The late Martin L. Greim was one of the old-time Captain Marvel collectors. He was also the publisher of one of the most famous comic book fanzines ever produced... The Comic Crusader. Martin also created and wrote the larger-than-life Thunder Bunny. For this special feature, Martin has graciously taken photographs of his collection of comic book memorabilia much of which focuses on Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. Martin, in his own words, describes his collection.
-- Walt Grogan

---

The Kingdom Come Superman and Captain Marvel flank an original page from the MAD comics "Superduperman" story.

The color Superman and Captain Marvel by Ross are not the small versions. They are the large size ones, painted by master model painter Danny Fuller. They are so well done that you can see Captain Marvel's individual teeth.

“For me, that was the definitive battle between Superman and Captain Marvel.”

The comic page behind Superman and Captain Marvel is an original from the MAD Comic Book "Superduperman" story.For me, that was the definitive battle between Superman and Captain Marvel. I couldn't believe it, when that story first saw print. It also, because Gaines was taken to court and won, set the standard for all the parody that followed. The color on the left side of the page are proofs. I used to own the splash page too, but parted with it several years ago.

The Garage kit of Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel from the Republic serial, "Adventures of Captain Marvel."

The next shot is a garage kit Captain Marvel. It's Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel. A model maker in N.Y. made a number of actor oriented super heroes.

I've got a Tom Tyler Phantom, Lynda Carter Wonder Woman, Adam West Batman and the serial version of Batman.The guy, Danny Fuller, was fantastic and was working on others. All of a sudden he stopped. Got tired of doing it, I was told. Some guys on the West Coast got a hold of a couple of his originals, and made new casts of them. However, the detail was lost on the second casting and they don't look any way near as good. The casts are only good for a run of about 50, I'm told. I'm glad I got mine when he was doing them.

The famous Marvel Family syroccos and the lead figures set from England. Martin repainted the lead figures so that they were accurate.

Note the Marvel Family statues of which Hoppy was an "official" member. The other picture is of the Captain Marvel syrocco and the Mary and Jr. syroccos. Three of the Captain Marvel syroccos passed through my hands over the years. I kept the best for myself. I got that one from my godfather. He had it on his bookcase for many years. He gave it to me shortly before he died. I told him it was worth some major cash, but he didn't care, as long as I enjoyed it.

A close-up of both the syroccos and the lead figures! Part of the Don Newton Captain Midnight can be seen in the background.

Next is a shot of the Marvel Family syrocco set in a close up. The little figures of The Marvel Family and Captain Midnight and Icky are kind of rare. They were made in the '50's by Timpo the lead soldier company in England. Very few made it to the U.S. A few years ago, a toy soldier collector in England found a bunch of unpainted ones. Since all the Captain Marvel comics available to him, were in black and white, he contacted a dealer friend of mine in the U.S. He sent him color reference and the collector painted them and sent them to my friend to sell.

The only thing was, he goofed on Mary a bit and gave Captain Midnight hair with goggles. I put the full hood on Captain Midnight and fixed the lightning bolts on all the Marvel Family figures and put yellow trim on Mary's dress and sleeves. Again, a dealer got a hold of the originals and re-cast them. Much of the detail was lost on them and the paint job I did on the original 20 sets wasn't duplicated by the re-cast people. I've seen a couple of unpainted lead sets on Ebay over the years and they go for some fairly big change. I just like to imagine the look on the English kids on Christmas opening a box with those figures in them. I know it would have blown my mind. Oh, the plaster statue, next to the Marvel Family syroccos, is Captain Midnight. He's part of a set of 95 plaster statues that came out in the '50's.

Martin's button collection featuring 4 different Captain Marvel buttons and a Spy Smasher to boot!

Here is a framed set of buttons. You can see that there were several of the Fawcett Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher pins.

The Phantom with Lee Falk autograph

For your Tom Tyler enjoyment, The Phantom. That statue is autographed by Lee Falk. Only three exist with his autograph. Falk was at his summer place in Truo, Mass and I met with him and my friend Fred Fredericks (Mandrake the Magician artist) for lunch. I had him sign three adhesive oval labels, since the base of the Phantom statue wouldn't hold an autograph on it. It would rub off and I didn't want that. So, I put one oval on the statue and traded the other to two collectors who had the same statue. I also made up a certificate telling when and where the autographs were obtained. Each certificate is numbered. I've got number 1, of course.

The Captain Marvel Race Car (with the mystery pit crew inside?)

The first is a shot of the Captain Marvel race car. I've been told, that if you take it apart, inside are black and white shots of a pit crew consisting of Jr. Mary and other Fawcett heroes. Since mine is in near mint shape, I don't want to chance it. The pin, I believe, is from Canada and came out when the serial was re-released. I've only seen a couple of them turn up on Ebay and now they go for some fairly steep prices.

A Don Newton original of Captain Marvel framed with a set of Marvel Family buttons

Followed by The Fawcett pin set, next to an original Don Newton Captain Marvel original.

I have six boards that are 24" tall by 40" wide and on each of these boards are finished figure drawings done by the top professional artists and autographs by top writers up to 1985 or so.

Martin's Wall of Heroes as drawn by many of legendary comic book artists!

Sorry the pictures aren't head on. They're going up a stair case and it's hard to shoot from that angle.

The Captain Marvel Bond Bread premium.

What this is, is a Bond Bread premium. It came attached to loafs of Bond Bread in the late 1950's.

A personalized Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny by the bunny's most famed artist... Chad aka Charles Grothkopf!

This is a piece of original art that I have hanging on my wall with other super powered animals. I had Chad aka Charles Grothkopf to it for me many years ago. I hope you enjoy it. It's of Captain Marvel, but not Billy Batson.