Thursday, July 18, 2013

Captain Alcohol / Captain Al Cohol

Captain Alcohol (which is how it is spelt in the title) / Captain Al Cohol (which is how it is spelt in the comic) is a 1973 comic. This comic was commissioned by the North West Territories' government to be an anti-alcohol PSA. This was one of the first comics with an alcoholist superheroes... and it shows. Despite the fact there are four issues, I only have information on three issues.
Plot
Issue 1 began with Kirnik, a Inuit man, finding a man frozen in ice. After Kirnik dragged the being to his house, the being broke out of the ice and the house. Kirnik got his hands a medallion that the being was wearing that has "Captain Al Cohol" written on it. Al Cohol (the being) was subdued (due to not fighting back) and taken to the local doctor Flush Fantom. Flush (who looks evil) gave Al some rum. This caused him to go crazy and escape. After fighting a polar bear, Al Cohol returned to the city (Fish Fiord) and revealed his back story. Suddenly, super villains, called the "Ravenmen", attacked.
Issue 2 had two stories. The first one started off with Captain Al and Kirnik getting captured by the "ghoulish" Ravenmen. Despite escaping, they failed to defeat them. An Inuit man got drunk to forget his woes. After Captain Al fought off the guy, Al sobered him up and gave an anti-alcohol speech. The second one introduces the "curvaceous beauty" Lois Lane Alley and Al fell in love with her. However, Billy Vermin (who appeared in the first issue) knocked out Al and kidnapped Lois. Captain Al (dazed) drank some alcohol, which caused him to become drunk. Meanwhile, two Inuit men actually attempt to save Ms. Alley, but were captured.
Issue 3 began when issue 2 left off. Billy's scheme was to hold Lois for a ransom. His henchmen had to prevent Vermin from attacking Lois for rejecting his advances. Billy got drunk and became unconscious. Captain Al became sober and (while fighting a hangover) headed toward the villains. The alcohol sapped his power. As such, the Captain was easily overpowered and was tied to a chair. After Billy tempted Al with alcohol, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested Billy. Upset by his failure, he got drunk. After Al told her to go away, Lois got run over by muskoxen. No, I am not making this up. Al went to Inuvik and got even more drunk. When he wakes up, he found himself in a drunk tank and welfare gave him $50. At a transient center, the captain played a card game, got more drunk and lost his cash. The next day, the captain saw a fire and a bearded guy screaming "Burn Baby burn!" Suspicious, Captain Al followed the bearded man. At his house, the bearded man got drunk, which transformed him into the super villain Firey Fritz. Learning about a $1000 reward for Fritz's captured, he captured Firey Fritz, who turned out to be Captain Al's father (who sneaked on to a spaceship and was marooned on Earth). Despite this, Al still gave him up to the authorities.
Titular Character
Captain Al Cohol was born on the planet Barkelda. This planet was an utopia except for the fact the natives never learned to moderate alcohol use. Captain Al (drunk) accidentally caused a fire that killed his family. He volunteered for a space mission in order to take his mind off his woes. The mission's spaceship accidentally crashed on Earth thus trapping Al there. Al claimed to a teetotaller (a person who tries to not drink alcohol). However, he gets drunk at every possible opportunity.
Al Cohol's powers are poorly-defined. He claims to have super strength due to Earth's lighter gravity. However, this ability is inconstantly portrayed. Despite being a superhero, Al Cohol rarely succeeds in doing anything heroic. The only time is succeeds is when there is payment.
References:
http://shrineodreams.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/captain-alcohol/

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