Superhero Smash Season I—Audio Issue #19: Captain Cold

Original Air Date

January 9, 2024

Part 1 Begins

Hero Song (4:00)

“Winter Wonder Woman Land” by Superhero Second Line

Superhero Smash (0:30)

You’re listening to Superhero Smash!
Featuring the best in “Superhero Music and Comic Book Lore”
Focusing on current superhero movies and popular culture events
I’m your host, Dr. Gian Pagnucci, a.k.a. The New Professor X
Playing great music about superheroes as well as music that is featured in superhero movies and shows
Also talking about comic book history and heroism
But no matter what cool stuff I discuss, you don’t have to worry because this is a NO SPOILERS show!

Audio Episode Theme: Captain Cold (3:00)

We finally got our first big snowfall and there is a big storm coming
I figured this is the perfect time to talk about one of the all time great winter characters: Captain Cold
I’m from Wisconsin, a cold weather state, so I’ve always loved Captain Cold
Captain Cold is a supervillain from the Flash’s Rogues Gallery
When The Flash became a series on the CW, Captain Cold was one of the series’ best villains
As loyal Superhero Smash listeners will remember, I met Flash star Grant Gustin this past summer and he said Superhero Smash sounded cool!
On The Flash, Captain Cold was played by the spectacular actor
Miller also stared in the show Prison Break where he was also excellent
On the Flash, Miller gave Cold both a sense of menace but also a sense of honor and dignity
He was so popular that he was brought back for multiple episodes of The Flash and then joined the spinoff CW show DC’s Legends of Tomorrow for its first season
Captain Cold was “kind of” a hero on Legends, although he never totally gave up his crooked ways
That show featured a cast of time traveling superheroes including the Atom and the White Canary
Here’s Captain Cold’s theme song from The Flash

Heroic Instrumental Theme Music (1:42)

“Captain Cold” theme song by Blake Neely

Collector’s Item Classic Comic Book (3:00)

Captain Cold
First Appearance: Showcase #8
Publication Date: June 1957
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Carmine Infantino
Infantino had a very distinct art style with often using sharp, angular lines
I once met Infantino at Pittsburgh’s Steel City Con
He also did art for the Marvel comic book The Invaders about the World War II exploits of Captain America, Submariner, and the original Human Torch
Value on eBay today: $1,730 for a CGC’d 2.5 on a 10.0 scale
In his first appearance, Captain Cold, the Coldest Man on Earth, used his cold ray gun not to freeze the Flash, but to make the ground too icy for the Flash to run on it with his super speed

Cold Song #1 (3:33)

“Cold” by Maroon 5

Part 1 Ends (@15 minutes)

Part 2 Begins (@15 minutes)

Show ID: Superhero Smash (0:30)

WIUP FM 90.1
The best alternative music in the DC Cinematic Universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and our Universe too!
Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
Or email Professor X using the address superherosmash2024@gmail.com
I love to get listener’s input

Origin Story (4:00)

Captain Cold was born as Leonard Snart
Captain Cold’s origin story appeared in The Flash #182 (Volume 2)
As retold on the DC Fandom Database, “Leonard Snart grew up with an abusive, hard-drinking father. Through his beatings, Leonard’s father taught him that emotion was a weakness, and that a cold heart would take him further in life. Leonard’s grandfather protected him and whisked him away to his ice cream truck. It was cold, but one of the only places Leonard felt safe. Only when he was older did he eventually run away from home. Through a life of crime, he was eventually caught and placed in jail by the Flash. Seeking to counter the Flash, Snart researched an article that theorized that the emissions of a cyclotron could interfere with the Flash’s speed. Using a stolen cyclotron, Snart constructed a gun which shot ice that reduced temperatures to absolute zero, and began calling himself Captain Cold.”

Cold Song #2 (5:35)

“Snow (Hey Oh)” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Captain Cold and the Secret Society of Super Villains (3:00)

After many years of being foiled by The Flash and the other members of the Justice League, Captain Cold and the other DC villains finally decided to band together and form their own super team, The Secret Society of Super Villains
This was a fun series that debuted in 1976, and I collected it as a kid
I’ll give you a quick summary of the issue as retold on Wikipedia:
- “In the original story, Darkseid (demanding to be called the Director) founds the group under the title of the Brotherhood of Crime in a bid to hold the world ransom by stealing the world’s deadliest nerve gas. The group, made up of Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, Clayface, Star Sapphire, and a clone of the Manhunter, turns on their benefactor when the Manhunter raises the issue of Darkseid’s history of trying to enslave humanity. Darkseid is revealed to be an android. The Manhunter suspects Darkseid controls it from afar and suggests forming the Secret Society of Super Villains to combat Darkseid while pursuing their own goals.”

