InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hey! Assbutt!"

dr_hermes (dr_hermes) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-09-07 17:30:00

Entry tags:

char: captain marvel/billy batson, era: golden age, publisher: fawcett comics

Where the stuff you lose really goes

This story is ironic in a metatextual way, as in a few years Captain Marvel (and his family) would really go to Limbo, when the Fawcett comics closed up shop. There they would chill in the timeless void of fictional characters without a home, until the same company that had caused their titles to be dropped would buy up rights to them and bring them back as secondary characters. (Cap never showed it on the page but he must have been bitter.

Be that as it may, this is a typically charming little tale. Captain Marvel discovers that recent thefts of valuables are the work of the Collector, a wizened old coot who is assigned to take worthless inventions, badly written books, crummy art and such away. (From what I see on sale everyday, he hasn't kept up.) Limbo is a gigantic junkyard. The Collector decides to start confiscating something nice once in a while, just to brighten up his metaphysical realm. This is where Cap takes notice.

What an evocative splash panel. Wouldn't you like to spend a weekend or two rummaging around in the piles of debris in Limbo? Just keep that one door closed.

And (not for the first time) the World's Mightiest Mortal is stymied. Not even he can remember what has gone into Limbo, it's the very definition of the place. Back on Earth, the owners of the stolen items don't know what he's talking about. (Cap is suffering from something that occurs to all of us, where we rush into a room to get something, can't remember what it was and have to retrace our steps. This is called "Destinesia.")

Now, I love this next bit. The Collector asks Captain Marvel just how he could remember those items which were stolen. Nine times out of ten, a super-hero will obligingly explain everything, but Cap is shrewder. "Let that be MY secret!" he answers. Why tell the bad guy where they slipped up? So they can commit the crimes again without making that mistake? (As it happens, Cap figured there was a brief period between the thefts and when the Collector actually arrived back in Limbo-- and in that time, the robberies were written down in the police blotter, which he read. What a guy.

(Post a new comment)

	mysteryfan 2009-09-07 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	Heh. That's quite a few 'Holey Moley's, Cap! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-09-07 10:00 pm UTC (link)
	It would get on your nerves if you had to spend any time with him, like someone who jingles their keys. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-09-07 10:08 pm UTC (link)
	He can bend I-beams with his eyelashes and juggle mountain ranges, I think you'd be prepared to indulge a couple of relatively harmless habits. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-09-07 10:14 pm UTC (link)

This is true, but Captain Marvel was a reasonable, easygoing fellow. We see him having dinner at a friend's house, chatting with people on the streets, socializing comfortably. He could be embarrassed or jovial or thoughtful. In many ways, he was the most normal of the super-heroes emotionally, and I think if you asked him to cut down on the "Holy Moley", he would say, "Do I say it that much? Well, I'll try to keep an eye on it."

Of course, this is still another reason why he doesn't belong in the DC Universe...

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

rab62
2009-09-07 11:01 pm UTC (link)

Yes, a thousand times yes.

I also feel compelled every so often to remind youngsters who have only seen the post-Eighties DC versions that Cap a) is not a twelve year old boy in a super-powered adult body, and b) may be good-natured and personable but these qualities do not equal "mentally retarded." The way DC has always savaged the character you'd think they had some reason to hold a grudge against him or something...

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-09-08 12:02 am UTC (link)

I suppose DC owns the character and can mistreat any way they please (as they do so many others). Captain Marvel is an adult. He's not stupid, just good-natured and maybe not cynical enough. I think this started with the 1970s issues of SHAZAM! which were so poorly writen.

In a way, the character now appearing in DC Comics is technically Captain Marvel, the writers and editors can make him jump through whatever hoops they like. You never know, maybe many fans prefer him as a child in an adult body. But it doesn't work for me.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-09-08 12:21 am UTC (link)
	The 1970's issue weren't perfect, but they were a lot closer to the original notion than the current take. Billy and Cap were two distinct personalities (which is as it should be IMHO) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

jlroberson
2009-09-08 12:27 am UTC (link)

The 1970s issues were far better than they've been given credit for, as kid's comics, which is EXACTLY WHAT CAPTAIN MARVEL SHOULD ALWAYS BE. I don't always have a problem with making what were all, after all, kid's characters at one time more up to date, but Cap is special: he was designed specifically as a whimsical character for kids(with scary moments but the kind kids like) and should have always stayed that way. Sam Henderson & Dean Haspiel, in BIZARRO COMICS, showed how well this could be done without making it a nostalgia comic, and in fact DC should give them a try at really doing it. (I wasn't as keen on Jeff Smith's take, by contrast even though it was a good try--it was kind of dull and I couldn't imagine a kid particularly digging it)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	colonel_green 2009-09-08 02:45 am UTC (link)
	Personally, I don't really see the point of Billy if Captain Marvel is a distinct personality. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-09-08 03:51 am UTC (link)
	Reader identification. It's more direct wish fulfilment than a kid sidekick. When Billy gets in trouble, he can call on the ultimate older brother to back him up. Then again, not many kids read comics anymore, the market has shifted to mostly high school/college age and old Baby Boomers. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	jlroberson 2009-09-08 12:23 am UTC (link)
	Loved and Facebooked. (Reply to this)

	icon_uk 2009-09-08 12:51 am UTC (link)
	Reminds me a little of the "Eerie, Indiana" episode where the kids discover the underground stockpile of all the things that go missing, like socks, ball point pens and car keys... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-09-08 03:52 am UTC (link)
	That was a show with many creative plots. It struck just the right balance. (Reply to this) (Parent)

psychop_rex
2009-09-10 04:06 am UTC (link)

Man, I would have a field day in Limbo. I'm one of those people who loves digging around in flea markets and used bookstores and places like that for those forgotten gems that people have largely forgotten about - books, movies, comics, whatever. If I had just one hour in Limbo to poke around, I'm sure I'd come up with some wonderful stuff - taste is relative, after all, and what the Collector thinks of as worthless may not be what I'd think of.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-09-10 04:06 am UTC (link)
	'Forgotten gems that people have largely forgotten about' - oy. Whoops. Redundancy, ahoy! (Reply to this) (Parent)