The Monster Society of Evil awaits you…
Hey, look — there’s another groovy book that’s been added to DC’s new slate of retro(ish) trade collections: Jeff Smith’s 2007 Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, a wonderfully warm tribute to the original Captain Marvel and his Golden Age adventures.
Dig this official description from Penguin Random House, which handles DC’s book distribution:
SHAZAM! THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL
Young orphan Billy Batson finds himself wielding truly amazing magic powers–just in time to face an invasion of alien and earthly monsters! All he has to do is say the magic word: Shazam!
When Billy Batson follows a mysterious stranger onto the subway, he never imagines he’s entering a strange world of powerful wizards, talking tigers, kid eating monsters, political intrigue and mysterious villains. But Billy encounters all that and more when the wizard gives him a magic word that transforms him into the world’s mightiest mortal. Now, he must use his extraordinary new abilities to face an incoming invasion of alien creatures and to stop mad scientist Dr. Sivana and his Monster Society of Evil from taking over the world!
Acclaimed and award-winning writer and artist Jeff Smith (Bone) brings his talent for crafting stories with adventure, humor and gorgeous artwork as he reimagines Shazam! for a whole new generation of readers.
Collects Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil #1-4
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A few thoughts:
— The 272-page hardcover is due May 2, 2023. It lists for $39.99.
— If you’ve never read this, I highly recommend it. It’s wonderfully funny and warm, just the kind of tone you want from a timeless Captain Marvel story.
— There’s been speculation that the Shazam! movies are headed toward a Monster Society of Evil storyline. (The new Shazam! Fury of the Gods is due in theaters in December.) If so, it makes sense that DC is making this available again in hardcover, especially since the publisher doesn’t wish to publish the original story from the Golden Age. Then again, it makes sense to re-release it just because it’s Shazam/Captain Marvel and it’s fab.
— Standard caveat: This has not been formally solicited – it’s not even on Amazon yet as I write this – so anything can change. Keep coming to 13th Dimension for updates.
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MORE
— SHAZAM! Dig This INSIDE LOOK at the Rare Spanish CAPTAIN MARVEL Card Set. Click here.
— SHAZAM! It’s the World’s Mightiest Plush Toy. Click here.
August 4, 2022
This is indeed a great take on Captain Marvel, marred only by it’s depiction of Sivanna. Smith’s using him as an analogue for G.W. Bush was short sighted and really dates the otherwise brilliant, timeless story.
August 4, 2022
I’m so glad this can get into people’s hands again! It’s a wonderful take on Shazam(COUGH)Captain Marvel! I would’ve loved to have seen a Jeff Smith monthly come out of this, but he still told a great 4 and done story that should be read!
August 4, 2022
That was a fun series.
August 4, 2022
I’m a huge Shazam! fan going back to the ’70s, and I really, really wanted to like this. But it just fell completely flat for me. Smith is a good cartoonist, but he draws a very odd looking Captain Marvel. And I know that the idea of Billy and Marvel being two different personalities goes back to the Golden Age, but the way that Smith literalizes it here just didn’t work at all. I much prefer Roy Thomas’ innovation in 1987 (which was before “Big”) of Captain Marvel just being a grownup version of Billy who retains Billy’s personality, which I think was the best innovation DC brought to the character in the years that they’ve licensed/owned him.
September 23, 2022
This is great! Back when D.C. revived Captain…I mean, “Shazam” –Ka-VOOM!– (Where’d that lightning come from?) Well there were a few readers who suggested reprinting the entire Monster Society storyline, but it was indicated that there were a few characters whose racial stereotypes would not fly. Keep us posted please! Oh, and I hope you folks remember the Superman story “Make Way for Captain Thunder” in Superman #276 (1974, I think!) if only for the priceless appearance of the Monster League of Evil who look like the Universal movie versions of Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolfman. Back then I always hoped Captain Thunder would pop up in an issue of Shazam. –Ka-VOOM!— (Hey! Sounds like rain…)