Greatest Comic Covers # 20
The World’s Mightiest Mortal
My dad grew up during the Great Depression, and while kids in his generation were generally poor, that’s not to say they didn’t have great imaginations and managed to have fun! Whether it was old time radio, the pulps, or movie serials, escapist fun helped distract kids of all ages from the problems that faced our great nation!
One of the great past times of that era was comic books. Indeed, the period from the late 1930s through the 1940s is affectionately considered the Golden Age of Comics. And in many ways, gold was spun with the adventures of Superman, Batman, The Green Lantern, Captain America, The Human Torch, The Sub Mariner, and more!
To be fair, much of the comic output of this era isn’t very good. While the characters were larger than life, and planted seeds that would grow into full bloom decades later, the stories were simple and the art was often crude. Genuine wit was scarce.
There was one notable exception.
CC Beck’s Captain Marvel is my personal favorite Golden Age comic character. Everything about the character and his different comic titles holds up well even in the 21st Century. The art is crisp, the characters and situations are smart and funny, and the whole approach was memorable.
Make Mine Captain Marvel!
