Captain Marvel Adventures #118 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel Adventures (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1951.
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Battles Sivana's Sound Plague!"
Doctor Sivana is unleashing more propaganda on to the radio waves, which are either direct lies about the state of the world or a demand for him to be in control of it. He is astounded to find he has zero listeners and no one cares about his ranting, so he instead puts on a fake beard and a bowler hat to rant in Central Park, where he’s also promptly ignored. Angry about not being listened to, Sivana builds a Decibel Horn and activates it, unleashing a 1,000,000 decibel noise, more powerful than 77 earthquakes and avalanches. Billy finds his broadcast is entirely drowned out by the noise and calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel, who finds the noise is too loud to track, since it’s bouncing off everything. Captain Marvel finds that the noise means firefighters cannot hear the alarms going off, forcing him to stamp out fires physically before he figures that Sivana is probably the person responsible. Sivana mocks Captain Marvel not being able to hear him, shoots through the display window of a jeweler’s and blackjacks the owner, only for Captain Marvel to see him in a reflection across the street and punches him over. Captain Marvel realizes that he can’t force him to tell him how to shut off the noise, so he instead uses a stick and a chunk of coal to write that he’ll punch him 100 times if he doesn’t shut off the machine projecting this. However, Captain Marvel finds he has to save a woman who doesn’t hear a truck coming towards her and Sivana scarpers. The Word’s Mightiest Mortal soon realizes no one can sleep and City Council can meet, but can’t hear themselves speak, so he instead flies them off to a schoolhouse where they can use the blackboard to converse more effectively. Captain Marvel finds the noise is strong enough to destroy buildings and is forced to punch some into dust so it won’t fall and crush civilians. Sivana begins broadcasting cue cards that demand he be named King of Earth in order to shut off the noise and mocks that Captain Marvel can’t find them, but Captain Marvel suddenly shows up and breaks the Decibel Horn, ending the million-decibel noise forever. Sivana asks how he figured it out and Captain Marvel reveals Sivana was saying it out loud unconsciously and he read his lips. Billy signs off saying that Sivana is back in prison and said “Bah!”
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Battles Sivana's Sound Plague!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- A Jeweler
- New York City Council
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- WHIZ Radio
- Central Park
- A Jeweler's Shop
- New York City
Items:
- Sivana's Decibel Horn (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Battles the Pie Plot"
A special safe under heavy guard is opened by a very rich man. Within, he opens a steel chest and reveals its contents: the master recipe for his “nectar pie” that he gives to his chef at Jolly John’s Pie Factory. However, his rival pieman, Pete the Pie Man, conspires to steal it by tying a bandanna over his face and shoving a bucket of dough on to the guards. In the fracas, Pete the Pie Man drops the recipe into one of the pies and the recipe is secretly baked into one of them. Jolly John is none the wiser while Pete the Pie Man decides to go follow the delivery truck to try stealing the pies. Later, Billy Batson and Mr. Morris are out at Max’s Pies and Pastry and find Pete the Pie Man throwing pie after pie out of the back of the truck, even hitting Billy in the face. He calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel… who also gets hit with a pie and chases after the pie-wielding villain, but trips in a pie, losing him. He manages to follow him to a pie factory where they get into a brief pie fight before he dumps a large tank of lemon meringue filling over his head. Pete the Pie Man is arrested and Mr. Morris finds the recipe was in his afternoon slice of pie. Later, Jolly John offers Captain Marvel a free pie, but Captain Marvel says he doesn’t want to see another pie for a month!
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Battles the Pie Plot"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Jolly John
Antagonists:
- Pete the Pie Man
Other Characters:
- Mr. Morris
- Vault Goons
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- WHIZ Radio
- The Jolly John Pie Factory
- The Jolly John Pie Factory Secret Recipe Vault
- Max's Pies and Pastry
- New York City
Items:
- Many Nectar Pies
- A Pie Containing the Secret Nectar Pie Recipe
- Drum of Lemon Meringue Filling
Vehicles:
- A Pie Delivery Truck
Synopsis for Captain Kid: "Captain Kid's Massacre"
Pudgy tries to warn Captain Kid about nails on a fence he’s about to leap, only for Captain Kid to do it anyways, ripping a hole in the rear of his pants. Captain Kid takes them to a local tailor (Taylor) who says it’ll cost $3 and that he doesn’t have it on him, but he also can’t do an odd job without pants, so Taylor gives him a cowboy costume to wear instead. On the way past the theater, the manager runs out and offers Captain Kid a job riding a horse around a school playground to help advertise a new Bob Colt film and he’ll give him $6 for it! The manager gives him a gun, but warns him not to fire it, since it’ll spook the horse. While riding around the playground, some kids fire off cap guns and it spooks the horse who bolts. One of the kids manages to lariat Captain Kid off of the horse before they manage to stop the horse afterward. Captain Kid rides back and gets the money from the manager, then return to Taylor’s Tailor Shop to get his pants fixed. Taylor points out he only needs $3, but Captain Kid shows that he was attacked by “wild Indians” and got a new hole in his cowboy pants!
