Today in Comics History, September 11: Happy birthday, Bill Parker!

Born today in 1911: let's wish a happy birthday to comic book writer/editor Bill Parker, co-creator with C. C. Beck of the World's Mightiest Mortal, Captain Marvel. (You young whippersnappers may know him as "Shazam.") Here's a (slightly fictionalized) portrayal of Beck ("C.C.") an' Parker ("B.P.") doin' just that thing:


"How It Happened (More or Less)" from The Steranko History of Comics, Volume 2 (Supergraphics, 1972), by C. C. Beck
Parker also co-created Spy Smasher, Ibis the Invincible, Golden Arrow and other famous Fawcett...uh, fun guys!

A very marvelous birthday to you, Bill Parker!

Today in Comics History, September 3, 1939: C.C. Beck continues to steadily revolve in his grave

from All-Star Squadron #36 (DC, August 1984), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Richard Howell, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by David Cody Weiss

Today in Comics History, August 7: The Sixth and Eighth Amendments vs. a Caterpillar

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published October 14, 2010.

...granted, a talking, evil caterpillar: the no-good-nik Mr. Mind, who may very well know a lot about villainy but not much about public relations—really, who calls their organization "The Monster Society of Evil"? You may as well say you're "The Young Republicans" and be done with it, Mr. Obvious.

Anyway: after approximately 3,700 installments of the famous "Captain Marvel vs. The Monster Society of Evil" saga in Captain Marvel Adventures, Shazam Captain Marvel finally faces off against the wicked worm, and a battle to the death begins! But, seeing as this is Captain Marvel Adventures and not Criminal Caterpillar Comics, you know that big Red Cheese is going to bring home the bacon and ketch-up to Mr. Mind. Then, Captain Marvel zapped him right between the eyes (ZAP!) and before you know it, it's The Trial of the Century!


from "The Monster Society of Evil Chapter 25: The End of Mr. Mind!" in Captain Marvel Adventures #46 (Fawcett, May 1945), script by Otto Binder, pencils by C. C. Beck, inks by the Beck-Costanza Studio

Today in Comics History, June 8: Happy birthday, C. C. Beck!

Born on this day in 1910: C. C. Beck, co-creator and artist of Captain Marvel (you kids know him today as Shazam!) and many of the foundational supporting characters of the Marvel Family like Mister Mind, Doctor Sivana, Black Adam (hmmm, haven't heard much about him lately), Ibac, and the Sensational Character Find of 1947, Mr. Tawky Tawny, America's only tiger!!


from Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics (Ten Speed, July 2020), script and art by Tom Scioli

Today in Comics History, January 25: Happy birthday, Dr. Sivana!

...you low-down criminal mastermind mad scientist, you!


from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975), letters by Ben Oda
So yes, it's the birthday of Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, the sworn (and he shouldn't swear) arch enemy of Captain Marvel! The real one. Nothin' against you, Brie Larson, but Billy had the name first. In fact, the first appearance of Sivana is also the first appearance of Captain Marvel huimself, in Whiz Comics #2! (Wow, he worked fast, didn't he?) Yes, Whiz Comics, the newsstand's only comic book that instructs kids how to go off with mysterious strangers into dark subway stations! Soon, kids all around the country were doin' it!


from "[Introducing Captain Marvel]" in Whiz Comics #2 (Fawcett, February 1940), script and colors by Bill Parker, pencils and inks by C. C. Beck
Billy soon meets the wizard whose name he cannot say in general conversation!


Thus, the bloodthirsty Billy Batson racks up his first kill.




And where does Sivana come in during all this? I'm glad you asked that question. He comes in right...about...here!


Sivana has taken all the radio stations across the nation off the air! Now he's free to become the Pirate of the Air Waves and broadcast nothing but right-wing conspiracy theory call-in radio 24/7!


WHO can possible stop h...oh, Captain Marvel already did it. Slow down, Cap, this breakneck pace is killin' me!


Wait, did Cap just throw Sivana into a wall? He's racked up his second kill in less than 24 hours!

Anyway, happy birthday, Sivana, you coo-coo crazy nut mad scientist evil genius, you!


from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985 series) #21 (November 1986); pencils and inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

365 Days of Power and Responsibility, Day 243: Surely His Attitude Zeniths A Mission

from Legends #5 (DC, March 1987), plot by John Ostrander, script by Len Wein, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by Steve Haynie
(Give yourself Bonus Bully Fun Points if you heard this in your head when you read that last panel):


opening to Shazam! TV series (Filmation, 1974)

365 Days of Defiance, Day 280: The Nazi or the Tiger

There's a famous story starring Captain Marvel — the Shazam! guy, not any of the later pretenders to that name — defending and fighting for the rights of Mr. Tawky Tawny, the intelligent English-speaking tiger, to live in a house in a neighborhood. I earlier spoofed this story in a post where I suggested that Mr. Tawky Tawny was a gay tiger (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that if he is). But let me take this, a tale with a big speaking cat and a mighty magical mortal, absolutely at face value to remind you that when some persons don't want other tigers persons living in their neighborhood, it's a time to fight back.



Panels from "Mr. Tawny's New Home" in Captain Marvel Adventures #90 (Fawcett, 1948), script by Otto Binder, pencils and inks by C. C. Beck
Hoo boy. Jim Croce didn't have a chance to sing a lyric about this, but you can be darn sure he would have to say don't bitchslap Captain Marvel in a song.


