|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jun 17, 2021 19:33:16 GMT -5
Watching one of those old Shazam! TV cartoons, I find myself a bit surprised that the writers stayed so faithful to the comic book canon as to retain Junior's magic phrase being "Captain Marvel". Seems like it would have been a lot simpler to have him say "Shazam!", too. The audience (mostly) wouldn't have known the difference--or cared--and it would have spared the animators the effort of having to do the Marvel Family transformations in two stages (the one I saw had Billy and Mary say their word and transform, followed by Freddy saying his to change to his heroic identity, rather than all speaking and changing in a single shot). I remember decades ago reading the (dubious) speculation that Freddy's word was different in order to remind Junior's readers that there was his predecessor also out there on the newsstands, but that wouldn't be relevant for cartoon viewers of the 70's. Anyway, it's an obvious way to streamline things, and I can't see why they wouldn't have done so had it occurred to them. Freddy Freeman's magic word was always the name of his hero, Captain Marvel...  DC kept the original names and always reminded readers that this was the original Captain Marvel, in the title, with the logo Reading "Shazam! The Original Captain Marvel." For trademark and copyright purposes, Shazam! was the title, but, they always included that tag-line, in the original DC run. Filmation picked up their license during that run and went with the material DC provided, except they altered the premise a bit, for live action, due to the budget and the standards & practices issues. By the time of The Kid Power Hour with Shazam, the standards had relaxed a bit and animation could allow the super feats. Also, the tone was light enough that they didn't have to tone it down much, at all. Plus, the writers, like Paul Dini and Tom Ruegger, were fans of the comics. So that whole theory doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. Modern DC is the problem; or, rather, the people "in charge" of things. The whole idea of renaming Captain Marvel as Shazam is senseless, if it is still the magic word. Might have just as well changed the name to Captain Thunder, since the name was up for grabs. DC started deteriorating when Jenette Kahn left and it accelerated rapidly after Paul Levitz was pushed out, when they decided publishing didn't matter and rebranded as DC Entertainment. Why would you put publishing people in charge of a publishing company when you can put accountants and business management types in charge and use buzzwords, like "synergy" to hide the fact that no one knows what they are doing? End of Rant. Getting back to Junior, I suspect the change in magic name was to differentiate him from Captain Marvel and the 3 Lieutenant Marvels, who preceded Junior, by 4 issues. With the LTs, they were all Billy Batsons; so, I guess the logic is that they share the spell, since it was applied to Billy Batson (Shazam should have included his middle name). With Junior, he's not a Batson and, in his origin story, it is Captain Marvel who passes on some of his power, not the wizard, directly....  When Mary debuts in Captain Marvel Adventures #18, it is discovered that she is Billy's twin sister and shares the spell. DC kept this clear (more or less) in the pre-Crisis days and Ordway largely maintained the idea, though added the wrinkle that the extension of power, reduced the individual's power by a third. So, each is only at their peak if the other two are in their human form and at their weakest when all three manifest, which had a pretty good logic to it. Spreading that to 6 people, like Johns did, is just overkill. I get what you are saying; but, I don't really think that was an issue then and the only issue in the cartoon is that they dispense with the origin in the title sequence, but simplify it for time. Poor Mary only gets Selene name dropped and the rest of her patrons are dumped into "and the rest" category, hanging out with Mary Ann and the Professor. Freddy gets insulted, ("lame newsboy"  ) and then they just say he says the name of his idol. They don't elaborate because then they would have to bring up Captain Nazi and they weren't about to do that. They also didn't use Ibac, because of his evil patrons and selling his soul, nor Sabac, for the same reasons, or Nippo, for obvious reasons or Mr Banjo, because he was stupid, even in the 40s! Could have used King Kull, though that would have probably led to issues with the REH estate. Whoops; my memory was faulty. The Shazam! cartoon did use Ibac (alongside the Crocodile men) in "Best Seller." Freckles Marvel also appears in that one. Dennis O'Flaherty is the writer. Don't recognize his name, but IMDB.com says he was an actor before, though credits are mostly minor roles, starting in 1958! If it is the same guy, his acting credits end in 1980and writing credits begin in 1981, with this. The writer (if not the same guy) also wrote for the Richie Rich cartoon, BraveStar, TMNT cartoons and the Ultra Force cartoon. He is credited with 6 episodes (one as teleplay for a Fred Ladd story). Dini wrote 4, Ladd is credited as story only on one and write on another and Tom Ruegger is credited with writer on "Star master and the Solar Mirror," which featured a crossover with Hero High. Ruegger wrote several episodes of Hero High and had previously written some episodes of Filmation's Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. he would go on to write and produce Tiny Toons, which was filled with comic and other related material, which helped bring together the BTAS crew. |
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jun 18, 2021 14:38:15 GMT -5
Harvey Kurtzman stole "Vootie" from jazz singer/guitarist Slim Gaillard. Part of Gaillard's schtick was using "jive" slang, some of which he made up. See www.pocreations.com/vout.html for some pages from Slim's "Vout-O-Reenee" dictionary. Having an ape use African-American slang is troubling to modern eyes but a lot of people don't seem to know that that's what happened in that Today Show parody. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jun 18, 2021 22:10:21 GMT -5
Meant to mention this; did Captain Bonzo  go on to go the way of Black Adam and turn evil? ![]()  I would like to know, for then I would have the answer and thus not be in the dark, making me wiser and less uninformed. MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 21, 2021 11:54:47 GMT -5
Unfortunately, Captain Morris is afraid of heights and feints and must be rescued by Trixie Marvel. Billy has seen enough, tries again and the REAL Captain Marvel (not that red and blue phony) appears and goes after Mr Bonzo. However, the Wisdom of Solomon is on break and Captain Marvel thinks out loud and says "Shazam!" and Billy tumbles out of the sky. he says it again and Captain marvel rights himself and continues on and the wizard, sitting at the Rock of Eternity, slaps his forehead. CM chases after Captain Bonzo and tries some acrobatics to wear him out, but the chimp is better at it than the Cheese. Captain Marvel then borrows a hat from a mule (matching intelligence) and then takes captain Bonzo to a restaurant, to eat and they check their hats.
What I would have given to see Bonzo team up with Beppo!
It's a shame Trixie's role wasn't taken by Mary Dudley (Freckles Marvel) though. She deserved a moment to shine (and fly).
