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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 7, 2021 11:22:24 GMT -5
When I was doing timelines, I took care to include the Scorpion on Earth-66, which also has the Spy Smasher serial, the Nyoka serial, and a couple of oddball Captain Marvel stories which don't fit gracefully on Earth-S.
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Post by tonebone on Jun 7, 2021 16:26:40 GMT -5
Around this time, Warren jumped on the Captain Marvel bandwagon, with issue #101 of Forry Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland, with a piece on the Republic serial...  That costume is so much better than the modern movie one...  or the NEW movie one! |
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Post by tonebone on Jun 7, 2021 16:46:16 GMT -5
Putting aside their ability to write compelling adventures, did DC think that in the 70s there might be an audience that wanted to read these kinds of stories? In the 1970s, Harvey Comics had a huge audience, with Richie Rich and even Casper. DC was still publishing romance comics, aimed at girls. They had had stuff like The Three Mouseketeers and Fox and the Crow not long before. There was an audience; but, they didn't have the best guys working on this kind of material. O'Neil and Maggin were excellent superhero writers; but, their more realistic approaches flew against what made Captain Marvel charming. Captain Marvel was one of the biggest of Golden Age heroes and there was a huge fandom for that; but, they weren't the audience for that DC aimed at. The first issue was snapped up by speculators, but that was about it, as the series settled into at least DC's mid-range. Like I said before, had Filmation not come along with the live-action series, I doubt the comic would have run as long as it did. DC improved things when E Nelson Bridwell and Kurt Schaffenberger took over and even more when Don Newton came on as artist. Had they started out with Bridwell and Newton, I suspect it might have been a different story. Fans wanted the villains and the whole Marvel cast and Bridwell gave them that, while these early ones reintroduce some of the villains; but don't do much with them, other than the Mr Mind story. Ibac wasn't bad, but could have used more room to play. To say Harvey had a huge audience with Richie Rich and Casper is an understatement. Richie Rich, at one point, starred in 13 monthly or bimonthly titles, alone. Casper, Sad Sack, and Hot Stuff were up to half a dozen each, rounded out by another half dozen misc titles. Archie could support up to 20 titles a month, with just the Archie characters. Gold Key, with two dozen monthly WHOLESOME comics. Charlton with half a dozen cartoon-based monthlies for this audience. Kid's comics sold REALLY WELL in the 70's. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2021 20:41:11 GMT -5
Thoughts: The Mr Tawny story is pretty good, if a bit contrived. It's nice to see Mr Tawny in the middle of things, though the villain could have used more development. Good gimmick story, though. Second piece is a bit of silliness, by amusing enough, as a game of "telephone" makes everyone believe saying Captain Marvel's name is dangerous. It's fun, though, although the ending is a bit abrupt. Nelson could have used another page. Sivana is nicely used within it, in a cameo. The reprint finishes, with a nice twist of everything shrinking too far, which is a nice touch. The overly obvious thing to have done would have been ending after the machine is reversed. Binder thought it through that reverse just sends things in the other direction. Splitting the story does actually help sell the twist. Mr Julius, the tailor, is an obvious homage to editor Julius "Julie" Schwartz and looks just like him. There is an announcement that next issue will be a 100-pg comic, which means more Fawcett reprints. Like I said before, the Treasury/Collector's Editions, Digests, paperbacks, and 100-pg and Giant Size issues were the TPBs for us Bronze Agers, giving us a whole bunch of stories in one package. That was a big deal, back then. This one will be a goldmine of stories! I like your summary on this. I literally just ordered this issue a few hours ago along with a couple of other holes in the collection (issues 12 and 16). Mr Tawny has always been a favorite of mine, and this issue was a must for my collection on that alone (I've got the collected edition reprint already). I'm in the category of having fond memories of this series as a kid. Maybe being really young made it less silly somehow, but it was quirky in a fun way and a lot of these issues still make me smile. Great comment as well on the treasuries, digests, paperbacks, 100-page giants, etc. So true! Despite the Superman family strong parallels, something was always a little zanier about the Shazam family to me. Like old Fleischer Popeye cartoons...teetering between very silly and surreal at times. I like the old Golden Age material a lot as well, and have enjoyed collecting all the Archive editions and some of the Gwandanaland type reprints (I've got the Monster Society of Evil collection and a bunch of old Mary Marvel appearances). I loved how they also started to show up more broadly in DC and glad you are going to be reviewing more of that. I remember liking the All-Star Squadron appearances, and while I'm less into post-Bronze age material, I liked a lot of what Ordway did in the Power of Shazam series in the 90's. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2021 21:37:11 GMT -5
