Captain Marvel, Jr. #64 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1948.
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. Duels with the Outlaw"
Grey Lockhart is a scientist who has invented a Kirbyesque Box that will make him famous, only to be shot to death from his window by the Outlaw, a masked man in a cape and hat. He heads to the Old West Room of the Art Museum and resurrects Jesse James, Quantrell and Black Rufe, the three deadliest men in the West, with Grey Lockhart’s Reintegrator-Camera, which can put souls back into physical form, letting the villains walk out of their frames. The Outlaw says that they work for him now. The night watchman is very confused later on and hits the alarm, summoning Freddy Freeman, who calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to fly there as Captain Marvel, Jr. Black Rufe talks in the third-person about Black Rufe not liking nosey brats and goes to stab Junior in the chest, but quickly discovers that it shatters on him and he gets punched in the floor, mocked that Junior merely thinks he’s dressed up as the famed Black Rufe. He clouts the other two Westerners, but the Outlaw shoves a large bronze statue on top of him. Meanwhile, the Outlaw’s Gang fires off guns in the streets on horseback just to scare people and even ruining a perfectly good hat. Quantrell soon robs a bank and a citizen legs it out of the Citizen’s Bank and tells Freddy that there’s crazy people in there. He calls CAPTAIN MARVEL and Junior quickly drags them from their horses. He immediately punches out Black Rufe yet again, but the Outlaw does a few crazy swipes with his cape and then runs away with all his goons. Even his goons are confused as to what happened there and also what the Outlaw wants in this, but the Outlaw says he isn’t taking a cut, but that it’s because he just likes spreading crime, hoping that crimes will create other crimes and join him in a militant uprising.
The next day, Freddy looks into the three bandits and that they’re connected to the missing portraits, so he calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. The Outlaw’s Gang soon drive a horse on to the tracks to flag down a train and then rob a mail truck, but Junior is flagged down by a dispatcher nearby who says the streamliner isn’t there. He soon tackles the Outlaw and punches him, sending him into his own campfire, seemingly destroying him entirely. Junior is unsure what his deal was and later the stolen paintings go back to the Museum. Both Freddy and Junior are still not sure if he’ll come back or not.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. Duels with the Outlaw"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Outlaw (Single appearance; dies)
- "Black" Rufe
- Jesse James
- Quantrell
Other Characters:
- Grey Lockhart (Dies)
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- Grey Lockhart's Laboratory
- The Art Museum
- The Citizen's Bank
- New York City
Items:
- Grey Lockhart's Reintegrator-Camera
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and Sivana, Jr.'s Sinister Secret Serum!"
Freddy is visiting rich man Carter Liverpool, who has a million-dollar model ship made of diamonds and has hired guards to guard it. As his guests leave though, one of the guards is revealed to be Sivana, Jr. wearing a fake beard, who sprays a serum in a spray-gun in his face, which makes him very eager to hand him the diamond ship. Sivana, Jr. walks out with it and Freddy spots him, calling CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. However, Sivana, Jr. points out Carter gave him the ship, which Junior can’t really argue against. Back at his laboratory, Sivana, jr. gloats to himself and his new million-dollar diamond ship that his new serum makes people act the exact opposite of what they really want to do or say! With more money from robberies, he plans on using more of the Serum to rob a US Treasury delivery. Gassing them, they are more than willing for him to take all the money on their flatbed cart.
Freddy watches him walk by with a flatbed cart full of money, but both he and the guards insist that he’s allowed to do so. He returns to being Freddy and tracks down Sivana, Jr.’s hideout and finds his Secret Serum, the exact mathematical formula for it and the exact way it works. Freddy uses the phone to call Officer Jim Bellows to come arrest Sivana, Jr., but the World’s Wickedest Boy sprays him with Secret Serum before he can call the magic words. Officer Jim soon arrives and asks Freddy to corroborate what’s going on here, but Freddy says that Sivana, Jr. is a “fine, upstanding, honest young man.” Sivana, Jr. asks who is the greatest boy in the world and Freddy is forced to say “Why, you of course!” but Sivana, Jr. further asks him who’s the most evil person in the world and Freddy is forced to call CAPTAIN MARVEL JUNIOR, turning into Captain Marvel, Jr. Sivana’s Sinister Son finds his Secret Serum Spray does nothing to the World’s Mightiest Boy, who threatens to punch him into the ground if he doesn’t make an antidote and return the diamond ship and the bank’s money. Later, Freddy explains what the whole deal was and that he did have a good reason to call him over.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and Sivana, Jr.'s Sinister Secret Serum!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Carter Liverpool
- US Treasury Deliverymen
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- Carter Liverpool's House
- The Citizen's Bank
- New York City
Items:
- Sivana, Jr's Secret / Sinister Serum (Destroyed)
- Carter Liverpool's Million-Dollar Diamond Model Ship
- A Huge Flatbed Cart Full of Money Sacks
- A Fake Beard
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Secret of the Ink!"
