[1] Captain Euro, the campaign, website and all the additional characters ans storylines were created by Nicolas De Santis of the consulting firm Twelve Stars for the EU.
Originally, he was described as the son of "a famous European Ambassador", a professor of palaeontology and a polyglot; after a motor accident one of his knees was replaced with a metal alloy joint, but he is otherwise "in peak physical condition".
His team-mates include his sidekick Europa (real name Donna Eden), an environmentalist and archaeologist, and assistants Erik, Helen, Marcus, Lupo the timber wolf, and the computer system Pythagoras I.
"[4] Dan Glaister of The Guardian mocked the character upon its release in 1999, writing that Captain Euro has "the sort of history only a marketing company besieged by focus groups could devise."
Hannan also criticised the general concept of using comic-book characters to promote the EU, writing, "The notion that the government should get at parents through their children is a characteristic of authoritarian states, not liberal democracies.
"[5] András Simonyi and Amanda Norris, in a 2013 column in the Huffington Post, shared the opinion that Dr. D. Vider had "a clear anti-Semitic undertone", and added that his team of henchmen, "social misfits belonging to the 'Global Touring Circus,'" were themselves an offensive stereotype against the Romani of Europe.
They also criticised Captain Euro's "meek and boring" nature (he does not use weapons), calling it emblematic of the European Union's reliance on "soft power" and its failure to solve its economic problems during the intervening years.
[9] Conversely, Gus Bentley of City A.M., discussing a strip in which Captain Euro convinces David Cameron of the importance of the EU, stated wryly that it "could be mistaken for the latest Ukip leaflet".
[7] Pablo Guimón of Spanish newspaper El País wrote: "Hit by the crisis of the monetary union...challenged by the promise of a referendum of the separation of the UK, The European project seems to cry out for the help of a superhero.