Monday, December 16, 2013

Captain Marvel Jr. #40 (July 1946- Principal Draws Interest!)

Principal Draws Interest!

In this story CapJr. tackles the issue of school bullies and juvenile delinquency. In this story we see the Blue Boy using his local star power to raise money for a worthy project--the construction of a needed play ground. At the end of the story Freddy declares, "What we need is more playgrounds like this throughout the country." Perhaps this is a somewhat prophetic announcement of the "baby boom" generation that was just starting at that time. School facilities would expand greatly in the next few years to accommodate the rapidly expanding number of children. As with the 
first story the center of attention is on the actions of misbehaving boys.

There are several issues that really aren't resolves at the conclusion of this story. One is the fate of Freddy Freeman. Freddy is bound and gagged and thrown into furnace which is lighted. As the one boy rightly exclaims this is an act of (attempted) murder. Freddy's fate gets ignored in order for the Principal to be exonerated. Also The Blue Boy bursting out of the furnace would very likely cause a fire in the pool hall cellar. Again excellent art by Bud Thompson.








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