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Episode 1737 Talkback - Spotlight on SHAZAM! in the Bronze Age, Part One

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)

Listen here.

Comments

  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    @Adam_Murdough, you are absolutely correct in your pronunciation of Schaffenberger.

    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).

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    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.

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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    Re: Carmine’s “Colors of Evil” characters, personally, I don’t think Carmine was being completely honest in his claims, especially when it came to the villains. That being said, if I recall correctly, he did get a (relatively small) settlement amount from DC. And whether he was lying about the origins of those Flash characters or not, whatever amount he won wasn’t nearly much as he deserved.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    edited May 2019
    I don’t recall seeing any drawings of any kind for Captain Shazam.

    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.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    edited May 2019
    @i_am_scifi, trust me, spanking was still A-OK at the time those issues came out. My fifth grade homeroom teacher had her paddle prominently mounted above the chalkboard as a deterrent, and that was well after the comic had ended.
  • chrislchrisl Posts: 78
    Now, this is a great way to start the weekend! Thank you, Adam for all of the hard work you put into these Captain Marvel spotlight episodes.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608

    Great spotlight. I enjoyed it a lot

  • SharkJumperSharkJumper Posts: 204
    I'm not sure if I missed it but there IS a new collection of the '73 series out there on the shelves now....Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal. It goes to issue #18, no Isis or GA reprints from what I can see at first glance. $50 at full prices with a wonderful Michael Cho cover and nice design. I guess no digital but it is out there in dead tree format if you wish it. After driving around running errands all afternoon listening to the episode, it was exactly what I was craving when I walked in to my LCS.

    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.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736

    I'm not sure if I missed it but there IS a new collection of the '73 series out there on the shelves now....Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal. It goes to issue #18, no Isis or GA reprints from what I can see at first glance. $50 at full prices with a wonderful Michael Cho cover and nice design. I guess no digital but it is out there in dead tree format if you wish it.

    It just came out this week. I must have glossed over it in the Previews catalog when it was solicited. I imagine this material will hit the DC service in the very near future. Not sure why they’d time it to hit shelves after the movie release rather than before though. Must have been a numbers game.
  • i_am_scifii_am_scifi Posts: 781
    edited June 2019
  • BionicDaveBionicDave Posts: 377
    Fantastic job @Adam_Murdough, your lasting love for the Big Red Cheese and his world has once again reignited my own, I love listening to your Cap/Shazam spotlights (and all of your spotlights). I found a digitized Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal vol. 1 on my Hoopla app for a fast (and free) read, in which I look forward to indulging - along with a surprising amount of other Shazam! titles from past eras. Hoopla really is a digital comic book treasure trove.

    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)
  • Mark_EngblomMark_Engblom Posts: 343
    edited June 2019
    Just finished listening to part one...great job, Adam!

    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.

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    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.
  • Just finished listening to part one...great job, Adam!

    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.

    I totally agree, Mark! I remember coming across a mention of Zha-Vam in some reference work or magazine or website I read back in the '90s, but I've never read the story that introduced him and hadn't even thought about the character in years. If he'd come to mind in time, I absolutely would have mentioned Zha-Vam in Episode 1737. Thanks for informative addendum, Mark, and for the delightful visual aid!
  • Mark_EngblomMark_Engblom Posts: 343
    edited June 2019

    I remember coming across a mention of Zha-Vam in some reference work or magazine or website I read back in the '90s, but I've never read the story that introduced him and hadn't even thought about the character in years.

    The Zha-Vam saga is definitely one of the more memorable Silver Age Superman epics. In addition to the aforementioned three issue length, it also featured some surprisingly large panels and dynamic layouts...another oddity for the usually restrained styles of artist Wayne Boring and editor Mort Weisinger. But best of all? It was written by none other than Otto Binder, who (as you well know) certainly had plenty of experience with pantheon-powered people!

    And if that's not enough enticement, there's this:

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