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.

Captain Marvel Jr. #40 (July 1946, The Boy Who Couldn't Grow Up)

The Boy Who Couldn't Grow Up

One of the significant genre within the Captain Marvel Jr. corpus was what can be termed "Boy stories". These stories deal with Capt. Marvel Jr helping younger or about his own age boys. In this Otto Binder-scripted tale Cap Jr. helps 15-year-old Dick Sanders over come a most unusual problem. The theme of a boy out of control who the Blue Boy needs to protect from his own irresponsible actions would be repeated in other stories. In some ways Dick Sanders' repeatedly stupid actions seem more to fill out the requisite number of story pages than results of true motivations. Than again some teenagers especially bored ones can do repeatedly dumb things. In later stories Cap Jr. in this story relied on the help of an outside  scientist to come up with an "elixir" but in later tales would do it himself. Interesting side note we are told Freddy Freeman's 1946 address in this story (85 Center St.). This would change a year later when the crippled newsboy moved into Mrs. Wagner's Boarding House. Very effective art by Bud Thompson.

For more on the "Boy Story" genre see the Blue Boy Chronicles #1

Captain Marvel Jr. #38 (May 1946-Capt. Marvel Jr. Haunts the Ghost Vigilantes)

This story combines old west cowboy lore (Buzzardville was active 50 years before placing it in the 1890s) with the beginning of the uranium mining boom of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Also the ghosts represented here are the popular notion of the spirits of dead people haunting their former habitations. The artwork in this story as well as the previous one has consistently rendered backgrounds (perhaps Bob Rogers was the background artist).  Art: Bud Thompson.  Otto Binder, writer 

Capt. Marvel, Jr. #38 (May 1946, The Magic Act)

The Magic Act

This is a story involving drug trade an issue that would play very prominently into crime comics that were to become very popular a few years in the future. This is a real world crime problem upping the "ante" from the usual thieves or co men Cap Jr. battled. The dope-crazed crooks at the beginning of the story suicidally try to stop an armored car with their bare hands. The villain Spavini is a malevolent cross between Harry Houdini and Mandrake the Magician. The art has a lot of atmosphere aided greatly by the detailed backgrounds. Art by Bud Thompson.

Captain Marvel Jr. #38 (May 1946- The Stolen Half Century)

The Stolen Half Century

The rather anemic artwork (as in the first Greybeard tale) prevents this story from being a good CapJr. yarn. Perhaps August Froehlich's reliance on medium shots,  8-panel grid pages --pp. 5-7 and Mac Raboy tracings prevent this story from being at all visually memorable. The writer strives to make this story relatable on a human level (a 50th wedding anniversary gift from a loving husband to his wife) but the art work militates against the noble thematic ambitions. Script by William Woolfolk.

Captain Marvel Jr. #38 (May 1946- Capt. Marvel Jr. Fights the Arabian Knights)

Here we see Cap Jr. helping out a young man (Ali) win his lady love. The Blue Boy can fly at a speed where "he can hardly be seen!" using these powers to lift a "magic cushion" into the air. At the conclusion of the story Ali "confesses to the sultan that his magic cushion was a trick!" The sultan responds, "I admire your honesty, my son, and I know your love for my daughter is true! I forgive you and wish you both happiness." The writer here expresses moral sensitivity resolving this "deception for the sake of good" situation. The background artwork in the first five pages is extensive and well-done for the Arabian setting, but the last four pages the backgrounds are minimal. It is almost like the background artist wasn't available for the last part of the story. This is an enjoyable story and the World's Mightiest Boy fits in well as a blue genie. Script by Otto Binder. Art by Bud Thompson.

Captain Marvel, Jr #37 (April 1946, "The Man Who Fell Up")

The Man Who Fell Up

Capt. Marvel Jr. is confronted with a moral dilemma in choosing to save "hundreds of lives" in the office building while allowing two criminals to be hurled to their deaths into space. While Cap Jr.'s quick decision was the right one, Freddy's smirk and parting comment, "I guess that's the last we'll ever hear of those thugs!" seems a little callus. Even thugs are human beings. Art by Bud Thompson. It should be noted that once again Thompson apparently was obligated to use photostats or tracings of Mac Raboy drawings of Captain Marvel Jr. This would change in later years.