Captain Action-Riddle of the Glowing Men

Let me preface this review by saying that I have never seen a Captain Action toy in real life. I have no particular affection for him as a concept and my only real exposure to him was a trade paperback put out by Moonstone Books that reprinted some of their comics. So going into this, I wasn't expecting much in the way of "connection" to the material. Licensed properties that I don't have a pre-existing interest in are difficult for me to get into.Jim Beard is an author whose work I enjoy and that was the main reason I gave this a shot. Billed as "What if James Bond went on a Doc Savage adventure," it mostly succeeds in its aims. The story is fluid and moves at breakneck speed, though never too fast to ignore characterization. Our hero is of the rugged, manly type that this sort of fiction loves so well. He's a hero, through and through, having taken in a young boy who was orphaned by his enemy, Dr. Evil. In this story, the central plot revolves around a group of glowing men and the Siberian Explosion of 1908 (always a good subject to deal with!). Captain Action is teamed with a beautiful brunette who has recently defected from Russia.Being a period piece, the entire affair plays with elements of the Cold War very effectively.I really enjoyed the descriptions of the Captain's lair and equipment and thought the author did a good job of utilizing Action Boy (who is not dubbed that in this story but that's who he is) in a way that avoided the usual Wesley Crusher syndrome. There's no sign of Lady Action in this book.The core concept is a bit silly -- our hero wears a yachting cap, is called Captain Action, battles Dr. Evil and works for Advanced Command for Telluric Interdiction Observation and Nullification (A.C.T.I.O.N.). The author plays the material straight but does seem to realize that this is not meant to be Shakespeare. It's pure escapism and isn't ashamed to be so.Interior illustrations are by Rob Davis and accurately depict the scenes from the book. The cover art by Nick Runge is eye-catching but it feels like three different images that have been Photoshopped together. Captain Action is staring off at... something. The girl who is tied up is also looking off at... something. No one seems completely aware of each other. And the woman on the cover is blonde -- I would have preferred to have seen a brunette to match Uliana Ulanova's description from the story. Uliana does have a blonde "turn" in the book but for the most part, she is described as having dark hair and I think that would have made more of an impact as the reader was going through the tale. As it is, the cover actually spoils a major reveal that occurs in the book.Overall, if you're looking for a fun book to spend a few hours with, this fits the bill. It's fun, breezy and entertaining. It made me curious about a sequel despite not being a fan of the core concept, which is an impressive feat.

Captain Action and the Riddle of the Glowing menBy Jim Beard Captain Action, for those not familiar with the character, was a toy line during the mid to late 1960's. The toy's niche was that the Captain was a master of disguise. One could purchase different costumes or disguises for him to wear, essentially becoming Batman, Superman, Spider-Man or Captain America (Which was a trick concerning the enmity between the two major comic book companies in those days.) Flash forward forty plus years to today and Captain Action's first all new novel ever! With a relatively unknown commodity such as Captain Action, penning an adventure can be either a blessing or a curse depending on the author. Thankfully for Jim Beard it was the former. Jim crafts a tale straight out of the cold war 1960's as the Captain, a super spy as well as super-Hero and super-adventurer is drawn immediately into a case involving foreign intrigue within soviet Russia. The Captain is attacked by weirdly glowing men, one after another as the book opens, and the story only gets better from there. Charged with investigating where these 'Glowing Men' came from and why they attacked him by his superiors, Captain Action is teamed with a mysterious and gorgeous Russian defector who claims to come from the area where they suspect the glowing me originate from, but she has her own dark secrets and agenda, as the Captain will discover. The two soon are thrust into an ever expanding web of mystery involving crashed UFO's, Russian spies named after Gods, and Captain Action's own dire nemesis, the mad and diabolical "Dr. Evil" (No relation to Austin Power's nemesis.) Soon Cap and his female companion are captured and thrust beneath the Earth's surface where a battle will be fought that will decide the fate of the very world! 'Captain Action and the Riddle of the Glowing Men' is a GREAT rousing adventure that keeps you interested and is never dull. This is an excellent and fun read that did not disappoint at all. It borrowed heavily on the 1960's era mentality of spy movies and dime store paperbacks as well as the Super-Hero genre of both then and today. This is a highly recommended read for those that love adventure, science fiction and most especially, ACTION!

Let me start off by confessing that, yes, I am a Captain Action geek. Like everyone else, I had the figures growing up. I also must confess to being a pulp fan, mostly having read the Bantam Doc Savage reprints. That note of history aside, I went into this without any knowledge of Jim Beard's writing, and boy am I glad i decided to purchase this novel. It's a great read, and the author really shows an appreciation of this character's appeal. I love that he explains the nautical hat, the lightning sword, and even the sidekick! I already ordered the second novel and hope that it offers more of this type of nostalgic fun. One last thing, wonderful interior illustrations by Rob Davis and a dynamic cover by Nick Runge that really deserves to be sold as a poster.

Great read! I was on the edge ( younger age-wise ) of Captain Action. An older cousin down the street had the action fiqure. Recall checking it out from time to time when over at his house. Years later different series launches / rediscovery have appeared....This book was so fun. The Universe comes alive.

It is funny glowing up in the sixties and playing with my Captain Action "action figure" I had never looked at him as a sort of "James Bond" or Jim West" sort of Secret Agent however, this story was exciting and had alot of action and "escape-ism" if this word exist. I enjoyed reading this and it made appreciate my action figure even more. GB

really enjoyed this book...as a Capt. Action fan of the comics from the 60s and now, i liked how this tied in with the modern comics.... looking forward to reading the next book in the series as well as most other things Jim has written...

This was a fun, easy read. It did a great job of bringing all the elements of the toy to life. Made me feel like a kid again.

If you were a small boy in the UK in the late 1960's then Captain Action was the best toy you could NEVER own. Glimpsed in the ads in real American comics, you could not buy him in the UK. Ask my parents, they tried. But hey I got Action Man instead and he was cool too.The good Captain had gone by the end of the 1960s but like all worthy heroes he keeps returning. In the 1990's with Playing Mantis, in the 2000's with Cast Away Toys and more recently (and rather wonderfully) with Round 2 Enterprises.Captain Action has embraced comics too (admittedly with variable results) with DC in the 60s and more recently with Moonstone. Apparently he is about to switch companies to Dynamite.This however is his first novel. Author Jim Beard details its origin in a nice afterword. Before you get to that however there is a rollicking Pulp adventure to be enjoyed. And a damn good one it is too.The book is wisely set in the late 1960s complete and includes the following; "Evil" scientists, cold war Soviets, secret spy organisations with elaborate HQ's, beautiful foreign scientists, kid sidekicks, signature hats, gadgets, lost worlds, completely impractical costumes, elaborate disguises and much more besides.Jim Beard chooses to embrace all the Captain Action history and mythology rather than just select the elements that he feels will work. If you are in any way familiar with Captain Miles Drake, Sean Barrett et al you will be hard pushed to restrain that huge smile whilst you read.Even if you are not au fait with the good Captain sit back, enjoy a cracking New Pulp Adventure and I will wager you will be left wanting to know more about our hero and his world at the end.Great read. More please Mr Beard!