American Update: “With One Magic Word – Shazam!” The original Captain Marvel
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: We turn our attention to Superman’s greatest imitator, who at one stage outstripped even the Man of Steel in sales – Captain Marvel! Issue #58 of Captain Marvel Adventures, dated April 12th, 1946 (yes, it was so popular it was published fortnightly!) features a three-part confrontation between Cap and his greatest nemesis, Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, a follically-challenged criminal genius who was no influence at all on later iterations of Lex Luthor, ahem ahem. In addition to this epic adventure, two further Cap stories are “Nature Goes Wild!” and “King of the Apes!” Paper salvage was still in effect at this time, so post-WWII copies are uncommon, and of course were never available in the UK, so the Big Red Cheese’s original series is seldom seen in the UK. This copy of CMA #58 is a VG-, with moderate wear at the lower corners, but unimpaired cover scene and interior pages, on sale at £45.