Captain Universe was the starring feature in issues #9–11 of the tryout series "Marvel Spotlight". The series' editor Al Milgrom recalled being taken away by the concept of a Captain Universe serial: "You could come up with three issues, three disparate individuals — each one very different from the other — and see how they use their powers. They wouldn't necessarily be superheroic types; they'd be regular people who fell into the powers for just one issue. ... But Captain Universe never got his own title, so I'm guessing it didn't sell terribly well." The character appeared sporadically through the remainder of the 1980s in titles such as "Marvel Fanfare" and "Contest of Champions".