Captain Triumph

Captain Triumph was supernaturally strong as well as invulnerable to most harm. He could fly and become invisible at will.

Name:

Captain Triumph

Publisher:

DC Comics

Real name:

Lance Gallant

Aliases:

Lance Gallant
Michael Gallant

Birth date:

None

Gender:

Male

Powers:

Flight
Invisibility
Invulnerability
Stamina
Super Strength

First issue:

Crack Comics (1940) #27 Meet Captain Triumph

See at ComicVine

Origin

Lance and Michael Gallant were identical twins born in the year 1919. Both twins even possessed an identical birthmark on their left wrist in the shape of a “T”. As they grew up, the twins’ careers went separate routes: Michael joined the U.S. Air Corps, and Lance became a prolific writer. On a fateful day in 1942, Lance Gallant and Michael’s longtime girlfriend Kim Meredith went to visit Michael testing a new experimental aircraft at the Acme Aircraft Corporation. When the plane landed, however, it and its hanger blew up from a bomb placed by Nazi spies. Michael died, but his ghost remained on Earth. Lance found that, when he touched his birthmark, the intangible spirit of Michael could merge with him and give him super powers.

Lance Gallant, with his brother cohabitating his body, named himself Captain Triumph. With super-strength, the power of flight, and invisibility, Captain Triumph hunted down those responsible for Michael’s death: Baron Von Bragg and his assistant Otto Rotter.

Major Story Arcs

With the All-Star Squadron

When President Roosevelt sent out the call for the super-heroes to join the All-Star Squadron, Captain Triumph heeded it, though much later than others. He joined the All-Star Squadron much later than most heroes. During his time with the team, he fought the Red Mask and Baron Blitzkrieg.

Retirement and Jail

Like many other Golden Age heroes, Lance Gallant retired as other heroes stepped in. He still remained friends with his All-Star Squadron teammates, especially Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, and Tarantula, all of whom would occasionally meet to reminisce about old times. After Johnny Quick’s death, Gallant would routinely visit Liberty Belle, now known simply as Libby Lawrence. During one of those visits, Lance (and Michael) witnessed Libby with her new, much younger fiancee Philip Geyer. After Libby left, he found Philip was cheating on Libby with Libby’s daughter Jesse Quick. Neither woman knew, nor did it seem that Philip knew they were mother/daughter. However, Michael flew into a rage. He possessed Lance, and murdered Philip. Once Lance took back control, he tried to surrender himself to Libby, Jesse, and the Titans, but Michael returned and tried to fight the Titans invisibly. The heroes defeated Michael, who again fled Lance’s body. Lance is currently in custody.

Powers and Abilities

When Lance Garrett touched the “T’-shaped birthmark on his left wrist, the ghost of his deceased brother Michael would enter his body, and the two would become Captain Triumph. As Captain Triumph, the twins possessed superhuman strength, speed, the ability to fly, and the ability to turn invisible. Captain Triumph also possessed a rarely-utilized ability to alter his physical appearance, as demonstrated when he impersonated the villain Carim Bombay; possibly this was an illusion-casting ability related to his power of invisibility and the force that kept people from recognizing Captain Triumph as Lance Gallant.

While separated, Michael’s spirit resided in the material world, though intangible, invisible, and inaudible to most people. Michael could witness events, though not affect the tangible world. Michael would often act as a spy for Lance, gathering information on his foes. When Lance would reveal his identity to others (as he did for Biff and Kim Meredith), they too would be able to see and hear Michael’s spirit.