Captain Marvel Jr. #87

This July 1950 Fawcett issue delivers a wonderfully offbeat cover by Kurt Schaffenberger: Captain Marvel Jr., in his distinctive blue-and-gold lightning-bolt suit, leans warily against a tree as a gleaming silver robot methodically plows a farm field, with a barn, silo, and even a mule visible in the background. The teaser "The Robot Farmer" promises exactly the kind of imaginative science-meets-everyday-life adventure that made this series so endearing to mid-century readers. With a generous 52 full-color pages inside — including "Capt. Marvel Jr. and the Ancient Bonanza" by writer Otto Binder and artist/inker Bud Thompson — this issue offers a fine sampler of the era's energetic superhero storytelling.