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jun 21, 2021 23:17:54 GMT -5
Shazam! #10 Captain Marvel has to marry Aunt Minerva, at gunpoint? Did he get her into trouble? Creative Team: 1st story-Elliot S! Maggin-writer, Bob Oskner-pencils, Vince Coletta-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor; 2nd story-E Nelson Bridwell-writer, Bob Oskner-artist; 3rd story-E Nelson Bridwell-writer, CC Beck-artist Okay, story time: In November, 1973, I turned 7 years old. I also came down with bronchitis and had to go to the doctor, probably got a shot (I usually did) and then to a drug store to pick up some nasty cough syrup. At said drug store, my mother said I could pick out a comic book and there, on the small newsstand, was Shazam! #10, with Aunt Minerva holding a gun to Captain Marvel and a minister. I read that while I was stuck in bed, coughing my head off, throat aching (both from the coughing and the cough syrup); but, I had Captain Marvel to entertain me and he brought along his sister, Mary. This review will not be snarky (well, not AS snarky, at least), there will be no quibbles, no suggestions about how it could have been better. This comic is gold to me; it was the first comic I chose, rather than one given to me. This began my journey to this point. Synopsis: "Invasion of the Salad Men!"-starring Paul Newman, no doubt! Okay, a little snark. Still; Salad Men! Billy Batson is walking through the park, with his girlfriend, Cissie Sommerly. Yes, even a seemingly lame little sweater-wearing kid like Billy Batson had a girlfriend. heck, I had a girlfriend at that time! I was quite the ladies man, until puberty hit and ruined everything! But, back to the story...  They see a falling star and make a wish, but it turns out to be a spacecraft, which crash lands. one of the passengers gets out and tries to ask where he is, but gets a rather rude responses. This being America, everyone is afraid of vegetables, and they all run away. Billy Batson hears the stories and switches with Captain Marvel, who endures endless salad puns in his investigation, until he meets the band complex carbohydrates and gets them away from the hostile crowd (good thing they didn't bring Broccoli along on this trip!). They need a new fladerer, so they can fix the Ramafram. Captain marvel takes them to a hardware store, to get a size 47-A Fladerer, but the shop owner runs out in terror and the outcry attracts a mob. Captain Marvel hides the Salad Men in a grocery bag and goes to another hardware store; but, the parts they need will cost over $200,000! Didn't know they worked for NASA! (Government snark is an exception). Captain Marvel doesn't have that kind of money. However, with the Wisdom of Solomon (and the writers of Mel Brooks) he concocts a scheme. He films a movie of the vegetables defeating him and threatening the entire world, then uses the publicity to sell tickets to showing s of the movie and the subsequent box office pays for the parts, allowing the Salad Men to return home. "The Thanksgiving Thieves"-Mary Batson says goodbye to her foster mother, Mrs Bromfield, so that she can see the Thanksgiving Parade, complete with grand marshal, Mary Marvel. little does Mrs Bromfield know that Mary Batson is Mary Marvel, though they look exactly alike; so, you'd think she'd figure it out! Outside, Mary says her magic word and becomes Mary Marvel and flies off to join the parade, on the float of honor. She gets a lightning bolt for a backdrop and a giant balloon of her likeness (Macy's needs one of those). Meanwhile, a group of crooks breaks into a furrier's store and makes off wth many precious fur coats and no PETA about to throw paint on them. However, Mary Marvel is waiting for them at their getaway car. They don't think a dame could be that tough and the biggest bruiser tries his luck and breaks a parking sign over her head, while she laughs. Another fires a smake gun into her face and they run off. The steal the Mary Marvel balloon, to make their getaway, but the real Mary follows...  Real bullets don't stop her, but, they do rupture the helium balloon and Mary has to rescue the crooks before they become street pizza. Mary returns to finish the parade, while thinking about Billy & Freddy, who she will see at Sterling Morris' party, later. "The Prize Catch of the Year"-The city's most ruthless crime boss, Aunt Minerva, is tired of Captain marvel messing up her operations and refusing to become her groom. She makes a contest for two of her hoods, Osky the Ox and Pretty-Puss Pete (I swear, that's the name!); a big prize to whoever defeats Captain Marvel. They are understandably under-enthused, until Minerva gives them added incentive, like not getting shot or pistol-whipped...  Osky finds Billy Batson and suckers him into helping fix his tv and them grabs him while he is distracted by the tv set and ties him up and gags him. However, Osky wasn't a boyscout or a BDSM enthusiast and his gag doesn't stifle Billy enough from saying Shazam, allowing Captain Marvel to enter the match against the Ox. After the ring introductions and instructions from the ref, Osky starts off, grabbing Captain Marvel in a necklock, though, quite frankly, it looks more like he can't make up his mind between a half nelson and a rear chinlock...  He tries a bodyslam and then goes into leglock, but drops from exhaustion before he can cinch up on it and/or grab a heel hook. Should have gone for a stepover toe hold, into a reverse indian deathlock. The ref counts him out and awards the match to captain Marvel, who carries Osky back to the dressing room. Pretty Puss Pete spots Captain Marvel and hatches his scheme. he tosses grenade over a stone wall, after seeing CM walk past and finds nothing left but his cape. he picks it up to go claim his prize, while C secretly watches, from behind a tree. Pretty-Puss takes it back to Aunt Minerva and she asks to hear how he did it and then captain Marvel bursts in and reclaims his cape. he arrests Pete and Aunt Minerva and hauls them off to the police station, where Minerva reveals that the prize for the winner was her hand in marriage. The two hoods are elated that they were defeated by captain Marvel and dance and sing. The letters page includes one from Laurie Neu, who was shown Captain Marvel by her boyfriend, some letterhack from Elmont, NY, with the name of Bob Rozakis. She was quite taken with the comic and named a new kitten, Shazam, but says the cat only answers to the name Billy Batson. Thoughts: I love, love this issue, even if it wasn't the one I chose. The Salad Men story is goofy fun, though the salad puns are funnier when you're 7 (well, they weren't that funny then, but the movie bit is a riot). Mary Marvel has a good, basic introductory story, since, like Junior, she was only seen in a cameo, in issue one, and reprints in the other issues. Here, she is the main attraction and bob Oskner is a perfect artist for her. Mary, in both forms, has been matured a bit, in more ways than one. She looks more like she is about 16 than the younger version, at Fawcett. Billy and Freddy were given a little more height, but look physically younger than Mary. No Uncle Dudley, yet, though he was more of a staple of Mary's stories, and those of the entire Marvel Family, rather than Captain Marvel or Junior solo stories. Aunt Minerva is always a hoot. She previously tried to force Uncle Dudley to marry her, in her debut, in Captain Marvel Adventures #59. Uncle Dudley calls Billy, desperate to be saved and Captain Marvel rescues him and then puts Aunt Minerva over his knee, after she tries to shoot him in the face and spanks her. she then immediately falls in love with him, which is pretty darn kinky, especially in a kid's comic...  50 Shades of Big Red Cheese! She returns on CMA #66, in a story appropriately titled, "The Return of Aunt Minerva." She is still pining for the good Captain, and has pictures of the dreamboat, on her cell walls. She sends him letters, until he replies and tells her to stop. She breaks out of prison, goes down to station WHIZ and slaps around Billy Batson, to get him to tell her whee to find Captain Marvel. Bily says the magic word and she is all over him, then slaps around some cops. She disappears, then Captain marvel finds himself inundated with flowers and candy and telegrams, asking him to marry her. finally, Billy goes to tell her no and she bops him on the head, ties him up and gags him, and makes him watch her try on her wedding dress (like I said; kinky!). She sprays perfume around then asks Billy what he thinks, removing his gag to speak and he changes and arrests her, dumping her back in prison. Her last appearance was in CMA #88, where she meets up with Sivana, literally, as they crash into one another, while trying to kill Billy Batson and she knocks Sivana loopy and he falls for her. When Captain Marvel turns up, she thinks he is jealous of Sivana and Sivana tries to woo her, before Captain Marvel punches him and knocks some sense back into him and he then starts sniping at Minerva, like an old married couple in a Carol Burnett sketch... Nice to have her back, here. She would get a pretty good life, in other media, turning up, played by Ruth Buzzi, in the Legends of the Superheroes special (second one, I believe) and an episode of the Filmation cartoon, as well as batman The Brave and the Bold. The movie could have used her to liven up the story (or a Sivana that wasn't a stand-in for Black Adam). This was CC Beck's last issue, for new material. he was never happy with the plots he was given and wrote his own, Cpatain Marvel vs Evil Incarnate. E Nelson Bridwell returned it to him, with extensive corrections and he tried to draw it, but was so dissatisfied that he tore up the pages and quit. He pretty much retired, though he had a regular column, for a while, in the Comics Journal, called The Crusty Curmudgeon. he also acted as an editor for the Fawcett Collector's of America's newsletter, until his death, in 1983. Bob Oskner was a vet of DC's humor books and he does a fined job on the Marvels. He keeps the overall Beck look on Captain Marvel, but is more modern with Mary. Beck seems to put a little more in Aunt Minerva and his stories with one of the classic Fawcett villains always outshone the other modern stories in previous issues. E Nelson Bridwell gets to try his hand at the stories and he has a better understanding of the material than denny O'Neil ad is less prone to goofy puns, like Elliot S! Maggin. He will become the definitive writer for DC, as we progress. he did a similar fine job with the Super Friends comic, which was way better than it had a right to be, as a media tie in for the Super Friends cartoon. Bridwell was able to bring in other heroes and villains, way beyond what Hanna-Barbera did, which gave the comic a sense of scope.. At times, his Super Friends stories were more entertaining than the regular JLA series! As I say, I can't find fault with this issue, because I can't see it clearly; but, there really isn't anything to fault, unless you just can't handle simpler stories, for a younger crowd. It's a charming and, yes, somewhat goofy issue; but those make for some of the best reading. If you want serious superheroes, there were plenty of alternatives; but, that doesn't mean this wasn't good; just not meant for an older, more cynical crowd. I will admit to being a bit confused, at age 7, with the Mary marvel story. Oskner draws highlights to emphasize the rubber nature of the Mary balloon, which looked really odd to me, whn I glanced at the comic, not immediately grasping it was just a balloon and not a larger Mary. I also, at first thought that was Mary, with ropes trailing off of her, until I actually read the story and realized I had been looking at a balloon. I was sick and feeling lousy; what did I know? I kind of preferred this version of Mary to all others, including Ordway. She just seemed to be the right age and the right shape. Her adventures were always lighthearted fun, as we will see, in the future. She later gets a crossover with Bulletgirl, when Shazam! moved to Worlds Finest and DC licensed the other Fawcett heroes, for a brief time.
|
|
|
|
Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 22, 2021 12:18:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jun 26, 2021 19:48:22 GMT -5
Shazam! #11 No idea when this was published..... Creative Team: Story 1-E Nelson Bridwell-writer, Bob Oskner-pencils, Vince Coletta-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor; 2nd & 3rd stories-Elliot S! Maggin-writer, Kurt Schaffenberger-art. Kurt Schaffenberger's first DC work on the Marvels. Synopsis: "The World's Mightiest Dessert"-oooh, creme brulee............well, that's my "World's Mightiest Dessert." Billy Batson is out on the town with girlfriend Cissy Sommerly, when they stop in a drugstore to have lunch at the lunch counter, with huge hamburgers (Billy goes all out for his lady) and Doc Quartz's newest invention, Super Energized Gelatin (can't call it Jello), fortified with vitamins and minerals.  They finish off the dessert, when their cups are magically refilled. As they eat more, more is produced, until it starts overflowing, onto the counter and floor. Doc Quartz says he must have miscalculated and they better eat it up or it will overflow the city. They try, but the human stomach has limits. Billy changes to Captain Marvel (instantaneously, so Cissy and Doc don't see the change, though). Event he World's Mightiest Mortal isn't up to the task. He starts recruiting everyone in sight to eat the stuff. While this goes on, a pair of crooks decides to take advantage of the missing crowds and help themselves to cash and merchandise, only to be caught by Captain Marvel and given community service (by TBRC, not the court) to eat up. Everyone is getting full and the end isn't in sight. Finally the Wisdom of Solomon kicks in and Captain Marvel realizes that the gelatin is actually dissolved in the mouth and hits upon heat as the cure. However, it is December, so heat isn't plentiful. Captain Marvel stokes every furnace in the neighborhood (which are all coal-fired, in 1974, not electric or gas) and even flies in more coal, until he creates a heat wave (without bursting the boiler, somehow), which melts the gelatin and stops the growth.  "The Incredible Cape Man"-Herschel Dockles (you don't get many Herschels in stories...), local mailman, lives in fear of being mugged. However, a package arrives at his home, which will change that. The next day, while Billy Batson is out shopping for Christmas presents, he hears a commotion about a costumed nut holding up traffic. he says the magic word and Captain Marvel investigates, only to find some shmoe in a Superman costume and a ski mask, who says he is a crimefighter and dismisses Captain Marvel until; he needs help, down the road. CM shrugs it off and then later encounters the costumed man on the subway, where he introduces himself as Cape Man.  Two hoods riding in the car think he is after them and they get off, hurriedly, at the next stop. They drop a diamond, which Billy finds and he figures they are the jewel thieves that the police have been hunting (they could just be diamond couriers, you know). Billy changes and Captain Marvel goes after them, grabbing Cape Man to assist. Cape Man suddenly feels less bold and hangs back. The crooks use a smoke bomb to escape and Cape Man slips out through a vent. He thinks he is safe, when he sees the two hoods hop into a motorcycle (with sidecar) and take off. They spot him and try to run him down and he climbs up a telephone pole. They swerve and try to make their getaway, before Captain Marvel turns up. Captain Marvel rescues Cave Man from the top of the pole; but, he is afraid of flying and squirms out of CM's grasp, falling directly onto the hoods and capturing them.  Herschel unmasks and explains to Captain Marvel, then realizes if he could catch crooks so easily, he had nothing to fear as himself. "The Year Without a Christmas"-Sterling Morris is throwing his big Chrstmas party and Billy, Mary, Freddy and Uncle Dudley are all there, as is Sammy Sparkle. Unbeknownst to them, a certain Grinch is out to spoil Christmas for everyone...  Just as the clock strikes midnight, Sivana throws a switch and suddenly, Santa's sleigh is zooming out of control. Everything is sped up, including the clocks, which is noticed by the Marvels. They all say their words and take off to see what is happening. They see the sun coming up and rescue Santa from his runaway reindeer. he tells them that the Sivanas are behind it (he probably has a hefty shipment of coal, for them) and that Christmas will only last 10 minutes. With 2 minutes to go, the Marvels burst in on Sivana's "secret" mountain headquarters (you'd think he'd move after Captain Marvel previously busted up the joint) and smash their way in. They slap around the powerless (but evil) Sivanas, ad Dr Sivana has to know how they learned that he was behind it. Captain Marvel reminds him about Santa's power...  Captain Marvel and Junior succeed in stopping the master time clock hands, stopping time, then Mary's added might helps them reverse time, so Christmas can occur normally. Sivana hits the bricks (leaving his kids to face the music), but gets KOed by Captain Marvel. They haul the Sivana Family off to jail fro Christmas; but, in the spirit of the season, give sivana a present, a book, titled The Universe.  Next issue block notes that #12 will be another 100-pg Spectacular, which means more classic stories! (including the first appearance of Aunt Minerva and a 5 part tale of the Marvel Family vs the Sivana Family) Thoughts: More fun to be had here. The opener is pretty darn goofy, but Bridwell makes the comedic elements work, with Captain Marvel recruiting people to help eat the gelatin. My only quibble is that the World's Mightiest Dessert is cherry jello. Seriously? Not creme burlee? Not warm chocolate cake (with the icing soft and moist)? Not a hot fudge sundae? Not even a Hostess Fruit Pie? Cape Man is a neat little parable of a man consumed by fear who finds a way to gain confidence. It's a standard fable, where you find all he really needed was a little confidence, but, well told and the costume is a nice touch. Superman's costume provides the template; but, since this is Earth-S, the symbol is a C in the pentagon, not an S. Maggin handles the comedic elements well and Kurt Schaffenberger is in his element. Schaffenberger began working for the Jack Binder studio, in 1941, on several of the Fawcett features, including the Marvels, Bulletman and Ibis the Invincible. During WW2, he served Sp[recial Services, drawing posters, then was pointed to the OSS, near the end of the war. They were looking for German speakers (Schaffenberger was born in Germany and spent his first 7 years there), to drop behind German lines and recruit other Germans to aid the allies, ahead of the Allied advance. Kurt told them no, not without a uniform; but, he still ended up with a desk job, doing translation. Schaffenberger will soon be the main artist on the series, after years of Lois Lane comics (he would also do many Superman Family stories, as well as the Mr and Mrs Superman back-ups, with the Earth 2 married couple). He knows the characters and he had a light touch that suited their adventures. The Christmas tale reads like a superhero Rankin-Bass special, without the singing and dancing (He's Mr Mad Scientist, he's Mr Thug; he's mister no-Christmas, he's a fat slap in the mug!). Delightful little tale, with the Sivana's playing grinch, only to be snitched out by Santa (He knows if you've been bad or good, Sivana). Of course, given that he uses a secret hideout that the Marvels know about, you have to wonder if he isn't a bizarre recidivist, happy only when he is incarcerated. Georgia and Thaddeus Jr are mostly there as back-up and don't really do much. Hopefully, next issue's reprint will showcase them a bit more. Still, it's a lot of characters to cram into a 7-page story, between 3 Marvels, 3 Sivanas, Santa, Sterling Morris and the rest of the crowd (including Uncle Dudley, who really hasn't been featured yet, in a modern story, as an active character). This is the kind of thing that made Christmas a joy back in the early 70s, when you had charming entertainments, none of this Black Friday nonsense and shopping didn't seem like a mad feeding frenzy (though maybe I missed out on some of that aspect, being that I wasn't in the stores as much, at that age). The present to Sivana is a nice touch, showing the goodness of the Marvels, even to their arch foes. Sivana notes that no one ever gave him a Christmas present. That is a simple line that speaks volumes about how evil is born. Sivana's origin (which we will visit, down the road, with the Secret Origins of Super-Villains Limited Collectors Edition), is filled with rejection and abuse, which shows why he was such a rich character, especially compared to Lex Luthor (before they started tying him into Superboy and Superman's past). There is a certain pathos to Sivana, which is part of the reason you almost root for the little guy (so long as no one gets hurt). Not all of his children were bad, either, as Beautia and Magnificus split away from their father and become friends with the Marvels (especially Beautia). They were a bit better developed than Sivana Jr and Georgia, though they had solo adventures against their Marvel counterparts.