King of the Crater

KING OF THE CRATER

Real Name: Mawks (first name unrevealed)

Class: Human technology-user

Occupation: Scientist, would-be world conqueror.

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Earth-S

First Appearance: Captain Marvel Adventures (Fawcett) #5 (December, 1941)

Powers: The King of the Crater utilized machines that could cause volcanic eruptions.

History: (Captain Marvel Adventures (Fawcett) #5) - A scientist named Mawks discovered a ring of fire stretching from the Rockies down to South America. Naming himself the King of the Crater he developed machinery that could set off those volcanoes. WHIZ news announcer Billy Batson came to the Colorado Rockies to cover a recent series of volcanic eruptions. As Captain Marvel he saved an infant from a lavaflow about to inundate his house. Marvel noticed a carved block of stone coming from one of the previously dormant volcanoes, and suspected that the eruptions were man-made. Billy was kidnapped by the King of the Crater and his army. The King planned to carve out his own domain in the U.S. under his absolute rule and protected by his control over the volcanoes. He was aware of Billy’s fame as a newscaster and told him to broadcast his demands. Billy made a WHIZ broadcast, but assured people not to worry because he assured them Captain Marvel would foil the King of the Crater. The Kind didn’t like being disobeyed and threw Billy down a shaft into a volcano, but he changed back into Captain Marvel to save himself. He discovered the King’s machinery, which included a pipeline drilled down into the center of the Earth, and the King unleashed his troops on him. They used a hose to shoot lava at him, which Call and hurled at the volcano machinery, destroying it. The people of the Rockies were revolting, so the king was prepared to drown them all in lava, but Marvel informed him his machinery was destroyed. The King was apoplectic, saying that by doing so he’d released all the pressure of the volcano and it would unleash a tremendous explosion. The kind committed suicide, diving down into the drill hole. Marvel used the king’s drilling machines to burrow through the earth so that the lava from the volcanic explosion was diverted, filling a remote canyon with lava.

Comments: Created by an unnamed writer & C.C. Beck.

King of the Crater was originally published by Fawcett Comics, which DC obtained the rights to in 1972.

King of the Crater's appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures (Fawcett) #5 was reprinted in Shazam! Archives #4.