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CAP'N DERELICT

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human spirit (17th century to Post-World War II)

Occupation: Captain

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Namora (Aquaria Nautica Neptunia), Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie)

Enemies: Mr. Big, Willie Röese

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: France

First Appearance: Young Men II#27/3 (April, 1954)

Powers/Abilities: None as a human. As a ghost he possessed the power to turn invisible, choosing to appear to humans at will.

History:

(Young Men II#27/3 - BTS) - 17th Century - Cap'n Derelict and his crew crossed the ocean on his giant French frigate, carrying a heavy load of riches and gold. Due to unrevealed circumstances, the ship sank to the bottom of the ocean. While both Derelict and his crew died in the process, they lived on as ghosts, protecting their vessel and making sure no one could get near the treasures inside.

(Young Men II#27/3) - Communist spies learned of the location of Derelict's shipwreck. Calculating the worth of the treasure at roughly thirty million US dollars, they set out to claim it to further the communist cause. Mr. Big led an expedition to retrieve the vessel, but no one knew of Derelict and his ghost crew. When Big and his people tried to raise the ship off the ocean floor by pumping the water out of it via pipelines, the ghosts simply pulled them out and kept moving the treasure. Namor and Namora happened to chance upon Derelict and his crew as they were busy fooling the communists. Seemingly appalled at the notion of communists and surface worlders who tried to rob the riches of the sea, the Atlantean duo joined forces with Derelict and company. When the communist pirates came down in diving suits to figure out what was messing up their pipeline retrieval plan, Derelict ordered his men to tie them up with their own oxygen lines. Frustrated by waiting around, Mr. Big finally went down in person, planning to claim the entire treasure for himself. He managed to locate the ship's bounty. However, Derelict had turned himself invisible and was holding the chest over his head, giving the impression that it was floating. He then dropped the chest on Big, hoping to kill him, but the man was merely knocked out. Namor saved Big's life by delivering him and his associate Willie Röese to the proper surface world authorities. When Namor and Namora checked in on Derelict two days later, they found the Cap'n and his entire crew had vanished, leaving their valued treasure scattered on the ocean floor, gently carried off by tidal currents.

Comments: Created by Bill Everett

'Derelict' is a maritime term, used to describe vessels or property abandoned and deserted at sea by those in charge, without any hope of recovering it. Considering the Cap'n and his crew stayed with the ship even in death, blaming them of dereliction of duty seems a bit harsh. But fair is fair, their vessel was a derelict.

From a historical point: Derelict's costume is surprisingly accurate, matching the attire of early 1610-1629 French noblemen. While one might think the color scheme was off, it's remarkably authentic. While the ruffs were usually white, yellow versions weren't uncommon either. The same goes for Derelict's big hat with big yellow plume. He also wears the characteristic 'bucket-top' boots of the era, the fallen collar on his shoulders completes the look.

It was nice to see Namor and Namora encounter some superhumans of sorts that turned out to be allies. Given the usual structure of these early 50s stories, casting the ghost "pirates" as the evil bad guys would have been the far more likely choice.

Profile by MarvellousLuke

CLARIFICATIONS:
Cap'n Derelict has no known connections to


images: (without ads)
Young Men II#27, p20, pan2 (main image)
Young Men II#27, p21, pan2 (main image)


Appearances:
Young Men II#27/3 (April, 1954) - Bill Everett (writer/artist)


First Posted: 09/03/2013
Last updated: 09/03/2013

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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