| Captain Triumph | |
|---|---|
 Crack Comics #27, the first appearance of Captain Triumph. Art by Alfred Andriola. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Quality Comics |
| First appearance | Crack Comics #27 (January 1943) |
| Created by | Alfred Andriola |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Lance and Michael Gallant |
| Abilities | Flight Near invulnerability Invisibility Limited superhuman strength Ability to alter his physical appearance, shape and size, and voice |
Captain Triumph is asuperhero from theGolden Age of Comics who first appeared inCrack Comics #27, published in January 1943 byQuality Comics.[1] He continued to appear until the end of the series with issue #62 (Sept 1949).[2]
The character was later obtained byDC Comics, though by that time he had already lapsed into the public domain. Some of his Golden Age adventures were reprinted byAC Comics in theMen of Mystery anthology. He is not to be confused with another DC Comics property namedTriumph.
A version of Captain Triumph appears in thesecond season of theDC Universe seriesPeacemaker, portrayed byDavid Denman.
The identity of the writer is not remembered, but as the series opens, the artist isAlfred Andriola, former assistant toMilton Caniff onTerry and the Pirates (Andriola had also drawn a newspaper comic based on authorEarl Derr Biggers's famous characterCharlie Chan). He stays with Captain Triumph a mere six months, leaving to createKerry Drake.[3] The artists in the middle issues of Captain Triumph'sCrack Comics run are mostly a matter of conjecture, as Golden Age artists frequently did not sign their work. Beginning inCrack Comics #46 and ending only with the book's cancellation, Captain Triumph's adventures are penciled and inked for a 17-issue run byReed Crandall.
Captain Triumph has a minimal costume consisting of a plain, red, short-sleeved, crew neck T-shirt, ordinary white jodhpurs, a brown belt, brown riding boots, and no mask. Comic book historianDon Markstein commented: "By the time Cap appeared in 1943, the tide of superhero comic book characters was receding somewhat. Captain Triumph's costume was just enough to get across the idea he was a superhero, but since the genre was fading did not emphasize the fact".[5]
Captain Triumph belongs to that select class of superheroes who, likeSuperman, is never recognized in his superhero identity, even when being seen, by the same person, as Captain Triumph immediately after being seen as Lance Gallant and vice versa – despite the fact that he wears no mask and does not even have Clark Kent's glasses to disguise his face.
Crack Comics started out as a monthly title, like most 1940s anthology comic books, but dropped down to bi-monthly shortly afterWorld War II began due to wartime paper shortages. It switched to quarterly about a year after Captain Triumph joined the lineup. When the war was over, most surviving anthologies ramped back up to monthly, butCrack Comics only ever got back to bi-monthly (coming out in odd-numbered months). It did outlast most of the others, ending with its 62nd issue, dated September 1949.
Captain Triumph's only appearances during the Golden Age were within 36 issues ofCrack Comics, from his introduction in #27 until the book's cancellation with #62. He was the lead feature within, and appeared on the cover of, every one of those issues.
By the mid-1950s, with television and paperback books drawing readers away from comic books in general and superheroes in particular, interest in Quality's characters had declined considerably. After a foray into other genres such as war, humor, romance and horror, the company ceased operations with comics cover dated December 1956. Many of its properties were sold toNational Periodical Publications (nowDC Comics) which chose to keep only a few titles running, such asBlackhawk andG.I. Combat. Though it owned the rights to Captain Triumph, DC would not use the character for several more decades.
