DC Database
Advertisement

"Captain Marvel: "' Stalks the World's Fair"": An astronomer is blinded trying to look at the distant star Orella from a sudden flash. Billy Batson soon reports on this happening to many astronomers, theorizing that it could be a nova or perhaps a planet exploding or something else. Bil

Quote1 This is a real World's Fair! A fair of many space worlds! Look at all the different types of space people! This is stupendous! Billy will certainly have an interesting bit of news to broadcast when I get home! Quote2
Captain Marvel

Whiz Comics #146 is an issue of the series Whiz Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1952.

Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Terror Stalks the World's Fair"

An astronomer is blinded trying to look at the distant star Orella from a sudden flash. Billy Batson soon reports on this happening to many astronomers, theorizing that it could be a nova or perhaps a planet exploding or something else. Billy becomes worried about the consequence of a planet exploding and calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel, who flies to the Orella System to find that the associated planet is just having a really cool fireworks display due to it being their World’s Fair! Captain Marvel is lightly relieved to know that it wasn’t a planetary tragedy unlike he’d ever seen before and instead helps when a big top goes in flames and throws it into space. Suddenly though, while looking around the Orellan World’s Fair, he’s arrested by the World’s Fair Police and the Manager of the World’s Fair accuses Captain Marvel, an Earth man, of being a robber! Captain Marvel finds that they’re actually upset at the presence of someone from Erth, a very similarly-spelled planet full of only thieves, known as the “Robber World.” They hear shouts for help and Captain Marvel breaks free to stop a robbery from the actual Erthlings, men in green and striped tunics with hats shaped like Sorry pawns. He manages to defeat them soundly, but one of them pulls a ray-gun, melting a roller coaster to try to escape to a spaceship nearby. Captain Marvel flies the roller coaster car over the gap and decides to wait for them to reveal themselves, returning Billy so he can also enjoy an interplanetary World’s Fair. The Erthlings turn up the speed on a carousel of alien creatures and Billy is flung off into a pen where he’s stepped on by a large slavering lizard. Luckily, it is not violent and just licks his face until Billy stands up and calls SHAZAM. A zookeeper wanders by and confirms his anti-suspicions that the beast is “ugly” but very friendly. Captain Marvel attacks the Erthlings and defeats them, turning them over to the World’s Fair Police and clearing the name of Earth. The Manager apologizes for his rampant prejudices and tells him that the Planet Erth blew up due to a nuclear weapons testing accident and they also built a really cool statue of Captain Marvel holding up the Earth like Atlas before him as a special Exhibit from Earth (with a small note on it that informs it’s not anything like Erth, the Robber World.)

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Terror Stalks the World's Fair"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • The Manager of the World's Fair

Antagonists:

  • The Robbers of Erth

Other Characters:

  • The World's Fair Police
  • Several Blinded Astronomers
  • A Large Friendly Lizard
  • A Zookeeper

Locations:

Items:

  • Erthling Ray-Gun
  • Statue of Captain Marvel and the Earth

Vehicles:




Synopsis for Golden Arrow: "Golden Arrow and The Secret of the Hollow Hilt!"

Golden Arrow is riding through Painted Desert Valley, a Spanish area, and finds two outlaws, Pedro and Julio, chucking a person in a sack off a cliff and fires an arrow at the sack, allowing it to fall safely on to mountain brush. Golden Arrow soon rescues the man and finds he was attacked and captured by his cousin, Garcia. The man explains his name is Ronaldo and his uncle was a former Grandee of Martinez and his estate was to be split between his two nephews, but Garcia has since seized control. To stop him, Ronaldo has hidden the will in the hollow hilt of a sword above his uncle's study fireplace and they can deliver it to the Sheriff. Golden Arrow goes with him to retrieve the sword, but once there, Garcia attacks him with a foil. Golden Arrow finds he can't fight easily with his bow on and is forced to drop it until he manages to disarm Garcia with only an arrow... only for Pedro to pistol-whip him once his back is turned. His goons start trying to lean on Ronaldo for the location of the will, but when Ronaldo refuses to talk, he says he'll burn them out and destroy the whole room with fire, splashing kerosene around and lighting it up. Bound on the floor, Golden Arrow manages to get back to back against Ronaldo to untie themselves and Golden Arrow finds the goons are taking potshots at the window to keep them pinned inside. To stop him, Golden Arrow picks a sword off the wall and uses it as an arrow to disarm Garcia and jump out of the window on top of his goons, defeating them in a quick fistfight. Golden Arrow takes in the outlaws as Ronaldo thanks him.

