The Shazam! Archives, Vol. 1

The Shazam! Archives #1

by Bill Parker, C.C. Beck (Illustrator), Pete Costanza (Ilustrator)

When young radio reporter Billy Batson speaks the name of an ancient wizard "SHAZAM!" he is magically transformed into the World's Mightiest Mortal - Captain Marvel! Marked by a distinct art style, Captain Marvel made his debut in 1939 in Fawcett Publishing's WHIZ COMICS and, for a time, even outsold his publishing rival SUPERMAN. This delightful hardcover collection reprints the Captain Marvel stories from those early WHIZ COMICS, introducing Captain Marvel, Billy Batson, the evil Dr. Sivana, the wizard Shazam!, and more. It also includes the famous "ashcan" edition of the first issue of WHIZ!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Dc Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

208 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 1988

About the author

William "Bill" H. Parker, Jr. (died 1963) was an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known for creating Fawcett Comics' most popular character, Captain Marvel, in 1940, along with artist C. C. Beck.

Parker joined Fawcett Publications in 1937. Parker's tenure on Captain Marvel comics was cut short when he was conscripted into World War II.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of the Golden Age start of this classic hero. Fun Read. Recommended

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining enough. The early exploits of Billy Batson and his alter-ego Captain Marvel aka Shazam.
My favorite stories were from Whiz Comics #14 in which we learn the full name of arch enemy Thaddeus Bodog Sivana before he escapes court going through the wall. And #15 in which we get Sivana’s origin as a brilliant but mad scientist.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The earliest Captain Marvel stories are enjoyable enough but mostly formulaic. In most, an evil scientist (usually Sivana) has some sort of outrageous plot to take over the world and is thwarted by Captain Marvel. I was especially amused by Sivana sending the President a letter telling him to resign or else. I had not known or forgotten that Sivana is also in on Captain Marvel's secret identity from very early on, so the device of finding ways to keep Billy Batson from talking gets established early on. The best iteration involves him being turned back into a baby who can't properly articulate the word "Shazam"--that's also one of the more creative of the stories and, not coincidentally, one of the later ones. I also didn't know Sivana's "origin story," which we get in the final issue reproduced here. C. C. Beck's art is from the outset a pleasure. He creates a nicely eerie effect in the first story, with its supernatural subway, but mostly goes for a clean, light look. There's nothing adult, generally, about Captain Marvel--the target audience was young readers (cheesecake images of the aptly-named Beautia notwithstanding), reflected in the conversion of the Seven Deadly Sins into the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, with the notable removal of Lechery from the grouping. The sins are Lechery, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Idleness, Envy, and Pride, but instead, we get Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness, and Injustice. Lechery might have been worth including, actually, since Beautia's bewitching attractiveness influences even Captain Marvel, who takes her out on a date in one of the later stories. We'll have to wait until Otto Binder takes over as writer before we get to the really good stuff--but then, DC curtailed this reprint series due, I believe, to concerns about racist content, so most of that great stuff remains inaccessible in contemporary editions.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fawcett's Captain Marvel has been a favorite character of mine since watching the Saturday morning live action TV show in the '70s. He's got an awesome costume and I love the concept of a younger person (a teenager in the TV show; a young boy in the comics) turning into a Superman analog by saying a magic word. This is my first time reading his original adventures.

CC Beck's art is lovably simple, but exciting. That's the highlight here. And just the joy of seeing the same villain, Dr Sivana, reappear over and over again in spite of being constantly defeated. He becomes an awesome archenemy just from sheer, relentless repetition.

