For some reason the comic book adaptation of Captain Planet & The Planeteers was better than the show…maybe because they put more work into the story than beating our heads in with their message, I don’t know. Their grasp on the characters’ interactions needed work, but some of that can be blamed on how many stories the writer gets to see before the comic has to be written.

This was one of the better early issues, although I only picked up a few before the show disappointed me so much that the comic even started looking bad to me. Cappy P won’t be fighting a smog monster exactly. He’ll be fighting a smog dragon. Much cooler.

“Wright” round 3

The Battlefield: Captain Planet And The Planeteers #2 (Marvel Comics; November, 1991) “Smog Gets In Your Eyes!”

The Promoters: Barry Dutter & Jim Salicrup (writers), Jose Delbo (penciler), Stephen Baskerville (inker), Sara Mossoff (colorist), and Jim Massara (letterer)

Dr. Blight has created a smog-breathing dragon that releases her own “supersmog” into the air and is forcing a European village to pay to send it away. However, the Planeteers show up and when they aren’t enough..

And so the enemy of pollution fights a dragon. Because why not?

Really, there is no reason not to.

However, it’s not as easy as Al Gore’s fantasy would hope, because the dragon plays…well, dirty.

Attacking a kid. Elliot would be ashamed of you.

However, Captain Planet is weakened by pollution. Which he is supposed to fight against. That’s like Superman fighting Metallo every day. Good thing Gi found working outdoor plumbing, and I don’t mean an outhouse.

He blewed up real good.

But before Spacebooger starts raising a hand in victory…

“Fooled you!”

It was just a trick to send the dragon home and crash the place. Nice move.

click to vote in this week’s tournament

Head to Spacebooger.com and vote for your favorite Friday Night Fight. (Forum membership isn’t required to vote, only to comment.) Winners of these 12 rounds will head to the Prize Fight, so feel free to join us. We could use the competition.