He is a formidable antagonist! But I will help you to achieve my purpose! I will prove to Captain Marvel, Jr. that even he is no match for Fate! Have no fear, Black De John! I, Fate, am joining forces with you! You will be more powerful and more clever than you have dreamed you could be! 
- — Fate
Captain Marvel, Jr. #85 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1950.
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel Jr.'s Nemesis"
One day as Fate is examining his card files, he notices an error: He has never gotten around to appointing anybody to be the Nemesis of Captain Marvel Junior. Fate resolves to correct this oversight at once. Meanwhile and elsewhere, big time international counterfeiter Black De John seemingly dies in a speedboat accident while attempting to flee from Captain Marvel Junior. Fate retrieves and revives this half-drowned felon, and puts him to work.
Captain Marvel Junior intimidates and interrogates his way through Black De John's gangland associates, until he learns of a secret meeting of big time counterfeiters, and he crashes that meeting. While he is busting the attendees, Black De John shows up at the door with dark glasses and a flare gun. He blinds Cap Jr. with a magnesium flare, and leads the others in a successful escape. Still, it takes only a few seconds for Junior to shake off the effects, and he's quickly on their trail.
Out in the country, De John sends his cohorts ahead in their getaway car, while he stays behind to distract Marvel Junior. He walks halfway across a rope/plank footbridge, where Junior overtakes him, but as Fate would have it, at that moment the walkway breaks, sending a nearby young woman and child plunging into the canyon. True to form, Junior rescues them, while his "nemesis" stealthily escapes along a hidden rock ledge.
Soon Freddy Freeman learns, from his friend Officer Jim Bellows, about a series of over a hundred truck thefts, with evidence connecting them to a counterfeiting racket. Freddie racks his brain to figure out what the big plan is, here. He hides in a Daily Gazette delivery truck, and hopes for it to get stolen. After a short nap, Freddy awakens to find that the truck's already been stolen, and that he's inadvertently infiltrated the gang's distribution operation. But before he can get Marveled up, one thug knocks him out with a blackjack. As soon as he's gagged and tied, De John gives the order to have him killed. But Freddy very luckily catches his gag on Black's gun muzzle and says his magic word, then Captain Marvel Junior subdues all the other crooks. He punches Black De John so hard that Fate visibly extracts himself from De John's form. Marvel Junior sees and recognizes him, and is pleased to hear that Fate has now completely given up on trying to develop a Nemesis for him.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel Jr.'s Nemesis"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Black De John (Single appearance)
- other counterfeiters and gang leaders
Other Characters:
- Fate (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- New York City
Items:
Vehicles:
- The Hunky Dory (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Kanvasback: "Movie Fan"
Appearing in Kanvasback: "Movie Fan"
Featured Characters:
- Kanvasback
Other Characters:
- Mal Arky
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Boy Who Wanted To Be Famous"
Freddy goes to see a sports fest, but is surprised to Egbert Pinch competing. Despite his scarecrow-like frame, Egbert easily wins the foot race, high jump and weight-lifting events. Some gamblers have a lot of money on one of the other competitors, and try to kill Egbert because no other athlete on the field can possibly compare. Captain Marvel Jr. comes to his rescue, but loses the attackers in the crowd. After the events are over, he tracks down Egbert, who explains he got his incredible power from a jelly developed from what ants eat to gain their terrific strength. Jr. protests this is unfair, but Egbert's too bent on achieving fame to let that bother him, and still plans to compete in an even bigger sports fest soon. The gamblers sneak into his room, steal his supply of ant-jelly and set the room on fire, but Egbert and Freddy manage to escape. He still intends to compete, but when Captain Marvel Jr. chases the gamblers onto the field, Egbert launches himself at them rather than win the race. Soon Freddy shows him a newspaper headline about the capture of the criminals, and tells Egbert how much better it is to be famous for something honest and upright.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Boy Who Wanted To Be Famous"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Egbert Pinch
Antagonists:
- "Slick" Slade, gambler
- Slug
Other Characters:
- Stan Speedman
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- Freddy's High School
- New York City
Items:
- Pinch's Strength Ant-Jelly
- Pinch's Speed Bee-Jelly
- Pinch's Jumping Grasshopper-Jelly
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Captain Marvel, Jr. Repeller!"
Criminal scientist Jan Smoot invents a solution that makes anything sprayed with it be repelled away from Captain Marvel Jr. (including criminals he's trying to punch,) so the young hero can't lay a hand on his enemies. However the World's Mightiest Boy devises an antidote and is able to catch the overconfident criminals by surprise.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Captain Marvel, Jr. Repeller!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Hurdy Gurdy
- his gang
- Jan Smoot
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Smoot's Demolition Gun (Destroyed)
- Smoot's Captain Marvel Junior Repeller Spray
- Captain Marvel, Jr.'s Repellent Antidote
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Freshman Freddy: "The Big Investigation"
Freddy Freeman agrees to meet Harriet at her house for a date at 6pm as Ace and Stooge decide to pull a fast one on Freshman Freddy! Ace explains that Harriet’s mother, Mrs. Peters, hates getting chocolates and shoved them in his face once. Ace was really peeved and tried smoking without asking in someone’s home, which upset Mr. Peter so much he toe-kicked him in the tailbone, kicking him to the curb. Stooge asks what kind of idea he has and Ace offers Freddy go buy Mrs. Peters chocolate instead of flowers and Mr. Peters a box of cigars and even lends Freddy the money to buy it. Freddy arrives at about the right time via the backdoor and hears Harriet’s parents openly saying they’d hate if he had chocolates and cigars and Harriet assures them that he’ll probably have flowers. Freddy tries to back out, but hits his head on a table. Suddenly, Mr. Peters’ Boss and his wife arrive as well and the Boss complains that Mr. Peters is one of those men who doesn’t smoke and intimates he’ll fire him for not being a smoker and not having candy in his house, but luckily Freddy has brought both of those! The Boss is happy to see it all and Mr. Peters thanks Freddy for doing so. Ace angrily grinds his teeth outside their window, finding that Freddy’s having a happy meal with the Peters’ and he couldn’t pull a fast one on Freshman Freddy!