Unfortunately, that repetition backfires when it comes to the tone of the collection. The villains' schemes are mostly fun and inventive, but all the stories are the same kind: secret villain has scheme, Billy Batson investigates, uncovers villain, and defeats them as Captain Marvel. They'd be fun read a month at a time, but they're hurt by reading together in a collection like this. I'm curious to get to stories featuring Tawky Tawny and some of the other crazy supporting cast, but I'm hesitant to pick up the next volume. Going to try some Captain Marvel, Jr and Mary Marvel instead.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original Captain Marvel comics have an immense amount of charm to them, largely due to the contributions of artist C.C. Beck whose rigid compositions and layouts are still just as distinctive decades later. While the adventures of Billy Batson really peak with the more serialized approach from Otto Binder's and Beck's "The Monster Society of Evil" storyline, these original comics published by Fawcett are still plenty fun. The stories themselves are pretty trivial action adventure superhero stuff that get formulaic quick, but if you lean into the campiness then you'll have a great time with these comics. Beck's illustrations are simple but tightly rendered, a sharp contrast to the later works of titans like Kirby and Ditko. It's great that the earlier comics work are still getting preserved in nice editions like these.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Marvel is one of my favorite superheroes, so it was interesting to see the character in its earliest conceptions--before he was even owned by DC Comics. These comics were from 1940 and 1941, and they were definitely a product of their time: each story was straightforward, simple, and followed the exact same formula time and time again. But still, as a fan of Captain Marvel, it was intriguing to see where his story started.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is is a privilege's to read these earliest Captain Marvel stories in the order in which they were published. There is some blatantly racist content that some will justify as being typical of the time (it is, but there is something wrong if it must be justified) and the stories are not as good as CM stories would become in later years. This is nevertheless a fun book.

[Bael Mont · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is very really, because the plot envelops the reader and makes it come true.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is "Golden Age" era (late 1930s to early 1940s) stuff by the original creator of Captain Marvel, C.C. Beck. It's fascinating in seeing the early developments of this "New" character. But compared to today's serialized, stylized, more heavily plotted work it's a little hard to take. The plots have a vague sameness to them - Billy Batson is always endangered in some way, mostly kidnapped, and always uses "SHAZAM" to get out of any trouble. Beck at this point had not developed any vulnerabilities for the character - even Superman had Kryptonite in his early stages -so once the Captain shows up the trouble is over. Additionally there is little room for supporting characters, within these paper-thin plots. Batson is a young "ace" reporter (radio, not print. A small differentiation from Clark Kent.) who has no family, friends, significant others, or life outside his job for "Amalgamated Broadcasting." Batson's boss somehow knows his secret, is only there to serve the plot - and tell Batson where trouble is brewing, and go solve it.

A fun note the "gnatzis" show up in issue fourteen. A curious spelling trick that makes one wonder as to the whys of the conceit.

A couple of false starts with the character's name. First was Captain Thunder, and in the next issue, I believe, the character is called Captain Marvelous. According to the introduction the editors immediately shortened it.

Also fun to learn when DC bought the character and relaunched it in the sixties, Beck came to DC to work on the relaunch,if only for about a year. The others who worked with Beck also had careers at DC.

All in all, a fun historical document, that probably should only be read in small, small doses.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retro Hugo Finalist: “Introducing Captain Marvel” (Whiz Comics #2, Feb 1940)

The Retro Hugo nominated story introduces a boy who becomes a superman by following a creepy man into some subway tunnels where he meets another creepy man with a white beard (what could possibly go wrong? - it was a simpler time, of course). The guy with the white beard endows little Billy with wisdom, strength, stamina, power, courage, and speed to fight evil. With the magic word "Shazam!," Billy turns into the adult Captain Marvel. This origin also includes his first encounter with arch-nemesis Sivana. It's entertaining enough, but only hints at the fun adventures to come.

Squarely aimed at children, the adventures of Captain Marvel are nonetheless a step above many of the other comic books of the time. Beck is a skilled artist who understands how to tell a clear, simple story. His figures have a realistic look, with a depth that eluded a lot of other comic book artists.

I have doubts that Hugo voters of 1941 would have nominated this new comic book that was an obvious pastiche of Superman, only aimed at a younger audience. Hugo voters of 2016 have nominated it as a recognition of Captain Marvel's 75-year history.

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've gotta say that I was bored out of my trees for 90% of this book, but I don't blame the book for that. Most of that is the storytelling tropes of its time in comics. I will however note that some of the villains are hilarious, and the unintended sexism is especially draw-dropping.

[Eric Orchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty awesome but I was surprised just how young an audience the writing seemed to be aiming for.