Cold Song #3 (3:49)

“Bad Boys (Theme from Cops)” by Inner Circle

Cold Song #4 (4:19)

“Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson

Part 2 Ends (@35 minutes)

Part 3 Begins (@35 minutes)

Show ID: Superhero Smash (0:30)

WIUP FM 90.1
The best alternative music in the DCU, the MCU, and our U-niverse too!
Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
Or email Professor X using the address superherosmash2023@gmail.com
I love to get listener’s input

Long Lost Hero: Citizen Cold (2:00)

I’ve talked about The Flash movie on Superhero Smash several times
The film was disappointing and a box office bomb
But the film is based on an excellent comic book series called Flashpoint written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert
In this alternate timeline, Barry Allen has lost his flash powers and he must team up with an alternate Batman, not Bruce Wayne, but Bruce’s father Thomas, to get his powers back
This is the Batman character played so well in The Flash movie by Michael Keaton
In this alternate reality, Leonard Snart has become a superheor called Citizen Cold
He has the same costume, a blue winter parka with white trim, and a cold gun and he has become the main hero of Central City which is home to the Flash in the regular DC comic book stories
Unlike the Flash, however, Citizen Cold sometimes kills his opponents
Citizen Cold got his own 3 episode comic book mini series

Cold Song #5 (5:43)

“Winter” by Tori Amos

Captain Cold’s Heart Thaws (0:30)

Over time, Captain Cold tried to leave his criminal ways behind
His heart thawed a little, or, as you might say, he was both hot and cold

Cold Song #6 (3:40)

“Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry

Romantic Interlude (4:00)

On the CW show, Captain Cold was mostly evil and self serving
But Leonard Snart was more than just a criminal
In the episode “Family of Rogues” from Season 2 of the Flash, Captain Cold’s father blackmails him into helping him commit crimes by threatening to kill Cold’s sister, Lisa Snart a.k.a. the Golden Glider, who had a gun that could turn things into gold
On the CW, Lisa explained how bad it was to be a child of the cruel Lewis Snart: “The first time my father came after me, I was seven. The second time, I was eight. That’s when I learned a bottle hurts more than a fist. He used to say he was teaching us lessons. I must have been a slow learner because… the lessons never stopped.“
Cold and the Flash have to team up to save Lisa from her father
This revealed Cold’s good side, a side the Flash was always trying to help encourage
Eventually, the Time Master Rip Hunter asked Captain Cold to join a group of superheroes to help him fight Vandal Savage who had conquered earth in the future
The team was called the Legends (For official purposes DC’s Legends of Tomorrow)
They had to travel through time preventing Savage from changing time
Hunter recruited mostly heroes, but he recruited both Cold and his partner Mick Rory a.k.a. Heat Wave
Interestingly Heat Wave was played by Dominic Purcell who also starred with Miller in Prison Break
Another member of the team was the White Canary
The White Canary is Sarah Lance, played by Caity Lotz
She was the sister of Diana Lance who is the Black Canary, played by Katie Cassidy
At different times, both of the Canaries were lovers of Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow
These heroes were all part of DC’s CW Arrowverse
It began with the CW’s Arrow show, which for some reason DC was afraid to call Green Arrow after the title character, even though he had been around in the comics for decades
The superheroes in the Arrowverse were slightly different from the comic book and movie superheroes
Unlike Marvel, DC kept its TV heroes separate from its movie heroes, yet another poor decision by DC which ultimately led to the end of both the Arrowverse and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)
But on the plus side, the Arrowverse did give us a great Captain Cold and White Canary
Both the White Canary and Captain Cold had suffered a lot in their pasts, and so they were naturally drawn to each other and, over time, a romance slowly blossomed between the two of them

Cold Song #7 (3:05)

“Cold Water” by Major Lazer Featuring Justin Bieber and M∅

To Be Continued Next Issue (1:00)

Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel
Contact me, the new Professor X, via email: SuperheroSmash2024@gmail.com, to let me know what hero I should feature next
Marvel’s great looking new show Echo premiers today on Disney+
It’s connected to the Marvel TV series Hawkeye which I mentioned the past 2 weeks on Superhero Smash
So maybe I’ll do a show related to that or something else
But even though Superhero Smash is all the exploits of uncanny individuals, remember that
“You don’t need superpowers to be a hero. The only thing it takes to be a hero is the courage to do what’s right when someone needs your help.”–Gian Pagnucci

Cold Song #8 (3:45)

“Let It Go” by Idina Menzel from Frozen
Elsa has snow powers that make her a supeheroine, and Captain Cold would have loved her bad girl persona!

Part 3 Ends (@60 minutes)