I'll go down fighting! Shut my eyes, and I'll swing a haymaker! MISSED! 
- — Tom Flynn, Local Braggart, Failing to Punch a Pirate
Captain Marvel, Jr. #82 is an issue of the series Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1950.
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Phantom Fire-Fighter"
In the dead of night, chemist Dr. Chill accidentally lights himself and his lab on fire with inflammable chemicals and calls for help. As fire alarms start to go off, Freddy Freeman is awoken in his bed and calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to stop the fire as Captain Marvel, Jr. However, he finds Dr. Chill is severely burned and his life’s work has been destroyed. Thus, he decides to destroy fire, the great enemy of mankind. Freddy hopes this means he invents a fire extinguisher, but finds out it more rightly means that he’s going to escape from the hospital and do something rash. Freddy, trying to check in on him the day after, finds him gone and calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to find him. Meanwhile, Dr. Chill moves to a garage with all the necessary chemicals he needs. Soon, he races into a steel plant and blasts the coal so it can never be lit and names himself the “Phantom Fire Fighter”! Junior soon spots smoke from the steel plant that shouldn’t be there and the steel workers think he had a skull head until Junior points out it was bandages and says he’ll get them some coal. Soon, the Phantom Fire Fighter puts out fires in a coal train to stall them out and punches out the fireman, only for Junior to fly the train to where it needs to go: the Atlas Steel Plant. Junior finds that Mount Rackapoko is erupting as Foreman WS Drake of Atlas Steel asks what they do if he returns, so Junior flies off to go stop it. Dr. Chill heads there in a jet plane and starts trying to “put out” the volcano, which somehow causes an earthquake from cooling “too quickly,” forcing Junior to brace himself against buildings to keep them from toppling and pulling people to safety. He soon intercepts his plane, letting it crash against his chest and drags Dr. Chill to safety. He is soon declared mad and Junior hopes he recovers from and that fire is good when controlled to serve society’s needs.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Phantom Fire-Fighter"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Phantom Fire Fighter (Dr. Chill)
Other Characters:
- Foreman W.S. Drake
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Mrs. Wagner's Boarding House
- Dr. Chill's Laboratory (Destroyed)
- Dr. Chill's Associated Garage
- The Atlas Steel Plant
- Mount Rackapoko
- New York City
Items:
- The Phantom Fire Fighter's Fire Extinguisher
Vehicles:
- The Phantom Fire Fighter's Jet Plane (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Treasure of Treasures"
Freddy Freeman is out at the carnival where he finds they have a sideshow with a “Genuine Full-Blooded” Native American Chief, Running Deer. Freddy finds he looks real for his act of drumming, but is surly in the face. His boss, sideshow owner Carl Krell, tells him to stop being sour about being a Native Chief with no land or tribe and he instead pounds his drum harder, breaking it. When he does, he finds inside is a message from his father, Chief Red Stag, bequeathing him a great treasure along the old hunting trail! He begins to whoop and says he’s going to be rich finding his father’s treasure… only for Carl to pick up a tomahawk and decide maybe he wants it. Freddy, looking in, calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr. and punch him over. Carl apologizes hastily and Chief Running Deer says to let him go, since he’s not been harmed and he can just quit when he wants. Junior generously offers to fly him to his homeland of Terra Mesa, where he soon finds a second message from Chief Red Stag, telling him to keep looking. Meanwhile, Carl has hired a local guide, Zeke, to show him the area and tries to dump a boulder on the Chief, only for Junior to punch it to pieces. Continuing to a hollow tree, Chief Running Deer finds another note from his father. He sees graceful deer running and the large Balancing Rock, only for Carl and Zeke to shoot at the rock to knock it over. Junior pushes it back into place and says that someone’s following them, while the goons escape. Beneath a pile of stones, Chief Running Deer finds the end of the old hunting trail and that the treasure is there, only for Carl and Zeke to attack him and throw him off a cliff. Junior flies him back up and defeats Carl and Zeke with him, only to find that the treasure is the beautiful peace of nature, which his father knew was great. Later, Carl and Zeke are arrested and Junior finds that Chief Running Deer has taken over guided tours of Terra Mesa, sharing the beauty of his people with others.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Treasure of Treasures"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Chief Running Deer
Antagonists:
- Carl Krell
- Zeke
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- A Carnival
- Terra Mesa
- Balancing Rock
- New York City
Items:
- A Drum (Destroyed)
- A Tomahawk
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. Battles The Buccaneers" or "Captain Marvel, Jr. and The Buccaneers"
Captain Marvel, Jr. is flying to Keesport where there’s been reports of pirate attacks on local fishing boats. He soon lands and returns to being Freddy. He soon finds local lad Tom Flynn claiming he stopped pirates under the order of Captain Marvel, Jr. He describes fighting off most of the pirates himself (while the World’s Mightiest Boy has been downed in a single hit and pleads for help.) The pirates capture Captain Marvel, Jr. and order Tom to jump overboard and that he’ll get them soon if they harm his Captain! Freddy Freeman offers that everyone knows that Captain Marvel, Jr. has the Stamina of Atlas and is functionally invulnerable and wouldn’t easily give up… only for Tom to say it was all part of the plan! Continuing his story, Tom describes finding Captain Marvel, Jr. being made to walk the plank until Tom defeats the pirates in a violent fistfight… only for his story to be interrupted by an actual pirate attack! A weak man approaches saying they stole his day’s haul and he barely escaped. Freddy orders the boys to call a doctor and get men for a rescue expedition, then calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Jr.
Soon, the World’s Mightiest Boy finds that the pirates now run a motorboat launch and wield Tommy guns, and one of them leaps off the launch to escape into the water to hide in the bulrushes. Tom and another boy raft by to find the leader of the pirates hiding out in them and Tom tries to punch him out with his eyes closed. Junior flies in and punches him over in the meanwhile, making Tom think he did it. Junior decides to let Tom have this win and brag to his friends how he really helped Captain Marvel, Jr. and stopped the Buccaneers.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. Battles The Buccaneers" or "Captain Marvel, Jr. and The Buccaneers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Tom Flynn, Local Braggart
Antagonists:
- Unnamed Fishing Boat Pirates
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- Keesport, A Fishing Village
Items:
Vehicles:
- A Pirate Launch
Trivia
- Despite the cover, Captain Marvel, Jr. doesn't fight a Golden Age pirate atop a pirate ship with a Jolly Roger. Instead, a boy tells a story where Captain Marvel, Jr. is easily defeated by pirates (and he defeats them all single-handedly) and Captain Marvel, Jr. defeats analogous modern pirates.
See Also