl wrote a book about the Futurians - The Way The Future Was. It's very interesting about how the SF publishing world operated among the other things. He said he used to read a million words a month when he was an editor. That was equivalent to reading about 200 novels a year.

[@Multifandomld9]

Fizzfop1i I always find your videos to be very fun, entertaining and informative to watch

[@vincentfranklin17]

Glad to see you're still putting up vids, man! Hope all is well with you!

[@GleeChan]

FizzFop is back! I never heard of Captain Future. You gotta wonder i Bulwer-Lytton had a friendly rivalry with Dickens.

[@CarlosLopez-oc9nh]

I learned about Captain future on a used books store where I found "Quest beyond the stars" and "The weapon from beyond" but that's the first of Starwolf series. Thank you for the vid.

[@michaelconrad7301]

Manly Wade Wellman, a southern writer and Weird Tales author who worked in the horror, SF, western, and historical fiction genres, also wrote some of the Captain Future novellas in the pulp era. Nowadays, Wellman is best known for his stories and novels about Silver John, a folksinger wandering the haunted backwoods of Appalachia and running into various supernatural threats. Really fun reading!

[@MichaelRBrown-lh6kn]

ALSO Haffner Press is reprinting all the Captain Future stories in print, and Steeger Books has them all in ebook format. So NOT forgotten.

[@winstonblakely3846]

Welcome back it's interesting that your research on this character took you down different twist and turns, but then again it's all for the better since you got a interesting detail, history of science, fiction and people who love adventure, and fantasy. I am glad that those conspiracy theories turned out to be nothing, we just need good clean fun and our imaginations. Great video. Hope to see you soon.

[@FizzFop1]

Thanks winstonblakely3846. Yeah, I was glad too...I had only heard the term "Vril" connected with World War 2 Germany. Then, to find out it came from a book called "The Coming Race," I was like oh no-not this crap. It was a relief when I found out it was a cool science fiction novel that wasn't about that subject at all.

[@datamag2018]

Always fun to see a new release from you Fizzpop!

[@freakboy220]

I remember watching the animated movie version of Captain Future and the Space Emperor over and over again as a kid.

[@amyn64]

I learned about this character from the 80's anime.

[@timmarshall2062]

great show fizz really interesting info on this channel thanks a lot love it keep em coming

[@danpalacios1540]

Thanks for the rabbit holes and for the links to Golden Age scans. Awesome! Now I gotta get my hands on that Captain Future anime ...

[@Scotty-Z70]

another FANTASTIC episode!!! you are amazing!

[@HandofOmega]

Never heard of Capt. Future...or this channel, for that matter! So, I discovered TWO great things today! I look forward to seeing more! Captain Future's origin reminds me a LOT of Tom Strong's, so I see what Alan Moore was reading now; if you're unfamiliar, I highly recommended TS, I think you'll love it!

[@stillbuyvhs]

@16:48 The San Jose State University, in San Jose, California. The contest is named the "Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (BLFC)". Good video as usual!

[@mecahhannah]

❤Awesome thanks

[@dreamtime234]

You forgot to mention that the anime is also very much a cult classic in Germany to this day. I'd even go so far and say the fan base in Germany is the biggest and most influential one today. German songwriter Christian Bruhn had been assigned to compose a completely new soundtrack that differed very much from the Japanese original score - in a good way. It is widely considered a timeless piece of music that enhanced the quality of the anime considerably. Everybody who grew up in the eighties in Germany knows the intro theme and typically gets goosebumps when listening. Childhood memories aside, it is simply a beautiful song and probably the most loved theme in German TV history, similar to i.e. the Airwolf theme in the US. All this led to several DVD and even remastered and (quite expensive) Blu ray releases as well as an edition of the original pulps, newly translated into German. Furthermore there has been talk of an upcoming movie for years - although I personally don't have much hope anymore that anything will come of this ... Plus let's not forget the Allen Steele three part novel remake which I greatly enjoyed. So I don't think Captain Future was ever completely forgotten - at least not in parts of Europe and South America.

[@robshimer]

In the early days of the internet Sci-fi Channel did an audio drama called “The Death of Captain Future.”

[@truckrobo147]

You never fail to fascinate and impress us fizzy, your stuff is truly quality over quantity that's always worth the wait.

[@FizzFop1]

Thanks truckrobo147! This one felt like it took forever to finish...but I'm really happy with the result. From a writing standpoint, I feel this is one of my best.

[@truckrobo147]

@@FizzFop1 hey it's totally worth it from my point of view, so with that being said have a good one ;)

[@Spanners_the_Monkey]

Was fantastic to watch, I have seen some Captain Future covers in art books I had years ago, and it was very cool to learn about him.

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Great vid about this character from scifi history. The stuff about the early conventions was especially interesting

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

I sat in the room when Fred Pohl and Janet Merrill, two of the Futurians buried the axe. That was over thirty years ago. Ed Hamilton was a great writer. Man was like Lester Dent, he could write any genre.

[@Melvinshermen]

Thank man, and by in 2020 i got ban and i want to take break from youtube for a while.

[@Commanderziff]

Yay! FizzFop!!! I'm too lazy to learn about the Golden Age on my own!

[@raybokor2]

nice to see you again

[@raybokor2]

ive shared your video with a uk facebook group called the Geek Asylum . keep up the great work

[@FizzFop1]

Thank you raybokor2! That helps out a lot!

[@raybokor2]

my pleasure@@FizzFop1

[@jamesmurray8558]

I bought the book in 1975 at mall that had the all the covers you shown. Saw Dr. Who in Washington St. It was from Canada, glad I got out from Alabama.

[@jkb2016]

The 53 Anime Episodes were actually cut down from 13 Anime Movies. Only the japanese and French dubbed materials are complete while the short episodes miss scenes that were remove to fit into the broadcast time frame. Sometimes the flashbacks at the start of each one contain scenes that were removed from teh previous episode.

[@Underworlddream]

I like your Daz art, It very retro looking. It feel appropriate for the subject of pulp and Golden Age stuff.

[@MrTimelord77]

At long last the prodigal son returns. I love all the history you include along with the hero to explain the difficult journey of the other heroes that made the Lost Heroes possible. Your visuals are also amazing and could be their own movie. Can't wait for more.

[@johnriddlebaugh7436]

Awesome post! It's been a while since the previous one and hope you're doing well.

[@gazz_N7]

Thank you for this very cool and informative video.

[@pictureel5863]

Yours is my go-to channel for comics history. Keep it going because your presentation is serious, unpretentious but fun!

[@rclark777]

You should do a video on The Golden Bat, Japan's first superhero, created sometime in the early 1930s, possibly predating *even* Superman, although the character originated in street performances and not comics.

[@lucascoval828]

So you saw the Kenny video?

[@emsleywyatt3400]

Hamilton's "The Inn Outside the World" is one of my personal favorites.

[@daviderwin4705]

Interesting to find out the Campbell Era was not quite the sea change in science fiction writing it has been made out to be. It would be interesting to know if that significant change of writing focus was at least one of the reasons there was friction in the futurian clique.

[@JeffIrok]

Great biography! I found Captain Future and company a couple years back. Most or all of the stories are available pretty cheap in the Kindle store.

[@23RedTechno]

I forgot about the Captain Future anime series .

[@Demonstryke13]

Really cool video. I didn't actually know about the original pulp version of Captain Future, I did know about the comic book version though. When I originally clicked the video I assumed this would be about the comic book version, but instead I got a great deal more insight so thank you for that!!!

[@HotFuss-gd9qr]

I frickin love pulp sci-fi. There's something so grandiose about this genre that I really enjoy. It's also interesting seeing these stories and how people back then believe what the future maybe like. Love this video, keep it up! ❤

[@justamannn8674]

This channel is just plain cool.

[@CosmoShidan]

I'm absolutely loving this! I'm hoping ya do more space western heroes as well!

[@RandyLRhoades]

Oh a new Fizzfop video!

[@echopeakbicycling85]

Been looking forward to seeing another of your videos, Fizz. That's a ton of research with nice images to illustrate the story. I really admire those old pulp magazine illustrators.

[@helious5056]

Awesome video, loving these last two videos being on classic Sci Fi pulp heroes, also I'm curious as to where you got your music from

[@FizzFop1]

I get my music from a website called NEOSounds. They do royalty free music. I buy music loops. They are short pieces of music that sort of click together in editing. You can buy entire songs that are a couple of minutes long or you can buy loops which are a anywhere from five seconds to a minute long.

