Shazam - The Monster Society of Evil: The infamous, never to be reprinted…serial? Graphic novel?

[@michaelgarza6735]

I think the big takeaway here is how much better Captain Marvel was than Superman as a reading experience. Much better visuals, much more interesting stories. Comics history is the poorer that DC resorted to legal chicanery to hobble their competition, rather than answering the challenge and telling better stories more inventively.

[@brennanshane146]

That's why he's my favorite character

[@DIESEL0759]

Welcome to business! The best way to keep your opponent down is sue them out of existence.

[@davepeterson9768]

The first dozen or so chapters looked great, but by the end the chapters didn't have splash panels, pages were unimaginative 2x4 eight-panel grids with tiny art and simple backgrounds (if any). It looks like the writers and artists were not trying very hard by the time it ended.

[@lazer-ape]

​@@davepeterson9768 you have to remember that the big red cheese was stretched across 3 seperate titles at the time (Whiz, Captain Marvel Adventures, and America's Greatest Comics). famously simon and kirby were brought aboard fawcett just to work on Captain Marvel Adventures. of the three titles billy was a regular in, whiz had the best art because it was where most of beck's influence was focused. CMA, by virtue of being an all Captain Marvel centric book instead of the anthology styled titles Whiz and AGC were, demanded additional talent to meet the massive demand kids of the day had for more Captain Marvel. Im pretty sure it got to a point where Beck had to draw model sheets for the Marvel Family just so the other artists could keep them on model. Coincidentally this is why alot of the background characters in Captain Marvel Adventures look so out of place by comparison.

[@jtthompson0520]

Was there ever a more startling transition than going from Captain Marvel pages to Cartoonist Kayfabe’s promo? Holy Moley!

[@StraightEdgeJoe860]

I would love for all of these classic CC Beck Captain Marvel books to get some sort of reprint. His art just did so the magical elements so well

[@russworks2882]

I got hold of a second-hand copy of one of these and there was an insane sequence you passed where Captain Marvel finally catches Mr. Mind and, abruptly and mercilessly, squishes him in his fist. But Mr. Mind had fooled CM by slipping his glasses on some other nearby worm.

[@scarmody100]

All those cities you mentioned..those were not in the serial storyline. Each comic had about 4 captain marvel stories. The serial episode was just one of them. And the “visits ” was another of the stories. The editors thought it would be fun for Capt Marvel to visit towns based on some premise in the plot and local celebrities would often appear

[@DOMA275458]

The second and third-page spread is just as it was in the original book. The white space off to the right hand corner was meant to be, nothing was cut or omitted.

[@TheTonyFigueroa]

The Captain Marvel serial starring Tom Tyler as the title character is quite good.

[@jayconant3816]

When he crushes the gangster with a engine block! Lol

[@julez4002]

This was considered the first Multi-issue, Multi event in comics which Secret Wars and CRISIS can thank Fawcett for.

[@nmj1937]

Addressing Chris’ question about whether Ibac appears in modern times, I can’t really speak to anything more recent but Ibac is brought back when DC started publishing their own Captain Marvel stories in the 70s.

[@nmj1937]

@@wtk6069 nice, I’ve only got the first volume of Jerry Ordway’s run from the recent reprint and I couldn’t remember if Ibac was in that or not.

[@brennanshane146]

@@nmj1937 He was actually in the first issue. He was the guy who bombed the building

[@eberp9270]

DC announced a reprint of this book maybe 10 years ago. it was listed as "DC Classics Library: Shazam! Monster Society of Evil" I was keeping an eye on the release date for months, and it kept on getting pushed back. Unsurprisingly it was never released. It's still listed as unavailable on Amazon UK.

[@brennanshane146]

@@A100-y2c Yeah. But they should put a warning or something at the beginning. That way, people won't get offended. Besides, it doesn't really make sense to be offended by something made 80 years ago.

[@eberp9270]

@@brennanshane146 I don't know if it's really comparable, but in the Masterworks Tomb of Dracula, Marvel have included a disclaimer that mentions "negative depictions", "mistreatment" and "stereotypes". I know this kind of thing can be a risk for a company, but I think DC could make an argument that Monster Society of Evil is both culturally and historically significant enough to reprint. At least, I hope they do at some point.

[@chrisdietz1110]

Gwandaland has reprinted the story, its in public domain.

