KENSINGTON, MD — A superhero who can run sideways and has a super pinch grip is quickly becoming a celebrity across Maryland.
Captain Maryland, with containers of Old Bay seafood seasoning strapped to his utility belt and a large crab mallet in his hand, is stopped wherever he goes by fans who want to take a picture of him.
Captain Maryland’s rise didn’t happen because he was cast in superhero movies – although he was recently asked to appear in a music video. Captain Maryland’s arrival on the superhero scene has been a grassroots effort, with social media playing a big role.
As the legend of Captain Maryland grows, his calendar keeps filling up. It must scroll in the Kensington Labor Day Parade and the Mayor’s Christmas Parade in Baltimore in early December.
Who is the man behind the Maryland state flag mask and leggings? This is Clark Rogers, a retired firefighter who spent 35 years with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services.
Born in Bethesda Suburban Hospital, Rogers grew up in Chevy Chase and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. He has lived in Kensington for 15 years.
Every superhero needs an origin story, and Rogers explains that Captain Maryland gained his superhero powers after eating radioactive Chesapeake Bay crabs near the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. Seafood gave him the mighty pinch of a crab, the ability to run sideways like a crab, and his bulletproof crab-like shield.
In reality, Rogers, 55, came up with the idea of Captain Maryland to make his friends laugh. Growing up, he was a huge Star Trek fan and started attending Star Trek conventions in the 1970s. But Rogers didn’t catch the superhero bug until just a few years ago when he saw “Avengers: Infinity War”.
With a newfound appreciation for superheroes, Rogers came up with the idea for Captain Maryland about a year ago and wore the Maryland-themed costume to Awesome Con 2021 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in DC.
A few months later, Rogers was brainstorming costume ideas to wear to Comic Con in Baltimore. Rogers said his wife convinced him he had to dress up as Captain Maryland again. The legend of Captain Maryland skyrocketed when another Comic Con attendee made a ICT Tac of Captain Maryland – in which he praised the greatness of the flag of Maryland and jokingly dismissed the flag of Virginia as the worst – which has received nearly 800,000 views since last fall.
WUSA9 then ran a segment about Captain Maryland and TikTok.
“Since then, it’s been crazy,” Rogers said of captain Maryland’s rise.
Earlier this year, country music singer Jimmy Charles contacted Roger and asked him to appear in the music video for his new song “It’s a Maryland Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand.” The video, which premiere on wednesdayshows several shots of Captain Maryland, including Charles and Captain Maryland walking together in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor with someone dressed as Francis Scott Key.
Rogers said the clip was almost done when he was contacted to join Charles in the video. Charles, who is from Ocean City and lives in Nashville, really wanted to have Captain Maryland in the video, he said. Since making the video, Rogers said he and Charles have become friends.
Captain Maryland is also make a name on the East coast. Last week the Salisbury Times ran an article about him, with a large photo, on the front page.
Rogers said he would continue to wear the Captain Maryland costume as long as he continued to make people happy and feel good in their home country.
In 10 days, instead of driving a Montgomery County fire truck in the Kensington Labor Day Parade as he has done many times in the past as a firefighter, Rogers will parade as Captain Maryland. . Rogers said he can’t wait to see his hometown crowd’s response to his alter ego Captain Maryland.