The bigots and racists and anti-tigerists set up a hate rally (sound familiar, 2017?) to push their small-minded prejudice and drive Mr. Tawny out of town. Guys like this don't always wear hoods, but you can tell 'em when you see 'em.


Mr. Tawky Tawny to the rescue of the town!


My point (and I do have one) is just say no to supremacists and racists trying to keep their culture and neighborhood "pure." Or, as pal Andrew, who reminded me of this story recently (Thanks Andrew!), has often wisely said: be the Big Red Cheese you want to see in the world. I think that says it all, don't you?

Catchphrases of the Superheroes: Captain Marvel

Tonight, on Catchphrases of the Superheroes: that oft-uttered exclamation from this guy...


...Captain Marvel! (It'll be a cold day in Fawcett City before I call him "Shazam!"). And what does Cap always say (besides, of course, Sha-youknowhat)? Well, you know he declares...Holy Moley!


Panels from Captain Marvel Adventures #90 (November 1948)

Well, first of all, in-depth research in the vast Bully Archives of Literary and Cultural History (or what my good personal pal, Tim "I don't know who Meredith Vieira is either" Berners-Lee, called the World Wide Web) tells me that Captain Marvel debuted in 1940, the same year Fantasia, Elmer Fudd, Truth or Consequences, and McDonald's first appeared. (Don't tell me that 1940 wasn't a year of important cultural firsts!). But the phrase "holy moley" dates from well before that! (Sorry, Cap, you didn't invent it...you just popularized it.) Here's an example from the novel Running It Off by Nat Gould (the original Dick Francis), published in 1892:


Ah! That fits in perfectly with the Big Red Cheese's usage of "holy moley" as an expression of shock, surprise, and astonishment, as in "Holy Moley! Mister Mind has eaten all my delicious cabbage leaves! That fiend!" However, it's not the only way the phrase is used. Searching for spelling variants while combing literature for the phrase, we find New Legends by Hervey Allen (1929), which, despite its title, is not a tale of the heroes of The New 52, but a book of poetry:


From context (yes, this little stuffed bull can read for context, altho' I like the pictures too), moly is some sort of plant, right? (Because deer don't eat fast food.) And sure enough, our pal Wikipedia, "The Encyclopedia Where You Can Scribble in the Margins," tells us that moly (Greek: μῶλυ) is a magic herb mentioned in book ten of Homer's Odyssey:

"As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground an showed me what it was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods can do whatever they like.

Yes, the gods can do whatever they like? Isn't that right, Hercules?


Panel from Hercules: Prince of Power v.1 #1 (September 1982), script, pencils, and inks by Bob Layton; colors by Christie Scheele; letters by Rick Parker
Oh, that Herc. Never fails to crack us all up. You go, Prince of Power!

Unfortunately, while I've got acres of comic books, but I don't have a copy of The Odyssey. Unless...wait...yes!


Cover of Classics Illustrated #81 [The Odyssey] (March 1951), painted cover by Alex Blum
Classics Illustrated! Once again, as in The Adventure of the Overdue Book Report, you totally save my bacon. Now let's look at The Odyssey, which is filled with cool gory pictures like these:


Panels from Classics Illustrated #81 [The Odyssey] (March 1951), pencils by Harley Griffiths
As the Greeks would have it (and didn't the Greeks have it!), the sorceress Circe


Page from The Eternals #3 (September 1976), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by John Verpoorten, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by John Costanza
...yes, yes, the same one that was named Sersi in the Marvel Universe by Jack Kirby...Circe turned all the men of Odysseus's ship into pigs. Well, it gets boring on those Greek islands, what else are ya gonna do for fun?


Luckily, The Golden Age Flash Hermes gave Odysseus/Ulysses/Molasses a "talisman" or, as Smilin' Al Kanter tells us in the footnote, a lucky charm. Pausing only to ward off a leprechaun and some cereal-deprived young urchins, Odysseus was able to sneak into the Palace of Circe (in the original Greek: cirque du palais) and safely face off against the sorceress in the thirty-three-part multi-title summer crossover event named War of the Gods castle.

That magic charm? Not a rabbit's foot, not a double-sided coin, not plane nor bird nor even frog: t'was moly, ancient herb of the gods! In other words...ahem...holy moly.

(may not be actual moly)
So, is this true, Captain Marvel?


Panels from "The Devil and Captain Marvel" in World's Finest #254 (January 1979), script by E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Kurt Schaffenberger, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Shelly Leferman
Moly, the wonder plant! Plant of the gods! Plant of mythology! Plant of...heroes!


Huh! It can't be picked by Hercules. But I thought the gods could do whatever they like? Hercules really can't pick it? 'Zat true, Herc?


Panel from Incredible Hercules #113 (February 2008), script by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, pencils by Khoi Pham, inks by Paul Neary, colors by Stephane Peru, letters by Joe Caramagna
Hercules...a liar? Can that be true?!?


Panel from Sandman Special one-shot (1991), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Bryan Talbot, inks by Mark Buckingham, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Klein
So...Moly! To sorceressessessessesses, it's like garlic is to vampires! Except you can't put it on your pizza. Moly! Is there anything it can't do?


Oh, it is like vampires and garlic! And apparently, like capes. Any last words, Homer?


You have no idea.

---

ADDITION on September 2, 2012:

One of Comics Oughta Be Fun's most faithful commenters, SallyP, points out that Erasmus Fry uses moly to capture the muse Callipe in Sandman #17. (I didn't remember that! Thanks, Sally!)



Panels from Sandman v.2 #17 (July 1990), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by Malcolm Jones III, colors by Robbie Busch, letters by Todd Klein