GRIZZLY

Real Name: Boris Lyashchenko

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-33875/Captain Confederacy) human (see comments), citizen of Aleyeksa

Occupation: National hero

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None (see comments)

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Kodiak (see comments)

Base of Operations: Aleyeksa, North America

First Appearance: (named Kodiak, mentioned only) Stipple-Apa#3 (September 1980); (named Grizzly and headshot shown) Captain Confederacy II#1 (November 1991); (shown in story) Captain Confederacy II#2 (December 1991)

Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed. Given his build and codename, above average strength would seem likely. 

Height: Unrevealed - he's definitely of above average height, so I'd think somewhere between 6' to 7'
Weight: Unrevealed - he's heavily muscled but not overweight for his height
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(Captain Confederacy II#1 (fb) - BTS) - In a world where the South won the Civil War, the region that in other realities went on to become the United States of America instead developed into a patchwork of smaller nations. One such was Aleyeksa, which was never purchased from Russia (see comments). In the late 20th century after the Confederate States of America became the first nation to create superhuman representatives other North American nations and major powers overseas entered a technological arms race, both seeking to follow suit and also working on developing atomic weapons. With international tensions rising the North American Unity Foundation convinced the rival nations to send their superhuman representatives to an International Heroes Conference held in New Orleans, the capital of the Louisiana Free State, purportedly in the hopes of fostering better understanding between the nations. Aleyeska chose to send Boris Lyashchenko, a.k.a. Grizzly.

(Captain Confederacy II#2) - Grizzly took part in a parade thrown to welcome the heroes, and stood on a float carrying most of them through cheering crowds.

Comments: Created by Will Shetterly and Vince Stone.

   Captain Confederacy was a creator-owned Epic title, with all rights belonging to Will Shetterly and Vince Stone. A four issue miniseries, it was the second volume of Captain Confederacy, following on from a twelve issue miniseries Shetterly and Stone had self-published under their own SteelDragon Press banner. To get one major elephant in the room out the way as fast as possible, it was not (as too many who see the name or the early covers ASSume) a racist, anti-Black, pro-White Supremacy series, but instead an attempt to explore the alternate history that arose when things played out differently during a pivotal period in American history. The comic did not portray the Confederate States of America in a flattering light, instead showing that while it had abandoned slavery a few decades after the Civil War largely thanks to economic pressure put on it by abolitionist nations such as the U.K., the modern day CSA was still riddled with deeply ingrained racism. The original Captain Confederacy is a white actor, Jeremy Vincent Gray, chosen by the CSA government largely to film propaganda for the regime; however, he is also a genuinely good man, though very naive and blinkered. His eyes are opened to his country's flaws by the two black cast members on the show (Aaron Jackson and Kate Williams; black actors were required since the propaganda needed someone to play the antagonists), and they all turn against the corrupt CSA government, ultimately toppling the incumbent CSA President and forcing the replacement into fast-tracking reforms to end the country's racial inequities. By the end of the original run, and through the entire Marvel miniseries, Kate Williams has taken over as the new Captain Confederacy, and Gray has become her sidekick (and husband) Kid Dixie. The Marvel series still depicts the CSA as having deep rooted racial problems, as White Supremacist groups have formed in opposition to the reforms, but thanks to the heroes things have begun to improve.

   Grizzly appeared in the second Captain Confederacy series, an Epic Comics four issue miniseries. This expanded the world seen in the originals, that took place almost entirely within the CSA with only passing mention of the other countries in this alternate Earth. The second series saw the main characters travel outside the CSA, included a map of the countries making up North America and identified the major world powers outside of that continent, revealing that without American intervention Germany had won the Great War and remained both a monarchy and an Empire; presumably because this eliminated the circumstances that had led to the Nazis rising to power in Germany, there had apparently been no Second World War. Japan now dominated the Pacific (though not stated, presumably no North American nation had annexed Hawaii, as the USA did in the real world in 1898, and so Japan's military campaigns in the region had not faced any opposition from American nations).

   Grizzly, then called Kodiak, was first mentioned in an article Shetterly wrote for Stipple-Apa#3, a magazine with a print run of only 35 issues published in 1980; there he was only a name listed among other heroes intended for this world. Part of that article, including the mention of Kodiak, was then quoted in a new article, The Captain's Story, printed in the back of Captain Confederacy Special Edition#1 (a collection of the first few issues of the SteelDragon series); Epic's Captain Confederacy#1 then reprinted that second article (and its quote from the first). The original article, Confessions of a Comix Fiend, revealed that Russia had probably still become Socialist following the Great War, but that Shetterly was as yet undecided whether Aleyseka was still under their control, or instead ruled by descendants of the exiled Royal Family. The back covers of Epic's Captain Confederacy series included a headshot grid of national heroes appearing in the series; presumably because the layout required twelve headshots, that number were depicted, even though some played only a nominal role within the story. In Grizzly's case, the sum total of his involvement beyond appearing on the back covers was a single panel on a float alongside the other heroes during the welcome parade.

   This profile was completed on 05/04/2024, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent Captain Confederacy. 

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Grizzly has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Captain Confederacy II#2, p18, pan1 (main image and parade shot)
Captain Confederacy II#1, exterior back cover (headshot)

Appearances:
Captain Confederacy II#2 (December 1991) - Will Shetterly (writer, colors), Vince Stone (pencils), Nel Yomtov (editor)

First Posted: 09/11/2026
Last updated: 05/04/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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