Congrats once again to Will Boyer! For participating in the SuperFogeys 5th Anniversary Celebration and winning the drawing, he gets this coveted cameo in today’s strip! Shame on him for taking advantage of Castle Anthrax in its worst hour. Shaaaaaame.
Monday’s strip generated A LOT of comments and opinions. I was blown away. Now that you’ve seen Captain Spectacular’s reaction to Spy Gal’s decision, what do you think?
I asked Gwen to compile some of the great comments she’s been posting this week into this little essay for your enjoyment. However, this should be not be seen as an endorsement of her ideas. I’m also not saying she’s wrong. I believe such things are always up the reader. This is just one view. What do you think?
“The pop psychology literature calls it the impostor phenomenon. The subliminal tape that plays endlessly in Don’s head goes like this:
I don’t belong here…I’m clever and hard–working enough to have faked them out all these years and they all think I’m great but I know better…and one of these days they’re going to catch on…they’ll ask the right question and find out that I really don’t understand…and then…and then….
The tape recycles at this point, because the consequences of them (teachers, classmates, friends, parents,…) figuring out that you are a fraud are too awful to contemplate.” — Felder, Richard, “Impostors Everywhere.” Chem. Engr. Education, 22(4), 168-169 (Fall 1988).
When Dr. Klein went to find Captain Spectacular and bring him to Valhalla, he was a shattered wreck, sitting in the dark, utterly without faith in himself in any fashion or manner whatsoever. It had little or nothing to do with the loss of his mobility, though being crippled was a symptom of it, the cause was deeper. He explained it as being because he had driven Tom away, “driven everyone away”. Cap has never felt like a hero. Not really. He’s always felt like a betrayer, a fraud. He has a massive case — one might say a heroic case — of impostor syndrome, a real condition where someone does not feel they have truly earned or deserve what they have achieved or who and what they are, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. He feels that he got what Dr. Rocket should have received, just because they swapped the medal — his best friend in the world was shortchanged because of a mistake. He feels his great power isn’t deserved, that Dr. Rocket was the one who should have had it, and he is an impostor. Perhaps he should have had what Dr. Rocket had instead, but he didn’t get it. He got the wrong piece of cake.
Even Dr. Rocket knew it. When it happened, he knew he’d been betrayed. Cap was in the first flush of powers run amok, strength and eye beams blasting Jorbons left and right. But could he also have had his hearing cranked up at the same moment, and heard Dr. Rocket’s bitter whisper? I’ll bet he did, even if only subconsciously. This would help fuel his feelings of being an impostor. Cap knew that Dr. Rocket had never forgiven him for receiving the powers that should have been his. I believe Cap never forgave himself, either. The bitterness and jealousy robbed him of his best friend, and Cap blamed himself for it, because it was his insistence that young Laban wear the medal on that fateful day.
The Healer fixed his back, but he never felt he deserved that, either — he didn’t even yell “Bingo!” when he won the game over and over. He didn’t even notice that he’d won. While he could walk again, what had kept him sitting in the dark, pantsless, eyes empty, drinking, hadn’t been touched. It still hasn’t. He doesn’t feel like a hero. He never really did. The guys from Th3rd World convinced him to be one, and the Money Man convinced him to join a team, but he never really felt he had earned it. So while he’d punch a hole in a wall, because he was strong, he’d let others solve the PROBLEMS, because, in his mind, they were the REAL heroes. He was just a circus strongman with an undeserved title who kept disappointing the people he cared about.
He said that stuff about being the greatest superhero who ever lived with irony. He doesn’t believe it, down deep inside. He got his powers by cheating his best friend, and has always felt like a fraud…and now, he finally gets to stop, legitimately, because he’s retired. That’s why he went to Valhalla. It was a chance to stop.
Cap hasn’t felt like a hero in a long, long time, and Lumbering Jack just sort of put the cherry on top for him, made him stop and look at himself real close for far too long. He didn’t like what he saw, and he doesn’t really think anyone else should, either.
