Master Comics #22
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMaster Comics #22 (January 1942) is the concluding chapter of one of the earliest deliberate multi-title crossovers in American comics history — a three-issue arc spanning Master Comics #21, Whiz Comics #25, and this issue — in which the birth of Captain Marvel Jr. plays out across two different monthly titles. This issue marks the first time the freshly created Freddy Freeman operates as Captain Marvel Jr. within the pages of Master Comics itself, teaming with Bulletman against Captain Nazi, and the issue closes with an in-story announcement that he will headline the title from issue #23 forward. That editorial pivot transformed Master Comics from a Bulletman vehicle into the permanent home of Captain Marvel Jr. and Mac Raboy's darker, more dramatic artistic vision, giving the Marvel Family its first ongoing solo spinoff feature — a model that would influence how publishers would later launch new characters through existing anthologies.
In "The Wax Death," Bulletman races to stop the sinister Dr. Eternity, whose chilling scheme targets ten victims with a mysterious wax-based threat, forcing him to team up with Captain Marvel Jr. against the shared menace of Dr. Eternity and the dangerous Captain Nazi. Written by Bill Woolfolk and brought to life with dynamic art by Mac Raboy—both inks and pencils—this 1942 Fawcett classic delivers a gripping blend of pulp mystery and superhero action, all on a cover by Raboy that captures the story’s eerie intensity.
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The issue went on sale December 5, 1941 — two days before Pearl Harbor — with editorial duties attributed (though not definitively confirmed by primary documents) to Ed 'France' Herron, the same editor who scripted Captain Marvel Jr.'s origin. Writing credits across the issue's multiple features are shared among William Woolfolk, Joseph J. Millard, and Otto Binder, while the art is split between Mac Raboy, Phil Bard, George Tuska, Ken Battefield, and Howard Purcell. With this issue Fawcett also shifted its print production from the C.T. Dearing plant in Louisville, Kentucky to the Western Publishing Factory in Poughkeepsie, New York — a logistical change documented in the Catalog of Copyright Entries for 1942.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Second appearance of Captain Marvel Jr. (Freddy Freeman) and his first appearance in Master Comics, completing the three-part crossover that began in Master Comics #21 (December 1941) and Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941).
- Captain Nazi (Albrecht Krieger) appears here in his third published story, continuing directly from Whiz Comics #25; his first appearance was in Master Comics #21, where he was created by writer William Woolfolk and artist Mac Raboy.
- First (introduction) appearance of Dr. Eternity as a villain — the wax museum murderer who briefly allies with Captain Nazi against Bulletman and Captain Marvel Jr. in the lead story 'The Wax Death.'
- Freddy Freeman reveals his secret identity to Bulletman (Jim Barr) in this issue, an early example of the Marvel Family's unusually open approach to secret identities.
- Final issue featuring Captain Venture, scripted by Otto Binder with art by Howard Purcell, ending that backup strip's run in the anthology.
- The name 'Minute-Man' loses its hyphen beginning with this issue, appearing as 'Minute Man' for the character Jack Weston going forward.
- The Minute Man backup story in this issue pits him against the Black Dragon Society, a Japanese spy/sabotage network — reflecting the WWII context of the issue's on-sale date (December 5, 1941).
- The lead story's final panel is an in-universe advertisement directing readers to Whiz Comics, one of the earliest examples of Fawcett actively using story space to cross-promote between titles. The Bulletman/Captain Marvel Jr. story from this issue was later reprinted in DC's The Shazam! Archives Vol. 4 (2003/2004), which collected the complete Captain Nazi origin crossover.
Cast · 9 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Bulletman vows to stop Dr. Eternity, who is determined to eliminate ten different people through his dreaded wax death and later teams with Captain Marvel Jr. to track down both Eternity and Captain Nazi.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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