[k9feline]

In our first story we have the return of Sivana, for the first time since Bill Parker's last story, looking like he's fully recovered from his injuries. Beautia's with him, and the story has some fun in its depiction of germ-people and of Beautia's infatuation with Cap, who with the mind of Billy, is quite flustered at her amorous attention. The second story is a good Martian invasion tale, as Cap battles the Spider Men (!). The third tale, a pirates and buried treasure story, is a real mixed bag in its portrayal of non-whites. On the one hand, there's an evil Asian cook that Cap calls, "slant-eyed". Ugh. On the other hand, the dark-skinned island natives are portrayed as intelligent and merciful. At the end, the surviving white pirates even agree to reform and work for the natives. The final tale is a horror story with a truly frightening villain in the Arson Fiend. He's the first villain since Sivana who's capable of putting two and two together and realizing Billy Batson is Captain Marvel, making his capture of Billy especially suspenseful. This is a mostly serious story enlivened by a comedic interlude of women wanting to kiss Cap and Cap taking their advances as well as he took Beautia's.

Link to the book: Captain Marvel Adventures 002 (fiche)