Tag: Tom Tyler

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, William Witney and John English), Chapter 8: Boomerang

Boomerang is the best chapter of Captain Marvel yet. Not because of Captain Marvel action–there’s some, but it’s perfunctory–rather it’s the plotting. Boomerang springboards off something in the previous chapter (unrelated to the cliffhanger), sort of narratively hopping over something. That something being the predictable, tedious, though visually interesting cliffhanger resolution. Boomerang then assumes a traditional three act structure, which the serial hasn’t been doing to this point. It’s kind of strange, but also excellent.

The good guys have a plan, they learn something, they execute their plan, things go wrong, resolution, second resolution. It’s exciting, but without any big effects sequences. Frank Coghlan Jr. only says the magic word to get out of immediate trouble. It’s a thankless role for Tom Tyler. He gets to have a little fun–albeit cruel fun–and fun is long overdo. It makes him more sympathetic, even though his part is still a mess.

Coghlan’s amateur sleuths–William ‘Billy’ Benedict and Louise Currie–both get some decent moments. Their characters have to interact in a way the actors get to define the characters. They’re not solely around to be functional in Boomerang. They get to show personality.

Good supporting work from George Pembroke this chapter too.

It’s not really a bridging chapter because it never resolves its opening problem. Coghlan and company thought they’d discovered something big, only for its veracity to get delayed… presumably until next chapter. Boomerang’s something though. It’s breathtaking in its pragmatism.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) ch07 – Human Targets

Starting Human Targets, I couldn’t remember what cliffhanger needed to be resolved. It’s not a good one. More of the “Tom Tyler is bad at being a superhero” same. Once it gets resolved, with William ‘Billy’ Benedict shooting the breeze with Tyler and asking zero questions about why Tyler’s trying to save him, the action moves back to the archaeologists’ meeting.

It’s never clear why they meet so often. They’re not working on anything. This time they get mad about Frank Coghlan Jr. knowing their business and trying to, you know, save their lives. But since the Scorpion is secretly a member of the archaeologist club, he’s really just setting a trap to rid himself of Coghlan.

The Scorpion uses Louise Currie as the bait. She gets kidnapped, rescued, then kidnapped again. The second kidnapping is, you guessed it, because Tyler’s bad at being a superhero. When Currie does get to the Scorpion’s lair, she has the best moment in Captain Marvel to date. It’s just a second of agency, but it’s more than I’d ever expected for her to get; it’s a great second of agency too.

There’s some great special effects, particularly of Tyler taking down a gunsel on a dam. The cliffhanger at the end seems dire, but I’m sure Captain Marvel will come up with a lackluster way to get out of it.

Still, good chapter. Marvel works better when it’s Coghlan, Currie, and Benedict. They’ve got all the energy.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, William Witney and John English), Chapter 7: Human Targets

Starting Human Targets, I couldn’t remember what cliffhanger needed to be resolved. It’s not a good one. More of the “Tom Tyler is bad at being a superhero” same. Once it gets resolved, with William ‘Billy’ Benedict shooting the breeze with Tyler and asking zero questions about why Tyler’s trying to save him, the action moves back to the archaeologists’ meeting.

It’s never clear why they meet so often. They’re not working on anything. This time they get mad about Frank Coghlan Jr. knowing their business and trying to, you know, save their lives. But since the Scorpion is secretly a member of the archaeologist club, he’s really just setting a trap to rid himself of Coghlan.

The Scorpion uses Louise Currie as the bait. She gets kidnapped, rescued, then kidnapped again. The second kidnapping is, you guessed it, because Tyler’s bad at being a superhero. When Currie does get to the Scorpion’s lair, she has the best moment in Captain Marvel to date. It’s just a second of agency, but it’s more than I’d ever expected for her to get; it’s a great second of agency too.

There’s some great special effects, particularly of Tyler taking down a gunsel on a dam. The cliffhanger at the end seems dire, but I’m sure Captain Marvel will come up with a lackluster way to get out of it.

Still, good chapter. Marvel works better when it’s Coghlan, Currie, and Benedict. They’ve got all the energy.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) ch06 – Lens of Death

Lens of Death has great fistfight in the middle. Sadly, it’s not Captain Marvel fighting, but this guy’s butler. The place is being robbed and the butler takes on the two crooks and keeps them busy until Captain Marvel does arrive. There’s no great fight scene Captain Marvel Tom Tyler, though he does get a fairly neat rooftop chase scene. He’s on the rooftop, chasing people on the ground. William P. Thompson and Edward Todd edit the heck out of the sequence, as Tyler’s stunt double looks nothing like him, so they’re cutting on movement and trying to match. It’s cool.

Unfortunately, it’s the middle of the chapter and there’s no more cool after it. Death opens with another lackluster cliffhanger resolve. The only reason for the cliffhanger, it turns out, is because Tyler’s not good at making himself aware of his surroundings. The time he wasted let the bad guy get away.

Then, thanks to the radio, the bad guy outwits all the archaeologist types. Frank Coghlan Jr. and William ‘Billy’ Benedict are the only ones who can save the day. They split up, but eventually Tyler has to go to save Benedict. And he manages to get himself in another easily avoidable predicament.

Coghlan always come across as pretty smart. It’s unclear why once he becomes Tyler, the character makes really poor choices.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, William Witney and John English), Chapter 6: Lens of Death

Lens of Death has great fistfight in the middle. Sadly, it’s not Captain Marvel fighting, but this guy’s butler. The place is being robbed and the butler takes on the two crooks and keeps them busy until Captain Marvel does arrive. There’s no great fight scene Captain Marvel Tom Tyler, though he does get a fairly neat rooftop chase scene. He’s on the rooftop, chasing people on the ground. William P. Thompson and Edward Todd edit the heck out of the sequence, as Tyler’s stunt double looks nothing like him, so they’re cutting on movement and trying to match. It’s cool.

Unfortunately, it’s the middle of the chapter and there’s no more cool after it. Death opens with another lackluster cliffhanger resolve. The only reason for the cliffhanger, it turns out, is because Tyler’s not good at making himself aware of his surroundings. The time he wasted let the bad guy get away.

Then, thanks to the radio, the bad guy outwits all the archaeologist types. Frank Coghlan Jr. and William ‘Billy’ Benedict are the only ones who can save the day. They split up, but eventually Tyler has to go to save Benedict. And he manages to get himself in another easily avoidable predicament.

Coghlan always come across as pretty smart. It’s unclear why once he becomes Tyler, the character makes really poor choices.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, William Witney and John English), Chapter 5: The Scorpion Strikes

The cliffhanger resolution at the beginning of The Scorpion Strikes quickly gives way to a fine Captain Marvel action sequence. Tom Tyler gets lots of dialogue as he threatens punks; he even throws one off a building.

He captures the last thug left ambulatory and takes him in for questioning. Only it’s not Tyler who takes him in, it’s alter ego Frank Coghlan Jr. Apparently the thug saw him transform? It’s unclear. Also unclear why the presence of Captain Marvel isn’t impressing anyone. Louise Currie gets a scene with Tyler and has zero reaction.

Coghlan’s scheme doesn’t quite work out and then he finds himself trapped by the mysterious Scorpion in a mine. The cliffhanger has the Scorpion melting away the surrounding mountain to flood the mine with molten rock. The cliffhanger setup is just Tyler panicking at not being able to escape. Pretty cool; hopefully they have a decent resolution.

There’s some excellent process shots–the rock melting and flooding. Some good stunts, including a very obvious stunt man, and a good pace keep Strikes moving.

Captain Marvel has almost entirely given up on subplots by now; in fact, it’s hard to remember it ever had them. But it’s still all right.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) ch05 – The Scorpion Strikes

The cliffhanger resolution at the beginning of The Scorpion Strikes quickly gives way to a fine Captain Marvel action sequence. Tom Tyler gets lots of dialogue as he threatens punks; he even throws one off a building.

He captures the last thug left ambulatory and takes him in for questioning. Only it’s not Tyler who takes him in, it’s alter ego Frank Coghlan Jr. Apparently the thug saw him transform? It’s unclear. Also unclear why the presence of Captain Marvel isn’t impressing anyone. Louise Currie gets a scene with Tyler and has zero reaction.

Coghlan’s scheme doesn’t quite work out and then he finds himself trapped by the mysterious Scorpion in a mine. The cliffhanger has the Scorpion melting away the surrounding mountain to flood the mine with molten rock. The cliffhanger setup is just Tyler panicking at not being able to escape. Pretty cool; hopefully they have a decent resolution.

There’s some excellent process shots–the rock melting and flooding. Some good stunts, including a very obvious stunt man, and a good pace keep Strikes moving.

