Man there’s a lot of casual racism in these old strips. While hunting this down I came across a bit where Billy Batson (Captain Marvel’s alter ego) drinks some river water that turns him brutish and animalistic. His assistant Steamboat (who is black and drawn/speaks very stereotypically) then drinks the same water and is turned intelligent, which has… implications.

Steamboat’s wiki page says:

The character played the role of valet to both Captain Marvel and his teenaged alter-ego, Billy Batson, and was intended by Captain Marvel co-creator C. C. Beck to appeal to African-American readers. However, protests from African-Americans and other readers concerning Steamboat’s racial stereotyping led to the character’s disuse after 1945.

Hmm, wonder why the character was unpopular 🤔