elwood
05-16-2009, 08:04 PM
The second of two old topics I felt like recreating. After browsing old threads I'd stumbled onto an ancient (two years old!) thread of Paper's asking about characters he was less then familiar with and wanted some suggestions as to what to read that featured them prominently. There are a few characters out there that I'd like to know more about (and I know I'm not alone) so instead of bumping a two year old thread I decided to start a new one.
Okay, so the group of characters that have always kind of puzzled me were Captain Marvel (Shazam!) and the Marvel Family (Mary Marvel, in particular). See, I roughly know the characters' history, and I know that Shazam is quite the old school classic, having outsold Superman before being bought up by DC after an extensive lawsuit. Here's the thing though... where are the good stories with him and his extended family?
Every time I've tried to look up good Captain Marvel books, the trail sorta goes cold. I've stumbled onto two of the more recent books with the Big Red Cheese in Shazam!: Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith and the Trials of Shazam series by Judd Winick, and while I heard a couple of good things about Monster Society, both books seemed to get pretty poor reviews and I've heard lots of negativity towards them. And while I haven't read it, if the cover to the Power of Shazam book by Jerry Ordway is any indicator I won't like that either, as the art seems rather ugly to me.
When looking up the book Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, one review claimed that Captain Marvel is a character that people have had difficulty doing properly since his 40's heyday, that writers often mis-characterize him, and that there haven't been many good modern stories with him or his family. Heck, while I'm not reading it (don't have the cash to follow in issues now), I'm aware that in the current JSA series Captain Marvel (classic) and Mary Marvel both had their powers taken away and the current Captain might get the same, so whose to say what'll even happen to these characters?
So help me out here. What are the good books featuring Captain Marvel and his family prominently? Has he really been as misused as suggested by some? Any help would be appreciated.
Also if anyone else wants to talk about characters they'd like to know more about, feel free.
Okay, so the group of characters that have always kind of puzzled me were Captain Marvel (Shazam!) and the Marvel Family (Mary Marvel, in particular). See, I roughly know the characters' history, and I know that Shazam is quite the old school classic, having outsold Superman before being bought up by DC after an extensive lawsuit. Here's the thing though... where are the good stories with him and his extended family?
Every time I've tried to look up good Captain Marvel books, the trail sorta goes cold. I've stumbled onto two of the more recent books with the Big Red Cheese in Shazam!: Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith and the Trials of Shazam series by Judd Winick, and while I heard a couple of good things about Monster Society, both books seemed to get pretty poor reviews and I've heard lots of negativity towards them. And while I haven't read it, if the cover to the Power of Shazam book by Jerry Ordway is any indicator I won't like that either, as the art seems rather ugly to me.
When looking up the book Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, one review claimed that Captain Marvel is a character that people have had difficulty doing properly since his 40's heyday, that writers often mis-characterize him, and that there haven't been many good modern stories with him or his family. Heck, while I'm not reading it (don't have the cash to follow in issues now), I'm aware that in the current JSA series Captain Marvel (classic) and Mary Marvel both had their powers taken away and the current Captain might get the same, so whose to say what'll even happen to these characters?
So help me out here. What are the good books featuring Captain Marvel and his family prominently? Has he really been as misused as suggested by some? Any help would be appreciated.
Also if anyone else wants to talk about characters they'd like to know more about, feel free.