History[]
The Green Cross Man was a superhero whose entire existence was dedicated to the noble goal of ensuring road safety by getting kids to use the Green Cross Code before crossing the road (for the record, the Green Cross Code was basically "look right, look left, look right again, then cross" (presumably, only if nothing was coming, though that part was evidently considered too obvious to be stated). Green Cross, who possessed the power to teleport from his monitoring station to any location where a kid seemed about to cross the road unsafely (which gave him a vaguely Orwellian air), first appeared in advertisements in 1970 and by 1975 was the star of a series of TV commercials starring Dave Prowse (better known as Darth Vader from Star Wars) which continued to appear until 1990. He also appeared in public information comic strips which appeared in numerous titles from publishers including IPC and Marvel UK (the example below is from the back cover of Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly #392, September 1980). His catchphrase was "always use the Green Cross Code, because I won't be there when you cross the road".
Powers and abilities[]
Powers
Delivering good advice in a calming but faintly patronising manner. He may also have had some sort of Jedi abilities, but there's no indication of it in the strips/ads.
Abilities
Teleportation.
Strength level
Looking at him, probably pretty strong.
Weaknesses
Dress sense.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment
Wrist mounted Dematerializer device.
Transportation
See 'Equipment'.
Weapons
Common sense.
Notes[]
The Green Cross Man was created around the same time that we were being bombarded with public information films about 'stranger danger'. Consequently, a generation of British kids grew up receiving some rather confusing mixed messages where one minute they were being told not to talk to strange men, and the next they were being shown kids the same age as them being happily escorted across the road by a muscular chap in green tights.
Trivia[]
See also Captain Caution.
Links[]
- Appearances of Green Cross Man
- Character Gallery: Green Cross Man
- Images that feature Green Cross Man
- Fan-Art Gallery: Green Cross Man
- Green Cross Man quotations
Discover and Discuss[]
- Search News for: Green Cross Man · Green Cross Man