That’s probably why he doesn’t stop the tea-drinking hairpile that calls himself “Captain Spectacular 2″ from using his name in vain. He probably thinks that festering moron is a better hero than he ever was.
But now we a very odd situation, the self-named “greatest superhero of all time” sitting in front of a one-armed bandit, refusing flatly to be heroic. The building is falling down around his ears, his fiancee has just walked out on him, and still he refuses. This is not a gambling addiction. This is fear. This is denial. This is avoidant behavior, bordering on dissociative. He never wanted to be a hero, he didn’t want powers, he wanted to serve the gods of his people well and piously, and in trying to save his best friend from beatings and torture, all he succeeded in doing was rob him of his due. His friend is bitter and jealous of him as a result, and he has powers he hates, and feels insecure about having. He was convinced by the Money Man to be in a heroic team, but he couldn’t prevent the Money Man’s death at Soviet Sam’s hands. Other heroes have to deal with the “can’t be everywhere” burden. He has it too, combined with believing he never deserved to try.
What makes it even worse is that he has always believed that his own sidekick, Jerry is utterly powerless. It isn’t true, but he doesn’t know that. And now, Jerry is miraculously walking, proof that Jerry is more worthy than him. After all, he needed the intervention of the Healer, while Jerry didn’t.
Captain Spectacular neither feels like a Captain, nor very Spectacular. He feels like a faker, swept along by forces he has never been able to control, wearing someone else’s suit that makes him look more spectacular than he really is. That has caused him to drive away everyone he has ever cared about, including everyone he has ever married, including his son, and his best friend. As far as he knows, his son died before his eyes and all his supposed heroism couldn’t stop it. But his best friend came back to him, and he is determined not to let false heroism drive him away again.
The powers he stole from Laban made Laban hate him. They made Cap into a shallow jerk that drove away everyone he ever cared about. Finally, he retired, and tried to let it all go. He thought he’d found someone who could love him just for HIM…but in the end, she only wanted a hero after all. That’s why he had a moment of shock and hurt when Spy Gal gave him back the ring. Not because she no longer wanted him, but because he realized why she had. He wanted someone to love Wilbur, not Captain Spectacular, and she didn’t. When he refused to be the hero, she couldn’t love him anymore, and that was okay. He didn’t love Captain Spectacular either.
Many of the comments have mentioned a gambling addiction. I don’t believe it. If he had a gambling addiction, he would be playing a lot more bingo, and would be betting on it. He’d be calling bookies to bet on football games and horse races. He isn’t. He’d also be at the card tables, or playing dice — only an idiot thinks he can game a slot machine. Cards or dice, those you might have a “system” for, but slots are just mechanical. They just take your money like a vending machine. No — he isn’t a gambling addict. He’s a heroism-phobe. He’s thrown himself into the slots with all the escapist energy of a noob throwing himself into his first raid. If he had any feeling for computers, he’d be in World of Warcraft, or playing Bronies, or building things in Second Life. Something nice and escapist.
The pivotal moment for Wilbur was his first act of heroism, when he convinced Laban to take the medal. He thought it would protect Laban, keep him from being beaten. He was willing to take the beating in Laban’s place, an act of heroism. But it went wrong — that was the day the Jorbons took them both, and subjected them to the Procedure. Because of this, Wilbur has learned to distrust his judgment when it comes to heroic acts. He leaves them up to others whenever he can, and avoids them when possible. And now, he is actively afraid to be heroic. It led to the death of his son, at the hands of a lunatic he rejected during a sidekick audition years earlier.
So what can fix this situation? Wilbur needs to learn that everyone has these feelings, that most of us at one time or another feels like a “fraud” or an “impostor”, and it isn’t a valid concern. “Fake it till you make it” is far more common than anyone ever realizes. Heroism isn’t something that happens because of powers, or Jorbon Procedures, or Voodoo rituals, or alien experiments. Heroism comes from a person or persons being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. They don’t even have to succeed, they simply have to try. He was a hero for trying to save Laban from torture, a real, honest hero, even though it didn’t work, and he didn’t have a single super power.
All he has to have is a little faith in himself, and to give himself a little break. He’s better than he knows. And the people he thinks are better than him are far more human than he thinks.
