The Oklahoma Ape Escape of '44

Previously:

Thor in Oklahoma  - -   The Twilight Avenger in Tulsa

It's time to take a look back at Captain Marvel's visit to Oklahoma City.  It was 1944 and the day started off in the most normal, mundane way: a clown was trying to commit suicide by leaping to his death.  (Mondays, amitite?)

Well that's all it took for young Billy Batson to say the magic word and transform himself into Captain Marvel, the world's mightiest mortal.  The Captain immediately proceeded to go about the business of clown catching only to be told that it he was not stopping a suicide but responding to a super responsible way of getting someone's attention.  So who is this clown?

Now this is where things get interesting.  The clown identifies himself as Zoo Keeper/Radio Personality "Uncle Leo" and of course the Captain recognizes a fellow broadcaster...but I didn't.  Not until I did a little research and discovered that Uncle Leo was a real guy:

(From "Images of America Oklahoma City Zoo: 1902 - 1959," Arcadia Publishing)

I assume there was some kind of cross-promotion going on at the time with radio stations and Fawcett Comics but I haven't found any confirmation yet.

But I did find some exposition a few panels later as Leo explains that a gorilla named Colossus has escaped from the Lincoln Park Zoo (now known as the Oklahoma City Zoo).  There's also apparently an "armed posse" out to get the gorilla because that's the kind of thing that happens I guess.  So it's up to the super strong and near invulnerable Captain Marvel to safely bring the great ape in.

So the search is on...

...starting with the Civic Auditorium (now known as the Civic Center Music Hall)...

...and then the Skirvin Tower (now the Skirvin Hilton Hotel)...

...Union Station (now known as Oklahoma City Union Depot)...

...the Lincoln Park Amphitheatre (now known as the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre)...and culminating in an exciting King Kong-style denouement atop an oil derrick at...

...the State Capitol building.  Captain Marvel used the Wisdom of Solomon to outsmart the beast and, in doing so, procured himself an attaboy from the Mayor:

It all worked out with a minimum of shenanigans and with Colossus heading back to the zoo with visions of candy canes dancing in his head.  Is it okay to give candy to gorillas?  The clown zookeeper DJ seems to think so.  And that's good enough for me.

The last panel features young Billy saying they have an adventure planned in Indianapolis next month so this must be in a series highlighting various American cities (not unlike Sad Sack visiting select U.S. states).  But that's a job for the guy who does the Indiana Pop Culture blog.