The American public's interest in superheroes was at a low point in the early 1950's, leaving the fine folks at Fawcett scrambling to keep up with trend curve as it pertained to their flagship character. Horror comics were all the rage at the time, so Captain Marvel found himself pitted against ghosts, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures. The Red Scare was in full swing, so Marvel was sent off to fight communist hordes both at home and abroad.
I suppose it was inevitable, then, that writer Otto Binder would cobble together a story incorporating both elements into a single, racially-insensitive masterpiece of supernatural Cold War agitprop.
It all came together in Captain Marvel Adventures #140 (January 1953), in a story titled....well, check it out for yourselves...
It's late 1952 and the Korean War has become a bloody stalemate. The fighting is fierce, as both sides of the conflict hope to turn territorial gains into leverage at the negotiation table. Captain Marvel, the quintessential Truman Democrat, does his part for the global crusade against communism by transporting supplies of blood from the States to military hospitals near the front line.
Marvel's golden opportunity to exchange witty (yet socially aware) banter with the wacky crew of the Four-Oh-Seven-Seven is interrupted by the arrival of a thirsty horde of Mongol bloodsuckers on a whole plasma packie run...
Marvel manages to swat aside the commie bloodsuckers, but not before they cart off most of the field surgery's blood supply. A helpful Corporal Klinger fills the Captain in on the pertinent backstory...
Realizing that his presence might deter the Maoist monstrosities from returning for an all-American ass-whooping, Marvel transforms back into boy reporter Billy Batson and waits for the following evening. The vampires return as hoped, but Billy's plan runs into a dirty commie hitch when the devious fiends cart him off, along with the remaining supplies of blood. As per Captain Marvel story conventions, Billy is bound and gagged and brought before the dreaded Scarlet Vampire.
The Supreme Leader of the Vampire Soviet uses the opportunity to explain his nefarious plans, as well as to revel in his status as an racist caricature...
When the pack of fiends sets out to wreak havoc among the American forces, Billy is left behind to consider his future as a dessert course. Billy's guard, understandably miffed about being left out of the mass exsanguination, decides to give into his cravings for hot teenage boy blood and pounces on the helpless lad.
Luckily for Billy, his captor's fangs were designed more for perpetuating stereotypes rather than piercing flesh, and Billy's gag becomes snared in the vampire's incisors. This stroke of luck gives Billy the chance to utter the magic word and transform into Captain Marvel, who promptly smashes in the vampire's skull with a boulder before flying off to deal with the rest of the commie leeches.
Over at the 38th Parallel, the situation has taken a turn for the dire, with the American forces have been routed by the unholy might of the Glorious People's Vampire Army. Have no fear, true believers, because Captain Marvel is on the scene and prepared to set things right no matter how many laws of physics are broken in the process...
Marvel's masterstroke of bad science quickly takes care of the rank and file bloodsuckers. When it comes to the Big Vamp-huna, however, Marvel takes a more hands-on approach...
What's that you're saying? The story seems a bit violent, jingoistic and racist for a comic book aimed at younger children? Pshaw! Everybody knows that the Golden Age Captain Marvel stories are the pinnacle of wholesome kid-safe entertainment, unlike the drek published today. If it wasn't so, then why would Captain Marvel Adventures #140 carry the following stamp of approval?
The seal doesn't lie, my friends.
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