Comments on: Good Comics Out November 17

By: Jim Perreault

Jim Perreault — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 01:56:02 +0000

My local library had a copy of “Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal” so I checked it.

It’s a very fun read. I would call it a quintessential coffee table book, as it is mostly pictures with little text.

The theme of the book is Captain Marvel merchandising, and there is a ton of unique stuff displayed. They really ran with the “kid transforming into mighty superhero” concept. It made me realize just how powerful and imaginative that concept is.

The other thing that surprised me is that each character pretty much stood on their own. DC’s use of the characters, for the most part, always has them together as a team. I get the impression from this book that in the Golden Age, the team ups were rare. And that instead, each character had their own adventures with their own flavor to them.

The book is organized into sections: the first one focuses on Captain Marvel himself. The remaining sections are (in order IIRC) Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, Spy Smasher, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Captain Marvel at War, and finally the lawsuit with National Comics.

The end of the book is striking, as it shows the final covers of each of the Marvel family books.

It’s not the kind of book I would normally keep around, but I enjoyed having it for a little while.

By: Dea ex Machina

Dea ex Machina — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:18:40 +0000

I just got my copy of Castle Waiting volume two, and am finding it rather worrisome that Linda Medley's name is missing from the book. It appears in the copyright info fine print, and on a small removable sticker, but nowhere on the cover or interior title page. What little information I can find online indicates that this was done at Medley's request, but I can't seem to find out why. Does anyone know anything more about this?

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 03:34:21 +0000

Think part of Capt. Marvel’s problem for being an “also-ran/secondary to Supes” these days is that since the mid-80s’ “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, he’s forced (along with all 8 zillion other heroes) to live in the same single universe as Superman, and thus can’t help but be compared or diminished in stature, vs. the earlier days when he was clearly the top hero of his own, less-crowded world (hard to be the “World’s Mightiest Mortal” if Superman’s around). Much as I like Superman, I was disappointed that (SPOILER ALERT) the last issue of “Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!” had Superman (and the rest of the JLA) showing up. Had read it until then figuring it was a world where until Billy and Mary came along, there previously weren’t any other superheroes (and Billy didn’t need the “blessing” of Superman and Batman)…

Maybe it’s akin to the NY Mets and their fans knowing there’s “that other team” with more fame coexisting across town… or if someone had moved the Yankees to Milwaukee and tried to pretend things weren’t any different stature-wise for the Brewers… :-p

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:15:55 +0000

I’m afraid not. Does comics.org not have enough of an issue summary?

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:25:58 +0000

Any idea what additional story is covered in the new Great Darkness collection? I have the old collection, and want to know what the new version offers.

(I’ve seen the list of issues collected, but have no idea what’s *in* those issues.)

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:50:58 +0000

Great Darkness Saga. Finally! Oh yes, it will be mine.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:36:30 +0000

Chad, I’m afraid I don’t know, and I won’t be able to check the book until after the weekend. I *think* there is some new material, but I don’t have anything that says that.

Suzene, great reminder! It’s getting to be that time of year.

By: Suzene

Suzene — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:20:07 +0000

Ides of Blood #4 and Elephantmen #28 are all that are on my pull this week.

Castle Waiting v. 2 and Return of the Dapper Men are definitely going on my Amazon list. As it gets closer to Christmas, I generally stop buying trades and HCs, so that when my family starts complaining about how hard I am to shop for, I can just point them at my wishlist. ;)

By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:52:18 +0000

Johanna, do you know if the second volume of Castle Waiting just collects the previously published comics, or if there’s some new stuff in there?

By: JeffG

JeffG — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:27:55 +0000

Looks like a bit of a light week – although I’m picking up more (including TT), really looking forward to Northlanders the most. I’ve enjoyed every one of these arcs with totally distinct characters in each.