[@davepeterson9768]

@@brennanshane146 I suspect the fact there was a Shazam! movie coming up made them not want to reprint the racist stuff. Why potentially damage the Shazam! brand? There was lots of not-racist Shazam! material that could be reprinted.

[@miketroncoso8622]

Beautiful book view. Wish i could find one. I love Captain Marvel and the whole Marvel family. The Republic-serial is considered one of the best ever made from any studio. I will never refer to him as Shazam as this is a geoff johns invention for the current Dc universe and is the name of the wizard that gave billy Batson his powers in the 1st place.

[@TaylorTalksComics]

Speaking of the the legal issues surrounding the name “Captain Marvel.” I just recently found out that in the mid ‘60s Carl Burgos did a four issue run of his own Captain Marvel character to try to stick it to Marvel when the disputes started over the ownership of the Human Torch.

[@russworks2882]

Ed and Jim did a great video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIWoqZWCq5J4pqM

[@taramavery]

IBAC and other Monster Society of Evil characters showed up in a Don Newton-drawn series that made it into the early issues of the digest-style run of Adventure Comics.

[@jonny9884]

IBAC and others appeared in the 90's Power of Shazam as well. That's where I learned about many of them, including Captain Nazi.

[@greyspeight8776]

I wasn't expecting to see a new video when I checked your profile. I haven't heard anyone talk about the monster society of evil in depth before and I'm pretty hyped for this.

[@z_bill]

Fantastic episode! I've been wanting to read (or just see!) this material for ages. Thank you!

[@andrewpytko4773]

This one of the greatest comic storylines ever!

[@coopersheridan73]

PLEASE cover the Jeff Smith Shazam run! Or at least cover more Bone

[@guyvollen8357]

Great episode! I've really been enjoying this channel. Adventures of Captain Marvel really is one of the best movie serials imo, especially among serials about still-popular superheroes. The two Superman serials from the '40s have a lot of charm, but the two Batman serials are just not very good and unfortunately a lot of modern viewers start with those (because Batman) and give up.

[@rbourne35]

Ibac showed up in the Power of Shazam 90s run. This story was so much fun, despite the racism. Which is why it hasn't been reprinted again. It was scheduled to be re-released when the movie was coming out but they sited concerns over the depictions has the reason they canceled it.

[@kevinvendt5948]

As a Captain Marvel fan, this book is my holy grail.

[@ivane5110]

Never saw this book, but I've seen each individual chapter, but spaced over decades starting as a kid. I really liked Captain Marvel thanks to DC reprinting his stories in their 50cent giants and other jumbo anthology issues each month. And what made it better was he was also doing new stories also with Shauffenberger art. This serial has a cool prequel story arc thanks to Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron guest-staring Earth-Two/Golden Age Superman even. Very cool. Especially because the prequel Monster Society of Evil were all ones i saw the decade earlier thanks to similar reprints, so I had massive appreciation of it all.

[@LarryKingUndead]

They almost did it, but then pulled it back in 2018. Shame really, put a paper band around it like was done for the Tintin in the Congo stating it was from another time, and may upset some people etc. where the reader would have to remove the band to continue, and being upset would be on them.

[@sm1thsisdead]

Good point! And maybe Superman is criticized as an uninteresting character not because he’s invincible, but because historically he’s a poorly-written example of the archetype.

[@andywalker7547]

Where does one go to find more of this comic style, I really love the cartoony quality. Appreciate any advice :)

[@cookiemadison8529]

That panel of the two hoods shooting him the head is gonna make me smile all week.

[@freeradiomars]

6:30 Absolutely one of the top 5 serials ever made!! Imho, second only to the 1930s serial "Perils of Pauline" starring Evelyn Knappe. - Which is exactly what is being parodied/homaged on the first big splash page, as "The Pearl of Peril"!!!!!

[@WhitneySmith-ey7dl]

I would love to at least read this book, if not own one, but every copy I've seen is out of my price range.

[@glennsimpson_aka_bobbysaccaro]

Ibac shows up in the stories created by DC in the 1970's, like in World's Finest Comics.

[@DBoysen1]

You guys come up with the best source material. I actually collected some of the Captain Marvel Adventures and Whiz titles when I was a kid on the rare occasion that my comic shop would have them in. I focused on the early WWII covers but the series got kind of silly further into the run. Still, it's a slice of history and I enjoyed your coverage of this book that I never even knew existed. btw - loved Hulk Grand Design and anxiously awaiting the next issue.

