Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #375471 in Books
• Published on: 1995-05-01
• Released on: 1995-05-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

An Iconic Captain Marvel
`Power of Shazam' is a truly unique piece of art. This short graphic novel features a young, muscular, Fred MacMurry lookalike fighting a young, muscular, Boris Karloff lookalike, with results that are thrilling and wondrous as opposed to ridiculous. The success of this peculiar narrative form in this case is due to the virtuosity of artist/writer Jerry Ordway and the fact that the comic strip is still a place where anything can happen (CGI has brought cinema closer to achieving this, but as of this writing CGI still looks fake and creepy; CGI is still unable to portray human qualities).

This is a true graphic novel, a work created to stand alone (but which can also be appreciated as part of a larger framework), using the vocabulary of the comics, and conveying an experience unique to the medium. This particular graphic novel also served as a springboard to reboot the Captain Marvel (Shazam!) franchise, which DC comics has controlled since 1972.

Power of Shazam is an amazing synthesis of diverse influences. There are plenty of homages and nods to the original Fawcett comics and creators, and Ordway revisits and revises the original violent origin of Captain Marvel, and adds a big spoonful of gritty Raboy-esque tragedy for good measure. The overall tone here is darker and more violent than the classic years of Fawcett comics, but it thankfully lacks the blood-spattered gore that has permeated super-hero comics since the rise of Frank Miller. Ultimately, Captain Marvel rises above the trauma and brutality of his life and takes the reader with him. There is also a foreshadowing that perhaps Mr. Tawny will return, one way or the other.

This is one of the most cinematic comics I've ever seen: Black Adam is modeled exactly after Boris Karloff from the original 1932 `Mummy' and Ordway skillfully injects many atmospheric elements from the classic 1941 Republic Capt. Marvel serial.

As a die-hard fan of the original Capt. Marvel, Universal horror, and the classic serials (especially `Adventures of Captain Marvel'!), I found this to be one of the most enjoyable graphic novels ever. But I also think that the artistic merits and the power of the narrative would make this enjoyable beyond those who share my enthusiasms.

Being such a staunch fan of the original Fawcett comics, I was originally skeptical that I could accept this grimmer, more complex, more cinematic vision of our hero. But while the original Capt. Marvel had humor and whimsy, there was always excitement, and often deft social commentary: Binder and Beck created, for instance, the 1st comic book cautionary tale of the horrors of nuclear war. Cap usually visited our dreams but occasionally escorted us across our nightmares as well.

When DC revived the good Captain in 1973, they aimed at recreating Cap's glory days, even to the extent of signing on original artists C.C. Beck and Kurt Schaffenberger. But, while the art was always good, the stories more often than not were `camp.' And ultimately, camp is an artistic dead end.

If Captain Marvel was going to be brought into the modern world and be viable, he needed to be revamped and he needed adhere to a true personal vision. Where Ordway's Cap is certainly far less whimsical than Fawcett's, he is certainly magical and powerful. He is perhaps a little deeper, but still personifies our wishes and optimism.

My only complaint about this graphic novel is that it's too short. But luckily, a great monthly series with the same name followed it, and I have every ish. DC would be wise to reprint that series in TPB form.

I love this character!
Thanks to all the reviewers who bought this book and liked it well enough to write. It was a labor of love for the author,trying to recapture the thrills of the 1940's Republic Pictures serial and has had a nice long shelf life. If you like this, please seek out the comic book that followed, or request that DC comics collect those issues into trade collections. Thanks, JerAdventures of Captain Marvel

shazam
thi book was on great condition and was send to very quickly
thanks