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 1, 2021 0:22:56 GMT -5
Shazam! #12 Another DC 100-Pg issue! Decidedly creepy panel on the far right, with Mary. Wouldn't be surprised if it didn't inspire some of the things Alan Moore put in about Miraclewoman's time under Dr Gargunza's control. Creative Teams: I'll list them with the individual stories. There are three new stories (two Captain Marvel and one Junior; sucks to be Mary) and a batch of reprints, including Mary and Uncle Dudley. Synopses: "The Golden Plague"-E Nelson Bridwell-story, Bob Oskner-art, Julie Schwartz-editor Billy Batson comes into work to find nothing waiting for him, until he enters his office and finds a purported reporter from the year 2349, who Billy takes at his word...  The guy even says he is Captain Marvel and Billy confirms it, rather than questioning the guy! Looks like the Wisdom of Solomon could use some help from the Suspicion of Columbo and the Shut Your Mouth, Idiot of J Edgar Hoover! The reporter claims to be there to find out why there are no records of any deeds of Captain marvel that day. Billy helps him search for answers. (Dude looks like he was designed by Alex Toth, for The Super Friends). They go check over at Billy's friend, Dr Thomas Kilowatt, for an interesting story, since logic dictates that nothing will happen that requires Captain marvel, since Billy didn't remark on it, in his broadcast. They find Dr Kilowatt trapped in a balloon and Captain Marvel rescues him. he wanted to check the weather but didn't think to call the weather bureau. He shows Billy his new invention, a ray that creates The Midas Effect, turning objects into gold ("Alchemy" is too big a word for the kiddies, let alone "transmutation"). It works, but then what the object is touching also tunrs to gold, and what that touches, spreading exponentially (try that word, kids!). Billy switches to Captain Marvel and lifts the gold objects off the floor; but, Kilowatt says it will start turning the air to gold. captain marvel compresses it down to a pill size and is going to take it to the Sun; but, the doc says it will turn the sun's elements into gold (uh, no....). He says he would swallow the pill, except it would turn him into gold, except his fillings. Apparently, it doesn't affect naturally occurring gold. Captain Marvel borrows the doc's fillings and creates a foil to wrap around the transmuted gold, stopping the process. They hide the pill away so that no calamity can occur and agree to keep it a secret, which is why there is no record of the adventure. Until now, that is! "Mary Marvel vs Nightowl"-Otto Binder-story, Jack Binder-art, Ralph Daigh-editor (Mary Marvel #24, 1948) Mrs Bromfield is taken in boarders to aid in a housing crisis. Apparently, they took in Claude Rains....  Claude is actuall Nightowl and he is at a tv studio broadcast of a jewel collection, from a museum, brought to the studio, without security guards. Nightowl goes up to the stage and steals Queen Anne's necklace, with his Darkflash. Mary's in the audience, says the magic word and Mary Marvel goes after Nightowl; but, Zephyrus is slower than Nightowl and he zaps her with the Darkflash (almost said he flashed her; but, that's just wrong!) and gets away. She goes into an alley, but only finds a blind man (Nightowl, in disguise). Mary returns home and finds Claude Rains returning, as well. The next day, she goes in search of Nightowl and pops a button from her dress (she's a growing girl!) and picks it up, noticing the same blind man. She goes to put a coin in his cup, but drops the button in, instead of a dime (drawing on the Cheapness of Benny). She goes back to find him to correct the mistake, but an alarm goes off at the nearby factory, which Nightowl was casing. She changes and goes inside. Nightowl is stealing black diamonds from cutting tools (doesn't work like that) and Mary turns on the lights, blinding him. Mary decks him with a haymaker, but he gets his Darkflash out and fl.....shines it into her eyes, losing her in darkness. Mary summons the lightning to blidn Nightowl again and goes to grab him, but he reacts by violently waving his Darkflash around and conks her on the ehad, knocking her out. When he can see, he realizes it is Mary Batson. He ties her up and gags her and leaves her under a machine press. he activates the machine; but, it has an automatic safety gate that slides down and Mary catches the edge of her gag on it, pulling it down, allowing her to save the magic word and change. She escapes the machine and finds Nightowl's "blind man" disguise. She can't find him and goes home, where she hears Claude banging around. The next day, Mary traces the "blind man" casing the power plant and follows inside, catching him in a flashlight beam, but he pulls the master switch, plunging everything in darkness. Mary turns it back on and he is gone. She goes home and enters Claude's room and turns on the light, blinding Claude and realizes he is Nightowl. She puts his light out with a right jab and he wakes up in a hospital. A Batson Family album has pieces about evil Uncle Ebeneezer Batson, who dumped Billy on the street and an ancestor, William Batson, who caught an evil witch. There are pictures of the Lt Marvels, Uncle Dudley, Freckles Dudley (aka Freckles marvel) and a couple of other Batsons, from old stories. "Uncle Marvel's Wedding"- Bill Woolfolk-story, artist unknown, Wendell Crowley-editor, Captain Marvel Adventures #59 Captain Marvel and a flatfoot burst in on a room, rented by a crook who robbed a bank; but, the hood isn't there. he and many others stand in line to pay tribute to Aunt Minerva, the ruler of the Underworld; but, she's in a bad mood, since they are all spineless and weak, unlike her 5 dead husbands (Zsa-Zsa Minerva!) She finds an advertising circular for Shazam, Inc and goes to see if they can help her find a worthy husband. Meanwhile, Billy goes to visit Uncle Dudley to unwind, since his antics are always good for a laugh. They both meet Aunt Minervia, as she seeks their aid to find a husband. She intimidates Dudley, who gives her his guarantee, Meanwhile, meaanwhile, the hoods come there to hire Captain Marvel to get Aunt Minerva off their backs and run smack into the old bat. Billy recognizes handsome Harry, who Captain marvel was hunting and the hoods open fire. billy changes to captain Marvel and blocks the shots, then takes down the hoods, with the help of Uncle Dudley and Aunt Minerva. Minerva coos over Dudley, then CM says it's time to haul them off to the hoosegow. Minerva turns off the lights and bashes heads, kidnapping Uncle Dudley and making off with the hoods. Dudley comes to at her place and she swoons over him and says they will be married. dudley sneaks a phone call to Billy and asks for captain Marvel's help. Captain Marvel turns up, decks a hood and puts Minerva over her knee; and, faster than you can say James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaall, she is swooning over Captain Marvel!  