HEH HEH! My clever false tip will keep that big red dummox guarding the city! That makes sure I can strike here! Boy am I smart! Neutron bomb away! I want to test it on that dam! And no Captain Marvel to meddle! HEH HEHHHH! 
Captain Marvel Adventures #144 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel Adventures (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1953.
Synopsis for The Marvel Family: "Captain Marvel Fights the Fatal Fogs!"
Major Dwight Baldwin tells his CO, General Laird, that he's developed a new formula he wants to use on the Communist forces, but he's shot down and told that new ideas like a poison gas would be only a white elephant: impressive, but costly. Maj. Baldwin thinks that he'll find a chance yet. Meanwhile, Boy Broadcaster Billy Batson is in Japan, seeing decent recovery under American Occupation and finds out from a Japanese radio in English that there's a mysterious and deadly fog closing in on the coast of Pingyon near the UN fleet, endangering ships. Billy calls SHAZAM and summons Captain Marvel, who flies off to Pingyon to investigate and stops two ships from hitting each other and that the fog is a weird pallid color. He soon finds artillery firing at them from Pingyon, led by the Red Crusher, who apparently didn't die in that airplane crash as Captain Marvel smashes the artillery guns and flings a wheel at him. The Red Crusher admits that he didn't create the fog, thinking it was a UN contrivance that was diverted due to a change in the winds. Captain Marvel flies off and peels the wings off of every North Korean plane in the area and uses their propellers together to blow away the fog entirely.
Reporting to Gen. Laird, he tells him about the crazy fog and Laird finds a note from Maj. Baldwin, figuring out he made the fog and is calling himself “The Fogman” and he'll prove himself. Laird tells Captain Marvel as such and that he likely is planning to drop some from his plane. Soon enough, Maj. Baldwin is attacked by the Red Crusher dropping on to his plane from above on a rope ladder. Captain Marvel punches out some North Korean planes, but the fog is released by the Red Crusher inside Baldwin's plane and he escapes with Baldwin and the fog now. Gen. Laird is not happy to hear that the fog would really get in the way of a land invasion at dawn. They soon also find that the fog has been altered into a gluey surface that traps both soldier and tank alike. Captain Marvel shoves a North Korean artillery gun into the rocks to flood the flatlands, washing the glue fog out. Captain Marvel finds that there are tons of decoy planes that may or may not be spraying the glue fog on the ground as the Red Crusher unleashes a new option from the Fog Machine that makes everything really slippery! Captain Marvel uses an artillery gun to blast out shells into the cliffside, creating a sandstorm that grits everything into a general usefulness all over again. Captain Marvel flies after him and finds the real Fog Machine leaves traces of fog coming off of him, but when he comes to his base, there's already a huge billboard saying that they'll kill Maj. Baldwin if he comes closer and they have 100 men watching for him. Captain Marvel decides to return Billy on the front lines of the Korean War, where he's promptly found by North Korean soldiers who knock him out with a rifle butt and he wakes up, as usual, bound and gagged to a pole outside of a North Korean Army base. The Red Crusher demands Baldwin give them the Fog Formula or they'll kill Billy. Baldwin asks Billy what he thinks and Billy shakes his head defiantly and the Red Crusher blasts Billy with the Amber Fog, which slowly hardens into a condensed semisolid goo around his head, but it manages to slip Billy's gag. He calls SHAZAM and summons Captain Marvel, who breaks free and rescues Maj. Baldwin, flying him back to UN forces. He collects up all the Amber Fog into a giant block and crashes into the Red Crusher's plane. Captain Marvel says that the Red Crusher was spotted parachuting back to Communist lines and that the Fog Machine was destroyed in the crash, but worries that Baldwin will be court-martialed. Gen. Laird says that the UN actually approved of using the fog as a military experiment, but the permissions were delayed and Baldwin is fine. Unfortunately though, this means that the Fog Machine is a gigantic hazard and he needs to experiment more until it is a viable aid for the UN forces. Billy signs off later, saying that Baldwin will surely lead a group of Fogmen that will fight the good fight in the future.
Appearing in The Marvel Family: "Captain Marvel Fights the Fatal Fogs!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Maj. Dwight "The Fogman" Baldwin
Antagonists:
- Red Crusher (Final appearance)
Other Characters:
- General Laird
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Korea
- The Pingyon Coast
Items:
- Baldwin's Fog Machine (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
- North Korean Jet Fighters (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Capt. Kid: "The Intrepid Inventor!"
