Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, lev gleason

Captain Battle Jr Saves His Dad in Captain Battle Jr #1, at Auction

In what seems to have been a franchise reboot attempt, Captain Battle's son completed an important mission and saved his dad in the process.

Captain Battle debuted in Lev Gleason Publications' Silver Streak Comics #10, the creation of Carl Formes and Jack Binder.  He was the youngest combatant in World War I and lost his left eye fighting in that war.  He subsequently gave his life over to "the scientific perfection of inventions which he uses to overcome evil and aggressive influences."  The character had a strange history in comics, eventually leading to the introduction of his son, Captain Battle Jr, in 1943.  Part of a saga with a bizarre history, there's a copy of Captain Battle Jr. #1 (Lev Gleason, 1943) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages up for auction in the 2023 May 18 The War Comics Showcase Auction #40223 at Heritage Auctions.

After those initial Silver Streak Comics appearances by Formes and Binder, Captain Battle Comics #1 was created by Funnies Inc comic production studio members including Frank Borth, George Mandel, and possibly Kermit Jaediker. Issues #2 returned to the Binder shop, mostly Jack Binder and Otto Binder.  The first two issues of Captain Battle Comics were published by known Lev Gleason publishing company New Friday (no doubt named after the left-wing tabloid magazine Friday that Gleason was associated with).  Issue #3 contains reprints of Silver Streak material but for unknown reasons, carries the line Harry "A" Chesler Jr. Features Syndicate, N.Y. on the cover.  There is no issue #4.  Issue #5 was published by Picture Scoop, Inc. which was also the publisher of Gleason magazines Reader's Scope and Picture Scoop.  Captain Battle Jr. was then published by the familiar Comic House, Inc. publishing company often used by Gleason.  It's also widely assumed that Boy Comics, which started with issue #3, was a continuation of the original Captain Battle Comics numbering, despite the sporadic continuation of that title.

Captain Battle Jr. seems to have been meant as a reboot, perhaps even explaining the "changing of the guard" between father and son.  The character was the original's son, a WWII fighter pilot who also worked for Army Intelligence.  In issue #1, he was ordered by military intelligence to capture German Field Marshall von Teufel.  During the lengthy saga, Captain Battle Jr eventually discovered that his father was a prisoner of von Teufel's, though he initially had to leave him behind.  By the end of the saga, Captain Battle Jr had fulfilled his mission and freed his father, the original Captain Battle, in the process.

The story here was drawn by Don Rico, with the script credited to Lev Gleason and Joe Greene in the issue itself. Greene is best remembered as the creator of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, a science fiction novel, radio, comic strip, and comic book franchise that also ran on television 1950-1955, and is one of a handful of series to appear on all four networks of that era (CBS, ABC, NBC and Dumont).  There's a backup feature by Bob Wood that has supervillain The Claw shaving Adolph Hitler's mustache and shaving him bald.

While Captain Battle had the stylings of a typical patriotic superhero of the era, interestingly, his son simply looked like a soldier.  Although the series only lasted two issues, it's the culmination of an interesting concept from one of the most fascinating publishers of the Golden Age, and there's a copy of Captain Battle Jr. #1 (Lev Gleason, 1943) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages up for auction in the 2023 May 18 The War Comics Showcase Auction #40223 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.

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