Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal by Chip KiddMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal details the Captain Marvel phenomenon of the 1940s.
I've known for a long time that Captain Marvel outsold Superman in the 1940s but I had no idea what a media juggernaut he really was. This volume contains lots of art from the adventures of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family in comics, but also touches upon the movie serials, I had no idea Captain Marvel was the first superhero ever depicted on screen, and the extensive merchandise that was churned out during Captain Marvel's heyday.
In the '40s, kids could get their hands on Captain Marvel tin cars, Captain Marvel temporary tattoos, Captain Marvel patches, Captain Marvel buttons, and pretty much any other piece of crap you could slap the likeness of Captain Marvel or the Marvel Family on.
Mac Raboy had a pretty good section devoted to him. Unless I missed it, there wasn't much about CC Beck. Spy Smasher got a little more time than I thought he would, especially since the Lieutenant Marvels didn't get a peep. The book is more of a scrapbook than anything else. There isn't much in the way of text apart from a page here and there. It's jam packed with art and photos, though. Would it kill DC to put out a collection of CC Beck Captain Marvel covers at some point?
I find it interesting that before the comics code & deliberately phased out Steamboat because even then they knew the character was an offensive stereotype.
Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal is an interesting scrapbook detailing the phenomenon that was Captain Marvel in the 1940s. I wouldn't have minded more in the way of actual text, though. 4 out of 5 lightning bolts.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment