UNUSED IDEA: The Legend of Captain Bubblegum (novel/comic book/movie)
a horror tale based on an Urban Legend from Quan's hometown.
“Don't go into Forest Park alone- that's where Captain Bubblegum lives.” These words constantly ring in my mind like a childish ghost story. Children have a way of defining fears: fear of the dark is personified by by the monster under the bed, fear of being alone is personified by the Boogeyman, and fear of the unknown is personified by the monster in the closet. Children, with their limitless imaginations, create fantastic creatures and mythical threats, in order to give substance to their fears. One thing I love about being a storyteller is that I can tap into that reservoir of fantasy and turn them into interesting stories. My primary example is a character by the name of Captain Bubblegum.
Captain Bubblegum was created some time before I was born by the children of the northwest region of my hometown- Flint, MI. Centered in this area is a large wooded area called Forest Park. Even though there are playgrounds and other things you would typically find in a park in this park, The abundance of trees blocking out most sunlight makes the park a very dark place, and children are very wary of walking through this park. Thus the story of Captain Bubblegum was created: Years ago, the police chased a serial killer into Forest Park, where he disappeared. He has since made Forest Park his territory, and he is known to stalk and murder hapless people who pass through the park- especially children. I can't tell you when this legend began, but I do know that his reign began before the 70's, and has been told to children until the early 90's- around the time when reality became more horrific than any childish legend. Of course, the real Captain Bubblegum was a lot less terrifying. He was really just an old homeless hermit that hung around the forest and didn't bother anybody, but obviously that's beside the point.
It would have been a crime to not use this in a story. The character of Captain Bubblegum is perfect material for a horror movie, although the name of Captain Bubblegum is a very ridiculous name for a serial killer. However, if you compared him to other equally silly-named killers like “Dr. Giggles,” that potentially made him even scarier. This line of thinking sent me to revise and edit the original story to make it more complete, and then drew up a picture of the character, making sure to have him look as diabolical as his character, if not more so.
My story of Captain Bubblegum was planned as part of a comic book that I was developing called MARSHALL. Marshall was an urban mix of Batman and Savage Dragon in that he was a real law officer given Batman-level training, tech and “vigilante license” to deal with high-level criminals on his patrol as he saw fit. Captain Bubblegum would have been one of the villains on his rogues gallery. Here's what I had in mind for the Captain's backstory.
Prom night, 19??. Bobby Clark leaved the prom with his date, and took her on a romantic walk through Forest Park. actually, it was a ruse so that Bobby could get his date alone for what was to be an attempted rape. The girl threw dirt in his eyes and fled. Temporarily blinded, Bobby stumbled deep into the park, and tripped on a tablet half-buried in the ground. It turned out to be an ancient formula for eternal life, and once he had gotten his sight completely back, he took the tablet home and spent about 10 years studying it. It turned out that if he collected the index fingers of thirty children while he was in Forest Park, then he would have eternal life. He moved to Forest park , and began stalking victims. His first victim was the woman that he had tried to rape on that fateful night., who happened to be strolling through the park with her son. Bobby attacked and incapacitated her, and forced her to watch as he raped and murdered the boy. He did the same to her, but he decided that children were more sexually pleasing. Once he added the boy’s index finger to his old cumberbund from the prom, he felt five years younger. Seeing that the formula worked, he began a thirty year reign of terror in Forest Park, raping and murdering children, and seducing them to their doom with the promise of candy - hence the nickname 'Captain Bubblegum'. Over the years, he rose to legendary and even Mythical status. Marshall, the celebrity superhero of this story, didn't believe in Bubblegum, until the younger brother of one of his biggest fans disappeared in Forest Park one day. Nursing a broken arm from his last battle against the forces of evil, Marshall began an investigation, but by then Bobby had collected his 28th finger.
Do I think Captain Bubblegum is a real threat? Obviously not. Even still, I kept my distance from Forest Park in my youth, and to some degree I still do whenever I'm back in my hometown for a visit. Whenever I'm in Forest Park, The sheer darkness of the park almost overwhelms me, and the fear of the unknown that plagues so many children creeps in, and every once in a while I look over my shoulder to make sure that Mister Bubblegum doesn't try anything. As a matter of fact, the concept for the Bubblegum story came from a thought that I had while walking home from school. My path home from school takes me right past Forest park. Looking at the park, my mind once again referred to the Bubblegum legend, and I thought 'You know, somebody should get rid of this guy.' Of course, I didn't mean literally, because at the time I strongly believed that Bubblegum didn't exist. I needed to get him out of my mind, and for a writer, sometimes the best way to solve a problem is through writing, because when you write about a personal problem, sometimes you will discover the solution even as you write the problem. This is precisely what happened as I began writing the story of Bubblegum. Instead of merely expanding on the original story, I decided to look into the twisted mind if Bubblegum, and I found a completely new- and definitely more sinister- story waiting there. Usually I write Science-fiction or Action, but the story of Captain Bubblegum led me to write my first horror story. Looking back at my story, I see it as a cumulation of all of my subconscious childhood fears (I considered myself a pretty tough child, so I didn't have many outright fears), rolled up into one person: the diabolical Captain Bubblegum. In a way, Bubblegum could symbolize the fears of everyone, child or adult, because, at some point in time, everyone gets that eerie feeling that they're being watched- and this feeling is very easy to get when one is alone. I've long since abandoned my MARSHALL comic book, so my interpretation of the Captain Bubblegum story will probably never get written....at least not by me.
If this story intrigues and inspires you, you have my full permission to take these idea
s and develop them into something of your own. I only ask that you give me a shout-out when it gets published.
UPDATE: a colleague of mine read my article and pointed out that there was indeed a film made about Captain Bubblegum that I didn’t know about. It’s different from my idea but it’s still based on the same source material. I’m posting a link to it below.
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