Master Comics #28
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMaster Comics #28 (July 1942) is a prime example of what made Mac Raboy's Captain Marvel Jr. run one of the most artistically distinctive achievements in Golden Age comics. By mid-1942, Raboy had transformed the anthology into a showcase for his anatomically precise, realistically rendered superhero adventure — a deliberate stylistic counterpoint to C.C. Beck's lighter, cartoony work on the parent Captain Marvel title. The issue's lead story pits Freddy Freeman directly against the Nazi war machine, embodying the title's consistently darker, more grounded take on wartime superhero fiction that set it apart from virtually every other Fawcett publication.
In this 1942 adventure from Master Comics #28, Captain Marvel Jr. ventures into Nazi Germany to rescue Frank Edsel from the Black Castle, where he’s held captive by the villainous Captain Nazi. The mission tests the hero’s courage and strength as he faces the dangers of enemy territory to protect a man vital to America’s war effort.
In "The Baffling Mystery of the Bouncer," the Flying Detectives race to stop a bizarre criminal known only as the Bouncer, a man who leaps across rooftops with spring-loaded shoes and targets only men named Smith—stealing a single tooth from each victim. With no clear motive and a trail of baffling clues, the duo must unravel a mystery that defies logic, all while the Bouncer's gang strikes again.
In "The Fuehrer Sends a Killer!" from Master Comics #28 (1942), the mysterious death of a famed artist known for National Defense posters draws Jack Weston and General Milton into a shadowy investigation, prompting Minute Man to step into the spotlight, determined to expose the assassin before another victim falls.
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After Captain Marvel Jr. took over as lead feature beginning with Master Comics #23 (February 1942), Fawcett editor France Herron and artist Mac Raboy established a monthly rhythm of WWII-themed adventure stories with a deliberately serious tone. Raboy — a former Works Progress Administration artist who brought a painterly, engraving-influenced technique to comics — was assigned an assistant, background artist Rubin Zubofsky (later credited as Bob Rogers), to help him meet deadlines, a production detail documented in Alter Ego #6 (Autumn 2000). Issue #28 was part of this core run, with supporting stories supplied by Phil Bard on the Minute Man feature and Douglas Mann contributing additional material.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Cover art by Mac Raboy depicts Captain Marvel Jr. alongside the Liberty Bell — one of the era's most overt wartime patriotic cover images for the character.
- Lead story: 13-page Captain Marvel Jr. adventure titled 'Hitler's Headquarters of Horror,' continuing the direct anti-Axis storyline teased at the conclusion of issue #27.
- Additional stories include a 13-page Bulletman story ('The Baffling Mystery of the Bouncer') and an 8-page Minute Man story ('The Fuehrer Sends a Killer'), keeping the anthology's wartime focus consistent across all features.
- Interior art credits confirmed as Mac Raboy (Captain Marvel Jr. lead), Phil Bard (Minute Man), and Douglas Mann; Kin Platt also contributed.
- Falls within the core Mac Raboy run on Master Comics (#23–#42), a stretch celebrated by collectors and historians for Raboy's 'romantic realism' approach — anatomically idealized figures in dynamic action against lovingly rendered backgrounds.
- The Captain Marvel Jr. stories in this era deliberately depicted Freddy Freeman as a working-class, disabled teenager living in poverty even as he battled Nazis — a socially conscious storytelling choice unusual for the genre.
- Stories from this period, including issue #28's era (Master Comics #23–32), were later collected in DC's Shazam! Family Archives Vol. 1 (2006), with art by Mac Raboy, Al Carreno, and Marc Swayze.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Golden Arrow [Mighty Midget Comic] #11 (1942), The Shazam! Family Archives #1 (2006), Alter Ego #105 (2011), Golden-Age Greats Spotlight #16 (2015), Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War #[nn] (2017), Men of Mystery Comics #110 (2018), Master Comics #84
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