Comic of the Week - Shazam! #8

The Shazam! Comic of the Week is Shazam! #8 which was published on September 11, 1973  and had a cover date of December 1973.  

This issue was a 100 page Super Spectacular!  All the stories are from various Captain Marvel comics from the 1940s, there were no new stories at all.  

The first story, "A Twice Told Tale", was originally printed in Captain Marvel Adventures #80 (October 29, 1947).  

The second story, "Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel", which was originally printed in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (November 3, 1942).

The third story, "The Mighty Marvels Join Forces" was originally published in Marvel Family Comics #1 (November 21, 1945) and introduced us to Black Adam!

The fourth story, "The Vest Pocket Levitator" is a Captain Marvel Jr tale that came from the pages of Captain Marvel Jr #14 (November 19, 1943).

The fifth story is a Mary Marvel adventure, "The Dog Nappers" which was originally published in Mary Marvel #17 (August 8, 1947).

Our sixth story is "The Adventure in Time" which came from Captain Marvel Adventures #71 (January 31, 1947) and featured the Lieutenant Marvels.  

The final two stories are "The Talking Tiger" and "The Return of Mr. Tawny" which are both stories about Captain Marvel's friend, Tawky Tawny the talking tiger!  These stories were originally published in Captain Marvel Adventures #79 (September 26, 1947) and Captain Marvel Adventures #82 (December 31, 1947).  

The final feature of the comic is the Super Spectacle letter page which featured letters from readers with the editor's response.

This was a good collection of stories and followed DCs strategy of reprinting stories to give the comic readers of the '70s some insights into the characters and adventures from Captain Marvels golden age.

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #7

The Shazam! Comic of the Week is Shazam! #7 which published on August 16, 1973 and had a cover date of November 1973.

This issue featured two new Captain Marvel adventures and the continuation and conclusion of a golden-age Marvel family story.

The first story features one of my favorite characters, Tawky Tawny, in "The Troubles of the Talking Tiger!'  I won't go into detail as I have already written about that story in my article Captain Marvel and The Troubles of the Talking Tiger!  

The second story is "What's in a Name?  Doomsday!"  A rumor gets started that if you simply say the name, Captain Marvel, it will bring on doomsday!

The third story is a reprint from Marvel Family #53 (September 22, 1950) entitled, "The Man Who Changed the World."  In this issue they give the conclusion of this adventure which was first printed in Shazam! #6.

There are two additional features in this week's featured comic.  First, we have Shazamail which had several readers commenting that they are happy to see the original Captain Marvel back in print!

The second feature is the Superman - Shazam Battle Page.  The page lists the intent of the section, "Here's a sampling of the mail we've received on the great battle to see who'll be the top-selling hero of the 70's - Superman or the original Captain Marvel!"  On this page are letters from readers either voting for Superman or Captain Marvel.  I just don't understand why DC did this.  Captain Marvel was just into his 7th issue after being out of print for decades.  Why would you pit one against the other when you have barely given Cap enough time to build a following?  Unfortunately, Cap's comics didn't last and it could be this gimmick was part of his demise.

This was another nice issue and my favorite story was with Tawky Tawny!  DC was doing a good job of creating new stories and including some original stories to help people learn all about Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel and the Troubles of the Talking Tiger!

Tawky Tawny the talking tiger has been a friend of Captain Marvel since his golden age adventures.  Cap and Tawky had many great stories in the pages of Captain Marvel Adventures comics in the '40s and '50s, and they continued into the 1970s with Shazam! comic #7 (published August 16, 1973) and the story, "The Troubles of the Talking Tiger!"

Tawky Tawny makes his way to a nearby pier where he knows Captain Marvel will be on hand to capture some jewel smugglers there.  Cap captures the smugglers, but Tawny misses the action as he's discovered some tigers in a cage!  Mr. Tawny speaks to the caged tigers in their native language, Tigerian, and learns of something sinister and serious! 

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel visits the office of the Chief of US Customs to discuss the case of the jewel smugglers.  Cap found no evidence on the smugglers except for a check written by millionaire Dana Dana who also owns a private zoo.  Captain Marvel makes his way to the zoo to see if he can discover the connection between the jewel smugglers and the millionaire.  Cap says the magic word, "Shazam!" and transforms himself into Billy Batson, boy reporter, and goes to interview Dana Dana.

Captain Marvel doesn't know that Tawky Tawny is at the private zoo as well - going undercover as a wild tiger!  Tawky is captured by a zoo keeper who throws a rope around his neck and throws him into a cage.  But the rope hurt Tawky's throat so now he's no longer Tawky because he can't talk or make any sound!  Tawky pulls up a board in his cage to discover that what the other tigers told him wasn't a tale - they are smuggling jewels in the bottom of the animal cages!

Tawky Tawny sees Billy Batson walking around with Dana Dana, but Billy doesn't recognize him.  Billy asks the millionaire about his jewel collection, but that tips of Dana that Billy knows too much.  He invites Billy into view his jewel collection and then knocks Billy out.  Billy awakens to find Dana has tied him up and gagged him!  Dana pours catnip oil on Billy and then opens the cage of one of his tigers, knowing the cat can't resist the catnip and will eat Billy.  But what Dana doesn't know is the tiger he let loose is Tawky Tawny!

Billy recognizes Tawny and Tawny recognizes Billy but he can't resist the power of the catnip.  One of Tawny's teeth tears Billy's gag and Billy says the magic word, "Shazam!" just in time to transform himself into the world's mightiest mortal!  Cap finds himself with his head in Tawky's mouth, and once he gets it out he tells his tiger friend, "I hope you have a good explanation for this!"  Apparently, having Captain Marvel's head stuck in his mouth reactivated Tawny's ability to speak!

Gunshots ring out and Cap protects his friend from the bullets!  Dana Dana's bullets are no match for Captain Marvel and Cap dispatches the murderous millionaire jewel smuggler with a punch.  

Cap and Tawny visit the Chief of US Customs office where the chief applauds their efforts at defeating the jewel smuggling ring.  Of course, Cap gives the credit to his talking tiger pal!  Leaving the Chief's office, Mr. Tawny reminds Cap that he's naked - he has no clothes!  Cap remedies the situation by taking Tawny to the tailors and instructing him to give Tawky the very best suit - because he deserves it!

This was an entertaining adventure, I especially like the panel where Cap's head is in Tawny's mouth - that's a classic!  I always like Cap's adventures with Tawky Tawny, and this was a good one.  As usual, Tawky's good intentions end up getting him into a jam that Captain Marvel has to rescue him out of!  When they brought Cap back in the '70s I'm very glad they brought Tawky Tawny with him.