Famous First Edition #F-4, Whiz Comics #2



Creative Team: Credits with each story

For the uninitiated, Famous First Edition was a series of reprints of landmark comics, with this one being the only non-DC/All-American comic. The issues were done in a tabloid size, with a new cover, with the Famous First Edition masthead and a framing of the original cover image. Then, inside, you have the complete original cover and interior contents, as published, including indicia. Because they were complete reprints, Overstreet actually provided warnings about them, as people had tried to pass them off, with the FFE cover removed. However, these were still in a tabloid size, which was larger than Golden Age standard; so, you'd have to be completely ignorant of Golden Age size to fall for the con.

This issue gives us the debut of Captain Marvel, as well as the other major Fawcett heroes, except Bullet Man and Mr Scarlet (and Minute Man, who probably fell behind Mr Scarelt).

Synopsis: Captain Marvel-Bill Parker-story, CC Beck-art.

Billy Batson is selling newspaper when a mysterious stranger, in a trenchcoat and fedora, comes up to him....



He asks why Billy isn't at home and he says he has no home, but sleeps in the subway station...



Since Billy doesn't have the Wisdom of Solomon, he actually follows the stranger, when he tells him to, going into the darkly lit subway, to a train that looks like it was designed by Raymond Loewy and vandalized by time travelling hippies. the train takes Billy to a cave, where the entryway is lined with creepy statues, titled The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. At the end of the corridor is a stone throne, with an old man sitting on it, a stone block hanging above his head. the old guy calls Billy by name and welcomes him, then introduces himself, with a crack of thunder. The wall suddenly displays the names of mythical gods and heroes and various attributes, which lend themselves to the wizard's name, Shazam. He says he has been fighting the Forces of Evil for 3,000 years, which means he must suck at it, since he can't seem to win. he then shows Billy some home movies of Billy's earlier childhood, as his evil uncle Ebeneezer kicks him out on the street....



He tells Billy to say his name and be transformed into the World's Mightiest Mortal, and Billy does. It turns out, Fred MacMurray is the World's Mightiest Mortal, if he has a snazzy Austro-Hungarian-style military uniform and cape. Shazam tells him it is his duty to defend the poor and helpless, right wrongs and crush evil everywhere; but, avoid copyright attorneys. Billy swears and Shazam tells him to say his name again and CM is transformed back into Billy and Shazam is crushed by the hanging block. Billy finds himself back on the street and thinks it was all a dream; or else, the wizard couldn't be bothered to give Billy a decent place to stay or food.

The next morning, Billy is hawking newspapers with a headline about a maniac scientist who threatens to destroy the US radio network, unless he is paid a ransom of $50 million. A pair of shifty-looking characters buy a paper and one of them says something about reading about the boss. The taller one tells the fatter guy to button his lip, and the other guy says, "Okay, Rocky!" Billy trails them to a swanky apartment building, but can't get past the doorman. He then goes to Station WHIZ (Flowing with the sounds of life!) and asks to see the owner, Sterling Morris and is told to get out, but sneaks past the receptionist, into Morris' office. he tells him what he knows, but is ridiculed. He then asks for a job, if he can prove what he says and catch the madman and Morris says he can write his own ticket, but get out of my office and go peddle your papers!

Billy goes off to a neighboring building (across from the swanky apartment high rise) and goes up to the roof and yells out Shazam (while someone screams back, "Shut up; I'm trying to sleep, ya joik!")



Captain Marvel flies over to the penthouse and busts in to stop the mad scientist, Dr Sivana, and his goons. he throws Rocky into the machine, destroying it, then captures Mugsy when he tries to flee in the elevator, by ripping off the door and hauling the car back up, by pulling up the cables. he introduces himself to the captured Sivana and destroys his machine. he then changes back to Billy, calls Sterling Morris and gets him to come over and shows him the wreck of Sivana's Radio Silencer. Morris is true top his word and gives Billy a job as a radio reporter and announcer.

Ibis The Invincible-Bill Parker-story, CC Beck-art

A museum guard tells a visitor about the mummy of Prince Amentep, of the 12th Dynasty, known as ibis, because of the Ibis symbol on his sarcophagus. The hieroglyphs under the symbol translate as "I will live again!" Sure enough, at midnight, the mummy sits up in his glass case, holding the Ibis Stick. he melts the glass case and stands up, then changes his bandages into a smart suit and a turban, because that is a noted Egyptian style of dress. he then goes looking for his 4,000 year-old girlfriend, Princess Taia.



He first saves a women and her baby from a runaway firetruck, then books passage on a ship, to Egypt, despite the war raging in the North African desert. He miracles up the money to pay for his passage. On the way to the pier, he comes across and widow and her kids, who have been turned out on the street. He miracles up a new house, complete with deed, for the woman and her kids. he misses the departure of the ship, but miracles a long gangplank up to walk onto it. no idea why he didn't just miracle himself to Egypt. Along the way, the ship is attacked by a U-boat and ibis miracles away a torpedo salvo and redirects it to the U-Boat, sinking it. he arrives in Egypt and inquires after Taia, only to learn her mummy was unearthed and taken to Europe. Ibis travels to Europe and witnesses a battle raging and makes a comment about the stupidity of man. he miracles up a protective dome over the city and the bombs can't get through it. The people inside say they lack food and he miracles it up. He gets directions to the museum and finds Taia's sarcophagus and calls her out and she "walks like an Egyptian," out of the case.



A crook then steals his Ibis stick and he gives chase and the story abruptly ends and we have to buy the next issue to find out what happens.

Jip!

Golden Arrow-Bill Parker-story, Pete Costanza-art

Just before the start of WW1, scientist Paul parson's discovers a lighter-than-air gas (not helium) that will revolutionize airship travel. He builds a balloon to test it and takes his wife and young son along, because it couldn't possibly be dangerous. they make a trascontinental journey; but, somewhere over the western badlands (must be somewhere near Wichita), he comes across a castle, in the middle of nowhere (really more of an adobe compound), which is owned by Brand Braddock, an outlaw and ex-munitions manufacturer (like a cross between Butch Cavendish and Alfred Nobel), who orders his men to shoot down the balloon and steal the secrets. They hit it and it crashes to earth, killing everyone but the infant son, who doesn't even get a scratch. He is carried off by a mountain lion....



...but a rancher shoots the lion and saves the kid. He puts him in his cabin, then follows the trail back to the balloon and sees Braddock's men pilfering it. he raises the kid to wrestle bears and chase down deer, spot trout in a river from a cliff, catch wild horse, but he isn't very good at cyphering. the old man is dying, but tells him about Braddock and sends him off to get his vengeance, armed with his bow and gold-tipped arrows, because silver bullets were already take. He rides over to Braddock's place, calls him out, shoots arrows at his men. he gets the stolen formula and shoots his way out of the compound, but leaves everyone alive, since that's what a western-type hero does, if he is a copy of the Lone Ranger!

Spy Smasher-Bill Parker-story, CC Beck-art

A brand new aircraft carrier is destroyed! A cruiser hits mines and sinks! A new dirigible is stolen! (despite the US Navy's dirigible program ending in 1935, with the loss of the USS Macon). A submarine sinks (they're supposed to sink, dummy!)! Admiral Corby tells his daughter, Eve, and her fiance, Alan Armstrong (not the British actor Alun Armstrong, from Krull) that he believes these were acts of sabotage, by foreign agents. He also thinks we will fake a moon landing in 30 years, that Joseph Kenendy's son will be killed by Rosicrucians, and that the Trilateral Commission is actually staffed by shape-shifting lizard aliens.

Alan asks about the Filipino houseboy, but is told he doesn't speak English and isn't bright enough. Yeah, that sounds like the kind of thing an old-money admiral, in 1939, would say, since Filipinos were only allowed to be stewards, in the US Navy (as well as African-Americans). Elsewhere, a masked spy, known as The Mask (these guys aren't known for clever names) directs his goons to steal plans for a new type of mine, from Admiral Corby's safe. They break in, chloroform the old racist and break into the safe, only to be attacked by some guy in an aviator's flying suit and cape. They hit the bricks, after identifying the hero as Spy Smasher, and he follows in his gyrosub (!!) right to the Mask's hideout.