Hey all, I’ve got some exciting news today! The SuperFogeys was recently invited to join The Collective of Heroes, a webcomic collective that spotlights some of the greatest superhero webomics out there like Union of Heroes and Dynagirl!
Check out the site and the announcement about SuperFogeys joining here!
IN OTHER NEWS:
My friend Ed Power (My Cage) has a kickstarter project going with artist Melissa DeJesus to produce their graphic novel “Santa vs. Dracula” which looks like a TON of fun. If you’d like to join in the fun, head on over their Kickstarter page and check it out!
Wow, I never knew I had such a horrible gambling addiction / kleptomania. Shame on me. Shaaaaaaaaaaame!! lol
I’m loving panels 1 and 2 here because I feel that without them the last big comic could mean something entirely different. What I’m saying is, I’m glad to see Spy Gal’s reaction to this and also Cap’s in these first two panels. The next two panels seem to come abruptly (but on purpose). But I think this is acceptable as it was the means to bring Cap to the last panel where he says he’s “Good where he is.” Interested to know what’s going on in the Cap’s head right now. I have to admit I’m a little frustrated he hasn’t gone after her yet. How is it that a webcomic’s fictional characters has me feeling frustrated? I’m not sure, it’s actually a new reaction for me. I’ve been reading comics almost all my life and I just realized this is probably the first time I’ve ever been frustrated at a character’s choices. Am I that invested in the character of Captain Spectacular and his relationship with Spy Gal? Good writing, Brock, good writing.
Thanks, Will. But… you really need to get yourself to a clinic or something.
Aw, but I have a house to pay off, lol
Maybe he’s hoping the ceiling collapse will kill him? I mean, we both know it won’t. He’s really seriously determined to not do any more heroeing tho…..
No, he’s determined to WIN!
Well, when he is alone no one can judge him anymore. But he soon finds it’s not quite the fun it is. Especially with the pants. It’s not just the same with the pants man.
Also I just can’t understand why Marc’s version of Captain reminds me of David Gilmour… ..but then again he was once Brian May so I guess guitarists come natural to him…
Yes. If everyone leaves the casino then we WILL see a scene of Captain Spectacular removing his pants!
Or maybe not.
LOL, Will. I’m seeing you in a whole new light. I half expect the next panel to show Mandie clubbing you and pulling you by the collar somewhere in the background.
I… don’t really like this plot twist. There is something to be said for gambling addicts, but.. I thought that he had decided to fight after Tom was “Killed”. Now he’s spouting this “deserves a rest” garbage? And doesn’t even chase after Spygal?
…. Eh. I just.. really don’t like this twist. Cappy Spec made progress up until now, and suddnely 3 steps back?
It is kind of…surprising somehow.
I see where you’re coming from, but it’s possible Cap has real reasons for his behavior here. What does everybody else think? Is Cap acting out of character?
I would have to say, no. He’s acting pretty much the way he has right from the very beginning. The only person he has ever really trusted in Valhalla is Dr. Klein, and the last time we saw the two of them together, he slammed Cap pretty hard. So, no, I’m not at all surprised to see Cap acting this way. It’s pretty consistent with the story, and with what we know of Cap from the Origin’s stories, too.
Ehhh… I have to disagree. This isn’t the way that the story really played out Spectacular for me. Yeah, he’s sort of self-important, and glad that he’s retired, but at the same time if Spygal was upset, he seemed more likely to do something about it. This time he seems.. Almost gleeful with his negligence, something that I was giving the impression that he had actually come to terms with and gotten better with as a result. That’s why I think this one is out of character.
Honestly I would have even settled for him running out, then running back to put some sort of sign on the machine like “Out of Order” to prevent anyone from taking his seat. That would have been funny as well, and conveyed the message of “lol gamble abuse” as well. IMO, of course.
He’s not a gambling addict. He’s heroism-phobic.
Possibly both. Or he has ADD and the pretty lights and noises of the machine distract him. I can relate when it comes to video games and TV.