Thoughts: The Mr Tawny story is pretty good, if a bit contrived. It's nice to see Mr Tawny in the middle of things, though the villain could have used more development. Good gimmick story, though. Second piece is a bit of silliness, by amusing enough, as a game of "telephone" makes everyone believe saying Captain Marvel's name is dangerous. It's fun, though, although the ending is a bit abrupt. Nelson could have used another page. Sivana is nicely used within it, in a cameo. The reprint finishes, with a nice twist of everything shrinking too far, which is a nice touch. The overly obvious thing to have done would have been ending after the machine is reversed. Binder thought it through that reverse just sends things in the other direction. Splitting the story does actually help sell the twist. Mr Julius, the tailor, is an obvious homage to editor Julius "Julie" Schwartz and looks just like him. There is an announcement that next issue will be a 100-pg comic, which means more Fawcett reprints. Like I said before, the Treasury/Collector's Editions, Digests, paperbacks, and 100-pg and Giant Size issues were the TPBs for us Bronze Agers, giving us a whole bunch of stories in one package. That was a big deal, back then. This one will be a goldmine of stories! I like your summary on this. I literally just ordered this issue a few hours ago along with a couple of other holes in the collection (issues 12 and 16). Mr Tawny has always been a favorite of mine, and this issue was a must for my collection on that alone (I've got the collected edition reprint already). I'm in the category of having fond memories of this series as a kid. Maybe being really young made it less silly somehow, but it was quirky in a fun way and a lot of these issues still make me smile. Great comment as well on the treasuries, digests, paperbacks, 100-page giants, etc. So true! Despite the Superman family strong parallels, something was always a little zanier about the Shazam family to me. Like old Fleischer Popeye cartoons...teetering between very silly and surreal at times. I like the old Golden Age material a lot as well, and have enjoyed collecting all the Archive editions and some of the Gwandanaland type reprints (I've got the Monster Society of Evil collection and a bunch of old Mary Marvel appearances). I loved how they also started to show up more broadly in DC and glad you are going to be reviewing more of that. I remember liking the All-Star Squadron appearances, and while I'm less into post-Bronze age material, I liked a lot of what Ordway did in the Power of Shazam series in the 90's. Thanks; glad to have you aboard! I always loved Superman and his whole pocket of DC; but, there was just something so different about Captain Marvel, the first time I laid eyes on it. The costume was different than everyone else's, with the short cape draped over the shoulder and the sleeve braids, the sash and the boots. You looked at him and you understood why he was Captain Marvel. I also think he doesn't get acknowledged enough for influencing Marvel's Thor. everyone talks about Thor being the Marvel Superman; nope, he's the Marvel captain Marvel. Think about it, his power derives from mythological deities (he is one, of a sort), a weak, insignificant human makes a magic transformation, complete with lightning bolts, into a superhuman, the martial trappings (Thor is in battle gear) and he often has to seek sage advice from a powerful figure (Odin). There are far more similarities there than Superman & Thor, aside from flying, strength and the cape. He may fulfill a Superman-like role, in terms of power, but not in terms of defining characteristics. |
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Jun 7, 2021 23:39:29 GMT -5
Good point. I've never really liked the Superman-Thor comparison. It's always felt forced. There's just not much there besides the strength and flying similarity (and similar colors and cape, but I've never felt they *looked* the same)
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Post by zaku on Jun 8, 2021 2:32:41 GMT -5
I also think he doesn't get acknowledged enough for influencing Marvel's Thor. everyone talks about Thor being the Marvel Superman; nope, he's the Marvel captain Marvel. Think about it, his power derives from mythological deities (he is one, of a sort), a weak, insignificant human makes a magic transformation, complete with lightning bolts, into a superhuman, the martial trappings (Thor is in battle gear) and he often has to seek sage advice from a powerful figure (Odin). There are far more similarities there than Superman & Thor, aside from flying, strength and the cape. He may fulfill a Superman-like role, in terms of power, but not in terms of defining characteristics. I have say that you are probably not the only one who thinks so. During the "Dc Versus Marvel Event" the two heroes were paired to fight.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2021 7:18:20 GMT -5
Thanks; glad to have you aboard! I always loved Superman and his whole pocket of DC; but, there was just something so different about Captain Marvel, the first time I laid eyes on it. The costume was different than everyone else's, with the short cape draped over the shoulder and the sleeve braids, the sash and the boots. You looked at him and you understood why he was Captain Marvel. Totally agree! Add that Fred MacMurray profile and he definitely had a distinctive look  I'm completely with you guys on the Thor comments as well. Honestly, I've always felt Captain America was Marvel's Superman. The powers are very different, but personality-wise they felt like the leading figures of their respective publishers championing good in a traditional sense, the boy scouts if you will, with Supes' adopted farm boy heritage and Cap's inherent patriotism. |