The boss escapes in a flying boat and rendezvous, in air, with the stolen dirigible. Spy Smasher lands his gyrosub on the top of the airship and enters it via the roof hatch. he bashes a hood leaving the control car and confronts the Mask. He is attacked by goons and smashes them and the Mask escapes, in the flying boat. Spy Smasher hogties the crew and single-handedly pilots the airship, which had a crew of 60, normally, back to land and safely lands it, without a mooring mast or line handlers, then hops into his gyrosub, which wasn't dislodged in the slipstream, and flies away. he sends the stolen plans to the admiral, in the mail, then hunts for the mask, as the story ends.

Scoop Smith-Bill Parker-story, George Duncan-art

$350K of radium is stolen from a hospital, which is run by Ayn Rand's John Galt. he appeals to the editor of The News, for help. he puts ace reporter Scoop Smith on the case. Scoop looks through hospital files for disgruntled employees (you never find gruntled ones) and finds a Dr James Kirk (must be an ancestor), who was doing radium research and left to go into private practice. scoop and his cameraman, Blimp Black, trace him down and visit him, as patients. The doctor isn't stupid and dumps them down trapdoors, into a dungeon below his surgery...



Scoop is chained to the wall and visited by the doc, who says he has developed a machine that can restore life, but he has to kill Scoop to test it. rather than just shooting him or feeding it to him directly, de sets up a cup of cyanide pills to drop into sulphuric acid, to create a poison gas that will kill him (after the doc leaves the room). In the next cell, Blimp sees the bolts which hold Scoop's chains, and a handy wrench laying on the floor and loosens the nuts holding the bolts in place. Scoop breaks free, kayos the doc's goons, gets out of the cell before the doc slams the door shut and witnesses the death of the goons. he attacks the doc, who says he can save them and he uses his ray thingy. It works, the police arrive to arrest them and Scoop brings the story back and then gets assigned to cover a trip to the South Pole.

Lance O'Casey-Bill Parker-story, Bob Kingett-art

Sailor Lance O'Casey and his monkey, Mr Hogan, return to the island of Maloana, but finds everyone gone. He finds the owner of a trading post, Skipper Jones, badly injured. He says they were attacked by natives from a neighboring island, and they took a white American girl with them. Lance goes to rescue her. he first looks at tracks and identifies big ones as belonging to Barracuda Brent and heads off to his island stronghold. He escapes falling into deathtraps (thanks to warnings from Mr Hogan), then finds the "savage" natives doing a war dance, while the white woman and a man are dangled over a tiger pit (imported from India), while Barracuda Brent threatens to shoot the rope, unless the woman agrees to be his bride.



Lance turns up, decks Barracuda, takes his tommy gun and shoots the tigers, one of whom makes a snack of barracuda, just as he was about to knife Lance in the back. He frees the white folks and returns to the beach to find his dinghy gone. he turns a sapling into a catapult and shoots his monkey across the bay to his ship, the Brian Boru, where he lands safely and pilots the ship to shore and the white folks get on and sail away.

Dan Dare-Bill parker-story, Gregor Ducan-art; not to be confused with the later British sci-fi hero.

Ace private eye, dan dare, receives a cable from a millionaire, asking for his help, in Florida. his secretary and love interest, carol Clews, urges him to take the case and bring her along, for a vacation. when they arrive, Groucho Marx tries to sell them shares in a hotel, but gives up when Chico tells him there ain't no Sanity Clause.

Dan meets with Carlos Peseta, the money man, who wants to clear his reputation, after local fisherman, Sam Seminole, was found dead on his terrace, in a wet bathing suit. he believes the murderer was Portugese Pete, who was seen running away from the scene. he offers Dan $5K, if he can prove it.

Dan visits the local fuzz, to see the murder weapon (a jack knife) and learns about drug smuggling in the area, probably coming from a gambling ship, anchored outside the 3-mile limit. He isn't interested, just yet and looks at the weapon. it is an ordinary knife, like every other fisherman's tool, in the area. he calls Carol to find Portugese Pete, interrupting her while she is in her undies, getting dressed...



Carol meets up with Portugese Pete at a nightclub and is invited out to the gambling ship. She goes to call her boss, but Pete overhears. Later, Dan goes diving around Peseta's pool, where he keeps his pet seals, and finds a tunnel out to sea. He follows it inside and finds an underground chamber and bloody gloves. he is caught by Peseta, who is holding a rod. Meanwhile, Carol goes out to the ship, with Pete, who then has her put on ice. Dan beats up the crook and his goon and bends apart steel bars to swim three miles+ to the gambling ship and rescue Carol, before she is thrown into the firebox of the ship's boiler room. he then reveals the drugs were smuggled in by the pet seals and Seminole Sam discovered the operation and was knifed by Peseta's goons.

Thoughts: Well, the Captain Marvel story is a classic, with a great opening and some fun super feats, like hauling an elevator up by the cables. The plot is a bit thin; but, it spends half of its time introducing the hero, which doesn't leave much for the villain. Sivana will be fleshed out in subsequent appearances. Billy is cut from stereotypical orphan cloth, while Sivana starts as your average mad scientist. Thankfully, Bill Woolfolk and Otto Binder will breath more life into the feature, down the road (and Simon & Kirby).

Ibis is ridiculously powerful, with the Ibis stick, but it is easily stolen by a mugger. It's pretty light on substance and swipes from The Mummy and Chandu, the radio magician/sleuth; but, is nicely drawn, by Beck. Golden Arrow is a Lone Ranger swipe, with a bow and arrow, instead of six-shooters, but without a faithful indian companion, or a disguise as a wacky prospector. Scoop Smith is pretty generic adventure, mixing private eye with crusading reporter, while Dan Dare is a pure PI swipe, from every better pulp detective. The feature allows for a little skin, which is fitting from the publisher of Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, which lent its name to this comic, after previous titles were already taken.

Lance O'Casey will stick around a bit, but he is a swipe of several pulp sailor/soldiers of fortune, including RE Howard's Sailor Steve Costigan. He's no Corto Maltese, that's for sure! the feature is pretty racist in its depiction of South Pacific Islanders, who had been trading with whites for some time, as most of the Pacific Islands had been claimed as colonies. Any hostility was justifiable.

Spy Smasher is the third hero introduced, who had staying power and they debut isn't bad, if lacking in logic. We never get a good look at Spy Smasher and his costume, as he is in silhouette or seen from the rear. The gyrosub, which flies or submerges below the ocean, looks pretty cartoony and unbelievable. In the republic Serial, he doesn't have it; but, the Mask operates from a flying wing craft, a fight upon which inspired the scene in raiders of the Lost Ark, as Indy fights pat Roach on the Nazi flying wing (despite them not having one, aside from the prototype designs for the Horton Ho 229). Spy Smasher would prove pretty popular, right behind Captain Marvel, which earned him his own title and the Republic serial, starring Kane Richmond, which is second only to the Adv of Captain Marvel, for the greatest serial of all time title. Spy Smasher will feature in a crossover with Captain Marvel, where he is brainwahsed into aiding the Nazis, conducting sabotage missions, which leads him into battle with Captain Marvel. Later, he will be a member of the Squadron of Justice, when DC reintroduces the other Fawcett heroes, on Earth-S, in JLA #135-137. Fawcett never really had a superhero team, aside from the Marvel Family, or duos, like Bullet Man & Bullet Girl and Mr Scarlet and Pinky, other than the Crime crusader's Club, for one story, with Captain Marvel Jr, Minute Man, Bullet man and Bullet Girl, in Master Comics #41. Spy smasher would later change his name to Crime Smasher, since he had smashed all of the spies, presumably.

This is typical of Golden Age anthologies, as you had the popular lead feature (if any of the features was popular) a second string feature or two, and lesser features, one-page comics, puzzles and jokes along with ads and such). Most features were swipes of better newspaper strips, often with art swiped from those same artists. Even the better features resorted to swiping, as Hawkman stole liberally from Flash Gordon, both in the hero's costume and the art, which aped Alex Raymond (as best it could). Most back-up features lasted just a few issues, before being replaced by new ideas; but, some had surprisingly long runs, without ever producing a classic story. Lance O'Casey and Golden Arrow stuck around for quite a while.