I sent Brock a share to a Google Doc of my expanded thoughts on the idea. We’ll see what he thinks.
I hope everyone has had a chance to read Gwen’s great guest blog, “A Psychoanalysis of Captain Spectacular.” I believe if you scroll down below these comments you’ll see it.
The more this arc goes on, the more I am convinced he’s been brain-washed. No way he’s going to sit there while all that is going on.
I really don’t know at this point. I was guessing a possibility of Dr. Rocket or Jerry having something done to him between this chapter and the end of the last chapter, while we’re busy focusing on Captain Russia – I mean, Soviet Sam, lol. But I just don’t know. I think he was himself but was too distracted by the slot machine. Now he’s busy thinking maybe. Hurt and not sure what to do. I guess Jerry was sadly right. He’s not a man of action. He likes to sit around and let things take care of themselves. Maybe if he had more of a back bone, especially when it comes to women, he’d be a better man today. If he wants to win Spy Gal back, he better act now and prove that Jerry is wrong.
We were recently reminded by another’s comment as to strip #301, I believe, where the two Swifties of future and present discuss Spy Gal doing something. I always assumed she marries Cap and Swifty doesn’t approve. But it seems apparent now that something far different may occur. Excited to see what happens. Really want to kick Wilbur in the rump right now, but excited.
Brainwashing? In the SuperFogeys universe, literally anything is possible.
CartoonistWill Has a great point in his last comment. the Captain has always shown himself to be kind of the type that isn’t REALLY a man of action and prefers to wait until most things kind of fall in place. Where as Jerry has ALWAYS wanted to be a man of action and never been given the opportunity…
The writing is phenomenal like Will i’m actually a little frustrated with the captain just sitting there. His whole world just walked out on him i’d personally show a little more concern…
I have to admit i’ve been more engrossed in this story arc than i have ANY other arc, it’s really shown a totally different side to a LOT of the characters, from Swifty (both of ‘em) to the redemption of soviet sam, so this…nonchalant really don’t care attitude of the captain. Keep up the great works guys!!!
Thanks, drew! I really see this story arc as a culmination of everything I’ve been doing with SF so far and I’m glad your interest is at an all-time high. I think it’s okay to feel frustration and anger towards characters–it’s investment that’s key. I know the direction this chapter is taking isn’t a hit with everyone, but it’s just one more step in the larger story I’m telling. Much as it is a culmination, there’s soooo much more to come.
The direction is fine to me. I think it’s just that Cap’s actions in and attitude in this arc will make more sense and be more enjoyable digested with the earlier arcs and in a lesser amount of time, instead of over a period of several months. I think that’s what’s been throwing people off. People like me. Maybe that’s why people feel that he is acting out of character? So, uh, I’ll be looking forward to hopefully getting the complete SF trade one day if you guys make one, but until then we all have the archives to go back to.
Wow, what a strip today. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it but this is my view on what I’m seeing here.
As she walks away he does nothing cause I feel he honestly doesn’t feel he deserves her or happiness at this point, thus he’s just letting life go by and not fighting for anything. When Will comes up and talks to him, Will’s words touch two different things to me, so let me break them down as I feel them.
1. “The Whole Place is coming down”. Sure it’s a physical place coming down, but also the Captains world has been cracking around him and to him emotionally things are coming down as well, so those words can also point to Cap’s personal life coming down.
2. “Get yours while you can”. This to me speaks to Captain about Spy Gal, his love who is now walking away. Sure he could jump up and “Get his while he can.” but instead he stays where he’s at in his own self loathing.
Thus his last words “Nah, I’m good right here.” resonate with me showing that he has officially lost his will to fight back against himself and is ready to just accept that life’s not going to get any better.
I’ve known that the Captain has been down for sometime but he always continues to turn around and I’ve never allowed myself to see him as someone battling depression, but I do now. Something has to drastically change for him to turn around, but he has to first want to make himself snap out of it. I know that’s a long comment, but that’s what I felt when I saw today’s strip.
Todd, sometimes you are too insightful for your own good. You’ve taken a simple strip with simple dialogue and seen much more there than is on the surface.