Captain Marvel has almost entirely given up on subplots by now; in fact, it’s hard to remember it ever had them. But it’s still all right.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, William Witney and John English), Chapter 4: Death Takes the Wheel

Death Takes the Wheel sadly does not have a Death character driving. It does have a lazy cliffhanger resolution at the open, which will probably echo in the next chapter’s cliffhanger resolution too. The screenwriters have established their cliffhanger resolution pattern. It’s not a good one, that pattern.

The chapter has Frank Coghlan Jr. and Louise Currie doing some investigating. The evil Scorpion has set up Coghlan because he’s apparently more dangerous than Captain Marvel. The bad guys luck into kidnapping Currie too.

There’s some dialogue between the masked Scorpion and henchman Kenne Duncan about Captain Marvel. So everyone seems to know Captain Marvel exists, they just don’t care. Apparently flying supermen aren’t a big deal. Not when Coghlan’s out there.

Of course, it’s not like Coghlan’s actions make any sense. He doesn’t foil the bad guys’ first plan, even though he’s in Captain Marvel guise and ought to be able to get to them in time.

The expedition team all acts very suspicious before sending Coghlan off to a trap. Someone even tries to kill Coghlan and Currie with a flower pot. Coghlan and Currie are concerned about one of the group being a murderer, but not enough they delay trying to solve the Scorpion mystery.

The end’s got good action. Coghlan and Currie are likable. It’s not bad. It’s not great, but it’s not a bad chapter. Tom Tyler actually gets lines (as Captain Marvel) and he’s solid enough. The script just isn’t doing anything right now. Maybe it’s a bridging chapter? It’s very early for one.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) ch04 – Death Takes the Wheel

Death Takes the Wheel sadly does not have a Death character driving. It does have a lazy cliffhanger resolution at the open, which will probably echo in the next chapter’s cliffhanger resolution too. The screenwriters have established their cliffhanger resolution pattern. It’s not a good one, that pattern.

The chapter has Frank Coghlan Jr. and Louise Currie doing some investigating. The evil Scorpion has set up Coghlan because he’s apparently more dangerous than Captain Marvel. The bad guys luck into kidnapping Currie too.

There’s some dialogue between the masked Scorpion and henchman Kenne Duncan about Captain Marvel. So everyone seems to know Captain Marvel exists, they just don’t care. Apparently flying supermen aren’t a big deal. Not when Coghlan’s out there.

Of course, it’s not like Coghlan’s actions make any sense. He doesn’t foil the bad guys’ first plan, even though he’s in Captain Marvel guise and ought to be able to get to them in time.

The expedition team all acts very suspicious before sending Coghlan off to a trap. Someone even tries to kill Coghlan and Currie with a flower pot. Coghlan and Currie are concerned about one of the group being a murderer, but not enough they delay trying to solve the Scorpion mystery.

The end’s got good action. Coghlan and Currie are likable. It’s not bad. It’s not great, but it’s not a bad chapter. Tom Tyler actually gets lines (as Captain Marvel) and he’s solid enough. The script just isn’t doing anything right now. Maybe it’s a bridging chapter? It’s very early for one.

Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, William Witney and John English), Chapter 3: Time Bomb

A couple things in Time Bomb stand out. First, there’s how no one seems to care about how the opening cliffhanger resolves. Not for Captain Marvel (Tom Tyler), but for the expedition member being held hostage. It’s not clear anyone even knows about it after its happened. So, not a good thing, a lazy thing.

Second is about how no one has any reaction to Captain Marvel yet. The thugs apparently don’t tell their boss, The Scorpion, about it and Frank Coghlan Jr. goes out of his way to make sure Louise Currie not see his alter ego. So Captain Marvel is still an unknown to the principals.

Luckily, Coghlan’s pretty much just as good. When the bad guys get the combination to a safe they shouldn’t have, it’s not Captain Marvel who goes to stop them, it’s Coghlan. Turns out he owns his own plane and can just fly to stop them.

Why he didn’t just say the magic word and fly there himself is unclear.

Time Bomb has three action sequences. The cliffhanger resolution, Tyler saving Currie–which involves him flying to catch up with a runaway truck–and the finale. The finale’s more suspense.

Again, it’s perfectly solid but doesn’t have much to it. There are no new clues to the bad guy’s identity, Currie’s sort of okay but not good, the plot doesn’t develop much either.

It’s early days for Adventures of Captain Marvel but it’d be nice if the serial could distinguish itself. Even if it’s just a little bit. Unless there’s nothing more to it than the special effects.