Captain Marvel Swan
Captain Marvel Adventures 143

COMIC DETAILS

Comic Description: Captain Marvel Adventures #143 Universal
Grade: 8.0
Page Quality: OFF-WHITE
Pedigree: Crowley Copy
Certification #: 1017905007
Owner: David Swan1

SET DETAILS

Winning Set: Captain Marvel Swan
Date Added: 6/10/2011
Research: See CGC's Census Report for this Comic

Owner's Description

Despite Being a Mere 8.0 this is the Second Highest Graded Copy of this issue behind an 8.5 and one of only four graded comics.

(Published) April 1953
(Cover) C.C. Beck?

8 page Captain Marvel story
"The Horror Hunt"
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils/Inks) C.C. Beck

Capt. Marvel tries to save an apparent suicide jumper but to his surprise the man flies up into the air with a rocket pack intending to suffocate himself in the high atmosphere. Returning him to Earth, Cap learns that the man is a movie magnate whose business has gone bankrupt. The man begs Capt. Marvel to appear in his next film and Cap agrees after the man once again tries to commit suicide. The condition is that half the profits must go to charity. Cap will star in "The Horror Hunt".

In the first scene Capt. Marvel needs to enter a dark cave. Cap is surprised by a real live dragon and defeats it as the cameras roll. He defeats the dragon but the danger isn't over as a sea serpent, roc and cyclops exit the cave. One by one the monsters are defeated while it's all caught on film. He returns them to the cave and seals it up. Later, Billy is promoting the film given that half the profits will go to charity but he notices a piece of paper fall from the film makers pocket revealing that everything was staged. However, before Billy can transform he's hit by a jeep, gagged and tied up. The media mogul reopens the cave releasing a formless horror on Billy but predictably Billy's gag falls away as the monster engulfs him and he transforms back to Capt. Marvel. The film fiend is put behind bars and Capt. Marvel continues to promote the film to raise money for charity.

1 page Dopey Danny Dee story
"A Monstrous Idea"
(Script/Pencils/Inks) George Marko

5 page Captain Marvel story
"The Man in the Moon"
(Appearance) Doc Quartz
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils/Inks) C.C. Beck
(Reprinted) Adventure Comics #499

Billy hears an urgent plea for Doc Quartz who for some reason is on the moon so Capt. Marvel flies up to help. He finds Quartz tangled in ropes on the side of a cliff and carries him back to his spaceship. Quartz explains that he's experimenting with an Atomic Rock Drill and he's creating a giant welcome sign for aliens. Immediately, Quartz starts receiving a message from aliens claiming to come in peace. Cap goes back out to the moons surface to watch Doc Quartz continue his work and shenanigans ensue. Our hero ends up finishing the carving, which is a giant face, based on Quartz instructions. When Capt. Marvel pulls back to take in the whole image he sees that it's a picture of himself except it looks awful.

Suddenly the aliens from earlier announce their true intentions and order the Earth to surrender. Cap flies off and fixes the giant image of himself while changing the greeting of peace into a warning. When the aliens see that Capt. Marvel is guarding Earth they beat a hasty retreat. The punch line of the story is that Quartz accidentally carved the image on the far side of the moon so no one on Earth will see it. In the end Doc vows to invent a way to turn the moon around.

6 page Captain Marvel story
"The Vengeful Vine"
(Appearance) Dexter Knox
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils/Inks) C.C. Beck

Billy is visiting the Pilgrim Club which contains members who are all direct descendants of early pilgrims. This includes his boss Sterling Morris, Pa Potter and Dexter Knox. While cleaning the clubhouse they discover and coffin with a skeleton.

That night a flowered vine with a face on it crawls in through the Potters bedroom window. Billy hears the couples screams and transforms. Now there are two vines with the faces of an old witch. The vine manages to escape but Cap hears a second scream, this time from Dexter. The vine has flung the boy inventor from a second story window but Marvel manages to catch him.

The next day Billy is on his way to work when he spots the vine attacking a car and speaks his magic word to perform rescue. He follows the long vine but just to a broken end where the vine has snapped. The vines begin attacking all over the city including one then throws a man into a burning boiler. Capt. Marvel saves most of the people but later when Billy is scanning a list of people attacked he discovers they are all member of the Pilgrim Club. Turns out in 1628 a witch was drowned for her misdeeds a cursed the pilgrims. The pilgrims kept the witches body in a coffin unburied for God knows what reason. Billy tries to call Mr. Morris when suddenly a vine snaps around his neck. Billy is able to pull free and shout his magic word and just uproots all the vines. The vines were going through the skeleton's mouth and Cap just rips them out ending the evil.

It's interesting that on the last panel Capt. Marvel is being cheered by the Pilgrim Club for saving every member when it certainly looked like one was killed. Also, apparently the pilgrims did a GOOD thing by killing the "witch".

2 page Jon Jarl text story
"The Poison Planet"
(Script) Otto Binder [as Eando Binder]

4 page Captain Kid story
"The Fishy Fish Yarn"
(Pencils/Inks) Al Liederman?

6 page Captain Marvel story
"The Human Hawks"
(Script) Otto Binder
(Pencils) C.C. Beck
(Inks) Pete Costanza?
(Reprinted) Adventure Comics #502
  
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