Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Vol. 2, No. 24, September, 1921

Before Captain Marvel saved the day, Captain Billy saved the laughs. This September 1921 issue of Fawcett's legendary humor magazine offers a window into what made America chuckle a century ago. Inside these 64 pages: saucy satire, cheeky poetry, editorial wit, and the kind of disposable entertainment that somehow became immortal. W.H. Fawcett built an empire from these jokes, eventually founding Fawcett Publications, the house that gave the world Captain Marvel and Whiz Comics. The magazine even earned a line in The Music Man. For readers curious about the origins of American comics, the roots of modern humor publishing, or simply the strange and vanished world of 1920s popular culture, this is a genuine artifact. The humor is of its era, but the ambition behind it is timeless.