BC: SHAZAM #13

DC was facing the steadily-worsening decay of their circulation in the early 1970s, and one of the ways in which they attempted to combat this was in innovating alternate formats for comic books that would carry a higher cover price and therefore be more attractive to outlets to carry. It was these efforts that led to SHAZAM becoming for a while a regular 100-Page Super-Spectacular series, with new material bookending classic vintage reprints of Captain marvel’s golden age exploits. This was a format that I adored as a kid, so I was primed and ready to move into the next batch of books in the stack of SHAZAM back issues that I had borrowed from by grade school friend Donald Sims.

As was typical of these books, the weak link in the material being presented was the new stories, which failed to capture the spirit and whimsey of the Marvels’ original adventures. This issue’s lead-off by Elliot S! Maggin and Bob Oksner brings back once again Sunny Sparkle, a creation of the new series who was so likable that everybody around him would do anything he asked. In this particular adventure, a criminal employs a scientist to unlock the secret of Sparkle’s appeal and bottle it in a spray that will make him equally irresistible. But Captain Marvel isn’t vulnerable to the stuff, and so the bad guy inevitably meets his justified end in a story that doesn’t have much in the way of stakes or suspense. It’s clear that Maggin and/or editor Julie Schwartz thought they had something with Sunny Sparkle, but I just found the concept annoying.

Fortunately, there was better material ahead. The first reprinted story in this issue centered on Captain Marvel Jr, whose exploits were typically illustrated in an more classically realistic manner. As such, somehow I didn’t quite like them as much, as the realistic approach to the artwork often clashed with the broad fantasy of the series. Nevertheless, in this tale written by Bill Woolfolk and illustrated by Joe Certa, a forbitten room in the attic of the boarding hose that Freddy Freeman lives in is the secret hideout of criminal Nick Varso, who is holed up with the millions that he pilfered. But practical joker Mr. Marks can’t help but want to see what’s in that room once he becomes aware of it, and it falls to Junior to help him out of the jam that results, which includes the leader of Varso’s gang, a posh criminal known as the Count, turning up to get their hands on the loot Varso squirreled away up there. This wasn’t the greatest thing in the issue, but it was still fun.

The next story, however, was in the classic Captain Marvel style. It was the work of Otto Binder, C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza, and it introduced a new recurring character to the series. This is Joan Jameson, who would become Captain Marvel’s personal secretary (or Administrative Assistant in modern parliance.) Despite Joan’s overtures, Billy Batson insists that he and Captain marvel don’t need a secretary, but Joan proves her value when her roommate, golddigger Dina Duval, takes her place in an attempt to land Captain Marvel as a husband and, failing that, rips off Station WHIZ and captures the hapless Billy. The one downside in this reprinted story is that the reproduction on it is notably shakier than the rest of the issue, no doubt a result of DC having to work with whatever materials were passed their way from Fawcett.

Sharper in reproduction was the next story, which spotlighted Tawky Tawny, the anthropomorphic tiger who grew into a regular player in the series in the late 1940s and 1950s. Writer Otto Binder clearly had a soft spot for tawny and how he allowed the strip to address social issues in a casual satirical way. Artist C. C. Beck inked this story as well as penciling in. In it, Mr. Tawny tries his hand at becoming a door-to-door salesman, with comical results. But the real culprit here is John Jippo, who sells Tawny his salesman kit filled with shoddy products. Captain Marvel helps Tawny with his rounds, filming his friend’s mishaps, until he’s got enough evidence of Jippo’s malfeasance to arrest the crook. But by the end, Tawny still hasn’t given up on his attraction for get-rich-quick schemes.

The next reprinted story was one that introduced a number of recurring characters to the cast, principle among them Dexter Knox, the boy inventor who lived next door to the boarding house that Billy Batson called home. It was also by Binder and Beck, with Costanza again on inks. Dexter’s father is an invalid and unable to work, so Dexter has been inventing like mad in the hopes of developing a product that can bring in some money and help out his family’s financial straits. He does so in the form of a Quench Gun that fires pellets that instantly snuff out fires. But the neighborhood no-goodnik Gus Crummly, decides to swipe Dexter’s invention and sell it himself. Captain Marvel, of course, comes to the rescue, and prevents Billy’s new home from burning down with Dexter’s invention in the bargain, proving its value.

All of the reprinted stories up to this point have been relatively short, but the next feature was an entire three-chapter Marvel Family adventure spotlighting Station WHIZ owner Sterling Morris, who was Billy Batson’s employer first on radio and eventually television. In it, the Marvel Family helps out when Morris comes into possession of a magic bottle that promises to lead its owner to a fabulous treasure of the Barnaby Coast, but which instead reincarnates the dread Barnaby Pirates themselves. You wouldn’t think that even an entire pirate horde would present much of a challenge for three Marvels, but they’re able to hold their own across a trip of fun and adventure-filled chapters. This story was also the work of Binder and Beck, and it was great.

The last reprinted story in this issue was entirely illustrated by Pete Costanza, and written by Otto Binder as usual. In it, Billy becomes aware of evidence that, back in the days of ancient Egypt, his patron the wizard Shazam had stolen from the Pharaoh. In order to prove the wizard’s innocence to himself, Captain Marvel travels back in time via the Rock of Eternity and discovers that the guilty parts was simply a criminal who disguised himself as Shazam in order to get away with his crime. Marvel forces the culprit to engrave a confession on a gold plate, which he then buries underneath a pyramid so that it can be uncovered in the present and redeem Shazam’s good name.

The final story in this issue was another new piece, also contributed by Elliot S! Maggin and Bob Oksner. But it starred Mary Marvel, and if there’s one thing that Oksner drew well, it was pretty girls, so this was right in his wheelhouse. His version of the character exuded a wholesomeness that was certainly attractive. In this story, freinds of Mary’s wind up building a clubhouse for their Mary marvel Fan Club directly over the spot where “Ghost” Gordon had buried some lot. In order to drive them off so he can recover his ill-gotten gains, Gordon uses trickery to make them think that the clubhouse is haunted by actual ghosts. But Mary remembers Billy telling her about Gordon (who came straight from a 1950 story) and so she’s able to quickly put the kibosh on his Scooby Doo villain activities.