Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Young Billy Batson wanders onto a mysterious subway and meets a wizard. Billy gains super powers, transforming into Captain Marvel with the magic word SHAZAM! Can Captain Marvel stop the giant robots who have mysteriously appeared in the park and outwit Attorney General Thaddeus Bodog Sivana?

On the heels of reading Jeff Smith's Bone, I decided I was going to read this. My exposure to Captain Marvel has been limited, mostly because there hasn't been a helluva lot. I watched the cartoon on Saturday mornings and have four issues of DC Comics Presents and I've read a few scattered issues here and there.

Anyway, this is Jeff Smith's retelling of the Captain Marvel classic Monster Society of Evil, a story that ran from issues 22 to 46 of Captain Marvel Adventures in the 1940s. I've never read that tale so I can't say how much Smith took from it.

All that aside, I liked this book quite a bit. Jeff sticks with the Golden Age conceit that Billy and Captain Marvel aren't quite the same person. It's not Big with super heroes. Billy and Cap are linked but still separate. Giant robots show up, controlled by Mr. Mind, and Dr. Sivana, US Attorney General in this version, wants the robots for himself. Throw in Billy's long lost sister, Mary Marvel, and you get a really fun tale.

The art in this is adorable, so adorable that I didn't really care how faithful it was to the original Monster Society of Evil. I didn't think the style Jeff used on Bone would translate well to super heroes but the art has a timeless quality, like an undiscovered gem from the past. Billy and Mary are too cute, Sivana looks ridiculous but still true to the character, and the robots and monsters look great. His Captain Marvel looks powerful and maintains the look established by CC Beck back in the day.

For a story told in 24 installments originally, I thought Jeff Smith's Monster Society of Evil went by way too quickly. It felt a little rushed but had a good pace, for the most part. I didn't really like that Mr. Mind was a snake in this iteration instead of the ridiculous caterpillar with glasses but I guess you can't have everything. Where would you keep it all?

While it isn't the version of Captain Marvel I picture in my head, Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil is a cute, fun read. Four out of five stars.



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