Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal Vol. 2

Shazam!: The World's Mightiest Mortal #2

by E. Nelson Bridwell, Kurt Schaffenberger (Illustrator), Dennis O'Neil

In 1973, DC brought back one of the most beloved superheroes of all time: Shazam! With the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury, Shazam is one of humankind's most powerful champions! Shazam fights foes including the villainous Dr. Sivana, the mesmerizing Mr. Mind, and the ultrapowerful Black Adam. He is joined by his family on these quests, including Mary Marvel, Uncle Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr.! In this collection, he even goes toe-to-toe with Superman! Relive these timeless adventures written by comics legends E. NELSON BRIDWELL and GERRY CONWAY, featuring art by KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, VINCE COLLETTA, DICK GIORDANO, and more.

Collects stories and covers from Shazam! #19-35 and All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

328 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2020

About the author

Edward Nelson Bridwell was a writer for Mad magazine (writing the now-famous catchphrase, "What you mean...we?" in a 1958 parody of The Lone Ranger in Mad) and various comic books published by DC Comics. One of the writers for the Batman comic strip and Super Friends, he also wrote The Inferior Five, among other comics. He has been called "DC's self-appointed continuity cop."

Reviews

[Dallas Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Bridwell's continuation of 70s Captain Marvel, there comes quite a bit of change!

Comedy takes more of a backseat to tell stories that still have the classic Captain Marvel charm, but also absorb the best parts of the 70s Shazam TV show that just came out at the time of this series!

The setting changes are refreshing and the changes are adorably believable too!
I mostly adore the focus of learning about history of cities in the United States and historical figures!
This is honestly a perfect kids buy of a book!
But I think people of all ages can learn and enjoy this fun romp!

Also Captain Marvel finally starts to have stuff to say about politics in this volume! Captain Marvel historicly has always played it safe and we see some fun, wholesome, and eye-opening little concepts nudge into this collection!

The art shift that happens towards the end of this collection may be upsetting to classic Captain Marvel fans, but handles updating the Marvel Family quite well!

Overall quite a blast that I'd definitely recommend!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of very fun Captain Marvel stories from the '70s after DC obtained control of the character.

The first stories are still holding true to the whimsical tone of the Golden Age Fawcett series. But at some point the series figures out how to hold onto that magic while also suggesting the road-traveling adventures of the Saturdary-morning live-action TV series.

I've seen other comic book series draw inspiration from their movie and TV adaptations, but I'm used to it feeling like a cynical, financial decision. This series really took the best things about that TV show and married them with the best things about the comic.

The volume concludes by reprinting the Superman vs Shazam Treasury Edition, featuring the two heroes being manipulated by a Martian with Mary Marvel and Supergirl figuring out what's going on and trying to be voices of reason. It's pretty epic.

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read that brought back a lot of memories. A few things to qualify the "four stars". These are stories aimed at a younger age reader BUT like a good Carl Barks Duck story they can still be fun on their own merits. It isn't until the last three stories the book takes a slightly more typical comic book feel of the 70's.

I often criticize DC for how they launch certain omnibuses or hardcovers but I want to give credit where credit is due - this series of Shazam does an amazing job of collecting all the Shazam comics from the 70's and 80's. The printing is great the cover is wonderful and everything about the presentation is top notch. For me, the highlight is the Kurt Shaffenburger art. I love his art so much and he is rarely reprinted in a hardcover format (probably some Lois Lane collections) so it is a treat to have something in my collection with his art in it. His art is perfect for the more innocent, silly stories of Shazam.

The stories are a lot of fun and while there are some duds by Elliot S! Maggin (one story in particular with a man split in three made zero sense) the stories by Bridwell are perfect. And at the end of the collection we get some Don Newton art (there will be more in the third volume which is coming out this year) and then a reprint of the oversized spectacular Superman versus Shazam. Maybe reprinted for the first time? I mean, yes, it needs the oversized format of the 70's to truly have those splash pages shine but it is great that DC thought to include it in this collection.

So, yes, I loved this. But I do warn people my love is tinged with some nostalgic memories.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otra tanda de aventuras inocentonas y entretenidas del bueno de Billy Batson y su familia. En general, bastante disfrutables, pero el nivel del arte baja mucho respecto al primer tomo, debido, básicamente a que Kurt Schaffenberger dibuja menos episodios, y la mayoría de los que dibuja los entinta el inefable Vince Colleta, capo del cómic (y probablemente también del crimen) famoso por borrar fondos y secundarios cada vez que le daba la puñetera gana. Cuando murió, el cómic perdió a uno de los personajes más turbios que haya «trabajado» en el medio, pero la mafia perdió a un amigo. Curiosamente, el tomo se completa con un especial de ¡72! páginas en el que se enfrentan el Capitán Marvel (me niego a llamarlo Shazam, ese es el mago) y Superman, y en el que, sorprendentemente para la época, Supergirl y Mary Marvel son las verdaderas heroínas que salvan el día. El dibujo de Rich Buckler, entintado por Dick Giordano, casi casi parece salido del lápiz de Neal Adams: uno de sus mejores trabajos, sin duda. Lástima que la historia en sí sea una mierda, con perdón.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun collection of bronze age Captain Marvel (the original one!) stories. While I read the stories in this volume as they were published, I didn't become a fan until issue #25, in part because of the annual JLA/JSA crossover that year with the heroes of Earth-S. And when Alan Weiss and then Don Newton started on the art, I was hooked. I'm hoping DC has plans for a third volume in this series, reprinting stories from WORLD'S FINEST and ADVENTURE COMICS and DC COMICS PRESENTS; that would bring the pre-Crisis bronze age Captain Marvel adventures to a close.

[Delta-Charlie2739 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially same as the last one. It kind of slowed down as the vol went on and I became less interested since in some parts they were flat out repeating whole concepts and stories. The only things I really liked was issues 34 and 35. Since they actually looked like they were from the time they were being published in.