We will get one more early Fawcett reprint, with Dr Sivana's origin, in the Limited Collector's edition Secret origins of Super-Villains; but, the bulk of the rest we will see are from the 40s and 50s, after things were more established. DC never reprinted the battle between Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, nor the earlier battles with Sivana, until the Shazam Archives volumes, much later.

I never had them, when they were on stands; but, many years later, I picked up a complete set at a sale at Heroes Aren't Hard to Find, in Charlotte, NC. They had a big warehouse sale and had huge stacks of Marvel treasury and DC Collectors' Editions and I left with a massive stack of them, with all of the Famous First Editions and a big chunk of the key MTE and LCE/ANCE tabloids. Also walked out with 2/3 of the run of Warrior Magazine and the Comics Journal issue, with the Bill Watterson interview. I don't think i paid more than $3 or 4 for any of them.

Those were the days......

Captain Marvel was one of the first superheroes to reach the silver screen (he beat Superman to the screen, by 6 months and he was live, while Supes was a cartoon) and even had a very brief radio serial, in 1943, of which little seems to be known, other than it existed and no recordings of it appear to still exist. With the revival at DC, it was time for Captain marvel to re-enter the public consciousness. So, which was it to be, film or prime time live action series? The answer is Saturday morning kids show.

Animation studio Filmation had previously produced The New Adventures of Superman, The Superman/Aquaman Adventure Hour and The Batman/Superman Hour, featuring characters from DC Comics. Superman had featured companion adventures of Superboy, Superman/Aquaman had individual adventures of the two and additional adventures for The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, The Justice League and the Teen Titans. Batman joined Superman (shoving Aquaman under the water and kicking out the other JLAers, with Superboy sticking around. Later, Wonder Woman made her media debut in The Brady Kids, of all places. However, DC established a new relationship with Hanna-Barbera, taking the Trinity and the JLA with them. Filmation had built a lot of their success on licensed properties and went looking for other properties to adapt. With the revival of Captain Marvel, they saw a chance to do a cartoon series about someone similar to Superman. So, they snapped up the license and put together a presentation for a new cartoon series and shopped it around the three networks (ah, those were the days.....). They got interest from Fred Silverman, at CBS; but, he was looking for a live action show, to liven up their Saturday morning line-up. Filmation partners Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott, re-did their concept and the deal was struck.

Since this was going to be a Saturday morning show, aimed at kids, violence was out. Since it was going to be live action, anything that required costly special effects was out. So, bye-bye Marvel Family, so long Monster Society of Evil and forget about smashing through walls, flying to the Rock of eternity, shrinking down, time travel or other flights of fantasy. So, what does that leave for Captain Marvel to sort out? How about moral dilemmas? Scheimer and Prescott put together a 3-page series bible, which stated that Mentor had summoned young Billy Batson (well, a young 23) to an underground lair, at the behest of the Six Elders, who had chosen him to carry on the role that Mentor had filled, as Captain Marvel. Billy would train with Mentor, to use his powers by learning lessons of life. to that end, they would travel around the country and help others out with their problems, allowing Billy to learn from experience. Billy would be counselled by mentor, but he never gave him direct solutions to a problem, allowing Billy to work it out, with Mentor's advice and words of wisdom from the Elders, with whom he would consult, from time to time.



The first episode, Joy Riders, makes the only mention of Billy's career as a reporter, as it is mentioned that he and Mentor are traveling around, collecting stories of young people. The series followed a basic structure of Billy & Mentor travelling in their Shazamebago....



...when they encounter some kids, in trouble. Billy and Mentor would lend a hand and/or a sympathetic ear, helping the kids solve their problem and, usually, rescuing them from trouble. Invariably, Billy would need to consult with the Elders who granted him his powers, and they would offer up some vague, mystical mumbo-jumbo, that was about as helpful as asking an animal what it thought. Billy would speak to them via a gumball machine with blinking lights....



... and they would appear in the form of mystical cartoons, with minimal movement (mainly the mouths)....



Where they would all sound suspiciously like Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott. The kids usually didn't listen to Billy & Mentor (well, the real troublemakers) and Billy would have to run off to the side and yell out, "SHAZAM!" and then he'd be caught in front of a blue screen, as the area darkened and lightning struck and he switched places with Captain Marvel, who would take a running jump into the air and then fly like he was suspended from wires, then spot the kids in trouble and use his super powers to rescue them, via lower budget feats of daring do, like lifting up the backs of cars or pushing airplane rudders to the side, or lifting fallen logs or steel beams off of people.



As you can see, they did the best they could with their budget. At the end of each episode, captain Marvel would deliver the moral lesson of the episode, which both fulfilled the educational mandate for Saturday children's programming, but also fulfilled Filmation's goals of providing both entertaining and enlightening shows. Filmation had a long history of using their shows to teach moral lessons, greatly accelerated by the crackdown on cartoon violence on Saturday morning programming (spawned by the Batman cartoon series, where Batman and Robin physically fought the villains and their henchmen). Filmation was also notable for using minority characters in their shows (such as the racially diverse Space Sentinels, who were led by the African woman Astrea, while Mercury was an Asian man and Hercules a European).

Starring in the series was Michael Gray, as Billy Batson.



Gray had been acting for a few years, with roles on Room 222, Marcus Welby MD and a recurring role on The Brian Keith Show. His most memorable was as a young man for whom Marcia Brady has the hots, while she is working a job in an ice cream parlor. He turns up at the place with another girl and Marcia lets him have it

You can check it out on Youtube!

(Youtube blocks linking it, for some silly reason)

Gray was heavily featured in teen girl magazines, but his career fizzled out, not long after Shazam ended. For many years, he and his wife owned a flower shop, in West Hollywood. He has since made appearances at conventions, reminiscing about the series on panels...



Geez, now I really feel old! Granted, Michael Gray is 15 years older than me and still has more hair.

Joining Gray was veteran actor Les Tremayne, as Mentor...



Gray began his career in radio, in 1931 and had one of the most distinctive voices in America, according to a poll, behind Bing Crosby and FDR. He starred in the radio version of the Thin Man, the Falcon detective series and The Abbott Mysteries. He ventured onto the Broadway stage, including The Detective Story and Heads or Tails. He had film roles in such movies as war of the Worlds, The Fortune Cookie, The Angry Red Planet, and North by Northwest. On tv, he was Inspector Richard Queen, on The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1958), in several episodes of Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, and is best remembered by a generation of soap opera fans for his role as Edward Quartermaine, on General Hospital, where he was the father of Stuart Damon's (who dabbled in superheroics, in ITV's The Champions) Alan Quartermaine. tremayne also did extensive voice work in cartoons, including several of Chuck Jones' special projects (including The Cricket in Times Square and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi) and later series, like The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo (as Dr Frankenstein) and Pirates of Dark Water.

Tremayne added a certain gravitas to the series, as Billy's mentor (in name and spirit), and as one of the more experienced actors in the production, grounding things a bit.

Jackson Bostwick portrayed Captain Marvel in the first season and a couple of episodes in the second, before quitting/getting fired by Filmation (it's a "he said/she said" subject).



Bostwick was one of those guys who fell into acting because of his looks and personality. He studied pre-med, at the Univ of Alabama and served in the Army, as a medical supply officer, in California. Someone in his unit sent in a photo of him to the Dating Game and he was asked to interview and appeared on the program, in uniform. That led to a chance encounter with a casting agent, at Universal, and he pursued acting after finishing his schooling, as USC. He eventually learned of a cattle call for what he thought was a commercial for a Captain Marvel cereal. What it actually was was an audition for a Captain Marvel serial, and he met Lou Scheimer and was signed to the part. One of the other hopefuls was UCLA star quarterback Mark Harmon, who would go on to his own career in Hollywood.

Bostwick was actually a fan of the comics and his familiarity, coupled with an enthusiasm for the project and a willingness to do whatever was needed led to the job. He did many of his own stunts and, by his account, offered up many suggestions about how to use Captain Marvel in stories.

