Captain Aero Comics #26
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeCaptain Aero Comics #26 (August 1946) holds a double distinction as both the final issue of one of the Golden Age's longer-running aviation anthologies and one of the earliest appearances of a future Silver Age titan: a very young Carmine Infantino contributed the story 'The Sinister Surgery Incident,' a remarkable document of an artist still developing the skills that would later reshape DC Comics. The issue also preserves the last Golden Age chapter of Miss Victory — one of the earliest female costumed superheroes in American comics, predating Wonder Woman — before she vanished from print for nearly four decades until AC Comics revived her as Ms. Victory in Femforce. Because the entire run has entered the public domain and the title's chaotic publisher history (Helnit → Holyoke → Et-Es-Go → Continental) took years for historians to untangle, #26 is an important capstone document for understanding how Golden Age independents operated and dissolved.
"Moon That Was Motionless" in Captain Aero Comics #26 (1946) brings together writer Ken Fitch and a team of standout artists—Nina Albright, L. B. Cole, and Saul Rosen—whose collaborative work defines the issue’s sharp, dynamic style. When a nationwide crime wave overwhelms law enforcement, Miss Victory answers General Conover’s call, only to uncover a cunning diversion masking a far greater heist at the Federal Reserve Bank. Cover by L. B. Cole captures the tension with bold, precise lines.
When the Moon's rotation mysteriously stops, Earth descends into catastrophe—tides cease, cities crumble, and disease spreads across stagnant waters. Captain Aero and the brilliant scientist Eve Starr are dispatched to investigate, leading them on a perilous journey to the Moon itself, where they discover an installation far more sinister than natural disaster. With radioactive creatures guarding secrets and hidden agendas at play, the two must navigate a deadly conspiracy if they hope to restore the world to balance.
Two pilots, Hank Fulton and Glenn Hall, take on a globe-trotting manhunt when a young woman hires them to track down Jim Rickey, the murderer of her father, an international banker. Following Rickey's trail from Argentina to China, the pair must pursue their elusive quarry across continents and through dense forests. A story of aerial adventure and relentless pursuit by George Gregg, with all the high-flying action the title promises.
In "null," Miss Victory answers General Conover’s call as a nationwide crime wave overwhelms the country, testing her resolve and skill. When she uncovers the truth—that the chaos was a distraction for a daring heist on the Federal Reserve Bank—she must race to stop the real threat before it’s too late.
A Japanese spy surgically altered to impersonate a Chinese officer infiltrates South American air forces, planning to divert an entire bomber fleet to a Japanese base—but a botched procedure by his surgical partner sets a deadly chain of events in motion. When the altered Major Namura finds himself unable to see, he becomes a liability to his own side, leading the armada wildly off course and straight into the crossfire of his countrymen's defenses. What begins as an insidious wartime plot unravels into chaos, and the bombers' true fate hangs in the balance.
Jackson and other model enthusiasts showcase America's newest hobby in this fascinating look at powered model plane racing, where tiny aircraft are breaking speed records and inspiring a new generation of builders competing in contests and national organizations. The story celebrates everything from high-speed control-line planes and free-flight endurance models to experimental designs like ornithopters, flying wings, and rocket-powered gliders—all part of a booming $25,000,000-a-year sport that's capturing imaginations from age ten to sixty.
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The series was the property of publisher Frank Z. Temerson, who had lost it temporarily to Holyoke Publishing around 1942 before reclaiming it through his renamed imprints Et-Es-Go Magazines and then Continental Magazines, Inc. Art director L. B. Cole, who took over from Charles Quinlan when Temerson re-acquired his titles, provided the cover for #26 — a sci-fi composition reflecting the postwar pivot away from wartime aviation toward pulp science fiction that the series had already begun in #24–25. The issue's interior contributors included Carmine Infantino (then roughly 20 years old and freelancing before his 1946–47 arrival at DC), alongside artists Frank Jackson, Rudy Palais, George Gregg, and Tony DiPreta.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Publication date: August 1946; indicia publisher: Continental Magazines Inc. (under Frank Z. Temerson); #26 is the final issue of a 14-issue run spanning December 1941 to August 1946.
- Cover art is by L. B. Cole, the art director Temerson installed after reclaiming the title from Holyoke; the cover depicts a science-fiction space scenario consistent with the series' late-run genre shift.
- Miss Victory (secret identity: Dr. Joan Wayne) appears in a standalone story — scripted per the GCD's 'Who's Who' attribution — in which a nationwide crime wave engineered by villain Black Zagar turns out to be a decoy for robbing the Federal Reserve Bank; this is her final Golden Age appearance before a ~38-year hiatus.
- Miss Victory first appeared in Captain Fearless #1 (August 1941), making her one of the earliest female costumed superheroes in American comics, debuting months before Wonder Woman.
- Carmine Infantino — later the co-creator of the Silver Age Flash and future Editorial Director of DC Comics — drew 'The Sinister Surgery Incident' for this issue; a Simon and Kirby researcher noted his art here shows clear progression from his Captain Aero #23 appearance two years earlier.
- The issue also contains the Captain Aero lead story 'Moon That Was Motionless,' a science-fiction plot in which the captain travels by spaceship with a scientist character named Eve Starr to investigate why the Moon has stopped moving, causing global floods and disease — a genre departure from the title's wartime aviation roots.
- Additional interior credits include art by Frank Jackson, Rudy Palais, George Gregg, and Tony DiPreta across stories including 'Adventure in the Air,' 'Derby Day,' 'The Mighty Mite,' and the non-fiction filler 'Little Planes with Big Ideas.'
- The Miss Victory story from this issue was later reprinted by AC Comics (Americomics), which revived the character in 1984 as Ms. Victory, the leader of the all-female superhero team Femforce.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Black Light: The World of L. B. Cole #[nn] (2015), Men of Mystery Comics #100 (2016)
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