Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told VOL 01

Perfect stories for those who dont know much about Shazam or are interested in a different superhero

A good collection of stories . The only one that should not be here ( even though it's kind of Shazam related ) is the "Captain Thunder" story . It should have replaced with a real Shazam story . Probably one from the Jerry Ordway "Power of Shazam" ongoing. Other than that it's a good collection of stories that gives the reader a well rounded look into the character .

great storys.loved the 2 marvel family storys and the rest are fab.if you just want to read captain marvel,then dig this.

This entry in the DC Comics' 'Greatest Stories Ever Told' series of trade paperback books focuses on the superheroic exploits of the original Captain Marvel, who first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940), in an attempt by Fawcett Comics to capitalise on the superhero genre and compete against the on-going adventures of Superman and the like. Captain Marvel was conceived by Bill Parker and his first outing illustrated by the artist C.C.Beck, and it was his whimsical charm and allure that enthralled readers of the time, becoming the best-selling superhero magazine of its period until it's cancellation at the hands of a lawsuit by Detective Comics, whereby it was put forth that the Cap was in fact an infringement upon the übermensch concept of Superman that they had cemented so much into popular contemporary culture. It was Marvel Comics who ultimately took the name of Captain Marvel for their own creation, and after Detective Comics acquired the rights to the Captain Marvel property and his shared universe/characters from Fawcett Comics, he was thus amalgamated into DC's shared Multiversal continuity of Earth-S. Following 1985's 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', which forged all of the Multiverse into one shared reality, the Captain became an important cornerstone of the DC Universe, and is still an important character in his own right to this day, making cameos and appearances in animated series, live-action television programmes and original animated presentations, as well as various video games and parodies over the decades. Now that the Captain Marvel moniker has been rooted within Marvel Comics' shared lore, DC has made the decision to use the name of the Captain's wizard-mentor Shazam in its promotional material, such as in this collection of magazine stories; and because of the possible confusion in this naming structure, Captain Marvel currently goes by the `Shazam' label in the wake of DC's New 52 reboot. It is newsboy Billy Batson who is behind the mask of this magical hero, being given the powers and abilities of the six mythological elders of Solomon, Hercules, Apollo, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury by the mystical wizard Shazam, in order to carry on his fight in the battle against injustice and evil. Captain Marvel has had a vast array of enemies over the years; the most notable being the Lex Luthor-esque super-genius scientist Doctor Sivana, the violent ex-utilizer of the Wizard's magic lightning Black Adam, and the reality-altering worm from a far-off world, Mr Mind. In addition, he has gained a family of Marvel related allies, such as the loveable Uncle Dudley, Billy Batson's twin sister Mary (going by the title of Mary Marvel), Hoppy the anthropomorphic Marvel Bunny, and Freddy Freeman, aka Captain Marvel Junior, amongst others such as the Lieutenant Marvels and Tawny the Tiger. However, it is the light-hearted escapades, and the Captain's blatant boyish innocence that gives Shazam its famous charm to its readers throughout the generations of fans, hailing from his original 40's incarnation, to his role in the Elseworlds' limited series 'Kingdom Come', and the more recent appearance of an Earth-5 Thunderworld counterpart in the New 52's 'Multiversity' title. 'Shazam - The Greatest Stories Ever Told', published in 2008 in trade paperback form with binding not dissimilar to DC's more affordable 'Chronicles' series, attempts to encapsulate a selection of best-of stories from Captain Marvel's publication history. The collection starts off with the Captain's aforementioned first appearance in 1940's Whiz Comics #2, and goes on to explore specific adventures from the character's golden age appearances up until the early 50's, when publication ceased due to DC's lawsuit case, coming from the pages of 'Whiz Comics', 'Captain Marvel Adventures' and 'The Marvel Family' series of comic magazines. These particular golden age adventures were truly surreal in nature, with a light-hearted tone that didn't take themselves too seriously, with our titular hero battling giant lizard-men from the planet Saturn, a crazed scientist wishing to rule the world in primate form (in true pre-'Planet of the Apes' style), and the personification of the planet Earth itself (yes! - really!). Subsequent stories are taken from 'Shazam!', the magazine which re-introduced Captain Marvel to the DC's reader audience, by explaining his twenty-year absence as being due to suspension in space by long-time rival Doctor Sivana, along with the character's supporting cast of enemies and allies. There is also the inclusion of DC's teaser-story in its 'Adventures of Superman' publication, wherein a superhero from an alternate Earth appears, named Captain Thunder and bearing a striking resemblance to our famous hero, which is a knowing nod to the character's conception before being revealed to the reading public, and before Captain Marvel's doctrination into official DC lore. My personal favourite inclusion within this collection comes from 'DC Comics Presents Annual #3' in 1984, just before the famous Crisis event, in which Captain Marvel teams up with the two Supermen of Earth-One and Earth-Two, attempting to halt a superpowered Sivana, after he harnesses Shazam's magic lightning bolt for multiversal domination. I really enjoy anything relating to DC's Multiverse concept, and I see this individual story as encapsulating one of the highest peaks of the company's publication history. Following this adventure, there are entries from the 1990s, such as 'L.E.G.I.O.N. '91', in which our hero is pitted against the interstellar bounty hunter Lobo; 'The Power of Shazam!', giving a heart-warming tale of compassion for a burn victim at the hands of one of Cap's arch-enemies at the time; and an addition from 'Adventures in the DC Universe'; showing an early glimpse of the incarnation of Captain Marvel residing in the DCAU, before appearing in the Justice League cartoon. All in all, the 'Shazam!' entry in DC's 'Greatest Stories Ever Told' trade paperback comic-book series is a great over-arching compilation of some of Captain's Marvel's various adventures throughout the character's publication history until the late 90s; from when the Shazam franchise explored magical surreal settings that didn't rely too heavily on plot, but explored a magical realm in which the reader could escape into fantasy and whimsy. I would have liked to see appearances from the Cap's more extensive rogues gallery, such as Black Adam for instance, and a bit more textual analysis on the character as a whole for the casual reader, explaining the progression and motivation of the hero as a whole; indeed I think this is where this volume falls short in some fellow readers' minds. In line with this, there is also included a (very!) short introduction by Jeff Smith, who grew up with the bronze-age 70's iteration of the character, during which the World's Mightiest Mortal was on television with Filmation's live-action series, and who wrote some of the hero's escapades later in his career with Detective Comics. The Shazam franchise will always have a special individualistic charm, and this collection lovingly shows the character's development over the years from magical and surreal foundations, gradually becoming an important inclusion within the DC Universe in its many iterations following various fictional crises events and re-imaginings for varying generations of fans and loyal readers alike.