Captain Kid's friends find that the clubhouse is on fire due to a plume of steam coming out of the window. Kicking the door in, they find Captain Kid is just using a stove to cook something that he certainly imagines will do something amazing or become a very expensive invention. Unfortunately, when he throws some firecrackers into it, they just explode the cauldron and Captain Kid lands several yards away. Dizzied, he stands up and starts running, saying he needs to invent something to make him stop inventing things!
Appearing in Capt. Kid: "The Intrepid Inventor!"
Featured Characters:
- Captain Kid
Supporting Characters:
- Captain Kid's Friends
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- Podunk City
- A Clubhouse
- Podunk City
Items:
- A Cauldron (Destroyed)
- Firecrackers (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Stolen Shazam Powers, Chapter 1: Sivana's Sinister Scheme"
An anonymous tip arrives at Station WHIZ that Dr. Sivana will attack the city that day, but Captain Marvel quickly dopes out that it's a trick by Sivana to keep him in town while the mad scientist attempts a scheme elsewhere. He's correct, and interrupts Sivana's attempt to destroy a dam with a new invention, easily fends off a giant ape Sivana unleashes on him, but ultimately loses the chase when Sivana launches his atomic plane while the villain's still in his secret hideout.
Sivana momentarily despairs of never being able to overcome Marvel's divine powers, but then an idea hits him: instead of trying to beat the Captain in a straight contest of power, he should take Captain Marvel's ultimate powers away. He flies to the Rock of Eternity and waits for all the gods to fall asleep, then sneaks in and holds Shazam hostage. Without his Robes of Immortality, Shazam's completely at the mad scientist's mercy.
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Stolen Shazam Powers, Chapter 1: Sivana's Sinister Scheme"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- Rock of Eternity
- Inferno Desert
- Sivana's Fortress
- Inferno Desert
Items:
- Shazam's Robe of Immortality
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Stolen Shazam Powers, Chapter 2: The Smashing of Captain Marvel!"
Sivana demands that Solomon cross his name off the list on the wall, which deprives Captain Marvel of his legendary wisdom. Shazam orders the other Elders to cooperate, because it's been prophesized that Captain Marvel will win this contest regardless. To test the success of his endeavors, Sivana sends a "taunting note" in code to Captain Marvel as to the location of his secret hideout, and without the Wisdom of Solomon, he can't solve it. Pleased with his success, Sivana tells Marvel the location of the fortress anyway, but when the hero makes it smash through its walls, Sivana next orders Hercules to cross his name off, and Marvel no longer has super-strength.
Marvel tries to chip through the walls with infinite stamina, but Sivana makes Atlas cross his name off, and Marvel soon drops from exhaustion. Next Sivana makes Zeus cross out his name, robbing Marvel of his invulnerability. The hero still tries to attack, until Sivana makes Achilles stop his sponsorship of courage, and Mercury rescind his speed, so Marvel can't fly off to escape. The villain stakes Marvel and Shazam to the desert floor to let the vultures eat their sun-bleached carcasses.
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Stolen Shazam Powers, Chapter 2: The Smashing of Captain Marvel!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Inferno Desert
- Sivana's Fortress
- Rock of Eternity
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Stolen Shazam Powers, Chapter 3: Sivana's Victory"
Shazam's super-scientific weapons let him devastate cities thousands of miles away and instantly destroy any armies sent against him. However, Marvel realizes that if he's helpless, maybe Billy Batson won't be. Indeed, after he transforms back, the slight Billy easily slips out of the restraints meant for the muscular Marvel. He easily walks into Sivana's hideout because the scientist doesn't consider the boy a threat, not taking into account that he's a frail old man who isn't even a match for a teenage boy in a fight. Billy knocks Sivana out and steals Shazam's magic robes back.
With his safety ensured, Shazam calls to the elders and tells them to wipe out the crosses on the list. Captain Marvel's instantly restored to full power and destroys Sivana's fortress in one blow. Sivana complains Shazam spoke of a prophesy that he'd win, but Shazam points out he said Sivana would defeat Captain Marvel, but it was Billy Batson who defeated him.
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Stolen Shazam Powers, Chapter 3: Sivana's Victory"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Shazam's Robe of Immortality
Vehicles:
Notes
- Also appearing in this issue of Captain Marvel Adventures were:
- Dopey Danny Dee: "Not So Dumb" by George Marko
- "Interplanetary Tenements" (text story, featuring Jon Jarl) by Eando Binder
- Tightwad Tad: "A Charged-Up Personality"
Trivia
- The Stolen Shazam Powers: The story is concise in mentioning that Captain Marvel's invulnerability comes from the power of Zeus, not Achilles as some would think.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Captain Marvel Adventures series
- Images from Captain Marvel Adventures Vol 1 144