Welcome back. Please log in.

Alan Light REPRINT
Mac Raboy cvr; Capt. Marvel Jr. origin retold, Capt. Nazi app.
Mac Raboy's Captain Marvel Jr. took a spin-off from the original Captain Marvel and made it into something all its own. Raboy's realistic style gave this title depth and heft, and the stories in this series had a seriousness that contrasted with the more cartoony exploits of his mentor. The first issue of Captain Marvel Jr. retells the character's origin story, that of a young boy who is wounded in an attack by Captain Nazi which forces the original Captain Marvel to transfer some of his powers into young Freddy Freeman to save his life. The new addition to the Marvel Family remains a teenager in his transformed state and is still hobbled by a lame leg when he is in his human form. Although the character appeared in Whiz and Master Comics before earning his own title, this premiere issue proved that the junior version of the Marvel franchise could stand on its own.


Artist Information

Emmanuel "Mac" Raboy was an American comics artist best known for his comic-book work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Jr. and as the Sunday comic-strip artist of Flash Gordon for more than 20 years. Cartoonist Drew Friedman has stated, "Raboy was an expert technician with pen and brush, and his lush covers are some of the most unusually beautiful ever to grace comic books". Raboy began his art career with the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. In the 1940s he began working with the Harry A. Chesler studio of comics artists. Raboy began drawing comic books and gained fame as the illustrator for Captain Marvel, Jr. and the Green Lama. Raboy was a great admirer of Alex Raymond, and "kept a portfolio of Alex Raymond's "Flash Gordon" comics by his side for inspiration and guidance as he worked". In the spring of 1946, King Features hired Raboy to continue the Sunday page adventures of Flash Gordon, which he continued to work on until his death.