The first season proved to be a big hit and a second followed, but Bostwick injured his ankle doing a take off stunt and then things degenerated. He claims he was injured and the producers tried to force him into working and had the nurse and others claimed he had not been injured on the stunt and then summarily fired him for refusing to work, while injured. Lou Scheimer, in interviews, claimed Bostwick tried to hold them up for more money. Bostwick took his case to arbitration and won and had to be paid for the season. The role was recast with John Davey.



Davey had been a Marine and a heavyweight boxer, where he sparred with Joe Frazier. He had small roles in several tv series, including Perry Mason, The Rockford Files and Barnaby Jones. He was cast as Captain Marvel, after Bostwick was fired, despite not having a resemblance to Bostwick and it led to a bit of confusion, as the Bostwick-filmed episodes appeared before Davey's, leading kids to wonder why there was a a different Captain Marvel. No explanation was ever given in series and there was little publicity about the change, at the time. The series continued, as before.

At the same time as Filmation was filmng the troubled second season of Shazam, they launched a companion show, called Isis...



Isis was created by Filmation, by basically swiping the template from Captain Marvel, as school teacher and archeologist Andrea Thomas uncovers the lost Amulet of Isis, transforming her into the superhero, Isis. She then uses her powers to help others, often her young students and their friends, in trouble. The series starred Joanna Cameron, who did the Clark Kent bit, as Andrea Thomas, with no one recognizing her as Isis (presumably swapping places), despite them appearing identical. Isis got a snazzy little Egyptian mini-dress and boots and then went flying around, looking ofr trouble and guarding against bystanders peering up her skirt, as she goes overhead.

The series proved equally, if not more popular (let's face it, only young boys were going to choose Captain Marvel over Isis, and girls were going for the lady hero) and it was brought back for a second season, which led to the two heroes meeting, in each other's series.





All good things must come to an end and both series came to an end, in 1976, though they were re-run in 1980 and put out in syndication. After a tease of the pilot episode, "Joy Riders," Shazam! was given a full dvd release, by the Warner Archive and Isis got one from BCI, who had the rights to the non-licensed Filmation catalog (Filmation owned Isis, while DC licensed it for a comic book series).

Bostwick has teased, over the years, a release of a memoir, though, last I checked, never even published one through a vanity press. Lou Scheimer talked about the series in his own memoir, from TwoMorrows, along with other Filmation cartoons and shows. Filmation wasn't quite done with Captain Marvel, as we will see, later, finally producing that animated series. This time, it would greatly resemble the original comics. However, in the meantime, Captain Marvel would make two other media appearances, which will be the subject of our next entry in Shazam in Other Media.

Shazam! #16



I screwed up; we have two 100-pg issues to go, this one and #17. Then, it's back to normal size and mostly new material.

Creative Team: See below, but expect Otto Binder to be on most of it.

Synopsis: "The Man Who Stole Justice"-Elliot S! Maggin-writer, Kurt Schaffenberger-art, Julie Schwartz-editor. New material.

At night court, Judge Harold T Stone....er, Matthew Pleasant, sentences a crook to 20 years and his young accomplices to be placed in foster care, rather than reform school, because he is a nice guy. Some would even say he was pleasant! However, Prof Gilbert Thorne has a beef withhim, after he sentenced him to 25 years in jail. He orchestrates the theft of the statue of Justice, from outside the courthouse, and replaces it with one of Injustice, from a certain underground cave...



The next day, the Judge seems to go nuts and sentences the victim of a crime to a year in jail and lets her crooked landlord go free. That is soon followed by more bizarre judgements, as a man is given 40 years hard labor, for picking flowers and a man who stole a police car is set free. Freddy Freeman shows the headlines to friend Billy Batson, when they hear a police siren, as the police are in pursuit of escaping crooks. A cement truck is int he way. freddy is about to change, when Billy tells him to tend his newsstand and switches with Captain Marvel, to handle it (Glory hog!). he swoops under the speeding car and removes the wheels and arrests the crooks. he helps the police haul them into court, when he notices the statue of Injustice. he goes to remove it, but a warning comes out of it that doing so will open a fault line, underneath. CM doesn't want that, so he leaves it alone. The criminals are brought before the judge and he releases them and sentences Captain Marvel to 50 years hard labor. It turns out, Prof Thorne, while in prison (after being caught in Marvel Family #50), developed a device, attune to Judge Pleasant's brain waves, which reversed his thinking. It is hidden inside the statue of Injustice. Captain Marvel is hauled off to prison, where he smashes the rock pile in one go. he can't violate the law, but he hits on the idea of switching places with Billy, who is released when he is found. He goes back to the courthouse and finds Thorne leading a tour of private citizens and the Judge, on a tour of the prison. he tags along and talks to Thorne, who says he had been the prison librarian (a civilian, not a prisoner) and Billy knows it is a lie. he checks the library and finds Thorne's notes, from the development of the machine and he concocts a plan. As Captain Marvel, he hurls his sledgehammer into the sky, and it crashes down on the statue of Injustice, obliterating it and the machine. Judge Pleasant regains his sanity and reverses his decisions and Thorne is back to prison. Meanwhile the Appellate courts go nuts!

"The Marvel Family Battle the Sneaking Dom"-Otto Binder-writer, CC Beck-pencils, Pete Costanza-inks, Marvel Family #59

Billy Batson pours his morning glass of milk, and it's green. All of the milk on the milkman's truck and at the dairy have turned green. Freddy freeman gets a paper delivery and it weighs a ton and he must change into Captain Marvel Jr to lift it. Mary Batson's flowers are giving off a garlic smell and driving customers from the florist, where she works. the Marvels meet and compare notes, but are baffled. it turns out, The managers of earth, three dudes in robes, are behind it. they have mastery over the three forms of matter, on the Earth and they are pulling tricks, while arguing over who is superior. Their argument endangers the world and the Marvels must rescue innocents. captain marvel recalls a legend about the three and they fly to a tower, to find them...



They meet the three and learn of the contest and CM implores them to stop. They ask for his judgement, to settle matters and he wusses out and says they are equally important. They refuse to accept that and continue. CM grabs one and he pulls lightning from the sky, which changes the Marvels to human form, when the thin air of the altitude causes them to choke and they can't say the magic words. They are tossed out of the tower and plunge to the ground far below. Once they are in thicker air, they can say the words and change back tot he Marvels. They can't stop the Managers, so they work on stopping the effects. However, they eventually realize that the contest has set off a chain reaction of natural disasters that doom the world. They go back to explain to the Managers, who won't listen and use magic lightning again. The humans gasp for air, but then a quake shakes the tower and they see the truth of things. The kids get dumped out of the tower, again, hit thicker air and change and fly back. the Managers don't know how to stop things and the Marvels have to repair things...



This gives the Managers time to sort their control cards and fix things and all is right with the world.

"The Invention Miser"-Otto Binder-story, Pete Costanza-art, Captain Marvel Adventures #103

Billy Batson meets an inventor, who has been kicked out by the crook who bought his invention, but never marketed it like he claimed. Billy changes into Captain marvel and goes inside and learns that the money man, Gilford Pinchwood, is hoarding inventions, like a miser...



CM tries to stop him and Pinchwood sicks his machines on TBRC, but he easily smashes them. Pinchwood then attacks him with the ownership of the patents and CM is forced to leave, as The Wisdom of Solomon and the Stregth of Hercules are no match for the Weasel of Lawyers. However, he does use the old Wisdom and a bit of the Power of Zeus (the part that let him pull cons on mortals and fool around behind Hera's back) and the help of the inventor to con Pinchwood into buying up a new invention that creates a shatterproof dish, for millions. The machine then implodes and the inventor reveals his identity and gets the money he should have got for marketing the invention and Captain Marvel is satisfied with having committed fraud.

"The Lazy Genie"-Bill Woolfolk-story, Bud Thompson-art, Captain Marvel Jr #118

On his way home to Mrs Wagner's boarding house, Freddy Freeman witnesses a burglary, at an antique shop. He changes into the King and hits the crooks like a hunka-hunka burning love and one tries to escape. He has an old oil lamp and rubs it and a genie comes out, but he is work-shy...



