Shazam! The greatest stories ever told

The original Captain Marvel, who appears when young Billy Batson says the magic word "Shazam!", was one of comics' earliest superheroes. His 1940 origin tale features very primitive storytelling by today's standards, but its skeletal urban fantasy still strikes a mythic chord, as orphaned newsboy Billy boards a fantastic subway train to meet the ancient wizard Shazam, who in his last act before dying grants Billy great powers. The celebrated whimsy and wonder of the golden age Captain Marvel stories is best represented here by Captain Marvel's battle with planet Earth itself, which has gotten fed up with humans digging in its skin. But that era accounts for barely a third of the book; the motley remainder postdates the character's 1972 revival. A 1974 attempt to replicate the older stories' spirit comes off as silly and charmless. The focus shifts partly to Superman in two stories, one of which actually features not Captain Marvel but a look-alike named Captain Thunder. And surely the compilers could have chosen something better than an inconclusive battle against interstellar hell-raiser Lobo. Not one of DC's stronger "Greatest Stories" volumes but still recommended for larger superhero collections.--S.R. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.