[MarkWarner]

The comments for last week's read started off slowly, but it ended (well in fact it is still in progress) with a rather lively debate. Ok Ok ... "comparatively lively debate".

This week was chosen by a mysterious member who wrote:

Captain Marvel #66 has an incredible Atomic War story.  It's uncharacteristic of CMA because of the gravity of the theme.  Plenty of opportunity to talk about the story, its divergence from the standard, and the real world historical context.

Seems a pretty good reasonable idea so it's https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=18418 and the story we are concentrating is the first one The Atomic War!

[misappear]

I distinctly remember last week, reading Frankenstein, that I would have judged the ultimate in comic book whimsy as Captain Marvel.  Three reasons: Captain Marvel makes the most of simple line art to convey what is important, It is a rare blend of humor with the super-hero genre that doesn

[paw broon]

Before I settle down with this week's selection, can I point everyone to the b&w Spanish reprint of this story, which we have on site.  :-
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=38955

[MarkWarner]

Wow Paw ... nice spot! I think this is turning out to be a good choice

[bowers]

Probably one of the the best CM stories I've ever read. Billy Batson pulling an "Orson Welles" was some pretty clever scripting by Otto Binder. (Who also happens to be half of one of my favorite pulp/sci-fi writing teams, Eando Binder.) Beck's simple drawings very effectively portrayed CM's frustration and fury at not being able to save the world and it's people. His pain at seeing the death and destruction and becoming aware that no matter how hard he tries only the people themselves can prevent such a war from happening. Very powerful stuff, unlike any other CM I have read. What really surprised me was when this was written- 1946. At that time, many people still didn't understand or believe the true nature of a nuclear war. Believing that escaping the initial blast would allow them to survive and not knowing about the lethalness of radiation poisoning. After all, our Civil Defense shelters and basements would protect us, right? Such a story, going against everything our government was telling us, took real courage to publish, especially at that time. Excellent choice- Cheers, Bowers   

[Captain Audio]

After all, our Civil Defense shelters and basements would protect us, right?

I had it on good authority that simply hiding under a desk would be all the protection we'd need.

It was a bit disapointing that no nuclear exchange occured, I always wanted my very own Rhodan the Flying Monster. I'd have raised it from an egg and we'd have had lots of fun traveling across the U S.

[paw broon]

I enjoyed this story. Very different from the normal Cap. Marvel story, I think, bearing in mind I haven't read as many as most on this site will have.  Deja vu all over again? And a very early warning, and surprising awareness, of the horrors of nuclear war.  It surprised me that a comic like this should have tackled the subject, and in such a shocking way.  I found the scene where Cap. Marvel rescues the woman and her baby from the burning house, only to have them die from radiation in front of his eyes, very moving. Not at all what would have been expected from this comic line. 
Reading the Editorial Advisory board listed on p.2, I wondered how much input they would have had in the forming and subject matter of the story.
As with the other comments, here in the U.K. Civil Defence literature and the like told us what to do in the event of a nuclear strike and I'm sure brown paper on the windows and the door taken off and propped against the wall as a shelter was going to save us all.
The Cult of the Curse episode was a bit daft in places. Circe had to change Billy back to human form - from a goat - so as to change him into a worm.  Not much of a sorceress if she couldn't do it in one step.  I suppose the writer simply couldn't figure out another way to get Billy's vocal chords back and let him shout Shazam. 
(Just got it, Billy?  Billy goat?  Eh?  The pronunciation of "got" in parts of Scotland is "goat")

Captain Audio - A Boy and His Flying Monster.  Any t.v. producers want to take that up?  Make a change from Lassie and Skippy.

[MarkWarner]

And off we go reading "The Atomic War"  and BLIMEY what a really VERY excellent story!

I am so surprised that the deadly effects of radiation are central to a 1946 story. In fact it is quite amazing that this was even written at that time ... apart from the enlightened attitude ... Intercontinental ballistic missiles were still a decade away.

There was a bit of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" feel to this. Plus a touch of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (6 years before it was released). Anyway, this is a MUST read story!

The art work on the one page funny "Tightwad Tad" is really rather interesting. It has a continental feel to it but, unfortunately it is unsigned and uncredited.

Next up is the Captain Marvel serial "Cult of the Curse" which is a rather jolly affair, and at some point I must read the others. I would also like to point out that Circe, sounds very much like my ex-wife:

"An ancient witch who dwells on a lonely island and hates all men!"

The final panel for readers to cut-out and vote for the type of future stories is rather peculiar, and as they are not gathering addresses I guess it has to be taken at face value.

