Holy Moley! A slight updraft righted the plane and it's flying off safely! But it certainly is a coincidence that you were here to turn off that water! Whew! What amazing coincidences! First, I couldn't say CAPTAIN MARVEL to save the plane! Then the doomed plane was saved anyway! This is the day of the queerest coincidences for me! 
Captain Marvel, Jr. #88 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1950.
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Air Shortage"
A water shortage has finally ended after some months, but snow and rainfall have added to the reservoirs, fixing things out. Freddy Freeman is relieved and enjoys some water and the water fountain without inherent internal guilt. He says he’s lucky that there isn’t any air shortage… before he suddenly becomes weak of breath. A man above painting a building on a scaffold becomes so dizzy that he falls off of his unrailed work area, so Freddy calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to save him as Captain Marvel, Jr. He soon finds a Daily Gazette delivery driver has passed out and in a hot extra edition that Prof. Emil Wolfe has announced there’s definitely an air shortage! Junior flies off to find him and the balding scientist says that the atmosphere is slowly leaking into space, claiming that a similar thing has happened on the Moon, which lost all of their atmosphere. However, he says this will take at least years for it to go away entirely, but it has created an air shortage, which he says he can fix with a large, complex machine he’s built. Junior decides to start rationing air and starts to throw out handbills saying not to “waste air” and to “breathe slowly.” Junior makes sure to tell people that if they just breathe a little bit less, they’ll save billions of cubic feet of air with no lacking benefit. Junior soon stops a man trying to run after a streetcar and orders him to not leave his car running (which also consumes air.) Junior draws another big sign saying that Friday is an Air Holiday which means you can’t light fires and shames people for being “air hogs” otherwise.
He soon goes back to check on Prof. Wolfe… only to find that he’s selling stocks in prospective “air wells” he intends to find. Junior recognizes this as being exactly the same as selling oil stocks (before actually finding it.) However, Prof. Wolfe claims that he can drill for breathable air, showing him a diagram that says it lies under shale, rock, “sub plasma” and also oil. Junior says he hasn’t really proved any part of this, so Prof. Wolfe has him fly him out to their airfield, where they are drilling for air and soon find some! However, a derrick ends up breaking from air-pressure and Junior pushes it back into place… only for Wolfe’s men to cap the air off and Prof. Wolfe to reveal he intends to sell air to people by the cubic foot for a high price. What’s more, he shows he has a deed for the land he’s drilled into, so legally, he has every right to sell air to whoever he likes. Junior flies off, consternation in his face, and says that it is legal, but not right for a scientist. He decides to look into if Prof. Wolfe has some kind of criminal record and finds out from his good friend, Officer Jim Bellows, who says that he’s actualy known as “Dr. Foxx,” and is a known swindler who has a record of selling oil wells, fake gold bricks and imaginary diamond mines. Junior figures that the air derrick is probably fake and turns back into Freddy to look into the drilling site. Freddy hangs on the back of their Jeep as Wolfe and a beefy goon check out “the Intake Machine,” which is more or less a gigantic air compressor that creates the illusion of the drilled air. Freddy makes some kind of noise that alerts them to his presence and his goon punches him in the head, knocking him out. Freddy wakes up, as usual, bound and gagged, but this time he’s in a cave and Prof. Wolfe says that he’s been pumping the air into an underground cave using his Intake Machine to create the air shortage itself. They prepare to throw Freddy into the gears of the massive machine to let it mangle him, but he slips his gag on the gears instead and calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Junior again. He soon breaks the machine, unleashing a “gusher” of air that makes everyone breathe easier in New York City.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Air Shortage"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Professor Emil Wolfe / Dr. Foxx
Other Characters:
- Officer Bellows
- A Building Painter
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- An "Air-Drilling" Field
- New York City
Items:
- The Intake Machine
- An Air Derrick
Vehicles:
- A Daily Gazette Delivery Truck
Synopsis for Kanvasback: "Strictly from Hunger"
Appearing in Kanvasback: "Strictly from Hunger"
Featured Characters:
- Kanvasback
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Mystery of the Minor Crimes"
Freddy Freeman is at home with other boarders like Joe Cobb (who he’s playing checkers with) and Jim Gideon, a man with glasses. Gideon notes that the Evening Star has told him that a masked criminal named “The Hood” has been committing something of a nightly crime spree. While Freddy’s attention is off, Joe nudges the checkers so he can win in one move and he waits for everyone to go to bed so he can go outside and call CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. Flying over the city, he hears someone calling for help as the Hood is holding a rich man in his penthouse at gunpoint with a hood that almost resembles a strangely stretched face with a red fin on top. Junior flies in and punches him over as the Hood finds that shooting at the World’s Mightiest Boy yields predictable results. When he pulls off his hood, the Hood is revealed to have a second identical hood on under it and he takes the momentary confusion to shove the rich man off his balcony, forcing Junior to go after him while he escapes. Junior arrives at Mrs. Wagner’s to find one light is on in the house and that Joe Cobb is raiding the icebox, eating presumably other people’s food, since Junior calls to it as “a minor crime.” When Joe tells him he’s not interested in his moralizing, Junior becomes suspicious that Joe might start doing crimes, since he’s fine with doing things he can “get away with.” Junior decides that this makes him just as bad as the Hood, an attempted murderer.
The next night, Junior finds the Hood driving away from Vineburg Jewelry where he’s robbed them and abandons his car on a railroad track to try to derail the train. He tries to find the running Hood, only to find a nearby person running a red light… but it’s only Joe Cobb. Joe points out he isn’t hurting anyone and that the cops aren’t paying attention to him, which he intimates means he has no right to stop him. Junior again decides that Joe is a bad person, but he’ll just have to find the Hood tomorrow. The next day, Joe finds Freddy at his newsstand and pulls a “WHAT IS THAT?!” to sneak a newspaper behind his back and Joe claims seeing a fire was just his mistake and leaves with a stolen newspaper and Freddy is again frustrated by him. However, Joe reads the stolen Daily Gazette and thinks to himself about how he’s doing just as much crime as the Hood, but his aren’t as “big.” That night, Junior finds Joe has painted a mustache on a public poster for Nancy playing at the Avon Theatre. Junior tells him he doesn’t have time for him and flies off to find the Hood has attacked a toll station and knocked out a toll-keeper. He soon just follows the Hood and finds that he lives at Mrs. Wagner’s and thinks that Joe might be the Hood after all! He heads in and denounces Joe, but Joe says he did just find this diamond… outside of Jim Gideon’s room. Junior shoves in and finds that Gideon has the Hood costume in his dresser and Gideon tries to shoot at him. Joe snarks at Junior that he’s innocent, but Junior punches him over too and says he’s taking him before a judge for his many minor crimes as well. A judge quickly sentences Gideon to 20 years in prison and Joe is ordered to pay $1,000 in fine and says they’re both vicious criminals. Junior supposes that Joe has learned his lesson and that he won’t be pulling any more “minor” crimes.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Mystery of the Minor Crimes"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Hood
- Joe Cobb
Other Characters:
- A Rich Man
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Mrs. Wagner's Boarding House
- Freddy's Newsstand
- Vineburg Jewelry
- New York City
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Crazy Coincidences"
Freddy Freeman tries to put his shoes on in the morning, finding both of his shoelaces snapping! Freddy is vexed by this horrible coincidence. Later, while he’s finding there’s not a lot of news that day… just as an extra edition is delivered that says “Killer” Keech has escaped from jail! As another coincidence, he finds Keech walking by him and calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. However, when he tries to run after him, the sidewalk coincidentally breaks under him and caves in! Junior decides to go tell his good friend, Officer Jim Bellows, about the criminal in the area as Freddy. On the way there, he sees a plane going into a tailspin and tries to call CAPTAIN MARVEL, only for a coincidental fire hydrant to break open and sprays him directly in the face until the City can come by and shut it off. Coincidentally, the plane rights itself just as the water is shut off. Continuing to Police HQ, he passes the Fire Department where they tell him three fires have broken out at once and they’re going to solve them. Freddy decides to quickly call CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Junior once more. Heading to the first one though, Junior finds that it was a goon pulling a fire alarm to escape, the others are put out when it suddenly starts raining, by coincidence. Junior starts to bemoan how crazy things are getting today as a nosy Professor of Mathematics shows up and says that all things comes down to the Law of Averages and the Law of Chance. The Mathematician says that the Law of Chance proves that anything can happen and that “bad luck” like that coul dlast for who knows how long, but assures him that it’ll probably stop soon. Junior asks why he showed up just now to tell him this and the Professor says that it’s a coincidence!