Appearing in Freshman Freddy: "The Big Investigation"
Featured Characters:
- Freshman Freddy
Antagonists:
- Ace
- Stooge
Other Characters:
- Harriet Peters
- Mrs. Peters
- Mr. Peters
- Mr. Peters' boss
- Mr. Peters' boss' wife
Locations
- Podunk
- The Peters' Home
- The Peters' Home
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Fortress of Freedom"
The year is 1450 and a simple farmer named Kroza stands up to the Baron Bwerpo, who is trampling his wheat and calls him out on being a corrupt tyrant. The Baron threatens to cut his tongue out, but the peasants and serfs soon rebel against him and burn the wheat fields, deciding to leave now. Kroza leads them to a hidden place in the Wartz Forest where he says they can build a “Fortress of Freedom” where all men will live free of tyranny.
500 years later, no one has ever heard of Kroza since and Freddy Freeman reads in the papers about Daily Gazette how local Marvel Gas distributor Red O’Riley has gone missing with a hunting party in the Wartz Forest! Freddy is dismayed to hear one of his friends has suddenly disappeared and decides to go find him, calling CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. and heads to Central Europe (where the Wartz Forest is) and flies out to find the remains of a campfire from two days and hears something like cannon fire nearby. He soon finds Red and two guides in Lederhosen and Red says he and his friend, a Baron, were attacked some time ago when they found a mysterious fortress in the Wartz Forest. Approaching it, they’re attacked by a shirtless man dressed like Conan the Barbarian, who hurled a lance at them and the Baron dragged Red to safety so he wouldn’t be stabbed to death. The Baron dragged him to safety with a lance stuck in Red’s leg and the Baron’s been helping him convalesce while eating foraged food and drink. Junior instead of flying him to a hospital, he flies to the Fortress (believing the Baron is being held there) and returns to being Freddy. He’s quickly seized by a similar Cimmerian-dressed man and a man in a horribly-green Renaissance, who claim he is from “the slave world” and order him taken before Kroza VIII. He soon finds that the Fortress is run essentially like a feudal lord and peasants are tortured if they don’t pay half their crops to Kroza VIII, their ruler. He is soon taken before Lord Kroza VIII, who is a portly monarch with a K on his crown that believes that everyone from the “outside world” is a “spy” and says that the Baron is due to be quartered by wild horses and they’ll do that to Freddy too if he doesn’t come clean fast enough about the “plans of your masters,” so he calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. and dumps King Kroza VIII off his throne personally, then retrieves the Baron from a courtyard nearby, fighting off guards and starting a new peasant’s rebellion against Kroza. When they storm the Fortress of Freedom though, he threatens to light their powder stores with a torch to kill them all, only for Junior to yank the fuse out by hand by breaking the stone wall it’s hidden behind. Reading through the records later, Junior and the Baron find out that things switched up now and though the Baron has a title, he has no power to rule and believes in democracy while the people of the Fortress fell to tyranny. Junior hopes that men will never forget to fight back against those who seek to remove their power to govern themselves. Later, Freddy finds Red is back at O’Riley Gas Station, waving at him, and thinks how all men can be free if they work hard enough.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Fortress of Freedom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Baron Bwerpo (Flashback only)
- Kroza VIII
Other Characters:
- Kroza, outspoken peasant (Flashback only)
- Red's friend "the Baron"
- A Secondary Gas Station Attendant
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- O'Riley's Gas Station
- Middle Europe, 1450 (Flashback only)
- Middle Europe, Today
- Wartz Forest
- Fortress of Freedom
- Wartz Forest
- New York City
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- According to Captain Marvel Junior: "Smoot devised some kind of spray that makes physical bodies react magnetically away from me. First I've got to learn what his formula is! Then I've got to discover an antidote! (...) The Smoot Formula requires tremendous amounts of the rare catalyst known as Hexydol!"
- Also appearing in this issue of Captain Marvel, Jr. were:
- "Rubbernose Randolph", by Art Helfant
- "Gambling With a Gun" (text story), by Walter Farmer
Trivia
- Despite the cover, Egbert is blond and has a much longer, spindlier body.
- This issue is the final appearance of Freshman Freddy in Captain Marvel, Jr. and will continue further in Master Comics# 115, where it'll continue until Master Comics# 121.
- The "Wartz Forest" seems to be reminiscent of the Schwarzwald, a large forested area in Southwest Germany, known for its Ham, Gâteau, and being covered in Schanzen, small fortified castles used to defend their border with the French, especially since they still have living Barons, are described as being in Central Europe and Red's two guides are wearing Lederhosen.
See Also