The crook forces the issue and he helps him escape Junior, but not very far. The crook orders around the genie but the results aren't very good. He orders him to bring tomorrow's newspaper, so he can find a crime that he can get away with. He finds one and goes to commit it, but ends up caught by Junior, who sends him off to do the jailhouse Rock. It turns out, the genie only brought back the morning edition of the paper, since it was too hard to get the late edition, showing that Junior had caught the crook!

"The World Hater"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-pencils, Pete Costanza-inks, Marvel Family #53

A bomber drops a horde of vultures on the city, creating havoc, including during Billy Batson's newscast...



Billy says his magic word, broadcasting it out over the airwaves, but no one seems to be listening, lucky for him. Captain Marvel takes care of the swarm and the bomber lands at an isolated strip and CM finds a note from the World Hater, aka Ezra Bitterstone. We then find out that Ezra hates everybody, because they misunderstand him, because he is a nut!



He then attacks the world from his remote desert base. he then fires off rockets with itching powder and soot, both of which are stopped by Captain Marvel. he traces their origin and investigates, as Billy Batson, but gets dumped down a well, while Ezra launches a rocket, filled with poison gas, which will cause a chain reaction, killing every living thing. Billy gets his head above water and says the magic word and CM goes after the rocket. He knocks it into space and then rounds up Ezra, then dumps him into solitary confinement, so he can be alone.

"The Marvel Family Battles the Monarch of Money"-Otto Binder-story, Kurt Schaffenberger-art, Marvel Family #29

Carlton Clutch, a financial wizard, is out to control all the world's money and crush anyone who gets in his way. He tries to buy Station WHIZ (Showering the World with News!), but Sterling Morris says it isn't for sale. He tries to intimidate him into selling by sabotaging an equipment delivery. The Marvels protect the shipment and bust up the hoods trying to sabotage it. They then have to stop other attempts on other shipments. Clutch then tries to buy the Marvels off...



When that doesn't work, he creates a mob by dropping leaflets, claiming there is a million dollars on the roof of the station (he then has his gang actually put a million up there!). The mob swarms the building, looking for it. The Marvels fly the cash down, to save the building, so Clutch has a stooge use an earthquake machine, next. It opens up a crevasse, which swallows the Marvels. The inventor goes to collect his million, but the Marvels survived and follow him. He leads them to Clutch, who tries to flee, but is caught at a train station when the ticket clerk can't change a thousand dollar bill.

"Kull and the Seven Sins"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art

Billy is passing by Mr Morris' office, when he hears an explosion. he investigates and finds Morris okay, but he halves his salary. Then, Doc Quartz kicks him out of his drugstore. Dexter Knox is too lazy to get up and an experiment is boiling over. Billy switches to Captain Marvel and stops it, in time. CM thinks about things, but is interrupted by a street race that endangers bystanders. he stops it and realizes that everyone is displaying an exaggerated form of sin. Then, he spots Kull throwing Sin Bombs, and demands to know where he got them. they fight, but Kull escapes. Switching back to Billy, he goes to the wizard's cavern and finds the statues of the Seven Enemies of Man gone...



Shazam tells Billy that Kull stole the statues, which were actually 7 gods defeated by Shazam and turned into stone. They have the power to destroy the world. Billy must find Kull's Evil Olympus. The bombs continue and wreak havoc and even Billy is affected, attacking Mr Morris for cutting his salary. he is about to bash his brains in, with a microphone, when reason kicks in and stops him and he changes into Captain Marvel. he spots Kull in a helicopter and follows him back to his base, then sneaks in as Billy (to squeeze under electric eye beams). Billy gets caught by one of the gods, who clamps a hand over his mouth. Kull turns his life ray gun on Billy, to turn him into stone, but Billy kicks it away, bites the hand over his mouth and utters the magic word and Captain Marvel cleans house and imprisons the gods, again. In the end, Mr Morris restores his salary and gives him a bonus.

"The Green-Eyed Monster"-E Nelson Bridwell-story, Bob Oskner-art, Julie Schwartz-editor

Our story is told by Kitzel, a cat, whose human, Judy Lane, is the cause of conflict. Tim Casey, a teen photographer, has a bunch of shots of Mary Marvel in action and goes looking for more. he runs into Judy, who wants him to photograph her, instead. her mother is giving a party and Mary Batson attends, with her mother. Mary talks to Tim about his shots of Mary Marvel and Judy huffs. Some crooks turn up to rob the party and Mary switches places with Mary....um, Marvel, that is. She smacks the hoods around, while Judy says she can do that and takes a swing and a miss.



A goon nabs Judy and uses her as a hostage to get Mary to back off. They drive off and Tim gets a shot of the car's license plate. Mary borrows the camera to develop the picture, to lead her to Judy. Kitzel follows the car and Tim follows the puddy tat (while mine climbs up on the back of my chair and settles in). Kitzel leads Tim to a cave, where the crooks are, but he gets caught by one of them and ends up tied up with Judy. the crooks seem to have studied under the Hooded Claw...



...and leave a burning stick of dynamite to bury the kids. Kitzel paws the knots loose on Judy's bonds and she gets free and is in a safe spot, when the dynamite explodes, but Tim is buried.

Meanwhile, Mary spots the crooks car and intercepts it, with her hand, which totals it. After laughing off bullets and grenades, she arrests the crooks and demands to know where Judy is. the hoods talk and she heads for the cave. She spots Kitzels eyes glowing in the darkness and arrives in time to stop the rest of the dynamite from going off, as Judy gets Tim clear of the previous rubble. Judy is down on herself for being jealous of Mary, but Tim points out that she risked her life to stay and save Tim, while Mary couldn't be hurt by the dynamite. That cheers Judy up and she tells Kitzel that he is the only green-eyed monster she wants around and Kitzel is perplexed at being called a monster, as he relates to Mr Tawny, who has been listening to the story, in cat language.

Thoughts: The theme of the issue is the 7 deadly Sins and each story demonstrates hatred, greed, envy or a combination of sins. The modern opener is goofy fun, especially the bits where Captain Marvel is in prison. It grossly misrepresents the legal system, as a judge can't just arbitrarily sentence people who haven't been charged with crimes, nor can he past sentences not allowed within the law. Still, this is meant for young kids and it is light and fun and plays with expectations.

The Managers of the Earth are a bit more gonzo and less evil than prideful, causing the world to fall out of whack and proceed towards oblivion. And this is from 1951, before we realized how messed up the planet was becoming! Got to hand it to Ott Binder for understanding the delicate balance of the ecosystem.

The Invention Miser is a bit silly, but the inventions are....well, inventive and reminiscent of the greatness of the gadgets in Richie Rich. The ending is pretty much a crime, as Captain Marvel commits fraud to bilk Pinchwood out of money, even if it is for the inventor, who didn't get any royalties, from manufacturing. he did sell his patent and could have sued, in court, over breach of contract (good luck to him on that, though).

The Lazy Genie is a hoot and reminds me of a Looney Tunes cartoon, especially the Bugs Bunny cartoon, "A-Lad and His Lamp." in that cartoon, the genie is voiced by Jim Backus and tries to talk Bugs out of some wishes, then later tells him to stop bothering him when he calls for help. That was released in 1948; the CMJ story is from 1953. You be the judge.

The World Hater is very simplistic, but whimsical, demonstrating how even the lesser stories were memorable, if a little insane. Ezra reminds me of some other clueless millionaires.

The Monarch of Money is just pure greed, as it shows a fat cat using crime to get what he wants, but being undone by good, honest Marvels and a lack of small change.

Kull and the Seven deadly Sins showed how dangerous those statues in Shazam's cave actually were and helped inspire part of the plot to the Shazam movie, by way of Geoff Johns rehashing the plot. bridwell and Roy Thomas both latched onto the idea of Shazam's past heroics being a key legacy of the Marvels, which was used elsewhere, such as in JSA, where we saw the ancient gathering of heroes in Egypt, with Shazam, Nabu, the Beetle Scarab and a Thanagarian spacecraft, that would provide the Ninth Metal for Carter Hall, some centuries later.

