Captain Evening

Captain Evening
Character Information
Species	Human Zombie (one universe)
Gender	Male
Residence	Reality Z-25 31-H Unnamed universe
Occupation	Superhero
Behind the Scenes
First seen in	COMIC: Tales To Behold
Copyright	Paul Hoppe (?)
Index	List of appearances

Captain Evening was a major superhero of Reality Z-25 31-H and the leader of the Odds, a team of superbeings. At one point in its history, the team included a shifter claiming to be Jenny Everywhere, but who was in actuality Jenny Nowhere. There existed other Captains Evening in other universes.

Description

Physical appearance

Captain Evening was a muscular white man with a square jaw. He was never seen without his black helmet with an opaque visor, which left only the lower half of his face visible, and whose forehead was adorned with a picture of the Moon. In full superhero regalia, Evening also wore a black form-fitting outfit, lighter-coloured gloves and boots, and a cape. (COMIC: Tales To Behold)

Personality

Captain Evening broadly acted like the epitome of the noble hero. However, he was criticised (even by his own enemies) for his tendency to stand around making grand moralising monologue instead of actually helping with the matter at hand, even if he usually eventually fixed the problem. (COMIC: Tales To Behold) This bad habit aside, he was quick-witted in a crisis, able to quickly assess a situation and strategise, although he was not an especially brilliant tactician. (COMIC: Journey Out Of Misery)

Powers & abilities

Captain Evening was skilled at physical fighting and at flying his Skycicle. He also allegedly had actual superpowers, although he used them very rarely, (COMIC: Enter–the Legion of Light!) one of them appearing to be increased resilience: he was seen withstanding a direct blast of fire from the Cosmic Solution with no visible injury, although he was left dazed by the experience. He also carried a handheld laser-gun of some description. (COMIC: Journey Out Of Misery)

Biography

In Reality Z-21 31-H

Origins

Captain Evening had a mother. He claimed to have been given superpowers by “people from the future”, kickstarting his superhero career, although he used Professor Madison's gadgets as often as these fairly nebulous powers in his activities as a superhero. (COMIC: Enter–the Legion of Light!)

Meeting "Jenny Everywhere"

Captain Evening meets “Jenny”. (COMIC: (COMIC: Tales To Behold)

Long after his enmity with the mad scientist Doctor Brain was well-established, Captain Evening was patrolling the skies of his home city at night when his attention was attracted by chaos seemingly coming from an abandoned building. It turned out to have been used by Doctor Brain as the location of an interdimensional portal, from which Doctor Brain had summoned a monstrosity which he couldn't defeat. Evening managed to prevent the entity from crossing over from its home dimension by removing the Portal's power source, which was none other than a woman, who introduced herself as Jenny. (COMIC: Tales To Behold)

Jenny Nowhere shifts a startled Captain Evening to another universe. (COMIC: For Whom The Toll Bells)

He brought Jenny to his home, where she took a shower and then claimed that she was Jenny Everywhere. As they were getting to know each other, however, they were summoned to the Captain's belltower by the arrival of a Griffin called Merv, who'd crashed into the bell mid-flight. It turned out that Merv had been magically summoned by Doctor Brain and his witch daughter some weeks back, and magically cursed to remain in this world until he could kill Captain Evening — only for the two villains to neglect to tell the Griffin how Captain Evening might be found or what he looked like.

Honourable to a fault, the Captain confessed his identity to the Griffin, but Jenny saved his life by temporarily shifting him to a parallel universes populated with zombies while giving Merv the zombie Captain Evening to “kill”, thus fulfilling his magical compulsion. She then brought a very confused Captain Evening back. Grateful, Merv vowed to remain in this world even now that he was free, so as to help Jenny and the Captain get revenge on the Brains. (COMIC: For Whom The Toll Bells)

After Professor Madison visited, she granted the Captain the use of a new device she'd built which allowed one to detect the opening of transdimensional portals. Rushing to the site where one had been detected, the Captain and friends did not run into Doctor Brain, but rather into a battle between a group of strippers helped by a living skeleton on one side, and the Legion of Light and the demon Red Vicious on the other. Though the strippers already had things mostly under control, the Captain helped finish to tie the villains up, and lectured them on their bigoted, self-righteous ways. He then took the disassembled Armstrong Fatbuckle back to his base where he and his friends helped put him back together, after which he offered him the chance to join the team (an offer Armstrong gladly accepted). (COMIC: Enter–the Legion of Light!)

