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.

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #6

The Shazam! comic of the week is Shazam! #6 which published on July 19, 1973 and had a cover date of October 1973.

This comic featured two new Captain Marvel stories and one golden-age adventure featuring the Marvel Family.  What's special to me about this issue is this was my very first Captain Marvel comic I ever purchased - it's the comic that introduced me to the World's Mightiest Mortal!  The pictures in this article are from my copy that I've fortunately held on to all these years.  It has a rolled spine and some staining, but to me it's a treasure I will not part with!

The first story pits Captain Marvel against his long-time nemesis - Dr. Sivana - in the story, "Better Late Than Never!"  The world's maddest scientist goes toe to toe with the World's Mightiest Mortal!

The second story is "Dexter Knox and his Electric Grandmother."  Please note that Dexter Knox, the boy scientist, also appeared in Cap's golden-age comics.  For example, he appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #135 in the story, "Captain Marvel and the Mystery of the Space Switch!" (June 4, 1952)

The third story is a reprint from Marvel Family #53 (September 22, 1950) entitled, "The Man Who Changed the World."  This story wasn't complete in this issue and readers were advised it would be concluded in the next!

Another feature of this comic is the "Shazamail" section.  There were a few letters written by Cap's golden age fans that seem to be enjoying Cap's new adventures.  One very interesting letter concerns Black Adam!  I was totally surprised that even though he was only in one golden age comic, fans remembered him and wondered if he'd be back in the 1970's editions!

My favorite story from this issue is "Better Late Than Never!"  It's always good to see Cap and Sivana battle - and have Sivana lose again!

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #5

The Shazam! comic of the week is Shazam! #5 which published on June 19, 1973 and had a cover date of September 1973.

This comic featured two new Captain Marvel stories and one golden-age adventure featuring Captain Marvel, Jr!  The comic cover is an almost exact duplicate of Captain Marvel Adventures #119 (February 2, 1951)!  I wrote a brief article about that whcih you can read here.

The first story is "The Man Who Wasn't!"  In this story, the world's mightiest mortal matches whits with a leprechaun!  

The second story is "The World's Toughest Guy!"  I've written about this story and you can read it here.

Finally, we have a reprint of a golden-age Captain Marvel Jr story, "Captain Marvel Jr Fights the Champ."  This was originally published in Marvel Family #25 which originally published on May 21, 1948.

I personally liked "The World's Toughest Guy!" story the best.  And also keep in mind, many people may not have been aware of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family from the 1940s and 1950s, so that's probably why DC kept including reprints from their golden-age adventures.

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #4

The Shazam! comic of the week is Shazam! #4 which published on April 17, 1973 and had a cover date of July 1973.

This comic featured two new Captain Marvel stories and one golden-age adventure featuring the world's mightiest mortal!  The comic cover features Billy Batson in front of some fun-house mirrors - with Captain Marvel's image reflecting back!  A similar cover was used in Captain Marvel Adventures #45.  (I wrote a brief article about that which you can read here.)

The first storys is "IBAC the Cursed!"  The front page tells us, "Out of the past comes one of Captain Marvel's deadliest foes, a hate-filled villain as bad as the world's mightiest mortal is good!"  IBAC was one of Cap's golden age villains, making his debut in Captain Marvel Adventures #8 (1942) in the story "Captain Marvel and the Curse of IBAC!"  Here, in Shazam! #4, IBAC makes a come-back!

The second new Captain Marvel story is "The Mirrors that Predicted the Future."  Billy is bummed out that it appears his friends have forgotten his birthday.  I wrote a separate article about that which you can read here.

The final story is a reprint of Cap's golden age adventure, "The Ownerless Diamond" which was first published in Captain Marvel Adventures #97 (1949).

There is also a full page of "Shazamail" with letters from fans.  Interestingly, there are letters from two people that wrote Captain Marvel stories from Cap's golden age:  Otto Binder and Manly Wade Wellman.

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #3

The Shazam! comic of the week is Shazam! #3 which published on March 15, 1973 and had a cover date of June 1973.

This comic featured two new Captain Marvel stories and one golden-age adventure featuring the Marvel Family!  The comic cover also featured Cap, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr together on the cover for the first time.  

The first story is "A Switch in Time" in which Billy is granted his wish to be older, but it comes at a cost!

The second story is "The Wizard of Phonograph Hill" and featured Captain Marvel and Dr. Thomas Kilowatt (this was his first appearance in Cap's comics).

The final story is a golden-age adventure from Marvel Family #4 (August 14, 1946) entitled "The Witches' Tale."

I love the cover of this comic featuring the Marvel Family drawn by C. C. Beck.  While Captain Marvel was still the main focus of the comic series, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr appeared frequently in the comics as well!

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #2

The Shazam! comic of the week is Shazam! #2 which published on February 15, 1973 and had a cover date of April 1973.

This comic featured two new Captain Marvel adventures, a golden-age Captain Marvel adventure, and an article on the Marvel Family.

The first story is "The Astonishing Arch Enemy" and featured the return of Mr. Mind!  There's also appearances from Mr. Tawny and Herkimer, who was one of Mr. Mind's evil henchmen in Cap's golden-age comics.

Next we have the story, "The Nicest Guy in the World" which introduces us to the character of Sunny Sparkle.

The comic has a one-page article that gives a brief history of the Marvel Family from the golden-age of comics.  The article is entitled "Shazam and Family."  It's a good brief article, but I noted that it omits Freckles Marvel.

The final story is a reprint from Captain Marvel Adventures 139 (published October 3, 1952) entitled "The Original Captain Marvel Fights Niatpac Levram!"  (The title from Captain Marvel Adventures was "Captain Marvel Fights Captain Marvel!")

This was the second issue in a row that reprinted a golden-age Captain Marvel adventure as well as an article that gives a summary of Cap and friends from the golden-age.  It seems DC was doing that to show the continuity from Captain Marvel's original Whiz and Captain Marvel Adventures comics and his stories that were beginning in the new Shazam! series.  It refreshed the memory of Cap's original fans and gave history to Cap's new fans.  

Comic of the Week - Shazam! #1

The Shazam! comic of the week is Shazam! #1, published on December 14, 1972* with a cover date of February 1973.

The cover of Shazam! #1 featured Superman, Billy Batson and Captain Marvel on the cover with words stating "Billy Batson say the magic word...and become the World's Mightiest Mortal!"  Across the top of the cover you read "With one magic word...Shazam!...The Original Captain Marvel.

The first story is entitled "In the Beginning" and is a "retelling of the greatest legend in comics."  It gives readers the origin story of how Billy Batson met the wizard Shazam and was given the power to transform into Captain Marvel, the world's mightiest mortal, by saying the magic word, "Shazam!"  

The second story is "The World's Wickedest Plan!" and is the very first adventure of Captain Marvel since the golden age of comics!  And who is the nemesis for this new adventure?  None other than Dr. Sivana!  The story also explains how Captain Marvel and friends were captured by Sivana and held in suspended animation for over 20 years.

There is a brief article entitled "Shazam and Son" by E. Nelson Bridwell that gives an overview of Captain Marvel's comic history and a brief bio of some of his friends that were held in suspended animation along with him.

The final story of the comic is "The Endless String."  It is a reprint from Captain Marvel Adventures #55 (first published on March 1, 1946*).

This is a great comic that introduced Captain Marvel to comic readers that may have never heard of him and it reintroduced Cap to fans that hadn't seen him in action for over 20 years!  It bridges the gap from Captain Marvels golden age adventures and launches him into new adventures in the 1970s.  

*According to Mike's Amazing World of Comics