The Mary story is more fun and Bridwell really handles the character well, and Oskner's art makes it look great, mixing the heroics with just some great character work, especially the expressive body language and facial expressions. The gimmick of Kitzell relating the story is a little weird, but the ending reveal that he is telling it to Mr Tawny makes it brilliant!

So, one more 100-pg comic (I swear, this time), and then we get back to normal-sized, mostly modern adventures, and the odd reprint issue (20-24, when the tv series was the only thing keeping it going).

Shazam! #17



Last of the V8 Interceptors!


....er, I mean 100-Pg Giants!

Creative Team: See individual stories.

I think they gave up on themes, for this issue.

Synopsis: "The Pied Un-Piper"-Denny O'Neil-story, Kurt Schaffenberger-art, Julie Schwartz-editor

Billy Batson reads an editorial about removing mirrors from public places, to fight the evil scourge of "vanity."



Pretty rich, coming from some who thinks his opinion is important, because he reads the news on tv!

Mary interrupts with a newswire about an army of criminals marching on Greenville, and Freddy Freeman also happens to be there, so the studio is suddenly filled with thunder and lightning, as they change into the Marvel Family. they fly out to intercept the mob and a cop stops them. They are willfully marching into the jail to turn themselves in, thanks to the music of Allegro Scruff, a modern Pied Piper. He made the offer, the cops took him up on it and it actually worked. However, they promised him a million dollars, but are stiffing him for 28 bucks and tickets to the Policeman's Ball (not even The Secret Policeman's Ball). Allegro is POd and storms off. he decides to get even and blows out a tune which attracts an alien spacecraft. Mary Marvel sees it flying overhead, sucking up air and attacks, but learns it is only sucking up smog and pollution, which the alien pilot breathes. The next day, Allegro sees the headlines about Mary marvel and an alien de-polluting the city and gets angrier and sends out another tune, which draws another alien spacecraft. This time, the aliens steal chocolate and Captain Marvel Jr deals with it and finds a crew with a lot of cavities and toothaches, with much regret. Al (Allegro) gets more upset, as that is Strike Two. he tries again and Captain Marvel has to deal with aliens who suck up all of the green color from the city. They zap Mary Batson, before she can change and take her as a hostage. CM uses the Wisdom of Solomon and convinces the aliens they are turning brown and to release Mary and return the green, or else! They do so and CM Jr restores the green, as CM reveals how he did it...



CM gives the aliens some green tinted sunglasses, so they see green everywhere. They thank him and give him a million dollars worth of diamonds, which he passes on to Allegro, who turns it down, because bread isn't his bag, man! He just wanted some, like, recognition.

"Captain Marvel Jr and The idol of Vengeance"-Bill Woolfolk-story, art-unknown, Marvel Family #7

Freddy Freeman spots some old dude standing in the street, muttering to himself and changes to CM Jr and pushes him out of the way. When the driver checks on the poor boy he just ran over, he finds Junior just fine, though the tire print ruins the look of his tunic and logo...



He believes he has been cursed, but Junior saving him shows that he isn't. Junior checks into things and finds a group that claimed an idol in an expedition and unleashed a curse. They tell of the adventure over dinner, then, one of them ends up dead and Junior has to save the others from being killed. Eventually, he unmasks the leader of the expedition as the culprit, to claim sole ownership of the idol and untold riches because of it.

"Captain Marvel Gets Promoted"-Oto Binder-story, Pete Costanza-art, Captain Marvel Adventures #53

Billy Batson is in Kentucky, to cover the Kentucky Centennial Fair. He notices no one is checking out the pioneer fort and asks a guide, who says Colonel Blueridge is boring everyone to death with his stories. Billy goes to check it out and meets Foghorn Leghorn's mammal cousin...



The Colonel gets thrown.....I say the Colonel gets thrown from his steed....horse, that is, and Billy says the magic word and turns into Captain Marvel, stopping the Colonel from bashing his pea brain into a tree.

Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mash!

The Colonel still gets a nock on the head, but not a complete skull fracture and thinks the injuns are coming! Captain Marvel calms him down and says he stopped him from getting hurt badly and the Colonel rewards him with a promotion to colonel, skipping completely over major. He than bars the gates of the fort, in preparation for an indian attack, which occurs, because of BS re-enactments that perpetuate the stereotypes of Native Americans, rather than the actual Ken-tah-ten or Ken-tah-kee tribes. Except, these are not re-enacters but actual natives, though all dressed like Sioux and other plains indians, rather than Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Cherokee or Chickasaw. they have been living in teepees (ugh!) in caves, since the whites came and don't know that they are "friends" now. Yeah, tell that to Russell Means. he stops the Colonel from attacking the chief and brokers a peace and everything is hunky dory. Until the treaty is violated, sometime in the future, no doubt.

"Captain Marvel Sails Before the Mast"-Otto Binder-story, Pete Costanza-art, Marvel Family #41

An eccentric millionaire (you have to have millions to be eccentric; if you are poor, you can only be bat-s@#$) has bought and outfitted an old clipper ship and Billy Batson is along for the ride, as a cabin boy (and covering for Station WHIZ, foaming with news!). The captain has been offer a ten grand bonus to get them safely around Cape Horn (on of the most dangerous ocean transits). They get into a storm and are foundering and nearly capsize and the cabin boy turns into a captain and tries to rescue the ship, while the captain of the ship is intent on claiming his bonus. The Marvelous captain slugs the ship's captain...



Bryce (the ship's captain) orders him clapped in irons and the crew has to oblige and remind CM that the ship's captain is the law, at sea. CM has to go along with it, but breaks free when they are about to be smashed into rocks. He gets 100 lashes from a cat, for his troubles. He then is given a chance to rejoin the crew and does, to help save the ship. The crew ends up mostly sick and injured and CM is a one man crew, then the actual crew launches a mutiny and CM is ordered to put it down. it is backed by the owner, even! CM stops it, then the main mast breaks and he saves the ship. They clear the Horn and Bryce gets his bonus, then fines the owner for inciting mutiny. CM decides to switch to Billy to find evidence of Bryce breaking the law to depose him. He finds papers showing Bryce's captain's papers were revoked, but Bryce bops him on the head with a belaying pin (those things you see inserted in a ring, at the base of a sailing mast, in old films, often used in fights, in pirate movies). He orders him keel hauled (dragged along the keel of the ship, from bow to stern). Billy is able to shout the magic word, before he hits the water and survives and then deposes Bryce, with the evidence and commands the ship, as the senior "captain."

"Jives Becomes a Jockey"-Bill Woolfolk-story, Jack Binder-art, Marvel Family #33

Mary and her mother are at a horse auction. The butler, Jives, tries to attract their attention and ends up making the winning bid on a horse, Silver Lightning. He ends up stuck with it, because of pride, but some crooks are trying to steal it. They try to intimidate, but Mary marvel stops that, so they resort to horse thievery, which also draws Mary's wrath...



She gets the horse back in time for a race, and Jives is forced to go through with the race and faints when a shit rings out. Mary Marvel deflected the crook's shot and Silver Lightining crosses the finish line first, with Jives out cold on the horse. Jives then sells the horse.

"The Curse of the Black Thumb"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art, Captain Marvel Adventures #129

Billy Batson is hanging out in the back yard of boss Sterling Morris' home and Morris dozes off in a hammock, so Billy goes to visit his girlfriend, Cissie Sommerly, next door. She is tending her flower garden, for an upcoming competition, when she crashes into the rocks of a garden gnomes home and gets cursed....



She is given a "black thumb," killing any plant she touches. Billy changes to Captain Marvel, to save her from a falling dead tree, then sits down on it and wrecks the gnomes home, too. He gets cursed, then chases after the gnome (Big Red Cheesy Bully!) and chases him right towards fox, who licks his jowls and CM has to save the gnome from becoming fox chow. He then turns an old doll house into spanking new digs for the gnome and he lifts the curse and Cissie wins the grand prize.

