When Shazam was Captain Marvel

[LEADER DESSLOK]

By the bye, for anyone who has Shazam from the 40s to the 70s, can you tell me if the book has those cover montage pages for each decade, as in the Superman and Batman books?

YES! There are similar cover montages covering the FORTIES, FIFTIES and THE SEVENTIES--nothing from the 60s. The Fifties cover gallery is in black and white which is fitting given the fate that awaited them. One cover features only the outline of the Marvel Family with an onlooking young man asking what happened to them. The cover blurb said "And Then There Were None" so I am assuing this was the last issue of THE MARVEL FAMILY. The SEVENTIES section is mostly covers from SHAZAM but there is one JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA cover (#137) teasing a clash between "The Big Red "S" versus The Big Red Cheese!".

I wrote an AMZ review for the book which is available at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2A90UC7F77OO5

I don't know how to do that "here" stuff like other fans but I hope this helps...

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Thanks for the info and the link. The amazon.com site seems to have copies that are almost reasonably priced. However checking amazon.ca the lowest price seems to be $90. I'll put it on my wishlist for now and consider my options.

[Polar Bear]

Let's see--there's a story or two in Super-Team Family; a 2000s fake Shazam! Annual, the treasury editions (two? three?), a couple of 100-page or 80-page giants, DC Fights Monsters or some such, Shazam! The Greatest Stories Ever Told, a few archive hardcovers... Um, the enormous red hardcover reprint story of The Monster Society ...

In short, there are other sources than that black-and-white tome, desirable though it is, to get pre-DC Shazam! stories.

[Polar Bear]

I've finally come to the end of the Shazam! run in Worlds' Finest (about which, more to come in another thread). The lettercol indicates that his story continues in Adventure Comics (digest-sized). Since I have 491 and 496 of Adventure, I can confirm that he has all-new comics stories there (with Newton art in the former), but I don't know what other issues he has new stories in, or which ones are by Newton. Any knowledge of this?

EDIT: I just learned two things. 1. Mike's Database says #492 is his last appearance in that title. 2. Mike's Database, however, doesn't record that #496 is an all-new 5-page Captain Marvel, Jr. story by Elliot S. Maggin and Dave Cockrum, so if Mike reads this, there it is.

Anyone else know about any other issues of Adventure for sure and certain?

EDIT OF EDIT: Scratch that; Mike's is right. The supposed "all new" Captain Marvel story in 496 is apparently a reprint from Shazam #9. Ah, well...

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Mike records the Captain Marvel Jr. story as being a reprint from Shazam 9--which I have. I don't know if I have Adventure 496*, I'd have to check, but I think that info is correct.

Mike also shows that Cap appeared in All-Star Squadron (set during WW II) and the team-up in DC Comics Presents Annual 3--that seems to be his last present day appearance before the Crisis.

EDIT: Those stories in Adventure 491 and 492 seem to be the only two new ones in the Adventure digests--493, 494, 495, 498, 499, 501 and 502 have Captain Marvel Fawcett stories; 497 has a Marvel Family Fawcett story; 496 has that Junior story; and 498 has a Mary Marvel story from Shazam! 10.

*I bought most of those digests, but I missed issues 495 - 499 (probably because I was away at university, low on funds, and busy with studies and relationships).

[Mace Dolex]

Through the Filmation cartoon of the 70's is how I knew of Shazam (or Captain Marvel) that years later when I started becoming well versed in comics that I was confused why he was being called Captain Marvel.

[ShQQta]

Hello Capt Marvel aficionados. I have asked this question in another thread, but here seems most likely to meet a knowledgeable answer... should I purchase the Monster Society of Evil for about US $80? I have read almost no GA Captain Marvel and I'm wondering if this big HC is a worthwhile starting point? Am I likely to enjoy it given my modern (1980's) sensibilities, or is it more something that is worth owning just to have something significant representing a key GA hero? Or should I pass altogether and buy some more Love and Rockets, Cerebus, or Hellblazer?

[C-Dot]

Through the Filmation cartoon of the 70's is how I knew of Shazam (or Captain Marvel) that years later when I started becoming well versed in comics that I was confused why he was being called Captain Marvel.

Err....they called him Captain Marvel in the Filmation cartoon. So did every cartoon and live action show with Captain Marvel in it.

Even the "The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!" called him "Captain Marvel" in the cartoon.

[shazam_man]

okay i am a new comic reader at 15 i had read a few comics while growing up but have always loved superheroes, i had discovered Captain Marvel and had fallen in love with this hero, he wasnt mainstream and he just...looks awesome, i read his story loved it more and as you can see from my username hes becoming my favorite. I was however extremely dissapointed in the lack of his comics i need more and its saddening, and i havnt read the new Shazam comics but all the comments ive been hearing are pretty bad, any suggestions on Cap. Marvel comics?