Ain’t storytelling fun?
I’m a guru of spiritual wisdom! … And I steal poker chips! Weee!
I haven’t read all the comments here (too hard to read the black on blue as we’ve discussed on twitter) but I wonder if anyone can really consider how a person can react to the kinds of loss the Captain has experienced in such a short period of time. Loss and grief can change you. Especially the “survivor’s guilt”.
Right now I’m more angry with Spy Gal than with Cap. Leave him alone to work things out. At least he isn’t allowing her to manipulate him into doing what he simply can’t do right now. She does have a manipulative, controlling side.
That they love each other I have no doubt. That doesn’t mean they can have a decent marriage.
This is epic storytelling. Thanks Brock.
Working on the colors… I promise…
You’re right about love not being enough for a decent marriage. People have to want the same things. It doesn’t seem like Cap and Spy Gal are on the same page in that way.
The text is fine on my monitor. Until Brock works out the colors, adjusting your monitor’s colors and brightness level might help.
Marc, if you’re reading the comments, bravo for panel 2. It says much more than anyone’s comments could say.
Brock, add me to the list of those who cannot really read black on blue.
Noted, sir. Working on it.
Wow, I haven’t commented in a while, but I’ve been keeping up. I’m kind of afraid of this turning into an “Ooh he’s messed up his relationship and regrets it, then proves himself and beats Jerry” thing. Obviously there’s going to be other stuff going on that will keep things interesting. But I am a Captain Spectacular fan and can only hope this gets resolved in a satisfying way. Knowing Brock, it most likely will be a good end, whether he gets SG or not, so I’m optimistic.
Hey man, good to hear from you again! Wondering where you’d gotten to. The end of this chapter is approaching and I can promise a wrap-up to this Vegas stuff. What that means I’ll leave for you to discover…
This seems to be about who CS is as a person, more than anything else (gambling addiction included—which, honestly, doesn’t exist in my opinion). I think it just boils down to what he feels when he hears of some needed heroic act. I think he feels anguish over a lot of the things that have happened to him in his life, from the Jorbons through his marriages, to Tom, to now. I think the world (Spy Gal included) is moving too fast for him, and he’s finally taking a step back and thinking for once.
Does that excuse his behavior here? No. But I can see a part of myself in him, in that some days I wake up and think, “I need to slow down and take a breather.”
In the Captain’s case, he has lived a life of spectacular events. Is it so wrong to yearn for something ordinary?
That’s the question isn’t it? Does Cap’s lifetime of service and sacrifice mean he deserves to take this break and have this attitude? Some say yes and some say no.
Not time for me to weigh in one way or another.
I guess you’re right. I didn’t think of that before. That maybe Cap’s refusal to return to superheroics is actually in reality him running away from the regrets of his past. He’s screwed up too bad in the past being a superhero and he wants to run away from that. No more. I can relate. I thought I was going to be a missionary and was training for it, but got kicked out of Bible College. To top it off I was always kind of legalistic when I should have been loving but just didn’t get it. Among tons of other failures. So I avoided that for a few years because I was afraid to fail again. I was a prisoner to regret and sadness and for a while was not able to break free from the bondage of fear of repeating my past. For me, I was more comfortable staying out of the battle and off the battle field than engaging the enemy – what I was running from – head on. But in the end I was the only one holding me back, preventing me from succeeding. Maybe the Cap also feels depression in this sense that he is so afraid of failure that he is afraid to try? He had a few or more years to think and heal and to forgot, but recently his best friend and son died (or seemingly died). Well, the shapeshifter who he thought was his best friend but who ended up becoming a best friend, that is… And maybe the knowledge that he didn’t really let the REAL Dr. Rocket die – but someone he didn’t even know – maybe that helped him move on. But thinking that he lost his son, before his very eyes, and did nothing at that moment or later – even if he is or thinks he is doing the right thing by leaving justice in the hands of the heroically inept CS2 or others – this is tearing him up inside, causing old wounds of failure to open up again, and now he is afraid. He is afraid to act, afraid to be a hero, but ultimately afraid to fail. He feels that his actions can only lead to absolutely nothing but failure. And so he sits. And sits. And sits. Failing because he doesn’t act at all. And he knows this, only adding to his feelings of regret and depression, worsening his state, and making it even more crippling and disabilitating to his spirit than it already was.
