Episode 1737 Talkback - Spotlight on SHAZAM! in the Bronze Age, Part One
i_am_scifi
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In 1973, after 19 years in comic-book limbo, the Original Captain Marvel and Family burst out of their Suspendium prison and into the waiting arms of the very publisher that worked so hard to exile them in the first place: DC Comics! With Shazamaster Murd and his Lieutenant Marvels as your guides, return now to the early days of the good Captain's Bronze Age revival, from his first DC issue and his stormy reunion with his co-creator C.C. Beck to his first encounter with the other heroes of the DC Multiverse. Whimsy and wonder await! (2:30:20)
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Comments
I'm pretty sure I saw the Shazam! TV show, which I watched every Saturday morning for its entire run, before I picked up my first Shazam! comic, but that first issue—Shazam! #14—was on the newsstand when the show debuted, so I'm not completely sure on that. Of course, most of the book contained Golden Age reprints—not that I realized that at the time. But that book hooked me on the character(s).
But it was Shazam! #19—specifically the following two pages—that locked me in as a huge fan of Bob Oksner. I may have only been five years old, but that second panel of the final page set my heart a thumpin’ and greatly contributed to my budding appreciation of the female form.
Re: the availability of the series on the DC app, all of the line art has been digitized, but it was done for a Showcase collection, so it almost certainly has not been digitally recolored yet. Given how reliant the movie is to the Geoff Johns “modern” version of the character, it's not really all that surprising DC didn’t worry about this “old-fashioned” material.
Great spotlight. I enjoyed it a lot
I'm curious about that Bicentennial issue mentioned but it isn't in this volume. I'll have to keep an eye out for it when back issue diving.
@nweathington Looks like the volume will be on Comixology on June 4th! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RXLXK5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7BC8CbVBPQHCD
I'm finding Geoff Johns' current Shazam! run fun enough, it's interesting to see what he and DC have chosen to modernize from the mythos. I hope it runs long enough to give us the first appearance of Uncle Shazam :o)
There's one Shazam-related item I don't remember hearing during your coverage of the interstitial "While They Were Sleeping" period between the Golden Age sunset of the Marvel Family and their Bronze Age DC debut. In Action Comics #351-353 (1967), Superman meets ZHA-VAM, a giant artificial being created and powered by embittered Olympian gods who are jealous of Superman, modern humanity's greatest hero! Older readers no doubt recognized the thinly-disguised Captain Marvel analog as yet another proxy battle between Superman and the Big Red Cheese (or, in this case, a Big Red HEAD) was staged. Raging across three issues (a super-rarity for Silver Age DC comics), the battle ends when Superman enlists the magical aid of Pluto, Neptune, and Atlas (Zeus rivals all) to once and for all defeat the World's Mightiest Malcontent.
A minor stop along the road of Superman and Cap's contentious history, to be sure, but one definitely worth mentioning to the Comic Geek Speak listeners.
Note: Besides his core set of powers, the belt worn by Zha-Vam gifted him with additional powers and appearances from various gods and heroes:
C: Transforms Zha-Vam into a Cyclops with an eye beam.
G: Transforms Zha-Vam into the mythical Gorgon, which can petrify any living being (even Superman).
I: Zha-Vam can project Iris's magic rainbows.
J: Zha-Vam gets Jason's dragon-teeth, which grew real dragons or warriors when sown into the soil.
M: Zha-Vam gains Morpheus' power to make living beings sleep and dream, or Mars' war-like abilities.
O: He gets Orion's Shield, an impenetrable mystical shield, which can expand itself faster than Superman can fly, which blocked Superman's access to the entire planet Earth during his attempt to return to his home planet.
P: Pluto's Cap of Darkness, which allows Zha-Vam to become invisible or create darkness, and well as Phaeton's Sun Chariot, which can burn and melt solid stone.
S: He gains four arms and swords as the hindu god, Shiva .
T: He is able to become a Titan-sized 100-ft giant.
And if that's not enough enticement, there's this: