Captain Marvel Swan
Captain Marvel Adventures 55

Return to Image Gallery >

COMIC DETAILS

Comic Description: Captain Marvel Adventures 55
Grade: 9.2
Page Quality: OFF-WHITE TO WHITE
Certification #: 0056233003
Owner: David Swan1

SET DETAILS

Custom Sets: Captain Marvel Adventures - City Stories
Sets Competing: Captain Marvel Swan  Score: 540
Research: See CGC's Census Report for this Comic

Owner's Description

Currently the Highest Graded Copy of this Issue. There is a Crowley copy but it's only a 9.0.

Cap visits Columbus from my home state of Ohio.

(Published) March 1946
(Cover) C.C. Beck

8 page Captain Marvel
"The Endless String"
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils/Inks) Pete Costanza
(Reprinted) Shazam #1 (February 1973)

While sitting in the park, Billy spots an old man collecting refuse including a long piece of string coming from some kind of dimensional portal. Turns out the old man is unraveling a carpet in an alternate dimension enraging its king who orders his soldiers to grab the string and pull it. The old man staggers forward so Billy says his magic word and Capt. Marvel pulls all the soldiers off their feet. The king ties a bomb to the string which Cap pulls through the portal. He flies into the atmosphere where the bomb explodes harmlessly. Cap tells the man to cut the string with a knife and heads off to get a scientist but the string is unbreakable so the old man ties the string to a tree to secure it.

Cap returns with a scientist and the old man shows that he attached a hook to the string and has been pulling things like a vase through the dimensional hole. The hook gets attached to the old man and he's pulled through the hole. Capt. Marvel fails to fit because of his broad shoulders so he changes to Billy Batson but is predictably knocked out the moment he emerges from the hole. He's gagged but moments later they remove the gag to burn out his tongue with a hot poker allowing Billy to change back to Capt. Marvel. Marvel cleans house, escapes with the old man and tosses all the string back through the portal. We close with Billy doing a report for WHIZ telling the story.

8 page Captain Marvel
"The Gorgon's Curse"
(Pencils/Inks) Pete Costanza

Professor Edgewise Smith receives a Gorgon's head i(basically Medusa with snakes for hair) in a box and takes it to Billy Batson. Before he can hand it over a man in a black suit snatches it up. Billy transforms and grabs the fellow who then explains the history of the Gorgon's head. Supposedly looking into the Gorgon's head will turn one to stone. The wants to bring the Gorgon's head back to life and rule the world which seems like an exceptionally stupid thing to say to Capt. Marvel but then jumps out the door before Marvel can catch him. Captain Marvel decides to destroy the head but mysteriously becomes paralyzed when Professor Smith looks at him. Smith then stares into the Gorgon's head to prove it doesn't turn people to stone. The Gorgon head has no effect on Smith and he leaves confused as to why Capt. Marvel is standing like a statue.

Capt. Marvel finally breaks free of the influence and hurries after Edgewise. Meanwhile the man in the black jacket tries to steal the Gorgon's head from Edgewise but Capt. Marvel arrives to take it back. As he puts it into the box he's cursed and his eyes grow as big as saucers. Apparently his gaze can now turn people to stone so he's forced to get dark sunglasses. He hears a news report that Prof Smith will be appearing to tell about the Gorgon's head and worries that he'll turn all viewers to stone.As Smith tries to enter the studio the man in black (apparently Dr. Zorro) tries to get the head but is paralyzed by Smith gaze.The TV broadcast is about to start and Cap tackles Edgewise causing the head to drop and shatter breaking the curse. Dr Zorro is taken to prison. The End

9 page Captain Marvel
"The Crime Egotist of Columbus, Ohio"
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils/Inks) Pete Costanza
(City Story) Columbus, Ohio

Billy arrives in Columbus and is asked for help in capturing the egotistic crook, Vulture Vane. As they're talking Vulture Vane walks right up to taunt them. Billy transforms but Vane escapes in a crowd. The mayor turns to a group of boys called the Knot-Hole Gang to hunt down Vane (seriously?) Despite the Knot-Hole Gang having 35 thousand members it's Capt. Marvel who spots Vane on the top of a building but Vane escapes again by dumping a barrel of tar on Cap's head. Billy continues his tour of Columbus but later Cap comes up with a plan. They'll do a showing of all the film taken during Billy's tour and call it, 'The Man Capt. Marvel Couldn't Catch'. With Vane huge ego he's compelled to show up and Cap easily captures him.

7 page Captain Marvel
"The Furious Five Minutes"
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils/Inks) Pete Costanza

It's five minutes before his broadcast and Billy has no story. As he's walking along a piece of coal from a train falls out and hits a man in the head. He thinks another man hit him and strikes him knocking him into the street. Billy transforms as a truck hits a steam roller while trying to avoid hitting the man. This causes the steam roller to roll down a hill, strike a fire hydrant, knock down a telephone pole and smash through a store. Each time Cap is there to repair the damage and rescue people but with each rescue time slips by until it's only two minutes to Billy's broadcast.

The steamroller continues its path of destruction finally aiming at the very train the coal initially bounced from. Capt. Marvel stops the steamroller in the nick of time leaving him with just one minute until Billy broadcast is scheduled to start. Predictably his report is about the lump of coal that caused so much mayhem.

8 page Captain Marvel
"The Hobo Newscast"

A trio of freezing hobo's trying to get firewood by ripping boards from their own shack but end up pulling the whole place down. Turns out these hobo's are childhood friends of Mr. Morris and they send a letter telling Morris they'll be stopping by. However, Mr. Morris will be out of town so Billy is asked to watch them. When Billy sees them he mistakes them for troublemakers and tries to throw them out but when he discovers their identities he offers to let them stat at Mr. Morris's mansion but they act like children.

Later that evening the fire department rushes to the mansion because the three morons lit a fire in the fireplace and turned off the ventilation creating a huge amount of smoke. Word gets out of the hobos and a rock is thrown through a window in the mansion threatening them if they don't leave town. Capt. Marvel catches the thrower who confesses that Judge Snobbish hired him to create public support for getting rid of the hobos in order to become a hero. Cap approaches Judge Snobbish who denies everything but when he returns a cop of throwing the three out of town. There is an hour before the hobos must leave town and they use the time to make a radio broadcast to plead their case. Turns out the radio program is a hit and the people turn against Judge Snobbish. The three get a permanent radio program.



 
 
Image #1
Enlarge   


Image #2
Enlarge   

To follow or send a message to this user,
please log in