OK, here is my latest take on this (which will change after the next update).
To be a hero, you don’t have to be a man of action, despite what Spy Gal seems to think. As Lehi the Space Pig said at the beginning of the chapter: “All you have to do be a hero is just get over yourself.” I don’t know if Cap is completely over himself, but I think he is now doing something he thinks is the right thing. He is deliberately breaking up with Spy Gal and pushing her (metaphorically) into Jerry’s arms.
The whole gambling addiction stuff, even though I think I might have been the first one to say it, has never really rang true. Even the bit in the airplane where Cap acted like he did not want Spy Gal and himself to hang out with Jerry seems, in retrospect, like an act. I think that Cap thinks that Jerry really would be better for Spy Gal than he is.
No, he doesn’t know who Jerry really is. No, he wasn’t expecting a robot attack. But Cap is, like most heroes, an opportunist, and he has realized that there is no time like the present to do what he thinks will, in the long run, make Spy Gal happier. He is staying out of this fight on purpose so that Jerry can impress her.
So much for the theory of the day.
Wow, now that’s a wildly different take. Nice work seeing it from a completely different angle. Is it possible Cap has noticed Jerry’s moves towards Spy Gal?
im trusting that brock will surprise us all. but right now very confused in cap’s actions or lack there of
Gwen (QuarkTime)’s psycho analysis of our dear Captain has helped me gain the peace of mind I need to stop wondering and frustrating for a while.
Time to play.. list the loose ends! Thats right, there are several loose ends that I dont think many people think about that I think will be VERY important to come.
Such as, the fact Tom is still quite alive, just trapped in a room with no doors.. no windows… hmm.. Point is, Jerry took the effort to ensure that he did not kill Tom, but needed to make sure Dr Rocket thought he had held up his end of the bargain.
Lets not forget Zurida, who is destined to make a return to take out Spygirl. What will happen if she comes back to find CS now walking and able to take her side once more?
Or Mega Matt…who should be in the present time SOMEWHERE.. knowing of what Swifty warned him about Jerry, he would have literally had plenty of time watching, waiting.. and preparing for the right moment to save the day! Who needs superpowers when you have accidental time displacement?
And will we see the Society of Heroes show up? I mean, come on, this IS their job isnt it?
But to those who are psycoanalyzing CS.. can you point out the time he stopped being a true hero? Even at the formation of Society of Heroes he would rather sit back and let things happen. A hint can be seen in the origin of Harvey. Look close. Dr Rocket used to be a hero, and a “Sidekick” to CS! listen to how the kids describe Dr Rocket and CS! Dr Rocket, his close friend, turning away from the hero business would have been the beginning of the downfall of the Captain. Note also at this time he is married to Samantha Roberts as well. So looking back to the Six wives of the Captain, You can see in the next to last panel, Dr Rocket is in Hero gear, but last panel he is in his standard Dr Gear. My bet is that last panel happened within a week of Dr Rocket turning evil. Losing your best friend to the dark side, then seeing your best friend kill your wife? Yea.. right there is the start. Everything else is a symptom of THIS moment.
So why is the Captain gone downhill? He is the brawn, Dr Rocket has always been the brains. Remember, CS was kept in the dark to dull his wit and his mind. He was supposed to get the intelligence enhancement but never did. Without Dr Rocket, CS was just brawn with no direction. And without Samantha Roberts, he had no body to pull him up.
Good points. I didn’t forget those loose strings though.
As for the Captain, who can say? I think you bring up some extremely valid points however. Couple it with what Gwen of Quarktime theorizes and it jives together even further. Guess a lot of things have happened in Wilbur’s life that he has had a hard time getting over.
Note: CS didn’t love Samantha though. She loved him, so maybe she did pull him up? I dunno how accurate that thought is, but I guess you are right.