Captain Marvel Adventures #142

From Fawcett's long-running series comes this March 1953 issue featuring a cover by C. C. Beck that raises an irresistible question: has the World's Mightiest Man finally met his match? Captain Marvel is shown mid-air, tangled in what appears to be some kind of binding force, while below him a mysterious woman dressed all in black — flanked by two grinning, confident men near a jewelry store — looks very much in control of the situation. The cover teaser "The Beauty in Black" promises a story that puts the Big Red Cheese in a genuinely unusual spot, and with Otto Binder writing and Beck's crisp, expressive art throughout, this is a fine example of the charm that made Captain Marvel Adventures one of the era's most beloved superhero titles.