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Study and Discussion Guide

About this Guide:
The questions and discussion topics that follow are designed to enhance your Book Club’s reading and discussion of this week’s selected text. We hope they provide a starting point for the free exchange of ideas and insight inspired by the text.

Introduction:
Señor Hell and his Squadron of Evil have trapped Captain Awesome in the Cauldron of Wailing Tears as part of their scheme to capture the Wailing Gem. With the Captain cut off from the rest of the Freedom Squad and Awesome Lad feared dead, it is up to the Captain to reactivate the Mechana-Beam and save Lady Lovely. Meanwhile, back at the Daily Newspaper offices, the Chief is becoming suspicious of Dirk Brockwell’s unexplained absences.

For Discussion:

1. While we, the audience, are aware that Lady Lovely is in fact the alter ego of Lucinda Lacuna, Captain Awesome still does not know that his Freedom Squad teammate is actually his co-worker/fiancé. Is this conflict more indicative of the Freudian Oedipal Complex or is Lucinda/Lady Lovely the Captain’s Jungian Anima?

2. On page 16, panel 2, Señor Hell refers to the Captain as a “bloodhound.” Was Hell referring to Awesome’s deductive skills in finding the power-threshold quadrant for the Mechana-Beam, or alluding to Dirk Brockwell’s newspaper work (“bloodhound” as “newshound”)? Is the Captain’s secret identity still secret?

3. The artwork on page 3 shows the Captain sweating. If, as the thought bubble suggests, he believes that Awesome Lad used the Telejumper to create the illusion of falling to his death, why the sweat? Is the Captain worried about Awesome Lad or just sweaty?

4. Who would win in a fight, Captain Awesome or the Hulk? What if Captain Awesome had Iron Man’s repulsor rays? Thor’s hammer? Wonder Woman’s lasso?

5. The idealized nature of Dirk Brockwell’s rural Omaha boyhood has often been compared to Virgil’s Georgics and Hesse’s Peter Camenzind. How has the stern but loving guidance of Ma and Pa Brockwell influenced the Captain’s ethics? Has his time as the Assistant Metro Editor of the Bigburg Daily Newspaper changed his Kantian imperative? If so, how is this reflected in his treatment of Henchman #4?

6. Why does Lucinda Lacuna appear to have much larger breasts when she is drawn as Lady Lovely? As a corollary, would you do her?

7. In regards to the fight scene on pages 19-22, how much did that kick ass? Especially when he punched in that dude’s jaw and blood and teeth were flying everywhere and shit. Oh, man. Did that fucking rock or what?

For Further Reading:
• Captain Awesome #201-203, “The Magnificus Arc”
• The Mighty Captain Awesome #327, “The Captain and Ten Eels”
• UFOcelot #22, “Death of a Spacecat”
• Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas (Fathers of the English Dominican Province translation)
• Dr. Fisticuffs #1 (of 4), “Fisticuffs Unleashed”

-Paul Dailing