Captain Marvel Adventures #147

This August 1953 Fawcett gem finds the World's Mightiest Mortal in a tight spot — on the cover, Kurt Schaffenberger places Captain Marvel face-to-face with a mustachioed villain in a bowler hat and dark suit, who levels a revolver while wielding a crackling cane, as sparking laboratory equipment between them erupts with "ZAP ZAP ZAP" energy bursts. The cover story teases an "Amazing Mystery" pitting Captain Marvel against "The Thief from the Past," and the whole scene bristles with that irresistible blend of science-fiction menace and superhero tension that made Fawcett's flagship title so beloved in the early fifties. At ten cents a copy and promising "More Pages of Stories," this issue is a fine showcase for Schaffenberger's clean, energetic linework.