"Captain Marvel's Wedding"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art, Captain Marvel Adventures #150

Billy Batson is looking into a story, at the Kleensweep Broom Company, where 6 employees have gone missing. He looks at an employee list and it is in order of disappearance and he figures Tom Evans is next. Sure enough, Evans ia grabbed by a witch and carried off into the sky, then dumped in front of a speeding train. CM rescues him in the nick of time. He goes after the witch and crashes into a shack where she disappeared and finds the Kleensweep receptionist tied up. He releases her, and asks where the witch is, but she wants to get away before she comes back. CM takes her to safety, at his landlady's home. She puts her in a spare bedroom, but when the clock starts chiming midnight, she gives CM and Mrs Wagner the bum's rush. Inside the room, she turns into the witch (dunh-dun-duh!) The next night, Billy asks her out (through the door), but she says she will only go out with Captain Marvel. Faster than you can say "Shazam!" (but not faster than Billy can) , CM is on a date with her. He still has to get Cinderella back before midnight, though. They go out on more dates and become the talk of the town. CM decides to go dispel rumors of impending nuptials, at Station WHIZ (Home of Yellow Journalism!) and finds out he has a fiancee! He is afraid to back out, but investigates further. The girl schemes to marry him and force him to work, so she can stay home and he can't testify against her, as a witch. Another attempt is made and Billy is in a daze, but saves the girl, then goes to play a hunch. He later runs into the receptionist, who turns into a witch, at 11:00 pm. It turns out Billy switched the clock. She bops him on the head and he wakes up to his wedding day. Preparations are made, but the groom is late. he finally shows up and they start the ceremony, but he has timed it so the clock strikes midnight and the bride turns into an old witch (that usually happens after the honeymoon) and the wedding is called off and she is arrested.



"The Haunted Girl"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-pencils, Pete Costanza-inks, Captain Marvel Adventures #57

Linda Dekker is crying at her father's grave, as she must now face life alone. She goes off to get a job, unable to hear the ghost of her father try to comfort her. She is approached by a neighbor, to work for her, but the ghost says she works for a gang of crooks. Linda turns her down, then ghost dad Fs with the woman. Linda wants to be a singer and tries to audition, but is told to scram, so pop poltergeist's the radio station man. he then gets a warning from Higher Authority that his temper ruined his life and he was allowed back to help his daughter...



She goes to Station WHIZ (We put the P in Public Broadcasting!) She gets an audition for Billy, who records her, then takes the record to play for Mr Morris. However, Billy grabs the wrong record and Morris hears awful singing and turns her down. pop hurls a vas at him, which Billy can see and he transforms and saves Morris. he then argues with the ghost, who points out the record error and CM finds the right one and Linda lands a job. Unfortunately, she doesn't know it because she ran off in tears. She goes to take the job with the crook. Ghost dad goes and wakes up Billy (poltergeisting his typewriter) then CM and Ghost dad save the girl from crooks pulling a robbery. She turns in the money and the neighbor and the gang boss decide to fix them. they kidnap Billy and Linda, tie them up and gag them and menace them with a knife. Ghost dad unties Billy's gag and he transforms and collars the crooks, while freeing Linda. Linda goes back to the station and receives her singing contract and ghost dad can go off to the afterlife.

Thoughts: The modern opener is pretty decent, a modern take on the Pied Piper of Hamlin without any children being taken away. Junior's tale is a fairly standard murder mystery, complete with Egyptian costume, for the Scooby Doo element. It kind of mirrors the mystery from the Adv of Captain Marvel serial, where the Scorpion is killing off members of the archeological expedition that discovered the golden scorpion, to steal the lenses that turn it into a weapon. Captain Marvel's promotion would be more fun if it wasn't so mired in stereotypes and borderline racism (and a thin border, at that). It's not malicious, but it is typical of the ignorance of most writers in entertainment fields (and the audience) in regards to actual history of the frontier and the diversity of the Native peoples. Not every tribe had feathered war bonnets and wore buckskins. That's Hollywood, with everyone looking like the Sioux, regardless of whether or not they were on the Plains. This could have seriously used Tim Truman's help.

The sailing story is a riff on Richard henry Dana Jr's memoir, Two Years before the Mast, about how he signed on as a seaman, on a merchant ship, sailing around Cape Horn, on a voyage from New England to California. The book gives accounts of the harrowing return journey, during winter (worst time to try to go through the Straits of Magellan), as well as a couple of floggings. His sympathies are with the crewman of the ship, more than the officers, though his accounts of everyone else are also largely negative, except the Hawaiians. "Before the mast" refers to the crew quarters, in the forecastle (the pointy end of the ship). Bryce bears some resemblance to the popular image of Captain William Bligh, commanding officer of the HMS Bounty, of the famous mutiny. Bligh is wrongly maligned by Hollywood and others, as the ship's log showed him to be rather lenient, doling out lesser punishments when the average captain would have flogged or hanged a man. his crew was inexperienced and may have been trying to avoid a return to sea duty, after 5 months in the paradise of Tahiti. Bligh and loyalist crew were set adrift, in a launch, with a week's provisions and 4 cutlasses, but no charts or chronometer (they did have a compass and quadrant. Bligh successfully navigated the launch (with a few stops) to Timor, in the dutch East Indies, some 3600 nautical miles from where they were set adrift.

Mary's tale is light fun, while the garden gnome tale is similar whimsy. The wedding tale is a bit darker, with attempted murders, but has a humorous climax. Linda's tale is also a bit darker, though ghost dad lightens things up considerably.

A nice collection of tales that does much to illustrate the fanciful elements of Marvel Family stories, though misses out of then epics. No classic villains or elaborate battles, just light tales of mystery and comedy, with some adventure mixed in.

The 100-Pg run ends here and we go back to normal-sized issues and (mostly) new material. We will see more of Mary Marvel solo stories (she seemed to get more love than Junior) and even a new Reverse Marvel, of a sort. there will then be a period of reprints, before things are retooled to more closely match the Shazam tv series, with uncle Dudley taking on the role of Mentor (and growing a mustache), as the pair travel in an RV. Then, there will be a last ditch attempt at trying to do more serious stories, which will lead into World's finest and Adventure Comics, in the closing Digest-size days of that title (with more reprints).

However, next time will be devoted to Limited Collectors' Edition C-35, as we get more Fawcett reprints and a Jackson Bostwick photo cover, as DC attempts to cash in on the tv series. Stories will include one of the really great epic battles with Dr Sivana, a Marvel family tale, and some photos of the tv series.

I suggest Notepadd++!

Take 2.....

Limited Collectors' Edition # C-35



Jackson Bostwick demonstrating The Twist!

Creative Team: see individual stories

Synopsis: "The Robot Hunt"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art, Captain Marvel Adventures #129

Sterling Morris takes Billy Batson out hunting (Ah, must be contract renewal time!) but Sterling is unable to shoot a dead and cries like a baby because he is too tender heated to kill a living creature. What a terrible affliction! Back at Station WHIZ (Let go with the radio flow!), we see station robot (Doesn't every radio station have a robot?) Timmy Twinkle (Seriously?) carries in a crate, followed by a little robot dog (and a trail of hydraulic fluid, no doubt). Billy asks Timmy about 'Lectronimo....



...and he says Doc Quartz made him for Timmy. Sterling gets an idea and goes to see Doc and has him make other robot animals. He takes Billy out again and Doc reveals a robot rhino, which charges at them, Sterling takes aim and misses, so Billy has to switch with Captain marvel to save the day...



We then see other robot animals, which get a bit frisky and CM is about to smash them, when Timmy stops him, saying robot animals are people, too; or something. Doc Quartz says they better round them up, before they get loose and faster than you can say Curious George, they are running amok, at a gas station. CM tries to stop them and ends up with his cape on fire, but eventually rounds them all up into a robot animal zoo.

"Captain Marvel Battles the Plot Against the Universe"-Otto Binder, story, CC Beck-pencils, Pete Costanza-inks, Captain Marvel Adventures #100.

