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And finally, how about another sneak peek? We've got tons of art and characters in this book, so there's plenty of room for lots of sneak peeks! This time, we'll feature more art by Jim Scanlin. You know you want to pledge the Ultimate Hero level and get that custom art by Jim!

Captain V (a Golden Age hero)

Really Theodore Morris

A part of the Vanguard of America

Based out of New York City, New York

Worked as an insurance salesman

Looks Captain V is of a average height and weight and sports the military look his name implies. He wears a red half-mask that allows his black hair to spill out of the top and his brown eyes are covered with a pair of old aviator-style goggles. He wears a green “button across” vest with gold trim and tassels on the shoulders and a large red “V” on the front. His uniform is completed by leather gloves and boots and red pants.

Active during the Golden Age

Known History If you’ve ever had one of those moments where everything slows down and starts to go in slow motion, you have a good idea of what life is like for Captain V. While everyone thinks that he is a speedster, the reality of the situation is that he is a speed thief. He leaches the kinetic energy off of anything to slow it down - people, bullets, cars, you name it.

Ted Morris was a normal guy working as an insurance salesman before the war. After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted along with hundreds of thousands of other young men into the Army. During the fighting in France, Ted was caught in an ambush but the bullets that were coming at him were moving so slow that he could easily get out of their way and shoot the enemy soldiers. Later, his fellow soldiers said he was moving too quick for them to see him. This type of thing happened a few more times before Ted figured out that he was able steal speed. He wasn’t moving any faster than he normally would be; he was slowing everything around him down.

He reported this to his commanding officer and, once they discovered that he wasn’t pulling a fast one, he got plopped on the next ship back home. The government needed these new superhumans at home rather than risking them in a shooting war. The government wanted him for a group of these new supers to act in the best interests of the nation, especially if it involved tracking down Nazi agents.

He started his career as Captain Velocity (the name he picked himself), but his allies called him Captain V for short. In time, the public thought the V stood for Victory, as was the slogan of the day. Everything was Victory gardens and Victory pies, so now they had a Victory Captain. Ted just settled on Captain V, and eventually ended up leading the Vanguard of America into the annals of history.

Psychology Captain V is a fervent defender of democracy. Unlike Cowboy Commando who tempers his beliefs with pragmatism, Ted can often let his fervor get the better of him and cloud his judgment in his rush to categorize everything as black or white. That fervor also extends to his hatred of the communists and will often let his zeal blind him to extenuating circumstances.

Known Abilities Ted Morris can slow things or people down while it appears that he is moving at super speed. He can generate a field that saps speed from any living creature or vehicle in it that Captain V chooses. It really wouldn’t be a good thing to mess up your own buddies. Anyone affected by this speed theft is left disoriented and vulnerable but, if Captain V is unable to steal anyone’s speed, his own power rebounds on him!

As his power kicks in, the perceptions of those caught in it slow, giving Captain V the illusion of super speed. While in this state, he can “move” at 120 miles per hour and seems to be landing punches quickly (but he isn’t). In addition, Captain V carries a pistol but rarely uses it, preferring it to be more of a symbol of the war effort rather than a real weapon but he is trained to use it if he needs to.

On the other hand In another timeline, Captain V became enraged at the United States willingness to work with the Reds and he went rogue, killing several communist agents and a few g-men who had been escorting them to prison. He is now on the FBI’s Most Wanted list and is considered public enemy number one. Captain V doesn’t care. If the government lacks the guts to do what needs to be done, he’ll do it. The country is probably crawling with commies and he’ll root them out and deal with the problem his own way.