A rich man tries to write a letter for Freddy Freeman to give to Captain Marvel, Jr., since his family is being targeted. He writes that the ink he’s writing with holds a secret, but before he can write more, he’s stabbed in the back and dies as the killer leaves out a window. Later, Officer Jim Bellows visits Mrs. Wagner’s Boarding House to talk to Freddy about the letter for Captain Marvel, Jr. and goes to “deliver it in person” to him, calling CAPTAIN MARVEL once he’s a little ways outside. Junior finds that the victim was John T Multimoola and flies over to his estate to look into things further. In the pantry, his butler and his driver are cleaning a knife and smoking and the butler says that the cops definitely don’t suspect him and that he had to do it to him. Junior hears him and leans in, so the butler tries to fling a knife into his chest, but it just crumples and the chauffeur jumps out the window. The butler, however, points out that Junior has no evidence he tried to kill him or John and goes back to cleaning his knife. Thus, he returns to Freddy to try looking around and keeps looking at the note from Multimoola, sure that there’s something more to it… Officer Jim shows up and says that he’s going to interview the family. Mrs. Multimoola, the stepmother, says that her stepson Dee killed his father and stole the prized Ruby, though her stepdaughter thinks that her stepmother did it because they were all cut out of the fortune, apart from the Ruby, which she says was hidden away to spite them all, like a dog in the manger. Dee smokes quietly, says he didn’t do it, but he knows who did and he can prove it, but he doesn’t know where the Ruby is, since he has an infrared photo of the killer! When he goes to get the film of it from his car though, he’s attacked and bludgeoned to death. Freddy notices the butler hiding in the bush and tries to call him out, only for the thieving valet to knock him out with a club and starts trying to shove his dizzied form into the trunk of his car. Officer Jim finds him, but he throws a knife at him to disarm him from firing at him and his car, driving off. However, the magic lightning from when Freddy calls CAPTAIN MARVEL and turning into Captain Marvel, Jr., which makes his car swerve dangerously, almost hitting a tree. Junior flies it up and then takes him to jail as the butler pleads to just be free of the “haunted” car. Inside the mansion, Junior reveals that John was trying to write that his butler was actually known gangster “Kutter, the Knifer” and further astounds by finding the Ruby inside the inkwell. Officer Jim says the Ruby will be sold and the proceeds will be split among the next of kin, but Junior catching the killer means he gets part of it as a reward, which Junior generously donates to the Police Athletic League.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Secret of the Ink!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- John T. Multimoola (Dies)
- Officer Jim Bellows
Antagonists:
- Kutter "the Knifer"
- An Unscrupulous Chauffeur
Other Characters:
- Mrs. Multimoola
- Dee Multimoola (Dies)
- Stepdaughter Multimoola
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- New York City
Items:
- A $500,000 Ruby
Vehicles:
- Kutter's Car (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Raven of Enchanted Castle!"
Freddy Freeman is at home, writing in his diary when he hears a tapping at his window and opens it to find a raven that says Nevermore and has a tiny sign around its neck saying “help!” Within the help sign is a note that offers the “Bravest, Strongest Lad in the World” save Princess Penelope from the Enchanted Castle, warning there are dragons and giant ogres guiding the place, but she is also a poor maiden in distress. When Freddy asks the raven is this is some kind of joke, it just says Nevermore. Freddy calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. and flies off after the raven to the Enchanted Castle, finding a fire-breathing dragon attacking him, but he punches it out hard, then finds an ogre that tries to crack him in the head with a club. When Junior goes to punch him over, the Ogre turns into an old lady and says that many young men have come to take Penelope away, but none have defeated the dragon, but he must beware going to save the Princes…
Atop the castle’s turrets, men fire ballista bolts at him until Junior flies down and they scatter. The very forward Princess Penelope begs him to land in her arms, kisses him on the hand and says she wants to marry him as is the custom of their country. However, when he returns to being Freddy, she finds he is shabby and poor and her heart is broken. Freddy tries to console her before a jester shows up and beckons him away from her while she cries into a curtain. He whispers to him that the Princess can’t leave the castle, since she is actually 1,400 years old and if she leaves the Castle, she will age rapidly and if she doesn’t die, she will be very old. Instead, Freddy asks if she wants news of the outside world and finds she’s interested in how King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad are doing, hoping one of them might show up, but Freddy encourages her that someone will someday. When she asks if he means the “blue knight,” the raven says Nevermore.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Raven of Enchanted Castle!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- A Raven
- Princess Penelope
- A Jester
Antagonists:
- A Witch / Ogre
- A Dragon
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- New York City
- The Enchanted Castle
Items:
- A Ballista
Vehicles:
Trivia
- Despite the cover, the Outlaw has a cape instead of a red vest and doesn't wear a bandana over his face, instead just being mysteriously shadowed by inconvenient lighting and coloring.
- William Quantrill was an outlaw and slaver, then a guerilla fighter for the Confederates during the Civil War.
- "Black" Rufe might be a reference to famed Western actor Rufe Davis from TV's Petticoat Junction.
See Also