Appearing in Captain Kid: "Captain Kid's Massacre"
Featured Characters:
- Captain Kid
Supporting Characters:
- Pudgy
Antagonists:
- Taylor the Tailor
Other Characters:
- Bob Colt Fans
- A Manager of a Theater
Locations:
- Earth-S
- Podunk
- Taylor's Tailor Shop
- Podunk Theater
- A School Playground
- Podunk
Items:
Vehicles:
- A Horse
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Space Orphan"
Captain Marvel has been taking a week to go to a Captain Marvel Clubhouse to fix up broken toys for needy orphan children as Captain Marvel soon finds that it’s a bit home-like to him. Suddenly, Captain Marvel hears a crying noise and finds a baby in a picnic basket, finding he is green and has wings. A note reveals that aliens from Xixxus heard of Captain Marvel’s kindness and have sent their son Zikky to live with him. Captain Marvel is alack to find people will not accept the draconic baby, scaring caretakers, but is also larger and stronger than other babies, upsetting others easily. Captain Marvel finds that Zikky therefore needs personal care at the Captain Marvel Clubhouse and adopts him for now, finding he drinks a sizable bottle of milk. In the morning, Captain Marvel finds Zikky has grown to a small child’s size and can now fly with an airplane-like noise. Captain Marvel is alack to find that Zikky is still too large and powerful to interact with other children easily and flies him away. The next day, Captain Marvel finds Zikky is now thrice his size and growing larger, worrying that caring for him is likely not possible and decides to investigate the origin of the alien paper he was sent. Captain Marvel finds the paper is from the Aldebaran System and flies out to find Zikky’s parents, who ask of their son’s health. Captain Marvel points out they’re not raising him but they reveal to him that they sent him to Earth due to a pandemic spreading around Xixxus. Their leader offers that Zikky has been raised decently and so they can now send all their children to Earth, but Captain Marvel offers he can just cure the germ spreading instead. He soon finds that it is not dissimilar from tonsilitis and can be killed with penicillin, which cures everyone. Zikky’s parents fly Captain Marvel to Earth and rejoin their son and later, Captain Marvel is worried seeing a woman carrying a basket, not realizing it’s just full of laundry.
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Space Orphan"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Space Orphan Zikky
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Captain Marvel Clubhouse
- New York City
- The Aldebaran System
- Planet Xixxus
Items:
- A Basket
Vehicles:
- A Xixxian Rocket-Ship
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Fights the Weird Water Man"
Billy Batson has come up with the great idea of interviewing a crazy man who lives deep in the woods, Herman the Hermit, who he finds speaks to a barrel of water. Billy asks how this all works and Herman claims it’s a “liquid mind,” a form of sentient water that he’s created. The Liquid Mind tells Herman to get rid of Billy and Herman throws him off his property, since he only likes hanging out with the Liquid Mind. Herman tells the Liquid Mind how humanity is rotten, hateful and lie, cheat and steal often. The Liquid Mind soon tells Herman it has managed to achieve homeostasis enough that he can now become a humanoid shape, leaving the barrel as Herman calls him “the Water Man.” However, the Water Man tells him he hates all humans and starts trying to drown Herman! Billy, hearing a man drowning in the distance, calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel, who punches the Water Man off of him, reducing him to a puddle, and chides Herman for teaching the Water Man to hate all mankind. The Water Man soon reforms and swears vengeance, retreating into a river, where it is essentially invisible and travels to the city.
The Water Man starts causing water-related mayhem and tries to drown a child, but Captain Marvel punches him again, forcing him to drop him. The Water Man soon realizes that Captain Marvel can’t really stop him since he can reform. To solve this, Captain Marvel calls SHAZAM, returning Billy, who takes advantage of how much the Water Man loves trying to drown children as he leads him into a walk-in freezer at a Refrigeration Plant and calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel. He soon drops the Liquid Mind off in the Arctic circle where he’ll stay frozen forever and arrests Herman for creating it. Later, Billy signs off saying Captain Marvel really knew how to keep his cool.
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Fights the Weird Water Man"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Water Man / The Liquid Mind (Destroyed)
- Herman the Hermit
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- A Refrigeration Plant
- The Arctic Circle
- New York City
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and The Mountain That Grew!"
Billy Batson is out at a lodge on Mount Omega, 2 miles up and talks to its owner, Mr. John Jarvis, about its amazing view. Jarvis complains that his lodge isn’t popular and that the mountain isn’t tall enough for anyone to think it’s interesting to visit and resolves to find a way to make his mountain taller. Jarvis decides to set dynamite into a key part of Mt. Omega, which will send lava into the air, making the mountain larger by erupting it internally. Unfortunately, driving back up he doesn’t realize that this has destroyed the porch, endangering all six of the guests. Captain Marvel shows him he destroyed his own lodge and that he’s now liable for criminal negligence, so Jarvis legs it into the cloud cover over the peak of Mt. Omega. Later, he realizes while literally at the top of the world, he has no business anymore and that the other lodges will still do better (because they still exist) and decides the best course of action is to topple boulders down the mountain to destroy them all for daring to compete with him. Captain Marvel is forced to jam the boulders with sharp cliffs as Jarvis crashes his car into a glacier to crush the other lodges, but Captain Marvel dumps it into a nearby gulch. Jarvis tries to hide out on the now confusing mountainside, but finds that he can’t get enough air due to the height of Mt. Omega and starts trying to get Captain Marvel’s attention now. Captain Marvel saves him, taking him to jail where he can at least breathe properly and then breaks off the top half of Mt. Omega to deposit in a desert, returning it to able its normal size. Later, Billy signs off saying that he’s happy to be back at work compared to that vacation!
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and The Mountain That Grew!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- John Jarvis
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- WHIZ Radio
- Mt. Omega
- Mt. Omega Lodge
- New York City
Items:
- Dynamite
- A Glacier
Vehicles:
- John Jarvis' Car (Destroyed)
Notes
- In reality, the Decibel scale is logarithmic, so 1,000,000 dBs would be loud enough to collapse the known universe (it would not last anywhere past 1,100 dBs)
- Comparatively, anything over 185 dB would kill anyone who hears it rather quickly if not deafening them permanently.
Trivia
- Technically speaking, Zikky was never an orphan, since both of his parents were alive and weren't unwilling or incapable of caring for him, making him a foster child on Earth, informally adopted by Captain Marvel.
See Also