Captain Marvel Jr #36 (March 1946, A Monument of Peace!)

With its themes of espionage and apparent German spies this tale is probably an inventory story left over from the war years.  By the time this issue appeared the war with Germany had been over for six to eight months. The artwork on this stories is "rougher" and not as well rendered as the other stories in this issue. Stylistically the art is reminiscent both in layout and basic drawing) of the late 1930s or early 1940s. It seems out of place in the post war era. This artwork was done by August Froehlich who also drew the Greybeard stories (CMJ #37-39). After a few stories Froehlich is gone from Captain Marvel Jr. 

Captain Marvel Jr #36 (March 1946-- Capt. Marvel Jr. Battles Sivana, Jr.)

Capt. Marvel Jr. Battles Sivana, Jr.

Sivana Jr (the World's Worst Boy) makes his first appearance in Capt. Marvel Jr. by providing "Jitterbug Pills" to dancing teenagers to give them more energy to dance.  Sivana Jr. was introduced the previous month in Captain Marvel Adventures  #52 February 1946. The Fawcett editors decided to clone Dr. Sivana so that each member of the Marvel Family would have their only Sivana to deal with. Sivana Jr. was a son of Dr. Sivana who secretly grew up on Venus. Some of the early dancing panels in this story could have easily fit into a teen humor comic (e.i. Archie) of the period. Agewise, Freddy and Cap Jr. fit well into this story as they would have been between 16 and 18 years old during this time. After Sivana Jr has been stopped by the Blue Boy he vows that he will escape. "You'll hear from me again, Capt Marvel Jr!" This is surely a promise Sivana Jr. kept again and again and again. Script by Otto Binder and art by Bud Thompson.

[Blue Boy Chronicles #1 contains a full biography of Captain Marvel Jr. arch-villain, Sivana, Jr. See August 31, 2013 entry this blog, The Blue Boy for ordering information.]

Captain Marvel Jr. #35 (January 1946 The Underworld Tournament)

Sorry for the late posting this week. I've been away from the internet. there won't be posting over the next two

weeks but should be back September 23rd.

Capt. Marvel Jr. and the Underworld Tournament

  

This story is actually the cover story for the next issue (#36). This tale shows Cap Jr., as a good boy scout, helping out a man who made a bad judgment call. The plot includes two criminal gangs doing a highly unlikely event, fighting each other in a medieval knight's tournament. This is unlikely for the 1940s but is somewhat more probably now with groups like the Society for Creative Anachronism recreating medieval battles.This story does show a clear cut choice between right and wrong and the consequences of bad decisions. Story by Otto Binder and art by Bud Thompson.