A hero published by Marvel Comics. Captain Ultra first appeared in Fantastic Four #177 in 1976.

Few heroes are in the Marvel Universe are so universally derided as Captain Ultra which is saying something for a publishing house that has such weak heroes as Sleepwalker, Speedball the Masked Marvel, and Darkhawk. In the case of Captain Ultra, the fact that he has never been taken seriously by anyone who has written him is the chief issue for the character. That and his costume...

Captain Ultra first appeared during an open call for a fourth member of the villain team the Frightful Four. Seeking to fill the place left open by Medusa, the Wizard, Trapster and the Sandman put an add in the paper looking for superhumans to come and try out for the team. One of those answering the ad was Captain Ultra.

Ultra's powers were, while not impressive, respectable. He possessed the ability to fly as well as superhuman strength. Topped off with the ability to see through objects, Captain Ultra was clearly the favorite as powers went. There were however a couple of drawbacks to his membership. First, when a match is lit within his vision, Captain Ultra fell into a dead faint. It has never been established whether this is a power generated weakness or a phobia, but it pretty much put him out of the running as a member of the Frightful Four, since one of his likely foes completely combusted on a regular basis. The other issue was, of course, his costume...

Ultra next appeared during a three issue arc in the comic the Defenders. Through the efforts of a secondary character named Dollar Bill, an open call went out for members of the hero community to become part of the Defenders. Of the great number of secondary heroes that appeared to become members of the team, Captain Ultra was arrived on the scene to claim a spot. When a group of supervillains began menacing New York City, many of the heroes with Ultra in their midst set off to defeat the evildoers. By the end of the arc, nearly all of the heroes had opted not to become members of the team, including Captain Ultra, despite the fact that he was never offered membership, probably due to his costume...

Captain Ultra has had a couple of one shot deals in the years since. He has appeared with Thor in the thunder gods comic and has been part of a back up story in the Marvel Presents comics of the 1980's. Though not much else has been revealed about his origin, it has been disclosed that he is formally trained as a plumber. The origin of his powers has yet to be revealed as has that of his costume...

The costume in question is the worst amalgamation of costume parts ever assembled. Though description witll hardly do it justice, I will attempt to give you a glimpse of this awful mess. The chest of the costume is bright red with what appears to be a particularly long dickie with a blue collar and the front flap being orange, black, and yellow. The sleeves of the costume are bright yellow with green piping around at the shoulders. The gloves are bright red with green cuffs, while the helmet is green and yellow with blue eyepieces. The belt of the costume orange while the pants are blue and orange. The boots are green, black and yellow and the whole thing is topped off a blue cape. It has recently been described to me as looking like the result of an explosion in a paint factory.

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