Brooklyn’s hometown superhero gets his powers from the famously fetid waters of the Gowanus — and just like the canal, this hero is filthy.
The main character in “Captain Brooklyn” is a Bay Ridge garbageman with deadbeat friends who becomes superfied after an unwanted dip in lavender lake.
“We think that there’s only a couple of things that happen if you fall into the Gowanus Canal,” said Jimmy Palmiotti, the co-writer of the three-issue series set for a release next spring. “Either you die from an infection, or you get superpowers that you wouldn’t necessarily choose.”
The latter happens to Vinnie Rizzo, an average guy trying to make a living and take care of his crotchety grandfather, and his new superpowers tend to do more harm than good, as the fictional Ridgite has a tougher time controlling his powers than the Greatest American Hero.
“It’s violent, it’s foul, it’s sexy. It’s over the top,” said Palmiotti, who pointed out the strip is targeting an adult audience. “You’re not going to see ‘Captain Brooklyn’ on kids’ backpacks.”
“Captain Brooklyn,” is written by a pair of Brooklynites who say that it’s about time that the country’s fourth-largest “city” got its own superhero.
“Brooklyn is a world in itself. We don’t need to leave the borough to tell a pretty wild story,” said Palmiotti, of Gerritsen Beach, who developed the comic with co-writer Frank Tieri, of Dyker Heights, and Palmiotti’s wife, Amanda Conner, who illustrated it.
Captain America lived in Red Hook, and plenty of comic books have taken place in the city — everything from “Spider-Man” and “The Fantastic Four” to the post-apocalyptic wasteland of “DMZ” — but this is the first superhero to take the name of the borough, and Palmiotti said that when the idea of “Captain Brooklyn” came along, he was sure at first that someone had already thought of it.
“It’s one of those ideas that, when we cane up with it, it seemed so obvious,” said Palmiotti.
The entire book takes places in the borough, and the authors say that Brooklyn is really one of the main characters.
“There are references to the landmarks,” said Palmiotti. “Anyone who lives in Brooklyn will say ‘Hey, I know that street.’ ”
Reach reporter Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@cnglocal.com or by calling him at (718) 260-4507. You can also follow his Tweets at twitter.com/dsmacleod.
