Father Time! They thought I didn't hear them... but I did! Now I know who I am! I can't stay here! There's too much work for me to do! Those time-wasters must be punished! There he is! Just killing time! You've killed time! Now I, Father Time, will kill you! 
- — Geoffrey Grusk, A "Mildly"-Concussed Man
Captain Marvel, Jr. #86 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1950.
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Medical Menace"
Dr. Hubert Penrod, famed medical researcher, is looking into new wonder cures in strange places, much like how penicillin was discovered in bread mold, and streptomycin and aureomycin from soil. He soon finds that a new mold is an abandoned mansion is able to kill his test germs (typhoid and plague.) However, this old house is also a hideout for bad gangsters, Sniffy (who has a runny nose), Shaky (who has Parkinson’s) and their leader, “Ulcers” Ullman (who is constantly taking pills for it.) They hear Dr. Penrod crying EUREKA in the basement and says he’s found something that’ll cure any disease! Ullman pulls a gun on him and orders him to give it to the three ailing goons and he does so, curing them of their ailments as Ullman declares this “Crimicillin” and they can use it to somehow do more crime. They leave the dejected Dr. Penrod in a corner of the mansion. The next night, Freddy Freeman gets out of a movie and finds the three goons leaving from a jewelry store robbery. He quickly calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. and beats them senseless, only for the goons to pull up their bandanna masks and take the Crimicillin, becoming instantly healed of all bruises or wounds, making them remarkably strong enough to shove past even the World’s Mightiest Boy. When he recovers and gets back up, he finds he’s stopped the wrong car and goes back to what he was doing.
Ullman returns to his hideout with his goons and finds that their skin has turned a wretched green, though Dr. Penrod says that it is a mere side-effect, like the rash that penicillin can cause. The next night, they try to break into the Acme Engraving Plant to steal their payroll, only for Captain Marvel, Jr. to find them exiting and punch them into a wall. The goons now openly brag that the Crimicillin will make them strong, but Junior decides he can just physically hold them there until the cops arrive. In an ensuing shootout, Officer Jim Bellows is grazed and the goons escape once more in their car. The next day, they are cured of their bullet wounds and Dr. Penrod offers them a different pill which will negate the green-skin issue. Ullman heads out to case a men’s accessories shop, only for Junior to easily spot him, since Ullman still has a bright green face! He follows him to the old mansion and starts cleaning house of the goons, who find that the Crimicillin isn’t working anymore! Dr. Penrod points out he switched the pills with placebos so they’d get caught and, now freed, renames Crimicillin to Healicillin and says that it’ll probably take a long time to prepare it for market and not make people green, but Junior encourages he can do it as any doctor can who doesn’t give up, arresting the goons.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Medical Menace"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Dr. Hubert Penrod
Antagonists:
- "Ulcers" Ullman
- Shaky
- Sniffy
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- New York City
Items:
- "Crimicillin" / Healicillin
- Fake Crimicillin
- Fake Green-Skin Pills
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Defender of Time"
Freddy Freeman is friends with Geoffrey Grusk, who tends the clocks on his block, especially the Lancer Clock (his favorite.) From above, the angry Grusk shouts a man in a suit mocking his work (while he just stands outside a pool parlor) and Grusk begins to accuse others of time-wasting, like Bill Norton in the accounting office or old gossips Mrs. Crandall and Mrs. Fox. However, he’s suddenly struck by a mechanical Lancer in the Clock and it knocks him off the face of it, sending him to the ground, forcing Freddy to call CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. Though he catches him in time, he finds that he’s got a mild concussion and suffering from shock and takes him to the hospital to convalesce. That night, Grusk becomes delirious and hears some nurses talking about how he resembles Father Time, which confuses him into thinking he is Father Time and that he’ll kill all the time-wasters! He soon races to the Billiard Hall and flings a small orange cue-ball shaped explosive on to a table. Hearing shouting, Freddy calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Junior again and flies in to crush the explosive in his hands and the pool player says that Mr. Grusk did it. Father Time soon finds Bill Norton staring out the window again and attacks him with a Punjab Lasso (a free-standing noose) from the rooftop and Junior soon flies in to snap the rope before he’s strangled.
Soon after, Father Time hides out behind a large clock and then goes off to kill the gossiping ladies, having nicked a scythe off of a farm equipment truck. Junior manages to find the farmer’s truck and intercepts the scythe, letting it shatter on his chest and slaps Father Time on the head, which returns Grusk entirely to his senses. Luckily, assembling his victims, the people realize they were just wasting time and won’t do so again, thanking Grusk for reminding them of time is what “our whole lives are made of!” Later, Freddy says that Grusk worked something like a protege in defending time!
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Defender of Time"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Bill Norton
- Mrs. Crandall
- Mrs. Fox
Antagonists:
- Father Time (Geoffrey Grusk)
Other Characters:
- An Unnamed Billiards Player
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- A Billiard Hall
- An Accounting Office
- A Hospital
- New York City
Items:
- The Lancer Clock
- A Scythe (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
- A Farm Equipment Van
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Golden Eggs"
A scientist, Prof. Ellis, reveals a new bird of unknown species and finds it’s about to lay an egg… which comes out golden! However, among the crowd is infamous gangster “Doc” Doogan, who grabs the bird by the neck and drags it through the bars of its cage, forcing Freddy Freeman (also in the crowd) to call CAPTAIN MARVEL to stop him as Captain Marvel, Jr. but the Bird escapes into the sky. Prof. Ellis shouts for him to go seize the bird (instead of the criminal, who escapes) and does so. Prof. Ellis asks if he can help him fly back to their distant and exotic homeland so they can get more birds, adding that only the shells of the eggs are made of gold (instead of calcium.) Prof. Ellis goes to get his things, but is ambushed and blackjacked by Doc Doogan, who trades clothes with him and dons a fake beard, since he already moderately resembles the man of science. Junior flies who he believes to be Prof. Ellis to a smaller island far north of them, having released the Golden Egg Bird to follow her there. Soon enough, they find that the rock itself is made from gold flecks and the birds, eating it as roughage, make golden eggs. Junior finds Doogan kicking the birds’ nests to get more eggs, then states that “this species of apiary must be of the tern family,” which gives away his secret ulterior motives, not knowing he should’ve saved aviary (an apiary is where one keeps bees) and removes his fake beard. Doogan manages to hide out on a far side of the rock by sending all the birds flying around as a Native people living on the island approach. Junior soon finds they think the gold is worthless (since they live on an island) and Doogan manages to trade them bushels of the gold shells for trinkets like his penknife, watch and writing pen. Junior accuses him of stealing from the Natives, but Doogan points out he didn’t force them to give him bushels of gold; it was an exchange they felt was fair. Junior finds this technically is true. However, Junior smartly points out that the Natives don’t have any ships to get his gold home and Junior decides he’s going to charge him $50,000,000 to return him to the contiguous United States. Since he doesn’t have that much, he takes all the gold shells and returns them to the Natives and flies Doogan back to society where he soon punches him over and gives Prof. Ellis a map of where to find the Island of Golden Birds. Later, Freddy finds trade ships have arrived and the Islanders are now very prosperous.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Golden Eggs"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Professor Ellis
Antagonists:
- "Doc" Doogan
Other Characters:
- The Golden Egg Birds
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- The Island of Golden Eggs
- New York City
Items:
- Golden Eggs
Vehicles:
Trivia
- Despite the cover, Captain Marvel, Jr. doesn't stop Father Time from killing a man with a scythe, instead stopping him from killing a man with a noose and two gossiping ladies with a scythe separately.
See Also