Dr Sivana looks longingly at his crown for when he is Ruler of the Universe and then throws things at a statue of Captain Marvel and a picture of Billy Batson, muttering thing like "Bah!" and "Curses!" He ponders his many defeats and realizes the way to beat Captain Marvel is via the wizard, Shazam; but, how to find him? As it happens, Mr Tawny is writing his memoirs and realizes he doesn't know much about Captain Marvel's background. He visits Billy, who decides to let him in on the secret and takes him to the tunnel, with the 7 Enemies of Man statues and summons Shazam and explains, while the wizard shows off his nifty bracelet, made of Shazamium, a new element that allows the spectral to appear on Earth and move back and forth to the Rock of Eternity. Tawny is duly impressed and he and Billy go home and Tawny finds Dr Sivana waiting in ambush. Billy realizes he left a package at Tawny's and heads over there, only to see Sivana escape in his time rocket, after wrapping Tawny up in a ball, with a gun that fires a liquid plastic rope. Sivana uses a hypno-ray on Tawny and learns the location of the tunnel and goes there, rolling Tawny along the ground and stashing him behind a statue. They watch as young Billy is led by the mysterious stranger to the tunnel and meets Shazam. Sivana takes aim, but Tawny uses his tail to knock Sivana's gun aside and Captain Marvel is still born.



Tawny escapes, by slipping out of his clothes and then pounces on Sivana and ties him up with the rope gun. He marches him out, but Sivana cries out about being attacked by a tiger and people throw things at him, until CM rescues him, after they return to 1949. Sivana disappears in the chaos. The next day, we see Billy go to the tunnel and light the brazier, to summon Shazam. he then removes his mask, to reveal Sivana, and grabs the Shazamium bracelet. He forces Shazam to take him to the Rock of Eternity. Real Billy turns up in the tunnel and lights the brazier and finds Sivana sitting on Shazam's throne, cackling about the end of Captain Marvel, in 24 hours...



Divana leads him on a merry chase, then threatens him into nearly punching through a water treatment plant containment wall and CM has to stop. Sivana says he will return the bracelet of CM agrees to aid Sivana. TBRC knows he is lying, since his lips are moving and agrees to stall for time. Sivana then takes him to the Rock of Eternity, where Shazam says to play along and Sivana orders him to repaint Shazm's throne to say "Throne of Sivana, King of the Universe" He then makes CM use a new element, Sivanium, to build robot duplicates of Sivana, to become his generals and conquer the universe. CM plays along, until Duplicate #13 ticks him off and he smacks him around...



He pummels the robot, then goes back to work. he eventually hits on the idea of creating a duplicate Captain Marvel, to carry on, while he slips away without Sivana noticing. He then goes to a nuclear lab and uses a cyclotron to create a new element, Marvelium.



He then builds a containment vessel out of it and stashes it at Station WHIZ (Your In for a Great Time, with WHIZ!). He then travels to the Rock of Eternity, disguises himself as Duplicate 13 and suckers Sivana into checking on Captain Marvel, back in Sivana's lab. Sivana goes and finds Duplicate CM, who turns on the radio for Sivana to hear Billy's broadcast. he zips over to the station and Billy goads him into the containment chamber and closes the door, trapping Sivana's spectral form there. Billy changes to CM and takes away the Shazamium bracelet and gets it back to the Rock, just in time, to preserve Shazam and return thing to their rightful order.

Kurt Schaffenberger teaches us how to draw Sivana, Mr Tawny and Mr Mind....



"The Marvel Family Curse"-Bill Woolfolk-story, Kurt Schaffenberger-art, Marvel Family #17

Freddy Freeman looks through Billy Batson's old trunk and find a diary, from an ancestor...



She gets burnt up in a fire and puts a curse on the 7th generation of Batsons, which happens to be Billy and Mary. Freddy buys into this nonsense and changes into Elvis....er, Captain Marvel Jr, and flies off to find the twins. They are at Station WHIZ (Overflowing with News!), where they receive a notice about suspected arson and change into Captain and Mary Marvel, to lend a hand. They rescue people from the building and Junior turns up to stop them from getting beaned by falling bricks. Billy and Mary go to talk to the building owner, to find out why the building was targeted by arsonists and learn that he commissioned it for insurance money. They get conked on the head and the man sys to leave them in the next fire to burn up.



They are left bound and gagged in the building and the fire is started. Freddy hears the fire bells and changes to Junior and finds the trussed up twins and frees them, allowing them to change. They confront the crooks and bash the henchmen, while the boos tries to flee and threatens to drop an arson bomb, but trips down the stairwell and accidentally sets it off, killing himself in the intense flame. It turns out, he was a descendent of the witch, in Salem.

"Captain Marvel Battles the World"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art, Captain Marvel Adventures #148

The Earth is sick of people digging into his skin and removes all cloud cover so that the sun mercilessly beats down, baking every living thing...



Captain Marvel has to rescue some people, then goes into space and snares an asteroid, composed of ice and sends it hurtling into the Earth, where it vaporizes and creates cloud cover, reducing the temperature. The planet then starts smashing massive ice walls, in Antarctica, together, creating huge sound shock waves, which cause buildings to crumble. CM tries to stop it, but the force is too powerful. Instead, he rounds up the world's industrial supply of felt and creates sound baffles, reducing the sound waves. The Earth isn't done and it cuts South America loose from its moorings, to crash into North America. CM burrows into the Earth's core and uses molten lava to line the old continental bead and then pulls the continent back into place, were the cooling lava acts like glue. The Earth is frustrated, when Brother Moon warns it that a runaway comet is going to collide with it. the earth is in trouble, but Captain Marvel creates a plutonium shield and diverts it, saving the Earth. The Moon tells the Earth that Captain Marvel just saved his bacon and he cools off and lets the human's dig.

Thoughts: The opener is a cute little tale, though it suggests that Sterling Morris is weak because he can't shoot an animal. Now, I have nothing against hunting, so long as you consume your kill and don't just hunt for trophies. My family hunted and I hunted. However, one day, we were rabbit hunting and my father shot one. He went to pick it up and it was still alive and squealed and thrashed. My father quickly bashed it against a tree to quickly finish it off. That part didn't bother me, as it was mortally wounded and he quickly ended its suffering. I had shot and killed rabbits, before, so it wasn't that. However, hearing that rabbit squeal made it more alive and less of a target and I found that I didn't want to hunt anymore. The rest of the family continued to hunt; but, I was done with it and never pointed a weapon at an animal again (though I did want to shoot a warrant officer, at a court martial, when I learned he had molested his step-daughter, for the previous 4 or 5 years). There is nothing weak about not wanting to take a life, any life. Doesn't necessarily make you superior to one who does; but it is a choice of conviction, which is a strength.

The Sivana tale is one of the great classic epics, as Sivana takes over the Rock of Eternity and forces CM to do his bidding. One of the fun elements, no pun intended, in the story is the creation of new elements, which we see as Nos 97-99, on the Periodic Table of Elements (Sivanium is 97, Shazamium is 98 and Marvelium is 99), replacing (respectively) Berkelium, Californium and Einsteinium. This was published in 1949, and nuclear experiments had produced new elements, such as plutonium and the afore-mention real No.s 97-99. Science!

It's nice to see even Captain Marvel can lose his cool, with a supervillain, and pummel it (or its doppelganger) into smithereens!

The Marvel Family Curse is decent, if a bit hard to swallow and kind of ignores the fact that the witches burned in Salem were innocent people killed due to politics, religious fervor and plain insanity. It makes for a nice fairy tale, though it's a bit gruesome (then again, so are most of them).

Captain Marvel Battles the World is silly as heck; but, it's actually a pretty good environmental parable, roughly 20 years before the first Earth Day and public discussion about the fragile ecology of the planet. given current record heatwaves, storms, pandemics and other chaotic happenings, it makes you wish people had started listening in 1953. Still hard to get some of them to pay attention in 2021!

The book ends with an inner cover of photos from the new Shazam tv series...



with Jackson Bostwick doing some Marvelous Surfing, or something!

Other than a rather plastic looking sleeve braiding and belt, Filmation did really good job on the costume.

Too bad they don't have a photo from the episode where Billy and Mentor meet the original Billy Batson, Frank Coghlan Jr, from Republic's The Adv of Captain Marvel. Coghlan worked at the zoo, where they were filming, after retiring from the Navy and learned they were filming that day and introduced himself. They put him into a couple of scenes, in the episode, as a park worker (what else).

Nice collection of material. This is the last one, as the next time is just Sivana's origin, then a new battle between Captain Marvel and Superman, ending Captain Marvel's tabloid-size forays, until Alex Ross and Paul Dini.