Let's keep this quiet, y'all, but Marvel Comics did feature a superhero by the name of Captain Canada. Dang! I thought I was being creative!
When a six-year-old me created this superhero, he already knew that a "Captain Canuck" once existed. But he figured as long as he made the name different and changed the powers, he would create something new!
As this child aged, he discovered something that would mess with his comic-making career for the rest of his life: COPYRIGHT!!!
He figured it was fine, since technically there was no superhero by the exact name of Captain Canada. But alas! He was WRONG.
From what I understand, this obscure little chap has telepathic powers and works with other obscure folks like Captain Atlantis and Captain Newfoundland. Hardly anyone knows he exists, and even less people care. Hey, just like the country he represents!
I think my version of Captain Canada can exist without Marvel busting in and suing me for copyright infringement, because this kind of thing has happened before. Both Marvel and DC superheroes have a supervillain named "Egghead." Both have a dangerous formula called Venom. Not only that, but there's more than one official "Captain Canada" - one appearing as a cartoon spoof and one seeming to be an attempt at a serious storyline. And then there's Captain Canuck and the Guardian and whatnot, who are better known, but are from entirely different storylines.
My only worry is that as Marvel begins to run dry with material to work with and their stories become weaker and weaker, they have begun to introduce more and more obscure characters. (Like "Hit Monkey", for instance. Who cares about Hit Monkey?)
So who's to say that they won't sink so low as to reach far back into the past and resurrect an age-old character who no one knows exists? Marvel's imposter will become slightly more known and I'll be ruined!
Hit monkey? seriously?