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. Relaunch and subsequent reception In 2014, Captain Euro was relaunched with a new website, featuring satirical comic strips, vignettes and radio podcasts with global heads of state, including: then UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, American President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The new website also included modified description of the characters of the Captain Euro Team and their villains. The new website has received extensive media coverage in the UK and Europe. A number of British journalists humorously insinuated that the relaunch was done to combat the threat of the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP): Matthew Champion of The Independent compared the appearance of Dr. D. Vider to the UKIP's leader Nigel Farage, while Catherine Mayer of Time magazine called D. Vider's crew "evil-minded dressed in UKIP purple". 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". 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. Fear not: here it is!". David Böcking of Germany's Der Spiegel wrote: “Captain Euro, hero of the single currency and the single market. The revitalized cartoon character fights against the crisis – without authority from Brussels.” References External links Official Captain Euro website Gold Mercury International Original Captain Euro launch 1995 on YouTube International Heroes – Captain Euro Works about the European Union National personifications in comic books Propaganda cartoons Comics about politics Fictional European people Comics characters introduced in 1999 1999 comics debuts