Superman Vs. Shazam!

DC Comics Presents (1978-1986) #33-34, 49, Annual 3

by Roy Thomas (Writer), Rich Buckler (Illustrator), Gil Kane (Illustrator)

It's the Man of Steel vs. the World's Mightiest Mortal in this action-packed collection, featuring appearances by many of their allies in the battle for justice, as well as villains including Mr. Mxyzptlk, Mr. Mind, Captain Nazi, Black Adam and more. Collects All-New Collectors Edition C-58, DC Comics Presents #33-34, #49, Annual #3

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

189 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2013

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific 80s collection, mostly new to me. The real gem here is the final story by Gil Kane. It's worth the price of admission and comic book confection.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

These comics were, for the most part, rather... corny. They were from that 70s/80s period in comics that (for the most part) were almost taking themselves more seriously as a storytelling medium, but didn't quite know how to shake off the inherent silliness of comics' roots. (At least, that's what I've gathered from the ones I've come across. I would love to find some that defy that.)
But still, this collection gets a few points for nostalgia and because Captain Marvel is one of my favorite superheroes and it's hard to find comics starring him.
My favorite comic was definitely the one featuring Billy Batson from our Earth. I don't always love the multiverse--sometimes it stretches my suspension of disbelief a little too far; however, I do like that it does allow for a lot of "what-if" story lines. I wonder if introducing our Earth's Billy Batson is a precursor for Infinite Crisis, which I believe--and I haven't read that particular story yet, so my knowledge isn't great on this--was used to decrease the use of the multiverse and increase the continuity among DC's characters and stories. I hope so, because I like Captain Marvel actually being in the Justice League, not just a guest star now and again.
Still, I'm always looking for more Captain Marvel stories, so this was worth reading.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Various run-ins between Superman and Captain Marvel [he is NOT Shazam, that's the wizard but somebody messed up really bad some time back]. Some are ho-hum while others were pretty good. The reasons for them fighting ranged from lame [really lame] to at least making a modicum of sense. My biggest complaint would be if the story was a two-parter, they did not include the second part i the fighting betwixt the two was over.

[Paul Riches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superman Vs Shazam

by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler, and Gil Kane.

So Shazam, aka Captain Marvel, was an obvious rip-off of Superman and became more popular in the 1950’s that our hero, which caused a lawsuit and long story short, DC Comics ended up owning The Marvel Family.

After a quick update to the character in the 1970’s, and a trail run unfortunately not included here, DC finally had the two meet in an over sized collectors edition in 1978, and to increase the excitement, they have Supergirl and Mary Marvel along as well. Now they quickly start off with Superman and Shazam getting into a fight of course, then Black Adam and Sand Superman (don’t ask) show up and more fighting occurs, but I don’t care how wild and silly it is because it is just so much fun to see all these iconic characters together.

With the next meet up, they of course switch bodies because why not. This is courtesy of the magical prankster Mr. Mxyzptlk, and is part of a bigger plot because the next story continues on Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior showing up. The special guest star at the end is a personal favourite, and just adds to the madcap merriment of the whole thing.

Black Adam shows up again and takes on Superman in the next tale, and has Billy Batson, Captain Marvel’s youthful alter ego, save the day. An old trick defeats the villain, which we see coming from a parsec away, but that doesn’t detract from the fun of the whole thing.

They finish up with Dr Sivana, the evil scientist, stealing Captain Marvel’s powers. Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior also show up, and for an added bonus, the Golden Age Superman flies into the fight, which just adds to the coolness factor.

This is a great look at a certain time of both classic characters, before Crisis Of Infinite Earths merged their worlds and brought some realism along with it. I love both versions so this is a real treat.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

It makes me sad to rate this low, but I really did not enjoy it. The initial Superman/Shazam face-off didn't do anything for me, though it was fun to see Supergirl and Mary Marvel team up. The few issues that followed were some of the most crowded and busy comic pages I have ever seen. Out of this collection I enjoyed the final story with Captain Sivana best, but not a strong showing overall.

For more on my thoughts on Shazam tune in here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had more fun with this than I was expecting. Normally I dislike stories where superheroes fight each other, but there's something about Shazam and Supernan where they can never fight for long. So the stories collected here end up being team ups instead and its actually a lot of fun to see not only these two heroes work together but to compare and contrast their respective rogues galleries. DC Comics Presents #33 and #34 were especially great for this.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories, which has Superman and Captain Marvel fighting together more than in opposition, expresses a sharp contrast with the stories in the Marvel line. The dialog has a more kiddie feel to it, after a while you get tired of reading “Holy Moley!” and some of the auxiliary characters are heavily into the cutesy. For example, there is the bunny with Shazam powers.
The plot device of multiple Earths with a gateway between them is used to provide all the backdrops needed to have the heroes of great power “coexist.” Despite living on different Earths, Superman, Captain Marvel and all their powerful foes are aware of each other, often through the medium of comic books. People on the Earth of Superman read Captain Marvel comic books and the people on the Earth of Captain Marvel read Superman comic books.
The stories use the standard powerful villains and evil doers found in the comic book lines of the two heroes. Sometimes they operate solo and other times they team up. A common theme of the villains is that they want to destroy their super foes and even the Earths.
In terms of action, in general it is a series of super punches, where villain hits hero and he flies back, only to have the hero come back and hit the villain and knock him just as far. Fans of Marvel will miss the battle chatter of the hero as they cannot help but engage in smart dialog, even while getting blasted by a powerful punch.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun trade paperback featuring all the one-on-one team-ups of the Man of Steel and the Big Red Cheese. This includes the hard-to-find Limited Collector's Edition (those huge comics with the pasteboard covers), as well as three issues and an annual of Superman's team-up title DC Comics Presents.

These are proper old comic stories - lots of action, goofiness, and truth, justice and the American way. You get a quick lesson in Shazam's history and meet half his proper rogue's gallery in this volume. Rich Buckler, Dick Giordano, and Gil Kane provide some fantastic artwork for Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas' tales.

Recommended for the old-school comic book fan!

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tendría que chequear el contenido para ver bien qué incluía, pero estoy bastante seguro de haber leído esta misma edición hace unos cuantos años y me divirtió lo suficiente como para querer pegarle una buena revisada.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I found these tales more memorable or less hackneyed. Oh well, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny's appearance was a blast, anyway.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

good Bronze era stories. somewhat repetitive in some places. the last tale illustrated by Gil Kane shows off his considerable talent.

[Sephy]

"You'll sound worse yet...once I use these kryptonite "brass knuckles" to force you to knuckle under!"

[Mark Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, cheesy, 70’s fun.

[Steven Jorgenson]

It was super... Shazam!