The biggest advantage to this collection is that all of these are reprinted in full color and not in black and white like many of these collections. There are six stories from the golden age and the rest come from the seventies on. A good solid collection and overview at a reasonable price.

An awesome book that reprints the original stories from the comic book series of 1939. I can very highly recommend this as an inexpensive way to recapture the Captain Marvel "Shazam" memories.

This collection contains reprints from two eras. The first half of the book is from the original Golden Age stories, the second from the 1970's DC revival. I would have rated this 5 stars if they had concentrated on the earlier, vastly superior incarnation. Still recommended, though, as a great way to introduce the whimsical Captain Marvel to young readers at an affordable price.

Captain Marvel was known as the Big Red Cheese and during the golden age, his sales rivaled Superman. However, his historic run came to an end when Fawcett Publications stopped making comics. And then DC acquired its old nemesis and wrote him up in this series of Greatest Stories books. The book is called Shazam because in the interim between the end of the Captain Marvel title and DC's purchase of the character, Marvel created its own character named Captain Marvel. What's good about this book are the six golden age stories which in many ways seemed reminiscent of the Silver Age DC stories I'd read only a lot more fun. Captain Marvel and (in two stories) Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. bring a great deal of fun to some epic sci-fi and fantasy plots including battles against aliens, intelligent gorillas, and the Earth itself. Where the book goes wrong is that they dedicate the rest of the book to DC's floundering attempts to revive and update the character. Jeff Smith who wrote the Introduction said that none of the latter stories had the same magic as the newer ones. Therefore, it kind of doesn't make sense that 60% of the book is made up of these weaker efforts. If this is truly the best of what DC has done with the Shazam character since 1973, Captain Marvel fans have reason to be annoyed. The book contains a story from Superman #276 (1974) that features Superman battling a Captain Marvel knock-off called Captain Thunder. Why DC even created the character when they controlled the original is beyond me. Why a story that doesn't even feature Captain Marvel ended up in this book is even more puzzling. Another of the "greatest" stories included is a Superman Team Up Annual where Captain Marvel spends most of the 40-page story stuck under a rock while Superman battles the bad guy. Then we have a battle with Lobo which has Captain Marvel portrayed as a total dork and his appearance and disappearance go completely unexplained to the uninitiated. The best of the modern stories is Jerry Ordway's, "Yeah-This is a Face Only a Mother Could Love," which at least had some heart to it even if it seemed a little angsty for Captain Marvel. The book then wraps up with a forgettable 12-page story about Captain Marvel's powers malfunctioning. The bottom line is that if you can pick the book up from an Interlibary Loan, you can find six worthwhile golden age Captain Marvel stories to read. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is marred by poor editorial decisions which makes its title much more of a farce than a reality