He hauls her off to jail, before she asks him to spank her again. "The Longest Block in the World"-Elliot S! Maggin-story, Dick Giordano-art, Julie Schwartz-editor Mailman Herschel Dockles (aka cape Man) is delivering mail, when he mixed up a letter for a Dr Kassover with Freddy freeman's mailbox. Freddy goes to take it to the doctor, as Dockles comes across Gregory Gosharootie, The World's Dullest Mortal, who takes another letter for Dr Kassover and delivers it to some spies, while believing he is just relieving the doctor of junk mail. The spies tell him that they were waiting to get a different add, but Gary says that's all there was. they spot Freddy with the mis-delivered letter and send Gary to get it, which he does and Freddy changes after finding his hand empty. He now is able to see Gary (the Corrective Lenses of Myopia) and nabs him. He tells Junior about the con, he smells a rat and goes after the spies, who shoot at him. he laughs, picks up the car with one hand and smashes it down to the ground...  Junior delivers the letter to Dr Kassover, who looks suspiciously like henry Kissinger and Junior grabs him to stand trial for war crimes in Chile. Well, no, but the letter turns out to be from a cousin and there was nothing important in it. Letters page includes one from Bob Rodi, aka future novelist Robert Rodi, who was a letterhack and fanzine writer (also did some pieces for the Comics Journal), before writing things like What the Did to Princess Paragon and Closet Case. A piece follows about the various gods and heroes who provide the Marvel's their attributes turning up in stories. These include Zeus having a touch of bursitis and missing Billy with the thunderbolt, Uncle dudley gaining powers from them, temporarily, and Dr Sivana forcing them to remove the powers, while holding Shazam hostage, on the Rock of Eternity!  "The Sivana Family Strikes at the Marvel Family"-Otto Binder-story; Pete Costanza (pts 1,3 & 5), Jack Binder (pt 2), Bud Thompson (pt 4)-art, Wendell Crowley-editor, The Marvel Family #10, 1947 It's time to play the feud! Introducing The Marvel Family, with Captain, Mary and Captain Marvel Jr! Their opponents are the Sivana Family, Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, Thaddeus Jr and Georgia Sivana. Let's play the Feud. Richard Dawson kisses Mary and jumps back away when Georgia puckers up! The Marvels are on tv, having a round table discussion, where they slander the Sivanas. Dr Sivana is watching and calls his own round table together, with his two brats (well, two of 4, really) and suggests they collectively attack the Marvels, instead of pairing up with their usual foes.  Pretty cool floating lab! So that's where DC swiped the idea for Superman Island, in the late Bronze Age! They have a machine that will destroy the Marvels; but, they need to calibrate it and must have the voltage for the magic lightning. They go to find the Marvels in their rocket and scare a janitor, who runs for help, bringing the Marvels. That worked out well. They change, but the volt meter is blown out and the Sivanas take off in their rocket, before the Marvels show up. Back at their lab, they realize they cannot generate enough power in the machine to destroy the Marvels. Sivana Jr hits upon an idea from an ancient scroll, about elements in Atlantis that could provide the power. However, the elements don't currently exist. it transformed over time and existed as "protium," in ancient Atalntis, and exists, now, as "neutrium," then "electrium," in 10,000 more. They will take their rocket to the Rock of eternity, to move through time! Sivana had to think that up, because the kids were too dumb. He makes Georgia fuel up the rocket and away they go. They go to faster-than-light speed and end up in Eternity, because of Einstein's theories (I don't recall him mentioning the Rock of eternity). They go for landing on the Rock and are spotted by the wizard, who is summoned by the kids, from the cave on Earth, who need help to find the Sivanas. he tells them where they are, they change They arrive at the Rock, find Sivana's ship and enter it just as the Sivana's take mini-rockets on three courses to past and future, to get the elements. Chapter 2 has Mary in ancient Atlantis, where she finds Georgia Sivana, bashing a professor on the noggin to steal protium. he has predicted that Atlantis will sink and has a machine to stop it, but needs the neutrium and electrium. Mary bashes Georgia on the head and ties her to a chair, then gets the 411 from the prof, who sent his son away from Atlantis, so that his descendants can find the future elements and bring them back to the past. Quakes have begun and Mary tries using the magic lightning to supercharge the protium, but it fails. As the quakes continue, Georgia gets free, grabs Mary Batson (she changed, remember) and gags her and ties her up and swipes the protium, taking Mary as a hostage and leaving the prof to die. Captain Marvel chases Sivana , who kidnaps Dr Charles Patterson, descendant of the Atlantean professor, to find the Neutrium, where Atlantis sank. Captain marvel follows and they run into each other under the sea, but an octopus gets involved and Sivana escapes. CM rescues Dr Patterson and they find the neutrium. As they leave, CM is zapped by an electric eel and turns into Billy Batson and nearly drowns. Patterson rescues Billy and gets him inside the protected lab and air, but Sivana shoots him dead and steals the neutrium and the unconscious Billy. In the future, the last descendant of the Atlantean finds the lab and the two skeletons of his ancestors and the vials of electrium, but notices two vials missing from the rack, from when Georgia and Dr Sivana took them, in the past. He starts up the machine and it succeeds in raising Atlantis. sivana Jr turns up, bashes him on the ehad with a monkey wrench and goes to steal electrium, when Junior turns up. Sivana Jr throws seaweed in Junior's face and escapes. the prof shows Jr a ray gun, powered by electrium, which will blast away the ruins of Atlantis for a new civilization. The prof introduces himself to Junior, who returns it, saying his full name and changing to Freddy freeman, revealing his secret. Sivana Jr socks him with a rock, steals the ray gun and Freddy. The Sivanas all arrive together and unload their elements and bound and gagged prisoners. Sivana puts the elements into his machine and fires it up. he giggles hysterically and holds a knife, then frees the kids! They try their magic words, but they don't work. the machine has created a radiation belt around the Earth, which blocks the magic lightning. he marches the kids into his rocket and takes them to the palace he built to reside, as Ruler of the World, complete with really big chairs...  He turns the kids loose to be the prey in a foxhunt. the kids are smart and use a river to hide their scent and confuse the hunters, then swipe the rocket and return to Sivana's floating lab. They turn off the machine and the magic lightning can get through to change them, then it is payback time for the Sivanas. they get smacked around and dumped on their thrones, bound as prisoners. "The Mighty Master of the Martial Arts"-Elliot S! Maggin-writer, Bob Oskner-pencils, Vince Coletta-inks, Julie Schwartz-editor Billy goes to get an autograph martial arts master Mr Senshoo, but doesn't get there in time, before security moves the crowd of kids on. Billy tries to cheat by turning into Captain Marvel. He offers a kid 1000 signatures of his for Jerry Senshoo's and the kid agrees. Billy takes the autograph home, then runs into the dude chopping his way through the door of a jewelers, to rob the place. Billy changes and Captain Marvel confronts Jerry, but it turns all chop-socky and Captain Marvel is laid out like Samo Hung, at the beginning of Enter the Dragon. jerry takes to loot to some chef, who has him mesmerized. the chef brings him out, then puts him under again, with special spices (must be taragon). he sends him off on another robbery, when the World's Mightiest Mortal turns up and use the Worlds Mightest Tao of Jeet Kun Do....  (Way of the Intercepting Fist) and decks Jerry, nabs the chef and brings Jerry out of it. More letters and some house ads follow...  Including a note about another Captain Marvel Limited Collectors Edition. Thoughts: The reprints really show up the current stuff, though they are charming enough stories. The opener, with the time travelling reporter is fine, though Billy is a doofus and takes the guy at his word, without proof. The Captain Marvel Jr story is kind of lame, but Dick Giordano's art gives it an interesting Neal Adams-y look, given how much his style meshed with Adams (they were business partners, then). The last story is kind of dumb, but harmless fun, though in no universe should Captain Marvel be taken out by a kick to the midsection and a chop to the neck, by a mortal. However, it turned out to be a ruse to follow Jerry and find out who was behind it, since the Wisdom of Solomon said Jerry couldn't be a crook. Um.....why not? Well, gimmick and Comics Code, mostly. The Nightowl story is pretty good and does swipe liberally from the Universal version of The Invisible Man, down to the bandaged villain at a boarding house/inn. Don't really get how plunging darkness should stop Mary; but, comics. The hydraulic press deathtrap is rather vivid and Wertham would probably have a field day, especially since Mary is an underage girl. The bit with the safety gate is actually pretty clever, as that would be a real feature. The Uncle Dudley story is the debut of Aunt Minerva and is a nice bit of fun, with a pretty messed up ending, as she falls for Captain Marvel after he assaults her and spanks her. kinky! (as I remarked about issue #10). She'd turn up again, before the modern story. They really should have done a story about her 5 husbands, as there is a whole backstory there, waiting to come out. The spanking bit isn't that unusual for the period, as it was a misogynistic feature of films, tv and comics, in the period, as a woman gets her comeuppance for some grievance, from the male. They are usually chastised and the better for it. It was so common that Irving Klaw, the entrepreneur who sold Bettie Page's pin-up photos (both cheesecake and fetish) sold hundreds of movie stills of spanking scenes to customers, who specifically requested them (and were highlighted as such, in their catalogs). They carried tons of normal stills and celebrity headshots and pin-ups; but, they also had special interest sections for pin-ups, catfights, spanking, bondage and leatherwear. Aside from what Hollywood provided, they also shot their own, with their models (many of whom were strippers or pun-up models for private camera clubs and semi-pro girlie photographers). The Sivana epic gets a bit repetitive, across chapters; but, is a pretty good romp and highlights the trio better than the previous issue did. The pseudo-science of the three elements sounds good, but is total hooey and Binder tries to rationalize it saying Atomic power (in the A-Bomb) came from plutonium and neptunian, when he meant uranium. Another great collection. Next, we will look at the next Limited Collector's Edition, and that will be followed by a "crossover," with Superman. Then, we return for more 100-PG Shazam!.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 1, 2021 0:35:05 GMT -5
ps for comparison, Superman Island, from Superman (original series) #331....  Pretty creepy story, as the guy who designed the place is some obsessive ex of Lana Lang, who calls himself Master Jailer and imprisons Superman, kidnaps Lana after super-cloroforming her, and puts her in a glass cell. Turns out he was some kid, called "Moosie" Draper, from Smallville, who was a big, clumsy dork. I have a sneaking suspicion Marty Pasko took his name from child actor Moosie Drier, from the Bob Newhart Show...  (Howard's son, Howie, who visited his divorced father, occasionally) |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 3, 2021 19:34:18 GMT -5
Limited Collector's Edition C-27, Shazam! More tabloid-sized goodness! Creative Teams: Noted with individual stories. Synopsis: "Captain Marvel battles Sivana's Voodoo Curse-Otto Binder-story, Pete Costanza-art; Captain Marvel Adventures #127 Otto Binder goes for an old joke, early on...  Captain Marvel hauls Dr Sivana off to jail, after yet another failed scheme. He gets his cape caught in the cell door, and a piece tears off. Sivana is watched closely, by armed guards, who even have their tommy guns in his face when he is eating! He tries to read the dictionary, and they are there; but, he notices the entry on voodoo and he makes a fetish, using CM's torn cape piece. In court, CM testifies to Sivana's deeds, and Sivana messes with him, causing him to itch like he has been visiting the ladies of negotiable affection. The bailiffs have to help him scratch and Sivana escapes in the commotion. Captain Marvel chases him down, but Sivana puts the fetish in a freezer and freezes CM in place. He proceeds to kick CM in the tuchus, tries to saw and chop off his legs. He proves too mighty, so Sivana hauls him off to a junk room, to rot. Things are going fine, until the lights go out, because Sivana hasn't paid his electrical bill (That's evil!). He realizes that the freezer will stop working and grabs the fetish. Sure enough, CM bursts out; but, Sivana has a diorama of a volcano and forces CM to fly to the nearest one. He then dips the fetish into his fake volcano and CM plummets into the real one. He puts a mechanical voicebox in the fetish and forces CM to say Shazam and perish, as Billy Batson. He is celebrating when Captain Marvel smashes in and nabs him. He tells Sivana that when he opened hi mouth, in the volcano, hot lava poured in and he couldn't utter a sound and never changed. He hauls Sivana back to jail. "Captain Marvel Jr and the Man with 100 Heads"-Otto Binder-story, Bud Thompson-art; Captain Marvel Jr #54 A hood tries to hold up red O'Riley's gas station. Freddy Freeman is nearby and hears shots and transforms and knocks the block off the hood...  ...literally! Red was knocked into the greasepit and Junior has to rescue him and the hood picks up his head and runs off. A manhunt ensues, but the bandit appears with new heads, robbing and disapeparing, with different descriptions each time. The one linking factor is a striped suit coat. Freddy is alerted by the local beat cops to keep an eye out. He spots the man in the coat, with yet another head, and follows him to a lecture. It is given by the doctor who saved the hood, transplanting his brain into his chest. Freddy gets a seat near the suspect and the man cackles, as the crowd dismisses the doctor's claims. Freddy lets him know he recognizes him and gets nabbed, tied up and gagged. The man has a shelf full of heads. He plans to use a guillotine to chop of Freddy's head (!!) and use it. Freddy gets his gag off in the nick of time, says his magic words and turns into Captain Marvel Jr. He smashes the blade, then cuts a hole in a basket to fake out the hood, making him think his head fell into the basket (with no blood). The man goes to collect the head and is surprised by Junior and captured. "Mr Tawny's Diet Dangers"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art; Captain Marvel Adventures #121 Mr Tawny has put on a bit of weight (probably all those boxes of Frosted Flakes) and everyone notices. He has been asked to represent a clothing line, but he can't fit into the clothes and loses the contract. It's about to go to a shyster agent, when Billy tries to step in. After the weasel shoves him, Billy turns into Captain Marvel and tells the jerk to try shoving him! he convinces the sponsor to give Tawny a chance to slim down. Captain Marvel feeds Mr Tawny amphetamines (well, "diet" pills), a strict diet, and heavy exercise (and one of those ridiculous vibrating machines). Tawny tries, but hunger is powerful. When he hasn't lost an ounce, they go to a gym for more strenuous workouts.  After all that, tawny has actually gained weight. Captain Marvel takes him home and puts him to bed. tawny has the same dream, of eating a mound of food. CM catches the weasel agent feeding the sleepwalking Tawny, explaining the weight gain. He throws a pie in CM's face and beats feet. The next morning, they hit the gym again, but the weasel has sabotaged it. CM catches him and Tawny gets a workout by beating the s#$% out of him. In the end, he is slim and wins back the contract. "The Fantastic Freezing Furies"- Otto Binder-story, Kurt Schaffenberger-art, The Marvel Family #82 A new gold strike in the Yukon leads to a new gold rush and the town of Jackpot springs up. A massive blizzard covers it in 20 inches of snow, trapping the people. the Marvels head up to help out. They clear the streets, with giant shovels, then go after claim jumpers. However, the crooks appear a bit different.  Turns out, it is the Ice King and his subjects, who need deep cold. They are stealing the gold to make a giant freeze ray. He uses a smaller version to build an ice wall and trap the Marvels, as he flees. they break through, smack around a polar bear, then find some eskimo (or innuit) kids, whose father and other men were taken away as slave labor. The Marvels vow to free their father. They find the king's city of ice and the men being whipped around. they jump in and bust heads, but the king releases an avalanche on the town below and the Marvels must deal with it. Mary builds a giant sledge and tows the people to safety, while Junior melts their tools into a giant sledgehammer and smashes the oncoming wall of ice. Captain Marvel dumps coal around and lights it, melting the remaining ice. The Marvels go back for the king and he unleashes a stampede of wooly mammoths on them. They dump them into a pit and head for the king and find the big freeze ray. However, he has the kids as his prisoners. He forces the Marvels to leave, but they sneak back as Billy, Mary and Freddy. They use a blowtorch to tunnel to the kids, but they wake up a guard and get smacked around and their heads encased in ice balls. They get dumped down a chute to a wolf pit. They can't speak; but, they headbutt the wolves and shatter the ice, allowing them to change. They free the prisoners, but the Ice King has his freeze ray set up on a mountain and has set it off. The Marvels find uranium deposits, under the Arctic Ocean and create a giant atomic pile, which melts the ice (yet somehow doesn't create a complete meltdown). The Marvels use the mammoths to capture the Ice King and return things to normal. In the middle of chapters is a picture of supporting characters, including Steamboat, Billy's black valet, from the 40s, complete with minstrel show face and lips. This is 1974! Julie Schwartz edited this collection. DC never used the character and I don't believe they reprinted any of his stories; but, still... "The Mistake of Father Time"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-pencils, Pete Costanza-inks; The Marvel Family #20 Captain Marvel arrives too late to stop a plane crash, which kills the pilot. he wishes he could do it all over again. father time decides to take a break and sits down on a cloud, reversing his hourglass, and time flows backwards!  Events progress backwards until we see why Captain Marvel was too late, as he had to rescue a woman and baby from a burning building. It reverts to the point where Billy Batson is walking along, when Father Time realizes what he has done and sets the hourglass right and things move forward again. This time, Captain Marvel saves the pilot first and still has time to save the woman and child, as the fire hadn't progressed to the point that they were in the greatest danger. he succeeds in saving both and all is well. "Mary Marvel and the Black Magician"-Otto Binder-story, Jack Binder-art; The Marvel Family #2 Mary Batson is on a nature outing with friends, when she spots a man shoot a deer, out of season. She turns into Mary Marvel and goes after him and he tries to shoot her. The ricochet hits a hornet's nest and he dives into a pond to escape. Mary goes back to her friends and the hunter, a criminal on the lam, meets up with a black magician, who offers to help. They turn one of Mary's friends into a deer and lure others to them, turning them into animals, including Mary, who is transformed into an owl creature. The 6 goddesses who grant Mary her powers appear to her and hold up signs with their names and Mary sounds out her magic word and Mary Marvel fixes everything...  "Uncle Marvel's Rival"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art; Captain Marvel Adventures #53 Billy's miserly old uncle Ebeneezer (of course) turns up, begging for bygones to be bygones and get his hands on Billy's (non-existent) loot. Billy gets him a job with Uncle Dudley, at Shazam, Inc. Ebeneezer calls Dudley a fraud and tries a hostile takeover, but Uncle Marvel has something to say about it....  Captain Marvel appears to play peacemaker. Ebeneezer goes off to lunch and phones in a phony distress call and CM and UM go off to rescue a ship in a storm, while Ebeneezer unloads the Shazam, Inc safe. The ship really is in trouble. They plug up a leak and return to the office, to find Ebeneezer tied up and gagged. They free him and he says they were robbed. Dudley smells a rat. He follows Ebeneezer and catches him with the loot. He goes in after him and gets clobbered with a chair and tied up. However, he gets to the phone and calls Billy and Captain Marvel frees him and arrests Ebeneezer. "Trio of Terror"-Otto Binder-story, CC Beck-art; The Marvel Family #21 The Marvels finish a round table broadcast, when they meet the three Dingling Brothers, who need help to rescue their circus from bankruptcy. The Marvels says they don't work for profit and one of the brothers swipes a book on sorcery. The Marvels realize it is gone and head to the circus, where the brother has used it to cast a spell, creating the three monsters: a satyr, The Hydra (just a guy with 2 heads)and Argus. They put them in a cage for the next show. The monsters escape to rain down terror, when the Marvels turn up and fight them. They dump the three into a charmed circle, then go for the book. they get it back, but get ambushed at the circle, tied up and gagged (as usual). The satyr calls down a spell and the magic lightning restores the Marvels and they whoop ass. There follows some stills from The Adventures of Captain Marvel, from 1941...  The diving Captain Marvel is probably stuntman Dave Sharpe. Thoughts: A good collection of stories, though a bit weaker than the first one. The voodoo story is fun and Sivana getting watched in prison is amusing. The loss of power is a clever solution to the problem of the frozen Captain Marvel. The Junior story is inventive, if fanciful, while the Mary Marvel one is pretty juvenile, even for the period. fairy tale stories were common, but this one is pretty thin. The longer battle with the Ice King is pretty good, with some nice action. It's from the 50s, when Mary's costume had been altered a bit, trading boots for slippers and shorter sleeves on her costume (plus a new hairdoo). The Father Time story is an interesting take on things, literally running the story backwards until we learn why Captain Marvel did not arrive in the nick of time, then giving him a chance to fix things. The Uncle Marvel tale brings back Billy's evil Uncle Ebeneezer Batson, who kicked him out in his origin story (Whiz Comics #2), which is why he was homeless. Billy doesn't trust the rat, but tries to help, since he is family, but Dudley proves that character means more in family than blood. In Power of Shazam, Jerry Ordway kept up the tradition, as Ebeneezer swindles the Batson money and dumps Billy on the street, though the parents are killed on an expedition in Egypt, for Sivana. The circus tale is kind of weak, but not bad. It's too short to be of much consequence. Mr Tawny's tale is a bit far fetched, but fun. It also shows that dangerous dieting methods are nothing new. There is no healthy way to lose 25 pounds, in a week. Next, we look at a "crossover," between a certain World's Mightiest Mortal and a Man of Steel.
|
|
|
|
Post by zaku on Jul 4, 2021 5:00:30 GMT -5
A little curiosity. I just realized that Captain Marvel was put on the cover of the 1976 and 1977 DC calendars.   But not in the 1978 one  It gives me the impression that DC wanted to establish him among the "Big Ones" (I mean, they omitted on those cover other "historic" characters like Aquaman) but then they gave up. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2021 6:38:15 GMT -5
A little curiosity. I just realized that Captain Marvel was put on the cover of the 1977 and 1978 DC calendars. But not in the 1978 one It gives me the impression that DC wanted to establish him among the "Big Ones" (I mean, they omitted on those cover other "historic" characters like Aquaman) but then they gave up. Leading into '76 and '77, you had the licensing of the character from Fawcett to begin with in the early 70's for the Shazam! title (that codystarbuck is doing his delightful detailed reviews on) that was during a time when Superman sales were down. So Captain Marvel was definitely a part of adding some excitement to DC's line-up. And the mid-70's TV show gave the character some good exposure as well. I think there was still some commitment with the character since they had planned for his introduction into Challenge of the Super Friends in '78 (along with Dr. Sivana and Beautia in the Legion of Doom) until the licensing issue with Filmation changed that. That may have been a bit of a game-changer since, while a light-hearted younger audience show, it did influence a number of kids back then like myself (a lot of us are Hal Jordan fans because of that voice!) Check out this ad from '78 as well for the Legends of the Superheroes casting, Alex Toth has Captain Marvel front and center. Though even in this example, he's kind of filling in for Superman who was absent with his movie coming out. And getting back to how DC was using him overall, I wonder if part of the trick was in some ways he was too similar to Superman (at least superficially), and the creative teams (and related editorial direction) not finding a way to make him more exciting in his own right. And with his title getting cancelled (amidst, if not directly a casualty of, the DC Implosion), the aforementioned Super Friends appearance not happening while the Superman movie was, he became less of a "strategic" property.  |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2021 10:53:28 GMT -5
Captain Marvel was pushed heavily while the Filmation series was on, appearing in all kinds of merchandise. In conceptual art, Alex Toth included him and much of his Rogues Gallery in the Legion of Doom. However, Filmation controlled both live action and animated rights to the character and Hanna-Barbera could not use him. It was not uncommon for the conceptual art, used to sell the network on the series (or to convince a license holder to make a deal to pursue a series) to not reflect the finished product. Usually, it was done before they had even written a series bible. If you check out the Genius Animated book, with Toth's animation work, it is filled with conceptual art for series that never came to be, like a Bonanza in the future, or a series with Farrah Fawcett.. As it was, Batman ended up split between Hanna-Barbera, who used him in the Super Friends, and Filmation, who did the New Adventures of Batman, in the mid-late 70s (with Adam West & Burt Ward voicing the characters, instead of Olan Soule and Casey Kasem, as in the earlier Filmation series and Super Friends). There was a DC Poster Book, filled with mostly (if not all) Carmine Infantino pin-ups, including Captain Marvel. There were DC drinking glasses with the characters painted on, including Captain Marvel (I saw some of the earlier and have seen the Shazam one, in an antique store). There was a Shazam slurpee cup, along with other DC logos. The tv series ran through 1977, but was off the air for the 1977-78 season, which is probably why he wasn't featured on the cover of the calendar, but was the previous years. Here's Toth's conceptual painting of the Legion of Doom, led by Dr Sivana...  Note you can see Beautia Sivana, King Kull, and Mr Atom. The Flash is well represented, too, with Grodd, Heatwave, Captain Cold and Abra-Kadabra. Both Joker and Penguin are there for Batman, as well as Poison Ivy; Cheetah and Sinestro for Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Only Grodd, Cheetah, Sinestro and Captain Cold were actually used in the series. The main Batman villains were sewn up for Filmation, so they used Scarecrow and Riddler. Grodd and Cold were the only Flash villains used, until Mirror Master turned up in one of the later series. Joker didn't turn up in the Super friends until the very end, in the Galactic Guardians show. Not sure if they conceived the series, wanting to use Captain Marvel or Toth just did that. There was an episode of the original series, with the Flash, and Toth drew the wrong version for a background statue (Jay Garrick, instead of Barry Allen), which had to be corrected, at the last minute. |
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Jul 4, 2021 11:15:23 GMT -5
The Treasury Editions and Adventures In The DC Universe #7 were my first exposure to Captain Marvel as a young lad. Needless to say, I fell in love  Hopefully at some point we can get proper full collections of The Marvel Family's Fawcett years in Omnibus form, but I doubt it |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2021 11:51:53 GMT -5
The Treasury Editions and Adventures In The DC Universe #7 were my first exposure to Captain Marvel as a young lad. Needless to say, I fell in love Hopefully at some point we can get proper full collections of The Marvel Family's Fawcett years in Omnibus form, but I doubt it Not sure if DC actually ever bought the comics. In the 70s, they were just licensing the character and the reprints all contained copyright notices for Fawcett. DC did do a few volumes of the Shazam Archives and at least one Marvel Family Archive. They had announced a Monster Society of Evil reprint, in that same format they did the Kryptonite No More stories, from Superman; but, it never happened. I can't recall hearing an exact reason; but, it sounded like there might have been legal issues, though it might have just been technical problems. I used to have (and kick myself for letting it go) the special limited reprint of the serial, collected in a big, tabloid-sized coffee table hardcover, with a slipcase, and limited to a specific number. I had a low number, too! That thing was beautiful. Oh, well; I still have digital copies of the stories. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm badly wanted to do the Marvels as an animated series; but, Warner wouldn't go for it. It was stupid, as they were meant for animation, especially with a lighter series, like Brave and the Bold. Captain Marvel finally turned up in Justice League Unlimited, then a few episodes of Brave and the Bold; but, what could have been.... As it was, the Filmation Shazam cartoon was one of their better superhero ones, since the original lighter tone meant that they could have fun with it and they were relatively faithful to the characters. Plus, the magical elements gave them a gimmick to use, instead of fights. Plus, their writers included a young Paul Dini. |
|
) and then they just say he says the name of his idol. They don't elaborate because then they would have to bring up Captain Nazi and they weren't about to do that. They also didn't use Ibac, because of his evil patrons and selling his soul, nor Sabac, for the same reasons, or Nippo, for obvious reasons or Mr Banjo, because he was stupid, even in the 40s! Could have used King Kull, though that would have probably led to issues with the REH estate.
