Last month Balladeer’s Blog gave an overview of the German sci-fi hero Captain Mors the Air Pirate HERE. The character is criminally overlooked and deserves a much higher profile. It’s puzzling that the Germans themselves haven’t taken advantage of the way his weekly text stories were set in a historical period BEFORE so much pop culture centers around German figures.
MASTER OF THE SKIES – The first short story featuring Kapitan Mors der Luftpirat is set in 1905. This origin tale saw him visit the mountain graves of his wife and children before leading his European and Indian crew against the villains responsible for their deaths and for his fugitive status.
They fly their futuristic Luftschiff (airship) to the port of Odessa where, amid the historical events of the failed 1905 uprising against the Tsars the captain and his men isolate and kill his targets. The advanced weapons and construction of the Luftschiff keep them safe from the artillery used against them. Mors hangs three of the evildoers from his airship.
A FIGHT FOR MILLIONS – Kapitan Mors leads the crew of the Luftschiff his genius created in their mission of literally robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Using his airship’s ability to lie in wait above the clouds, the Air Pirate descends on the seas below at will with lightning speed.
He and his men, including the engineers named Stern and Schrecken plus the young Indian man Lindo who serves as his executive officer, strike without warning. They raid three ships transporting gold and other valuable cargos, then fly off to distribute their plunder to the suffering poor around the world.
An international network of tycoons begin contacting each other about eliminating this pirate of the skies.
CAPTAIN MORS IN INDIA – Lindo longs to be reunited with the young Indian woman he was promised to years ago. Kapitan Mors and the Luftschiff crew help out their comrade, pitting their airship’s nigh-invulnerable alloy hull plus its cannonfire and guided missiles against all the forces of the aristocratic Indian families who stand between Lindo and the woman he loves.
Unfortunately, tragedy is in the offing.
THE AIR PIRATE IN DIAMOND TERRITORY – Deep in Brazil’s Amazon Jungle is a ruthless diamond mining operation in the service of global plutocrats. Their uncaring rape of the land has yielded an enormous fortune in diamonds now held in a jungle fortress waiting to be shipped out.
Kapitan Mors’ international informants have tipped him off about the whole operation. He and his Luftschiff mount a daring raid of the Amazon fortress to steal wealth for the poor as well as finance his own plans to explore space. Meanwhile, American tycoons meet in Chicago to plot against him.
ADVENTURES IN AN UNKNOWN LAND – The network of detectives hired to track down Kapitan Mors have him and his crew fleeing from place to place. In one city he is helped by an old man whose daughter has been kidnapped.
She was taken by unknown forces to an uncharted section of the Amazon jungle (yes, the Amazon again). Our hero vows that he and his men will fly there to rescue her but haven’t counted on the dangerous, science-defying menaces of that region.
*** The Captain Mors stories get more imaginative from here, especially when he completes his spaceship and begins his interplanetary adventures. I’ll examine the next several tales in the near future.
Balladeer's Blog 
Gotta love Captain Mors and his Luftschiff! What a dashing retributor! 😊
Yep, he certainly is!
Very interesting story! I can’t believe Captain Mors isn’t more well-known, especially since these tales were so imaginative and ahead of their time. The mix of airships, fighting the rich, and adventures in jungles and outer space sounds like something that would be a hit today. 🚀
Exactly! I can’t believe that German producers and directors didn’t lean heavily into all manner of Captain Mors television shows and movies. You’d think they’d have pushed him at least as much as they pushed Perry Rhodan.
My grandpa once told me that, between the wars, the Kapitän Mors series was quite hard to come by. The only real way to get your hands on a copy was to buy one off someone who had just finished reading it—and then sell it on once you were done. This often led to awkward situations where readers couldn’t follow the correct sequence of the story.
Another issue was political. The series was considered too communist-leaning—both by the Nazis and later by the Allied occupation authorities. Ironically, the Communists themselves viewed it with suspicion as well, seeing it as possibly pro-American and anti-Russian.
After the war, a new Kapitän Mors series was released, but it was almost entirely unrelated to the original version. At least my Grandpa did not like it in its form.
This is so interesting to hear about what the contemporary take was on this series. The only other thing I had heard about why it stopped being reprinted beginning in 1916 was that the Kaiser didn’t like it. And once again, something that both the right and the left viewed with suspicion got unjustly ignored. Too bad they foolishly didn’t try for the same appeal of the original series after the war. Your grandfather was probably right about it.
What a series. That turn of the century was an amazing time for America (maybe the world, too).
Yes, absolutely!
*Der Luftpirat* used to be my grandpa’s under-the-table reading indulgence during his school days. Years ago, I came across a book-bound edition of the series in my local library—it felt like uncovering a piece of family history.
Wow! That must have felt amazing!
Wonderful posts as always. I have never heard about Captain Mors before but he certainly seems to be a very interesting character. I would like to one day see a movie about him. He reminds me a lot of iconic pirates that I have seen in movies. For instance, he brought to mind Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Johnny Depp did an amazing job portraying Captain Jack Sparrow in the franchise. The first film in the franchise “Curse of the Black Pearl” is definitely my personal favourite. It was an iconic film that launched the famous franchise.
Here’s why I recommend it strongly if you haven’t already seen it:
Thank you! I liked Curse of the Black Pearl, too!
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Logged, thanks!