Status Updates From Shazam!: The Greatest Stori...

Read "The Evil Return of the Monster Society," which was entertaining. The new DC version of Shazam was just as cheesy as the Fawcett Comics version, so they kept that charm going for a while at least. This story brings back Uncle Dudley.

Read the classic "Make Way for Captain Thunder!" It's nice to read a Curt Swan Superman. DC had recently started publishing Shazam! but at this time, Captain Marvel was on his own "Earth" that didn't contain most of the DC heroes, but fans wanted to see Superman and Captain Marvel together, so they wrote this as a kind of workaround.

It's 20 years later, and Captain Marvel is back, but now with DC Comics. In the story, it's also 20 years later for Billy Batson and company, held in suspended animation by Sivana. The Fawcett stories are still canon, and Shazam is on his own "Earth-S."

Finished the last of the 1953 and before stories. This was "The Marvel Family battles the Primate Plot" which was a fun little story without a lot of logic and a massively crazy ending with a giant vacuum cleaner.

I don't even know how to adequately discuss "Captain Marvel Battles the World." It's both wonderfully Golden Age whimsey and yet still kind of neat. It's fun, but can't be taken seriously. I like my stories to make logical sense, but I can't deny that this was just fun to read.

This is a perfect introduction to the character of Shazam and that world for people who are new to it. All the stories are great fun, and you come away with all the essential pieces of the Shazam lore.