Number 438


Captain Marvel and the weird water man


There was a shock of recognition when I saw that Hairy Green Eyeball presented the John Kendrick Bangs story, The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall. It jogged my memory of a Captain Marvel story, which I found and scanned.

I wonder if Captain Marvel writer Otto Binder had read the 1894 Bangs story at some point, because the resolution of both stories is the same. It seems that would be the best way to get rid of a creature made of water, so maybe it was a natural, but at least I found the coincidence interesting.

Artwork on this story, scanned from Captain Marvel Adventures #118 from 1951, is by Pete Costanza, who 15 years later drew the Jimmy Olsen "Bride of Jungle Jimmy" story I showed you on Thanksgiving Day.