[@helious5056]

@@FizzFop1 thank you m8

[@jamesholland8057]

One of all time greats.

[@DavidMcMahon-b3o]

I read a number of the Captain Future novel reprints from the 60s and 70s. Loved them. But he really reminds me of a future version of Doc Savage. Which isn't a bad thing since he was his own man but heavy Doc Savage tones. Makes me wonder how Hamilton would have done if he was asked to do a Doc Savage story or two.

[@travishiltz4750]

Love Captain Future and his crew! Only managed to track down a half dozen of the paperbacks.They've been scarce, but crazy fun. amazed that he never got a cliffhanger serial, a comic or was brought back in any big way. I've heard whispers of attempts, but nothing seems to have happened. Never heard of that anime before. Definitely need to track it down.

[@jamessimms3449]

More Weisinger was surely a character. He guided Superman for decades. Some might say that it was not for the better. He used to abuse Jerry Siegel and would often steal his ideas. Weisinger is credited with being the one who hired a young Jim Shooter. It's amazing how early 20th century scifi led straight into superheroes.

[@martinbaxter2616]

Those COVERS... 😍😍😍😍

[@Bucky749]

I’ve read and reviewed few issue of the Captain future magazine reprints .

[@tjjudd101]

Your content is excellent. Please keep it up!

[@totz_the_plaid9625]

I've entered the Bulwer-Lytton contest a couple times!

[@23RedTechno]

"It was a dark and stormy night" was from the 1830 novel "Paul Clifford"

[@FizzFop1]

Hey 23RedTechno! I haven't read that book yet...but it's suppose to be awful. We'll see. I listened to "The Coming Race" audio book on KZbin. The writing was a little dated. It moved a little slow. It was interesting none the less. I came across some some modern literary analysis of Bulwer-Lytton and he's highly regarded for his ghost stories. His ghost stories inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula. I think that's something I'm going to investigate.

[@emsleywyatt3400]

It was a dark and stormy night in Southern California. The rain fell in Torrence.

[@loklobo]

excellent video as always

[@angusmacfrankenstein7227]

I read my first Captain Future story in a paperback reprint of _Captain Future and the Space Emperor_ I picked up maybe 25 or so years ago. Got a kick out it and I’ve been reading the adventures periodically ever since. And I know that squabbling characters are kind of a thing in a lot of adventure pulps-see Monk and Ham in Doc Savage, for instance-but I can’t help but wonder if a young Stan Lee might’ve taken mental notes on applying aspects of Cap and the Futuremen’s characterizations on some foursome he might decide to write later, amongst other characters…

[@paulcooper3611]

Ah, Edward Bul;wer-Lytton. His work was well enough known that in the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy the dog would sit on his doghouse (when he wasn't flying in pursuit of the Red Barron) and write a novel. The first line was always, "It was a dark and stormy night ..."

[@apex2000]

Yay more fizzfop!!

[@Faktor13]

Just as a remark, the Captain Future Anime Series is well regarded in germany too. And it has anawsome soundtrack, that is very different from the japanese Version. And you can get a Lego compatible Set of the spaceship comet in germany :-)

[@ghostbeetle2950]

Loved the anime when it ran on our public broadcaster here in in Germany in the late 80s, early 90s. Thanks for your research, highly interesting stuff! I knew that there was a movement against "space westerns" in the 40s and 50s, but I didn't know it was influenced by socialism. (Should have guessed, really. Not surprised that they ended up turning on each other, or accidentally contradicting their own premises in their writings...;)) Cheers!

[@majkus]

Bulwer-Lytton's 'vril' from 'The Coming Race' lives on in the name of 'Bovril' a beef/yeast spread from the UK.

[@dekoop2145]

In the eighties there was a Captain Future animated series on tv

[@Raycheetah]

14:47 "Otho, the synthetic android, is a master of disguise." Odo, the shapeshifter, is Chief of Security on Deep Space 9. Coincidence? Well, DS9 couldn't cadge everything from Babylon 5, now could they? =^[.]~=

[@emsleywyatt3400]

"Oog", the shape-shifting pet kind of returned in "Legion of Super-Heroes" as Protty.

[@MrWorf35]

Great work!

[@casino_comics]

Awesome video