With the Odds

Captain Evening, Merv the Griffin and Jenny in the sewers of New York. (COMIC: Redistribution)

The unlikely grouping of the Captain, Jenny, Armstrong and Merv the Griffin became known as the superhero team of “the Odds”. Within a few weeks of its formation, the Odds were summoned by the New York Chief of Police, who was desperate to solve the mystery of the “reverse robberies” which had been popping up all across the city. The Odds agreed to help and discovered that the culprit was Armagedda, who was hiding out in the sewers and had plans to bring down human civilisations. The Captain ordered an ill-advised charge on Armagedda and a henchmen; he, Merv and Armstrong were easily captured, but Armstrong managed to distract Armagedda while the still-free Jenny worked out a way to exploit Armagedda's weakness to magic (after Armstrong tricked her into taking human form, Jenny shifted her to another universe using the Magic Sword of the Legion of Light). (COMIC: Redistribution)

Captain Evening talking with Glow Girl. (COMIC: Glow Girl!)

Intent on growing the team further, Evening visited Glow Girl on the set of a movie she was filming, though she was uninterested in joining the Odds, being happy with her new career and having therefore left superheroics behind. However, she did agree to lend a hand should her rather unique, but infrequently useful, superpowers ever prove themselves necessary to a crisis at hand. (COMIC: Glow Girl!) Shortly after, back at the Fortress, the team were taking showers; Jenny asked for the Captain's help when Armstrong Fatbuckle walked in on her. It turned out, however, that she didn't want him to scold Armstrong about the honest mistake itself, but rather, needed his advice because she had attempted to shift in her surprise, only to find that she couldn't. The Captain helped her to the guess that it was the effort of banishing Armagedda that had temporarily sapped her powers, and that they would soon return. (COMIC: Shower Intermission)

Trip to the United Kingdom

Captain Evening confronts one of Insecto's Insect People. (COMIC: Battle of Britain)

The Odds were called away to England to deal with a city that was being taken over by Insect People. With Jenny unable to shift, they travelled by aeroplane, which meant, to the Captain's irritation, that he had to do with his Skycycle, which he couldn't take through customs. On the way, he phoned Professor Madison to ask her and Rodney to house-sit for him while he was gone. Arriving at their destination, they were greeted by Chief Inspector Dennis of Scotland Yard, who explained that the Insect People were not mindless warriors, and were in fact not breaking the law, but that they mingled with the population and seemed to do their best to be as irritating as possible in non-actionable ways. Their leader was not returning any of the human authorities' attempts to talk.

Though disappointed the adventure wasn't more “epic”, the Captain agreed to lead the Odds up the giant anthill and into the Insects' hive to try and talk things out with them. The Insect guards did their best to be irritating as was par for the course, and when the Odds tried to cut through the labyrinthine waiting line through which the Insects wanted them to go before they met the “manager”, a fight finally broke out. During this fight, Captain Evening received a phone call from Madison, (COMIC: Battle of Britain) who wanted his and the Odds' help to besiege the Bureau of Singularity's headquarters at the Nexus of Realities. The Captain told her that he and the Odds were otherwise engaged at the moment, but that she could engage his computer's Omega Program to summon some of his other superhuman allies to her aid with his blessing. (COMIC: Singularity War, Battle of Britain)

Finally making their way to the “manager”'s office, the Odds confronted the leader of the Insect People, Insecto. Playing to his ego, Jenny managed to convince him to do away with his scheme to irritate the humans into leaving town out of sheer aggravation, and instead stand for mayor openly in a democratic election. He was defeated in a landslide, in large part because the Insect People didn't have the right to vote. The Captain found this resolution anticlimactic, and was easily convinced by Merv the Griffin to stay in England for a little while yet, particularly after Madison phoned him again to assure him that the situation she'd been dealing with was now under control. (COMIC: Battle of Britain) Merv had made the suggestion because he had felt a strange magical signature.

