Captain Marvel Adventures #96

This May 1949 Fawcett issue puts Captain Marvel in a striking futuristic cityscape, streaking through the air in his red-and-gold costume while automatic weapons mounted on a gleaming tower fire bursts of energy around him — a vivid promise of the lead story, "The Empty City of the Future," rendered with clean, dynamic confidence by cover artist C. C. Beck. The cover also teases a new Mr. Tawny story, and the dapper talking tiger himself appears in the corner box, cheerfully announcing he's picked a first name from reader submissions. At a big 52 pages for just a dime, this is a fine snapshot of the World's Mightiest Mortal at the height of his Golden Age popularity.