SHAZAM! THE WORLD’S MIGHTIEST MORTAL Volume 1

In 1973, twenty years after the last Fawcett issue, DC brought back one of comics' most popular heroes: Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam!, whose Golden Age adventures sold in the millions of copies. These new adventures combined the light-hearted art of C.C. Beck, for #1-10, the original artist from the 1940s, with the modern, tongue-in-cheek sensibility of writers including Dennis O'Neil. With #11, the superlative Kurt Schaffenberger (Superman, Lois Lane) took over. The Golden Age origin is retold, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. both appear; Mr. Mind and Tawny are reintroduced; Captain Marvel Jr.'s origin is retold. Lex Luthor appears in #15. These issues also featured reprinted stories from the 1940s, but they are not included in this collection. Outstanding new cover by Michael Cho, new 2019 Introduction by Jerry Ordway, who was asked by DC to relaunch the characters in 1991. He states "Denny O'Neil addressed the 20-year publishing gap by literally trapping the Marvel family in amber, or "suspendium," a creation of the villain Dr. Sivana. His stories, in my estimation, are quite underrated, for they reflect the real dilemma of having to adjust to life in the 1970s after years out of circulation. Denny had the characters learning the slang of the day, and discovering a changed world. Beck was on board for the art chores on these initial stories, and it's solid work." Additional contributors include Elliot S! Maggin and E. Nelson Bridwell on writing, and artists Dave Cochrum, Bob Oksner, Vince Colletta, Dick Giordano, Pat Broderick and Tex Blaisdell. Beck and Oksner did all of the original series covers, all collected here.