Genres: Adventure, Comedy
Publisher: Marvel
Vol 1: October 1991 – October 1992
This is basically an adaption of the first episode: Hoggish Greedly and Rigger are drilling for oil in a protected area, and their drilling wakes up Gaia, the Spirit of the Earth. Distressed at the destruction going on all over the planet, she calls in five young people from all over the globe, and gives each a powerful ring:
Kwame, from Africa, with the power of Earth.
Wheeler, from North America, with the power of Fire.
Gi, from Asia, with the power of Water.
Linka, from the Soviet Union (later to be referred to as Eastern Europe), with the power of Wind.
And Ma-Ti, from South America, with the power of Heart.
Gaia brings the five kids to her home base of Hope Island, where she tells them of their mission. After a quick recap of their powers, she sends them to do battle with Greedly and Rigger.
However, the kids –now called, “Planeteers”– are stalemated: If they do anything, Greedly will spray the nearby animals with oil. The Planeteers then take Gaia’s advice, and allow their powers to combine.
From out of the Earth comes Captain Planet, a blue-skinned, green-haired, and brown-eyed super-eco-hero clad in red. There is a glowing gold “Earth” emblem in the middle of his chest. He introduces himself to the Planeteers, and explains that he is their powers combined and multiplied, but while he is there, the Planeteers’ rings are powerless.
Captain Planet then flies to battle Greedly and Rigger, and he wins. But then Greedly sprays him with oil, and Planet loses power. The Planeteers discover that if they clean Captain Planet of the oil, the sun will return his powers. They do this, and Captain Planet recovers. He captures Greedly and Rigger, who are turned over to the authorities. Captain Planet returns to the Earth, returning the powers to the Planeteers’ rings with what will become his trademark cry:
“The Power is YOURS!”
