Lost Crossovers: The Epic Battle Between Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, part four

And so, after four months, we finally come to the end of the titanic clash between the World’s Mightiest Mortal and the vastly-overmatched foe of subversives as the running Captain Marvel vs Spy Smasher conflict reaches its inevitable climax. Once again, there isn’t any clue given on the cover that this colossal story has been going on–it’s another generic though very nice C.C. Beck image that has nothing to do with any story contained herein, which was typical for this era.

As with the other chapters of this story, the author’s name has been lost to time. But the artwork on the Captain marvel chapter was provided by C.C. Beck.

You would think that a single punch from captain Marvel would put Spy Smasher down cold, but that isn’t the case here. Also fun is how Armstrong’s fiancé Eve Colby leaps to his defense even though he was going to kill her just a moment before.

Even mesmerized and turned against America, Spy Smasher isn’t about to work with any lousy Nazis.

That Captain Marvel figure in Panel 2 is repurposed from a cover that Beck had done recently.

Captain Marvel is more interested in restoring Spy Smasher than he is in stopping him, but the spy-fighter foils his efforts by destroying the Mask’s hypno-chair before it can be used on him again.

That dead-on panel of Captain Marvel using his stare on Spy Smasher is downright creepy.

And that does it for the opening chapter. The balance of the story sees print later in the same issue.

The artwork on this story was provided by Charles Sultan. The writer is, as before, undiscovered.

Nazis are a superstitious and cowardly lot. Also, notice that they aren’t ever referred to directly. The United States wasn’t yet a direct participant in World War II when these stories were created.

That first panel is a swipe of a classic Alex Raymond figure from Flash Gordon. It was a popular pose, and you can find swipes of it in dozens of features during the Golden Age.

And now Spy Smasher is firmly back on the side of the U.S.A.–and we can overlook the many people he killed and the wave of destruction that he unleashed upon both our military forces and the civilian population. Because things were a lot simpler back in the Golden Age. Which is fortunate, because Fawcett was about to launch Spy Smasher’s solo title, which is advertised on the inside back cover.