Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me.
In the wake of Bat-Mania upon the release of the Adam West Batman TV series in 1966, networks were falling over themselves to rip o...be inspired by the success of the Batman TV show by creating other campy superheroes.
Buck Henry, the talented screenwriter who co-wrote The Graduate and co-created Get Smart (but it perhaps best known to the general public as the first person to host Saturday Night Live ten times...
),
invented Captain Nice, starring William Daniels (who later was an multiple Emmy Award winner on St. Elsewhere and perhaps more famously, was the voice of KITT on Knight Rider and also starred as Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World) as the titular superhero...
Daniels played a police chemist hen-pecked by his mother who gains superpowers through a nasty concoction...
The show debuted almost precisely one year after Batman made its bow, but Captain Nice was a flop, making it to only 15 episodes before being canceled (I am unsure if all 15 aired) .
Jack Kirby actually did promotional art for the show!
That was enough time for it to get its own comic book, though!
Dell had done a number of comic book adaptations of Henry's Get Smart...
But now, it was Gold Key (who used to be connected with Dell) who gave Henry's Captain Nice a try in 1967...
Martian Manhunter co-creator Joe Certa drew the story of Captain Nice being forced by his mother to take on the evil Rooster...
When he finally turns into Captain Nice...
He has some mishaps as he tries to find the Rooster!
His battle with the Rooster looks helpless...
But he eventually saves the day by grabbing a giant spotlight and tricking the Rooster into believing that it was daybreak, causing the Rooster to cock-a-doodle-doo, allowing Captain Nice to track him and capture him...
Silly stuff, but a genial silliness.
Henry, of course, was much sharper on other projects, like the aforementioned The Graduate, where he was nominated for an Oscar (he also shared an Oscsr nomination for Best Director with Warren Beatty for Heaven Can Wait). I have been a big fan of his for many years. Sadly, we lost Buck Henry yesterday at the age of 89. We will miss you, Buck!
If anyone has any interesting comic book related story that you'd like to see me feature in a future Knowledge Waits, feel free to drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!