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.
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| 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?
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| 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...
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| He's name is Mr Tuff. All physical pain he causes while named that is justified. |
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| 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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