Junior soon flies back to Mrs. Wagner’s to turn back into Freddy and tries to connect to Police HQ, but by coincidence, he’s instead connected to Keech himself and tells him his name and where he lives. Thus, Keech soon catches Freddy leaving home and ambushes him, leaving him bound and gagged in the middle of a rail yard, though Freddy thinks this is yet again another coincidence as a train starts coming towards him… only to coincidentally jump the track and fire a rock at Freddy’s face, which manages to cut off his gag. He calls CAPTAIN MARVEL quickly to push the train back into place before it starts falling over and wonders when these coincidences will stop already. Coincidentally, he runs into Keech on the street out of nowhere and punches him out. That night, Freddy hopes his day of crazy coincidences is over… just as his shoelace snaps again...
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Crazy Coincidences"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- A Professor of Mathematics
Villains:
- "Killer" Keech
Other Characters:
- Officer Bellows
- City Water Maintenance Workers
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Mrs. Wagner's Boarding House
- Freddy's Newsstand
- The Fire Department
- The Rail Yard
- New York City
Items:
- A Fire Hydrant
Vehicles:
- A Plane
Synopsis for Headline Harry: "Man or Mouse"
Appearing in Headline Harry: "Man or Mouse"
Featured Characters:
- Headline Harry
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Strange Menace of the Bird People!"
Jeremy Glupot is a man who works at bird store where his boss shouts at him for not moving fast enough to his liking. However, Jeremy takes time to enjoy his experiments before the store opens. He has somehow chemically created an “Essence of Flight” from “serums” he’s extracted from the many birds to create a potion that will make people fly… however, it suddenly ferments and explodes in a plume of vapor that condenses into a small cloud that starts to leave him… so he gives chase. A boxing manager asks Freddy Freeman for a paper to read about his man, Bruiser, won the big game last night. Everyone is proud that Bruiser did a good job… but when they smell the vapor cloud passing by… they decide to become evil, refusing to pay 30¢ for their paper and then start shaking down Freddy for all his money, outwardly saying how much they love preying on the helpless! Freddy calls CAPTAIN MARVEL and kicks them off of him as Captain Marvel, Jr. and knocks their heads together. The manager shouts about how “sparrows” can’t treat “hawks” like them that way. Jeremy is concerned that it made these men act like hawks, birds of prey, and started attacking a helpless being they saw by instinct. The vapor cloud approaches a northbound bus, but the cloud makes the driver peel around to head south, like birds do for the winter! Junior pushes the bus out of the way of hitting a cyclist (who has the right of way) and stops the bus, finding that the bus driver wants all these sparrows to go south this time of year, so Junior carries them to a hospital where he hopes they’ll get better. Elsewhere, a woman eats like a bird… but that bird is a vulture and another woman becomes vain as a peacock. Another man mocks her, becoming more like a mockingbird. Jeremy runs in and hands them some business cards and asks them to call him later and just not argue about things and keeps running after the cloud.
A crazed man on the street corner shouts his mad slogan of DOWN WITH EVERYTHING and for a second, doubts his nihilistic ranting… only for everyone to inhale the vapor cloud and start parroting his words. The people form into a marching riot that threatens to trample Jeremy, but Junior rescues him. He sorrowfully explains that he caused this bird people problem as the ranting man urges his parrots to burn down City Hall. When Junior punches him over and says he’s a Dangerous Crackpot, the parrots just keep parroting this idea instead. Junior flies Jeremy out where they soon find the vapor cloud over the harbor and Junior breaks some barrels into staves and then reassembles them into a big barrel that is airtight enough to seal away the vapor and Junior and Jeremy soon work together to create an antidote and spray it among the parrots, who are cured. Jeremy, however, seems affected by the Bird Vapor… now as confident as a bantam rooster as he declares he’s going to give his boss what for and demand a raise. Later, Junior finds that the gas affected some people for the better, peddling the Evening Star that reveals a woman can now sing like a nightingale.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Strange Menace of the Bird People!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Jeremy Glupot
Villains:
- A Dangerous Crackpot
- "Parroting" People
- Hawk Bruiser
- Hawk Bruiser's Hawk Manager
- Recklessly Driving Sparrow Bus Driver
Other Characters:
- Sparrow Bus Passengers
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Freddy's Newsstand
- New York City
Items:
- The Vapor Cloud of Bird People Gas (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
- A Northbound Bus
Trivia
- Despite the cover, Captain Marvel, Jr. is the one putting up the most signs to enforce "air rationing" and, if anything, is moralizing that breathing too much is irresponsible (before finding out that the air shortage was manufactured.)
- Jeremy's last name, "Głupot", is Polish for "Stupid Nonsense" or, generally speaking, anything dismissively nonsensical.
See Also
Links and References