Appearing in Golden Arrow: "Golden Arrow and The Secret of the Hollow Hilt!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Ronaldo

Antagonists:

  • Garcia
    • Pedro
    • Julio

Other Characters:


Locations:

Items:

  • A Foil

Vehicles:

Synopsis for Lance O'Casey: "The Menace of Lost Island"

Lance and Mike find some goons trying to steal a man's map and jump in for a quick donnybrook and save the two defeated men, rousing them on the Starfish. The men introduce themselves as Matt Cleever and Bill Suggs and they had a map to "Lost Island," a supposed island where Capt. Gore buried his hidden treasure! To honor their help, they offer Lance and Mike half the pot if they help him and they decide to get look into it. Some weeks later, they arrive on Lost Island and find the treasure is already gone and empty for years and find that the only "natives" on the island are Capt. Gore's now elderly crew. They meet with the pirates' leader, Big Tom, who tells them that they aren't interested in selling their treasure. However, Mrs. Big Tom runs in and says that Big Tom's son has gone to Alligator Lagoon to hunt alligators and is in sure danger! Lance and Mike and Big Tom row out and quickly defeat the gators, saving Little Tom as Matt softly offers they just steal the treasure back and leave, but Lance makes it clear he's not doing that. That night, Matt drugs everyone's coconut milk and starts stealing all the treasure... When Big Tom wakes, he accuses Lance of stealing the treasure and finds that that Matt and Bill have planted a necklace on him. Lance fights Big Tom to a cliffside where he spots that Matt and Bill have left with their jewels (and to steal the Starfish.) While trying to hold off the oncoming pirates, they run out of ammo and try to take the overloaded canoe back to the ship, only for it to tip over and dump them into the waters where the alligators eat Matt and Bill. The next day, Big Tom thanks Lance for saving his son and Lance apologizes for bringing criminals there. Big Tom says that they intend to get rid of the treasure so they'll no longer be plagued by people searching for it and Lance says that's a good idea.

Appearing in Lance O'Casey: "The Menace of Lost Island"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Matt Cleever
    • Bill Suggs

Other Characters:

  • Big Tom
    • Mrs. Big Tom
    • Little Tom
  • Alligators

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:

  • The Starfish

Synopsis for Ibis the Invincible: "Peril from the Pyramids!"

Prince Ibis and Princess Taia are suppering with Thomas Arkam, a famed Egyptologist who notes that though Pharaoh Zoar was the first to build a pyramid, he wasn’t buried inside it and that Cheops built the largest pyramid, but there is no entrance to it. Ibis notes that these are questions that many Egyptian scholars have had as well. Thomas is eager to start on a pyramid expedition to find their secrets, which Ibis warns him is probably not a great idea, but Thomas says he’s doing it anyways. Ibis decides he’ll be supportive all the same and wishes him well. Taia asks her husband if he thinks Thomas is in danger and Ibis says that pyramids are usually considered forbidden ground even then, but the exact reasons as to why were a mystery even in their age and they were warned from ever trying to find their secrets. Some weeks later, he gets a telegram from Thomas about a discovery and wishes himself and Taia there via the Ibistick on a chariot driven by sky horses. Arriving at Arkam’s camp, they find it abandoned and large monstrous footprints around and finally a dead man in one of the tents next to a broken rifle. He wishes the Ibistick to find out what happened and the wall of the tent shows him that the man was crushed by the giant foot of a monster that also left the tracks around and it looked large, green and reptilian. No less, being shot at with a rifle did nothing to stop it. They soon find another man crushed by the beast and Ibis wishes for the desert to show him a path to where Thomas is, leading him to a large pyramid with a footprint in the side of it. Running inside, they find that Thomas is preparing to light up 100 gallons of nitroglycerin to destroy the beast from the pyramid, but Ibis offers he doesn’t have to die doing it, wishing them into a highly resilient sphere. The pyramid is destroyed, but the Pyramid Beast is instead only freed it further. Ibis wishes himself to be as tall and as strong as the gigantic Pyramid Beast and manages to punch it over. While it’s down, Princess Taia wishes for it to be resealed into a pyramid again and Thomas realizes that the pyramids are locks used to keep monsters of the ancient past from killing us all and that there are beings even the magic of the Ibistick cannot entirely kill, but only hold back further. Ibis wishes for the Beasts of the Pyramids to sleep forever and never rise to attack them again. Thomas thanks Ibis for saving him.

Appearing in Ibis the Invincible: "Peril from the Pyramids!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • The Pyramid Beast

Other Characters:

  • Thomas Arkam

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Ibis' Magical Chariot

Trivia

  • Despite the cover, Captain Marvel doesn't get into a fight with a large pickle-shaped alien with tentacles. The alien depicted only shows up in the background and plays no part in the narrative. Instead, Captain Marvel stops alien thieves at the interplanetary World's Fair.
  • The Pyramid Beast in this issue having green scales, large crushing feet, an impervious hide that bullets cannot penetrate, incredible size and height make it highly similar to Godzilla, though predating him by two years!


See Also


Links and References

Advertisement