To his and the Odds' bafflement, the Blue Knight kneels before Captain Evening. (COMIC: Encore)

Using Professor Madison's device, Merv was able to pinpoint its location to under an ancient monolith, which he lifted. Underneath, they found the remains of the Blue Knight, an Arthurian knight made immortal by his magical armour, who had been trapped under the boulder for centuries, magically kept alive. In thanks for their freeing him, the Blue Knight quickly pledged his services to the Odds, bowing to Captain Evening as his new “liege”. After they discovered that, over the centuries, the Blue Knight had degenerated into an incorporeal spirit animating a hollow armour, Merlin appeared out of nowhere and transferred the Blue Knight's spirit into the body of his last descendant. To deal with the confusing situation, (COMIC: Encore) the Captain called Madison once again, whereupon she informed him that he had completely missed the adventure she had phoned him about earlier. (COMIC: Singularity War, Encore)

Fighting the Cosmic Solution

The Cosmic Solution opens fire on Robot Madison and Captain Evening. (COMIC: Journey Out Of Misery)

After a robot known as the Cosmic Solution began attacking New York City (having actually been sent by the Cosmic Order to carry out the destruction of humanity following Armagedda's failure), Robot Madison summoned as many heroes as she could. Although a small team including Mysto the Space-Wizard, Terry Tornado, the Big Bad Wolf, Red Riding Hood and the Human Tree got there first, the Captain soon answered the call, leading most of the Odds into battle on his Skycycle — the team consisting, in this instance, of him, Armstrong Fatbuckle, Merv the Griffin, Centennia and the Blue Knight.

He quickly took charge, ordering Centennia, Merv, the Human Tree, and anyone else noted for physical strength to try and keep the robot contained while he worked out a longer-term solution with Robot Madison. With Hank Richards's surprise contribution, they managed to work out a plan to distract the robot and drain power from him, but this progress was all undone when the Protectors showed up late on the scene and ignored the other heroes' advice, hitting the Robot directly and therefore powering him back up, stronger than ever. The Captain received a direct blast of fire from the robot's now gigantic fingers, as did Robot Madison, and was significantly frazzled by the experience, although not visibly injured. When the Cosmic Solution eventually returned to outer space of its own accord after being called off by yet another agent of the Cosmic Order, the Captain was barely standing, helped to his feet by Merv. (COMIC: Journey Out Of Misery)

Zombie Captain Evening

“Zombie Captain Evening” shortly after being brought to Reality Z-25 31-H. (COMIC: For Whom The Toll Bells)

In one universe where “everyone was a zombie”, Captain Evening was no exception, looking like a dull-witted, undead version of his Reality Z-25 31-H self. In this latter reality, when faced with Merv the Griffin, who was magically compelled to “kill Captain Evening”, “Jenny Everywhere” quickly switched out her Captain Evening for the zombie one. Merv hit him with what would have been a fatal blow, satisfying the magical compulsion and therefore freeing him. She then brought the real Captain Evening back. Notably, the zombie Captain Evening then just wandered off and was not actually returned to his homeworld. (COMIC: For Whom The Toll Bells)

The “zombie” Captain lurches his way to fame in a more lively universe than he's used to. (COMIC: Interview With A Superhero)

Still having heroic instincts like the living version of the Captain in spite of everything, the zombie Captain thus proceeded to try to fight crime and be generally heroic in the living New York City. After he stopped an armed robbery in the East Village, he was reported upon by the Hero Hour TV program, who described him as a “strange doppelganger” of the one who was to them the “real” Captain Evening. (COMIC: Interview With A Superhero)

Recurring elements of The Cosmic Beholder

The Odds The Blue Knight • Captain Evening • Centennia • Armstrong Fatbuckle • Merv the Griffin • Jenny Everywhere • Jenny Nowhere • Jung-La The Terrific Two & associates Kelly • Jenkins • Professor Madison • Robot Madison • Rodney Rabbit • The Mutant Villains Armagedda • Bureau of Singularity • Captain Perfect • Doctor Brain • The Devil • Hexia • Insecto • Jesse Brain • New Protectors (Kate Kerrigan) Other characters Alicia • Babs • The Big Bad Wolf • Glow Girl • The Human Tree • Mysto the Space-Wizard • Red Riding Hood • Terry Tornado Items Doctor Brain's Portal • Fortress of Evening • Magic Sword of the Legion of Light • Odd Mobile • Professor Madison's device • Skycicle