The next story Captain Kid was fun enough. So far this has been an excellent choice of book. And it gets even better with a full page advertisement for Captain Marvel merchandising. And I HAVE TO HAVE the Captain Marvel statuette only 50 cents, I am not sure about the felt hat, but the 10 comic book character buttons for 10 cents sounds a steal. But oh boy for $3.35 I could have the LOT!!

Next story Whitey Whiskers and Daniel Boone is the weakest so far. And is followed by another full-page advertisement. The ads in this book are excellent full page strips. As a punter this has to be the best value for 10 cents.

After a couple of short humor pages there is the text story and it is by Otto Binder! A nicely done Sci-fi with a touch of western and pirates.

We finish with "The Return of Aunt Minerva" ... real fun and a great end to the book. The artwork here looks a lot like Tightwad Tad ... am I right ?? I guess not. 

O hang on ... after an ad there is a single page Whipper-Snappers (with very lame jokes).

Right my verdict is this is an excellent read, and if I were a kid around in 1946 I'd be a Captain Marvel fan and blowing 10 cents a time on this title and all the other Marvel spin-offs. And my bedroom. bicycle, books and clothes would be rather heavy with Marvel merchandising.

As a final thought, the main story "The Atomic War" was a real eye opener showing that way back in the day Atomic weapons (at least in some quarters) were perceived as a weapon much too dangerous for humanity to be holding. And after nearly seventy years all that has changed is that the bombs have got deadlier and more nations have them

[Captain Audio]

Fear not. If worse comes to worst the nuclear winter effect will off set Global Warming. Electricity use will be much less, mainly due to fewer living customers, but partly because street lights won't be necessary when everything glows in the dark.
Also I may finally get that flying monster egg.

[narfstar]

Finally got around to reading this one and as usual he who waits is lost. Lost in the comments already made. It seems there is near universal agreement on this gem.

[Drusilla lives!]

I just got around to reading this, so like narf, I feel there's not much to add on my part except perhaps... SHAZAM! 

Well, I guess I'll just add that I liked the anti-atomic war theme of our featured story... rather novel for the time and certainly perspicacious.  Human nature being what it is as Binder points out, even such a conflict between just two combatants could invite others the opportunity to settle old scores... an often overlooked point that's sadly even more relevant today.  Not that any such conflict can be considered anything but madness.  Some very effective moments here in places, like the opening splash page and as mentioned, that mother-child death scene.  Overall, a good, creative attempt at illustrating a very real, dark theme of great importance (even to this day), in a superhero comic. 

But a great classic?... Meh.

I must confess, I enjoyed "The Return of Aunt Minerva" a lot more... and those short one-pagers ("Tightwad Tad" and "Timely Tid-Bits") were funny as heck imo.  Liked the sci-fi themed text story as well... nicely constructed... but it was also by Binder, so that's to be expected.

Like paw, I found that "Editorial Advisory Board" thing on the contents page interesting... and YES!... I too have noticed the Captain Marvel merchandise and fan club ads!  How can one miss them, there seems to be one on every other page... a little excessive imo. 

Holy product placement and positive re-enforcement Batman! 

[crashryan]

I'm very late with this one because I put off reading it for a long time. As a child I grew up in terror of nuclear war. The concept was shoved in your face everywhere you turned: air raid drills at school, government announcements promoting knowing where the nearest Civil Defense shelter was--or better yet, building your own fallout shelter. One example demonstrates how deep my fear went. Every day when our small town's fire siren sounded to mark the noon hour, I'd stop in my tracks, heart pounding, and count the up-and-downs to make sure it wasn't the Yellow Alert. Though the phobia faded sometime in my late twenties, to this day I freeze when I hear an old-fashioned siren. Fortunately few exist nowadays.

So reading a "hard-hitting atomic war story" didn't appeal to me. The Captain Marvel story went a bit over the top with a bajillion bombs flying in all directions (there weren't ICBM's yet but the author didn't have to strain too hard to imagine them). However the basic idea was all too true. I'm sure this story would have scared the hell out of me as a kid. I wonder if even one person read that comic and concluded atomic war was an idiot's game that no one could win. I hope so.

It doesn't help that today we're back where we started, with country after country craving its own Bomb to make them safe from everyone else's Bombs. Why not? If they go off we'll have a nifty post-Apocalyptic world like in the movies and on TV. We Good Guy survivors can live the grand life of barbarism, shooting all the Bad Guys. Maybe if we're lucky we'll even get cannibals or zombies.