Toei had originally planned for Captain America to star in Battle Fever J with a group of newly created Captain characters from other nations,
like Captain France and Captain Japan. However, in 1978, Captain
America’s live action film rights were tied up with Universal
Television, which was making TV movies starring Reb Brown (which Conan O' Brien used as a joke).
The golden-age Marvel heroine Miss America was drafted as his
replacement. The rest is history but how much did Battle Japan have in common with Captain America?
Captain America was a skinny young man who was genetically altered to be an All-American Hitler smashing superhero. Battle Japan was a former National Defense Ministry officer. He is good at judo and karate. He is armed with a spear. He does a kung fu dance. Battle Japan never changed his body and wasn't from the past (well in the contents of the show when it originally aired). The first Miss America in BFJ was an FBI agent who joined the Fever team to avenge her father Bosner, who was slain by Egos. She is armed with throwing knives. After she was wounded by the Dracula Monster, she returned to the United States. The first Marvel Miss America, a teenaged heiress whose uncle was sponsoring a scientist who claimed to have gotten superpowers through a device that had been struck by lightning. Joyce, secretly tampering with the contraption during a thunderstorm, herself gained the ability to fly and great strength after lightning similarly struck (she originally had superhuman strength, as well as other powers, but after her few early appearances they were retconned).
Related: http://maskedmayhem.blogspot.com/2009/09/x-mens-karaoke-cousins.html
6 comments:
Great post. I liked the way Spider-Man TAS in the 90's explained Miss America. She was created by taking a dosage of a similar serum of Captain America, but the powers only lasted for a limited time. And here is a fan art of Captain America and Battle Japan together. Kind of wish it was better though.
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4274/betterb.jpg
the more I read the blog; I more I felt that you should write a book and published it...since this kind of post is kind of research type super sentai-Captain America thingy...
Great idea but who would publish me? I know there has been books out there by Simpsons, Star Wars and Disney fans, but I got to have actual facts. It is a good idea, I wish I could do a Power Rangers encyclopedia, like the Super Sentai ones or something like the Marvel and DC ones with paragraphs and detailed stuff.
I believe some publisher outside there will publish it; Actual facts...I hope someone is near to Toei company, so that you can get the facts; But Lavender Ranger, you you gonna write on super sentai, I am gurantee going to buy your 1st edition since it is also the right time to write it, since Gokaiger is an anniversary super sentai...
you know what LUKE, i was actually thinking of writing a PR history book myself, but written in-universe like a fan from the show itself was writing. it would start with the teams everyone knows from MMPR all the way up to whatever Goseiger is called. then it would've explored the unkown teams of Goranger thru Jetman and Dairanger with an explanation why the White Tiger powers were with Zordon.
but to keep it in-universe the narratove would have very little information on SPD and RPM for obvious reasons.
heck i was even thinking of including the other heros like the Ninja Turtles, Masked Rider, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, and all the other Saban heros.
a daunting task to be sure since the older teams would have to be completely thought up and with an explanation on why noone knows about them.
Where's the Battle Kenya is the Black Panther part? :)
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