Captain Triumph appears on the cover of the first issue ofAll-Star Squadron as one of a group of photos spread over a table, along with the tag line "Who Will Be the Heroes of the....All-Star Squadron" although he does not actually appear within the issue - or anywhere else in the series, for that matter.[6] WriterRoy Thomas indicates he always intended to use Captain Triumph inAll-Star Squadron, but never got around to it before the title was cancelled.[7]
Captain Triumph appears in flashback in a small cameo in one issue ofGrant Morrison'sAnimal Man series, fighting the unsuccessful supervillain The Red Mask who describes him - from his not unbiased viewpoint - as possessing "the personality of a deck chair".[8]
Captain Triumph retires from action at an unknown time. Lance later appears inThe Titans as a friend ofJesse Quick's mother, the aged heroineLiberty Belle. Michael is still present as a spirit, but has apparently gone psychotic in the many years of inactivity. The twins discover a love affair between Jesse and her mother's young fiancé. Lance tries to confront the fiancé on the matter but is taken over by Michael's ghost, who as Captain Triumph quickly murders the man for his infidelity to his friend.[9]
Jim Shelley onFlashback Universe refers to this tale of an insane, murdering Captain Triumph as "his last appearance…probably best forgotten".[10]
A new, female Captain Triumph debuts inUncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. This version only demonstrates super-strength and the ability to fly.[11]
In November 2011, Captain Triumph appears, as part ofImage Comics'Next Issue Project, inCrack Comics #63, written and penciled byAlan Weiss.
In 2019'sHarley Quinn #50-51, the Golden Age hero Captain Triumph gets stranded in the 21st century without Michael after Harley accidentally "destroyed continuity", according toJonni DC, Continuity Cop.
In 1919,twin brothers Michael and Lance Gallant are born inNew York City. They are so alike, even down to a T-shapedbirthmark on their left wrists, that their own mother cannot tell them apart. The two remain close, even for twins, as they grow up.[12]
When America is drawn into theSecond World War, Michael enlists in theU.S. Army Air Corps, becoming a pilot, while Lance "crusaded with his own weapons – the word and pen" by becoming a journalist. However, on Michael's 23rd birthday as he brings his plane in to land, the hangar he is entering explodes. His fiancée Kim Meredith and brother Lance witness this act of sabotage, and the latter races into the burning structure, managing to find his badly-injured sibling, only for Michael to die in his arms.[13]
Lance swears vengeance on the murderers and those like them. Unknown to him, the Fates, creatures of myth, are watching all this. Impressed, the Fates decide to create a champion. Soon afterwards, Lance receives a shocking visitation from Michael's ghost, who reveals that they remain linked together. If Lance touches his birthmark, they will merge gaining superpowers as a result. Touching the mark a second time will separate them again. Calling himself Captain Triumph, Lance becomes a crimefighter.[14]
In DC Comics, Captain Triumph was revealed to have been a member of theAll Star Squadron.[15]
Michael's ghost later gained control of Lance's body when Lance started to get emotional. This happened when Michael learned during Lance's dinner with former All Star Squadron teammatesLibby Lawrence andJohn Law that Libby's husband Phillip was cheating on her. When Lance found that Phillip was seeingJesse Quick, Michael takes control of Lance's body and kills Phillip. The Titans and Liberty Belle later investigate the murder as Lance states that he knows who did it. Michael took control of Lance's body and attacks Jesse Quick only to be defeated byNightwing. Lance told the Titans and Libby that Michael had killed Phillip and surrenders to the arriving police officers.[9]
In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". WhenHarley Quinn broke DC Continuity and was scolded byJonni DC: Continuity Cop, Triumph fell from the sky and was separated from Michael Gallant's ghost.[16] When Triumph confronts Mayor LaGuardia, Harley Quinn helps him get away fromCheckmate agents. After learning that Harley was responsible for him being transported to the 21st century, Triumph grabs her by the neck.[17] This led to a fight in a construction site, where Triumph decides not to kill Harley and storms off. When Triumph is found at his favorite hot dog stand, Harley takes him to the airfield where Michael Gallant died. He sees Michael's ghost as they disappear into the timestream.[18]
An unnamed female operated as Captain Triumph and was a member of the Crusaders.[11]
When Lance Gallant merges with the ghost of his brother Michael, the two form Captain Triumph.
Within the context of this series, the Fates are presented as three hag-like crones, sisters named Chance, Destiny and Fortune.[19] They give Captain Triumph three "ghostly" powers: flight, invisibility and near-invulnerability. As Michael Gallant says when his spirit first appears to his brother: "I can make you invisible! You shall fly through space within seconds! Nothing physical will harm you!"[14]
When the brothers are separated into two individuals, Michael's ghost can move through walls, spy invisibly, and then report back to Lance. On the initial occasion when Michael reveals his existence to Kim,[19] she is able to see and hear him. Thereafter, though Lance can always definitely see and hear Michael, whether Kim or Biff can do so is inconsistently presented throughout the series - and sometimes within the same story.
