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Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
01/06/2008 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Titan Books. 222 page graphic novel softcover. Price: £16.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-84576-841-6. Buy Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told in the USA - or Buy Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told in the UK  check out website: www.titanbooks.comand www.dccomics.com
Under the rather snazzy Alex Ross cover there are a dozen of the original Fawcett Captain Marvel stories covering his life under CC Beck in the 1940s right up to modern artists in 1998. The thirteenth story is about 'Captain Thunder' using one of the alternative versions for the Big Red Cheese when he was under development.
Considering that Fawcett was originally sued because of similarities to Superman by National Periodicals, the company's name before it officially became DC Comics, it's ironic that they eventually owned Captain Marvel, his family and villains.
The early tales artwork looks fairly basic, even when one of the stories here was drawn by Jack Kirby no less but in those days, working bigger than the printed page wasn't that big an option. When it came to printing on newsprint with inks likely to bleed, it made sense not to be too elaborate. Having said that, seeing the transitions over the years and initially trying to keep the art like the old days took a while to evolve into a more 'realistic' mode or at least to the level of the other DC comics.
Oddly enough, this had little effect on the stories themselves. The premise was simple but bold. Young teen-ager Billy Batson is compelled to follow a man down into the subway who reveals himself to be a wizard called Shazam and endows him with super-powers and an adult body whenever he calls his name. It's interesting to note how much this is played up in recent stories that Captain Marvel is still a young teen in a super-human adult body which explains his innocence and preference for milk shakes to beer.
You would have to know all the Captain Marvel stories to judge whether this is the best selection or the criteria for how these were selected. However, if you want to get a grasp of not only him but also how he's changed or not over the years then this is a useful book to own. In many respects, Captain Marvel hasn't really changed. He doesn't have a dark side just a will for good intentions. He even tries to be nice to Lobo for Illuminatii's sake.
It would be hard to say I have any favourites here just that they are all readable and some rather impressive artists over the generations who've taken their pencil to him. Captain Marvel is part of comicbook history and the world's mightiest mortal should not be over-looked.
GF Willmetts
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