Captain Planet and the Planeteers

Marvel Comics brought the eco-conscious animated series to the page with Captain Planet and the Planeteers, a 12-issue run from 1991 to 1992. Writers Barry Dutter, Simon Furman, and Jim Salicrup, alongside artists like Pat Broderick, José Delbo, and a young Bryan Hitch, expanded the adventures of Gaia’s five elemental ring-bearers and their blue-skinned, green-haired hero. While the cartoon preached environmentalism to a generation, this comic gave the team deeper cosmic threats and more dynamic action, capturing the early-90s zeitgeist of pop activism.