With intense concentration, Michael is able to communicate with, and influence the actions of, other people and creatures. When the Jacksons are threatened, Michael is able to influence April, the daughter of the family, to write to Lance Gallant for help.[20] In "The Castle of Shadows!", he controls a rat to gnaw through ropes binding Kim and compels a criminal to not search the hiding place of an important document.[21][22]
Captain Triumph has the ability to alter his physical appearance, shape and size, and at the same time change his voice, a power that comes in very handy when his adventures require impersonation.[19]
Captain Triumph also has limited super-strength. He can stop a racing car by either grabbing its bumper[23] or standing in front of it and punching it,[24] bend rifle barrels,[21] break chains, and snap rifle bayonets[25] with his bare hands. He can also punch through a brick wall,[26] steel bank vault doors,[27] and jail bars,[28] and routinely holds his own in physical confrontations against multiple, normal human attackers much larger than he is. However, his opponents are never seriously injured, and sometimes not even disabled, by his full-power blows.
Captain Triumph is almost but not completely invulnerable. On numerous occasions he is shot repeatedly, and the bullets have no effect. Attempts to kill him with sharp weapons, such as knives and axes, see them bend or break on his body.[29][30] He survives a point-blank bazooka blast with no damage.[31] Being shot with an atomic beam that can cut through anything only causes him to laugh and say, "I’m ticklish!"[19] When faced with a powerful "explosive pill" about to go off and wreck a defense factory, his solution to the problem is to simply swallow the pill.[32]
The second Captain Triumph has super-strength.
Before Michael's death, and his merging with Lance to become Captain Triumph, the two are extraordinarily close, and alike, even for twins: "As they grew, the bonds of love and companionship that existed between them became stronger than any bond of steel or cable of strength that man could manufacture. So close were they, that in their work, their play, and the exciting adventures that filled their lives, their bodies responded but to one mind".[14]
Both twins are intelligent, daring, and athletic. Though they are presented as being very similar, throughout the series it becomes obvious that Lance is the more thoughtful, and intellectually inclined of the two, while Michael is more the daredevil,[33] witness their differing vocations of journalist and military pilot, respectively.
When the twins merge into Captain Triumph, they form a composite personality, with neither obviously dominant, and when they split apart again they are both aware of everything that has occurred to them as Captain Triumph.
According toJess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, Captain Triumph's enemies include:[38]
Captain Triumph's most substantive post-Golden Age appearance is inThe Golden Age, a four-issueprestige formatminiseries in DC Comics'Elseworlds line, written byJames Robinson with art byPaul Smith. In it, Lance Gallant has retired as Captain Triumph and is trying to lead a normal life, despite his brother's ghost urging him to become a hero again.[39] When he meets the reformed supervillain theTigress, he falls in love with her. In the end he refuses to listen to his brother's pleas and dies fighting the original Golden AgeRobotman as a normal man, defending the Tigress.[40]
James Robinson intended thatThe Golden Age be canon, and his subsequent seriesStarman assumed that many of the events inThe Golden Age (for instanceTed Knight, the original Starman, having a nervous breakdown after his research was used to help create the atom bombs dropped onHiroshima and Nagasaki) actually happened.The Golden Age has since been declared a non-canonical "imaginary story".
An original incarnation of Captain Triumph appears in thesecond season ofPeacemaker, portrayed byDavid Denman.[41] This version isKeith Smith, an alternate universe variant ofChristopher Smith / Peacemaker's brother who died at a young age in the "prime" timeline and a member of the "Top Trio" alongside his versions of Christopher andAuggie Smith / Blue Dragon.[42][43]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Don Markstein on his Toonopedia site has stated that as time went by Captain Triumph’s jodhpurs were changed in color from white to light blue, however this is untrue. Cap’s pants were only ever colored so on four covers late in the run (#s 49, 52, 54 and 58), and on every other cover, including those of the late run – and all of the interior pages throughout the entire series – they are always white.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Don Markstein’s Toonopedia page on Captain Triumph.