Captain 3-D

Real Name: Unknown

Identity/Class: Humanoid gifted with superior intellect and physical attributes.

Occupation: Protector of humanity against the insidious evil of the Cat People

Affiliations: Various Guardians of the Book of D through the millennia; Danny Davis (current guardian)

Enemies: The Cat People

Known Relatives: None known

Aliases: The Chosen One

Base of Operations: Wherever the Book of D is stored

First Appearance: Captain 3-D #1 (Harvey Comics, December 1953)

Powers/Abilities: Able to survive for millennia stored within the Book of D, only able to be released by the special glasses. Fitter and faster than normal humands.

History: "Thru space! Thru time and into the third dimension leaps Captain 3-D"

Around fifty thousand years ago, when mankind was still killing one another with flint axes, two great and opposing civilisations had arisen. One were a race of humanoids, perhaps a sub-species of mankind, perhaps not; the other were a feline race, a Cat People. Seeking to rule the world and enslave all the other races, the Cat People began a war with their only real rivals, dropping devastating D bombs, many times more powerful than atomic bombs, on their foes. The humanoid civilisation, unprepared for such a vicious attack, were all but wiped out, with a handful of survivors hanging on in underground bases. One of their scientists, Doctor Five, devised a way that one of them might survive, to defend humanity and continue to oppose the feline destroyers; the Chosen One would be kept in a sort of "two-dimensional half life" in a specially prepared book, the Book of D, able to be released for brief periods by someone wearing a special pair of glasses. Dr.Five entrusted the book to a group of primitive men, who promised to guard it. Shortly afterwards the Cat People shot down the scientist's transport, leaving the Chosen One the last survivor of his race.

Fate stepped in at this point. Mankind would have been helpless before the might of the Cat People, and even with the help of the Chosen One, would surely have been enslaved, had a devastating earthquake not destroyed the Cat People's continent, sinking it forever beneath the ocean. The handful of survivors were forced to hide in disguise amongst mankind, although they never gave up their dreams of conquest. Knowing that in their weakened state the Chosen One might be able to lead humanity against them, they hunted for the Book of D, but every time they managed to catch up with the Book's guardian and kill him, someone else would spirit the Book away to safety and become the new guardian.

In the early 1950's a strange, badly injured man stumbled into the book shop that teenager Danny Davis had inherited. Probably feeling the best place to hide a book would be in a shop full of them, he handed Danny a book and begged him "Keep this one. Never sell it." Seconds later he is shot in the back by a man wielding a strange weapon, and his body literally disolves before the youth's unbelieving eyes. Danny tackles the killer, managing to gain possession of the weapon, at which point the assailant flees in terror. He runs to a nearby car, and informs the inhabitant that the kid has taken his Gamma Gun. Disgusted, the man in the car fires a similar weapon at his incompetant ally, killing him the same way he had killed the man in Danny's store.

One of the cat peopleWith the police refusing to believe any of Danny's outrageous story, the boy has no idea what to do next, except to examine the strange book. Doing so, he finds a pair of strange glasses inside, like the ones you get when you go to a 3-D movie. The only other thing inside the book is an illustration of a strangely dressed man. Looking at the picture through the glasses, Danny is astounded when the man springs to life off the page. His arrival is a timely one, as it coincides with the arrival of more gunmen, who identify the man from the book as Captain 3-D. In spite of being outnumbered he easily subdues them, and then he has Danny look at them through the same strange glasses which unleashed him. Danny now sees the attackers as being feline - Cat People! Explaining his origins, the Chosen One, who has become known over the years as Captain 3-D, tells Danny that he is the new guardian of the Book of D. Danny realises that this means he is now a target, but Captain 3-D reassures him that he will not be alone. And with that he returns to his sleep in the Book.

Comments: Captain 3D was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The comic was notable for being an early attempt to do 3D comics.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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