Freckles Marvel was a part of Captain
Marvel history, and not a once off oddity either: During the height of Captain
Marvel's fame, at which point, need I
remind you, he was easily more recognizable than Superman, she graced several covers. She had a town for
her to inhabit, supporting characters to
her, and even a nifty apellation. And seemingly overnight, she banished off the
face of the earth, never to be tarted up, or gritted up, or killed off. Just
oblivion.
But she won't stay forgotten for long,
because, I'm covering all her adventures in my series The Lost Marvel.
Sexism. Now that I have your attention, I
think it's high time we talked about gender politics in this series. One of the
character IS a...dumb ugly young woman, to be blunt. And yet, the character's
positive aspects keep getting played up. For example, in this story, which
starts with Mary Batson visiting her friend Freckles Dudley, just as she's
winning the swimming medal the first of 3 sporting events during somekind of
ecclectic thriatlon. She shows them the team. One of them is immediatly a
sexist asshole.
 |
| And...and...and my penis is huge! You whore! |
Down one Man going His Own Way, Freckles
immediately drafts Mary Batson into the team, and everone abides because
remember; we are in Marveltown. The second event is soapbox car races. But when
the team is getting there, Curly is sabotaging the car. They scare him off and
drive. What's the worst that could happen?
 |
| She's one step closer to the edge, yet not about to brake. |
But you know, they have Mary Marvel in
there, so they don't die. And no one wonders why Mary Marvel apeared there
where Mary Batson was just now. They are saved, but the race is lost. There is but one way to settle this: Like the
ancient Roman gladiators...
 |
| Uh...what? |
In the wings, though, a deadly, male
chauvinist predator lurks. Curly Tuff now shoots Freckles Marvel, clearly one
of the best and most athletically cordinated dancers, ESPECIALLY more than the
girl who can fly....with a slingshot. FRECKLES, LOOK
OUT!
 |
| A Harlem Joke was appropriate in March, when I wrote this. |
And the judges eat it up! Marveltown wins!
And Curly gets spanked by his father!
 |
| He's name is Mr Tuff. All physical pain he causes while named that is justified. |
 |
| Also, the judges are drunk. |
You know, Freckles Marvel is probably what
we would call a strong female character in this story. She's the captain of a
sports team (Uh...CAPTAIN Freckles Marvel?) where she's also the best, and
she's not even pretty. That's gotta count for something. And we don't even need ay moralizing about
Curly's sexism. It's like, dude, you're being a stubborn jackass. Stop.
Bonus ROUND!
More or less this is the main picture of Freckles Marvel in Comic Vine as of the time of this writing. Why would they not choose one on her costume, but rather this one of her in the closest look at teh skimpiest clothes she wore? Hmm...
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