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Post by zaku on Jun 8, 2021 8:02:54 GMT -5
Thanks; glad to have you aboard! I always loved Superman and his whole pocket of DC; but, there was just something so different about Captain Marvel, the first time I laid eyes on it. The costume was different than everyone else's, with the short cape draped over the shoulder and the sleeve braids, the sash and the boots. You looked at him and you understood why he was Captain Marvel. Totally agree! Add that Fred MacMurray profile and he definitely had a distinctive look I'm completely with you guys on the Thor comments as well. Honestly, I've always felt Captain America was Marvel's Superman. The powers are very different, but personality-wise they felt like the leading figures of their respective publishers championing good in a traditional sense, the boy scouts if you will, with Supes' adopted farm boy heritage and Cap's inherent patriotism. Yeeeeeeeep!  |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 8, 2021 8:19:11 GMT -5
I also think he doesn't get acknowledged enough for influencing Marvel's Thor. everyone talks about Thor being the Marvel Superman; nope, he's the Marvel captain Marvel. Think about it, his power derives from mythological deities (he is one, of a sort), a weak, insignificant human makes a magic transformation, complete with lightning bolts, into a superhuman, the martial trappings (Thor is in battle gear) and he often has to seek sage advice from a powerful figure (Odin). There are far more similarities there than Superman & Thor, aside from flying, strength and the cape. He may fulfill a Superman-like role, in terms of power, but not in terms of defining characteristics. I have say that you are probably not the only one who thinks so. During the "Dc Versus Marvel Event" the two heroes were paired to fight. This makes me think of two things... 1) MAN, that was a horrendously bad Thor costume... it's like someone thought they were going to do a Kirby tribute, but then got a concussion and thurned into a 90s image artist. 2) Am I the only one that wanted to see Snapper Carr and Rick Jones fight, only to have an asteroid fall on them and put them out of our misery? |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 8, 2021 11:19:27 GMT -5
I have say that you are probably not the only one who thinks so. During the "Dc Versus Marvel Event" the two heroes were paired to fight. This makes me think of two things... 1) MAN, that was a horrendously bad Thor costume... it's like someone thought they were going to do a Kirby tribute, but then got a concussion and thurned into a 90s image artist. 2) Am I the only one that wanted to see Snapper Carr and Rick Jones fight, only to have an asteroid fall on them and put them out of our misery? Aw, leave Rick and Snapper alone! Really, Snapper barely registered on my radar, as he was gone by the time I was reading JLA and the few times he did show up, he was a minor figure in the story. I like Rick; not so much the early stuff, but his time with Mar-Vell (bad dialogue aside) and a whole lot in Peter David's Hulk stuff. I liked how he he used Rick's history to have him always be prepared for whatever occurred, because he had been there, done that, printed the t-shirt and sold them at the merchandise stall. It was similar to the idea of Dick Grayson being one of the most skilled superheroes, because he grew up in it and has years of experience and it is effortless for him. Two logical ideas that get missed by many writers. |
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Post by zaku on Jun 8, 2021 13:53:54 GMT -5
I have say that you are probably not the only one who thinks so. During the "Dc Versus Marvel Event" the two heroes were paired to fight. This makes me think of two things... 1) MAN, that was a horrendously bad Thor costume... it's like someone thought they were going to do a Kirby tribute, but then got a concussion and thurned into a 90s image artist. 2) Am I the only one that wanted to see Snapper Carr and Rick Jones fight, only to have an asteroid fall on them and put them out of our misery? 1) The 90s. It was a dark time. 2) Well, really, I barely know who Carr is. But I totally agree about Jones. Let the asteroid fall! |
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Post by zaku on Jun 8, 2021 13:55:54 GMT -5
By the way, in-universe, who designed the Marvel Family costumes? The wizard? Was he the one who decided to give to Mary Marvel a mini-skirt..?
Dirty old man...
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 8, 2021 15:39:41 GMT -5
By the way, in-universe, who designed the Marvel Family costumes? The wizard? Was he the one who decided to give to Mary Marvel a mini-skirt..? Dirty old man... Hey, there was a war on (well, soon would be) and the wizard was just trying to save on material. No extra pleats, shorter hemline, etc! He's patriotic, not perverted! Actually, Mary's costume changed several times, over the years....  Really, DC upped the sex appeal by aging her up a bit, after Bob Oskner and Kurt Schaffenberger were drawing Shazam! Billy and Freddy got upped a bit in age and physical development, too. |
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Post by zaku on Jun 8, 2021 15:58:26 GMT -5
I was partial to the boots  |
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