[@slasher0630]

Iv been wanting to read this for so long and i just cant find it. Not even online. I love the Fawcett Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr stuff.

[@raphaelcurley]

It's out there unofficially.

[@DOMA275458]

Gwandanland Comics reprinted the Monster Society of Evil...When some of Captain Marvel's worst enemies band together, it could be curtains for the World's Mightiest Mortal - and for the world! Headed by the nefarious worm, Mr. Mind, and including Captain Nazi and Sivana himself, The MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL made their plans for world domination or destruction from Captain Marvel Adventures #22-46. This collection is rarely reprinted, in large part due to its socially inappropriate content - but as a part of comic history, Gwandanaland Comics is compelled to offer it, with the caveat that in today's world it would be considered offensive, and rightly so. HOWEVER - The final chapter from Captain Marvel Adventures #46 is not public domain, so it would be impossible to include it. What to do? Never deterred at Gwandanaland we turned to our readers and held a contest to end the storyline using only original or public domain material. The winning entry, by Don O'Malley, has been attached so now the story is not only complete, but I think better than it was before! AFTERWARD BY DONALD O'MALLEY

[@portland-182]

I get a Herge's Tin Tin vibe from some of the art

[@DOMA275458]

IBAC returned in SHAZAM # 29

[@TheSkullKlownTSK]

Man I would love to get this book

[@jimmiecarroll]

You guys talk a lil about Capt. Marvel Goes to Pittsburgh... Have yinz ever seen Peril in Pittsburgh, the Avengers story where they fight a molten steel monster on the Duquesne Incline?

[@jonny9884]

I believe these comics first came out 80 Yeats ago, not 70 😊

[@cinexploits]

Re: The Serials - Here are my top picks as far as serials go... THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL SPY SMASHER FLASH GORDON BUCK ROGERS THE GREEN HORNET / GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN KING OF THE ROCKETMEN THE SPIDER ZORRO RIDES AGAIN ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION JUNIOR G-MEN / JUNIOR G-MEN OF THE AIR THE TIGER WOMAN PERILS OF NYOKA THE MASKED MARVEL DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE DICK TRACY THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS

[@dawg065]

Found this in a soft cover on Amazon.

[@terribled]

Not sure why my earlier comment is not up, but let's try it another way. . . I would love to own a copy, but since the price has been so high for years, you can check it out on a particular comicbook site that is an archive of old, golden age books. I tried posting a link, but maybe that's a nono?

[@davidmacpherson770]

Captain Marvel is the best serial to my mind. But thats comparing decent captain marv to pretty awful everyone else

[@lazer-ape]

it seems like all the serials based on fawcett characters (spy smasher, captain midnight, and captain marvel ) are widely considered to be the best of the genre. a majority of the pulp based ones are also regarded pretty highly too, but once you get around to batman and captain america you're kind of faced with diminishing returns.

[@byanyothername-1]

Have some compassion marvel!!! F*** calling an Earth's mightiest mortal Shazam! We all know it's the original Captain marvel!!!! Have some dignity DC don't sell out one of your greatest characters so easily! Now they've entirely changed his name, it used to be they just couldn't use it on the cover but at least they still called him correctly between the pages! Now they don't even do that anymore.... Another great decision by Geoff Johns....... Wait what's that!....... Here come the puce, periwinkle, and chartreuse lanterns!!! Thank God we're saved.....(nuff said)

[@mulder13x59]

I mean WWII was still fresh of course your villains are gonna be German and Japanese. If I man I just don't see it so black and white. Japan was doing the same thing with there depictions of western people in cartoons. Then you can also talk about cartoons being exaggerated in all sorts of ways to depict things. I don't like the idea of never reprinting it because it's important history that shouldn't be shied away from. I want to know what cartoons were like at that time. Not just the less problematic stuff.

[@RockoJerome]

It's fun and novel, but far from the best Captain Marvel stuff. They worked best in little self contained episodes. It was really sorta the Simpsons of its day, meant to be taken that way.

[@RockoJerome]

@@wtk6069 Agreed! You ever read Tawny’s Persecution Complex?

[@georgegolston5417]

I kick myself for selling mine YEARS ago.

[@majorjoe23]

How much did you get?