Captain Marvel Jr. #2

History

The Captain Marvel Jr. solo title launched in November 1942, spun directly off a multi-issue crossover that had debuted Freddy Freeman in Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941), where Captain Marvel shared his powers with the gravely injured boy after Captain Nazi crippled him. The series was helmed artistically by Emmanuel 'Mac' Raboy, whose background with the Works Progress Administration lent the strip a grounded, almost painterly realism quite different from C.C. Beck's whimsical work on the flagship title. Issue #2's 'Return of Mr. Macabre' story holds a specific editorial distinction: according to Alter Ego #119, it was Otto Binder's very first Captain Marvel Jr. script — the beginning of a writing partnership with the character that would span the bulk of the run and eventually produce over 900 Marvel Family stories in total for Fawcett. The issue went on sale November 18, 1942, per the U.S. Copyright Entries catalog, and also included a teaser house advertisement for Mary Marvel, whose own debut in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 was arriving that same month.

Trivia · 9 facts

• Published by Fawcett with a cover date of December 1942; on-sale date confirmed as November 18, 1942 per the U.S. Catalog of Copyright Entries.
• First appearance and origin of Captain Nippon, a Japanese super-soldier created by Emperor Hirohito and the sorcerous Jamambux society — also their first appearance — as a Pacific-theater counterpart to Captain Nazi.
• First appearance of the Jamambux (a secret society of sorcerers) and the villain Butcher (in 'The Black Market' story).
• Marks Otto Binder's first Captain Marvel Jr. story ('The Return of Mr. Macabre,' per Alter Ego #119, August 2013), launching the writer's long-running stewardship of the character.
• Contains the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in a standard American comic book story — the character appears unnamed but is unmistakably alluded to in 'The Black Market'; Key Collector notes he had appeared only in a one-page activity game in Dynamic Comics #3 earlier that same year.
• Captain Nazi (Albrecht Krieger) appears as the lead villain in two separate stories, reinforcing him as Freddy Freeman's primary Axis nemesis just one issue into the solo series.
• Cover and lead story art by Mac Raboy; interior art also by Al Carreno and Bernard Baily (Baily credit revised and confirmed by Ken Quattro, per Alter Ego #109, May 2012).
• The issue contains a teaser house advertisement showing Mary Marvel's silhouette alongside the two Captains Marvel, timed to coincide with her debut in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 that same month.
• The issue was later collected in Gwandanaland Comics #1103 (2016), 'The Golden Age Captain Marvel Jr.: Volume 3,' making the stories accessible to modern readers in reprint form.

Cast · 8 characters

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