[berk]

I meant to add earlier when I mentioned I never liked the premise of the super-powered 12 year old that there were a couple things I do like about Shazam/Captain Marvel, especially compared to Superman:

I think the sense of whimsy and lightness fans often cite as one of the charms of the early Superman comics was pulled off much more successfully in Captain Marvel. Things like Krypto the Super-Dog and Bizarro have always felt leaden and unimaginative to me, whereas similarly unlikely characters in Captain Marvel seemed to convey a sense of fun that Superman was going for but failed to supply.

And visually, Captain Marvel has always had one of the cooler superhero costumes. Black Adam is even better - one of the best looks in the genre, superhero or supervillain.

[Green Arrow Jr.]

So Captain Marvel is going to be called Shazam? I wish Marvel would have bought the rights.

[JerryinChicago]

Well, sort of, maybe. I'm not the first person to note that the good Captain was a lot more powerful than Superman in the early years. Superman's gradual increases in flight, invulnerabilty, strength and speed could have been prompted by competition with a stronger hero on the newsstands, but it could also have been competition with the increasing power of nuclear weapons. Nonetheless I can just hear kids in the 40s arguing over who was stronger, the man of steel or the world's mightiest mortal. We used to do the same with, say, the Hulk vs. Thor (never conclusively settled within their comic book battles), or the Six Million Dollar Man vs. someone at DC Comics. So, anyway, it stood to reason that DC's predecessor wanted the strongest hero on the block, since he was in their eyes the prototype of the genre.

More to the point at hand, like many of the other posters here, I also decry most of the poor handling of the post-Fawcett Captain Marvel. So far, of what I've seen, I do like the 10 or so issues Beck did for early 70s DC Shazam!, I liked the Power of Shazam! run, and then I thought the Monster Society of Evil was pretty good. I liked the cartoon meeting of the Big Red Cheese and the Man of Steel in Justice League Unlimited, and SPOILER ALERTwas impressed that the writers allowed Lex Luthor to use both of the big lummoxes to his benefit. The recent retooling of the characters described in the posts above sounds like a new low. I hate this post-Watchmen era we are in, where everything has to be grungy, hopeless and dismal, not to mention so interconnected with everything else that there is no possibility of any color 32 pages ever standing on their own.

For younger readers out there, you can read early Whiz and related comics issues online. For wit and it's off the sleeves cartoony elegance, you can't beat the original Captain Marvel. I grew up on Superman, but I don't really enjoy re-reading his 50s-70s stories. Though their heyday was before my childhood, the classic Marvel Family always makes my day whenever I read them. If I want reality, I'll just go to work, instead of sitting here reading comics and posting on blogs!

Shazam! (Dang, for me, all that ever does is turn me into Jim Neighbors).

[Shellhead]

I've never liked the premise of the original Captain Marvel character - a 12-year old with the power of the gods sounds like a recipe for disaster to me - but I do find it hard to believe DC ever got away with their law suit. But I suppose I'm looking at it from the perspective of the 60s and 70s, when I first started reading superhero comics and when there were so many different superheroes.

Remember, back when Captain Marvel was introduced, the vast majority of comic book fans were kids. And from the standpoint of a kid, Captain Marvel had an amazing and unique super power: he could turn into a superhuman adult, just by saying a magic word. To a kid, there are some very appealing aspects to being an adult. Adults are taller, stronger, able to drive cars and buy stuff at the store without getting an allowance. Add in super powers, and it's a dream come true. And he could handle the powers responsibly, because one power was the Wisdom of Solomon.

Unfortunately for Captain Marvel, the modern comic book fans are mostly adults, and generally unimpressed with the power to turn into an adult.

[JerryinChicago]

Remember, back when Captain Marvel was introduced, the vast majority of comic book fans were kids. And from the standpoint of a kid, Captain Marvel had an amazing and unique super power: he could turn into a superhuman adult, just by saying a magic word. To a kid, there are some very appealing aspects to being an adult. Adults are taller, stronger, able to drive cars and buy stuff at the store without getting an allowance. Add in super powers, and it's a dream come true. And he could handle the powers responsibly, because one power was the Wisdom of Solomon.

Unfortunately for Captain Marvel, the modern comic book fans are mostly adults, and generally unimpressed with the power to turn into an adult.

Doesn't sound too bad a premise to me. I say the magic word and I'm back to spinner racks and 5 comics for a dollar. I'll do it.

Um, may I have my allowance now?