Captain barbell
Theme of Captain Barbell: Captain Barbell is a comic book superhero created by Mars Ravelo from Philippines. The first appearances of this character were in 1963 in the Pinoy Komiks Magasin. The story begins with a boy called Tenteng, who becomes transformed into a super strong superhero every time he lifted his magic barbell and shouted “Captain Barbell”. A strange sage gave these barbells to him. Jim Fernandez illustrated this series.
Like all superheroes, Captain Barbell’s alter ego, Tenteng, is socially disadvantaged, downtrodden for his low social class and poverty, and unlucky in love due to below average looks. In a society where the poor and disadvantaged are in the majority, the theme of Captain Barbell quickly struck a chord with most people. A superhero who can turn his disadvantages into superpowers to help the world is likely to be loved by all. The theme of Captain Barbell, therefore, was a quick hit with Filipino comic readers.
The original Captain Barbell designs had the character shirtless. During the sixties, Mars Ravelo whimsically based the Captain's look and costume on the circus strongmen, but added a mask. Since the original Tenteng's physique was really extra-skinny and he was usually in tank top that emphasized his boniness, he had decided that Captain Barbell, in a shirtless circus strongman mode, would be able to provide a much more dramatic sort of contrast to his mortal alter ego.
In the movie versions, the Captain Barbell outfit had to be redesigned and changed considerably from the original comic version. They were after all actors playing a superhero, and not bodybuilders or superheroes themselves, and so, not as muscle-bound as the Captain Barbell of the comic book. That is how the molded yellow top came into being, adorned with the ‘CB’ on the chest rather than the belt buckle logo and the shirtless look of the 1963 comic book.
Captain Barbell Song: There have been several large screen versions of the Captain Barbell comic. In the 2003 remake, three superheroes created by Mars Ravelo, were seen on screen together. There was also a TV series in 2006 on the GMA Network. The Captain Barbell song for the TV series, ‘Sa Piling Mo’ was sung by Regine Velasquez. GMA records released the captain Barbell song ‘Nandito Lang Ako’, by Shamrock, also in the same year.
Richard Gutierrez: In 2006, the GMA Network TV Series, Richard Gutierrez played both Captain Barbell and Tenteng, his non-magical alter ego. The TV series was quite a bit different from the original Mars Ravelo story. The concept as well as the setting had been changed to adapt to modern times, of course with permission from the creator. The series, however, has been lambasted by critics, who say that the first few episodes are a direct rip-off of the American series, Smallville. Despite these criticisms, the fantasy-drama series adaptation of Barbell by 7 GMA remains the network's top-rated show in the primetime slot. Hence, Richard Gutierrez is well set to play the Filipino superhero for much longer if audiences so desire.
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