Everyone’s heard of Superman, and most people will think that Captain Marvel is Marvel Comics’ galaxy-hopping superwoman. They’ll know who the Man of Steel is, but what about the World’s Mightiest Mortal?
With the release of Shazam!, audiences will, for the most part, see a red-clad superhero whose civilian identity is a fourteen year old boy named Billy Batson. By uttering the magic word “Shazam!” he becomes an adult superhero, who in the film is un-named, but DC fans will know as the original Captain Marvel, who hails as far back in comic book history as the golden age of the forties.
This book contains a few comic strips from that era, but frankly its purpose isn’t to be a Captain Marvel’s Greatest Hits. Taken from the extensive collection of comic historian/Captain Marvel fanatic Harry Matetsky, the book examines the character’s beginnings, his role as a propaganda tool during the Second World War, the plethora of character spin-offs that appeared alongside him, and the extensive merchandising.
Readers could join a fan club and receive regular letters from their hero, encouraging them to save their money to buy war bonds and savings stamps to help the war effort, and to save paper for packaging to send munitions and bullets to the front lines. Some of the vocabulary used in these letters is nothing short of offensive in the current climate, but they’re a product of a very different time. Wartime propaganda is never pretty in peacetime.
Those of us who’ve collected action figures and high-end sculpts of our favourite characters will be fascinated to see the humble beginnings of our prized trophies, as the earliest Captain Marvel figures are shown here made of wood.
Of particular interest is the section dedicated to Marvel’s debut as the first superhero to be adapted for a movie serial, The Adventures of Captain Marvel in 1941, with behind the scenes details and rare photographs.
It’s a beautifully presented book, a little short on text, but full of photographs and unfinished pages of strips that you won’t see anywhere else. A great slice of nostalgia from a simpler age of comic books, the likes of which we’ll never see again.
SHAZAM! THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE WORLD’S MIGHTIEST MORTAL / AUTHOR: CHIP KIDD / PUBLISHER: ABRAMS COMIC ARTS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
