Showing posts with label Captain Marvel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captain Marvel. Show all posts
Pop Reviews: Mac Raboy - Master of the Comics
The saying goes "quality not quantity," but that's not necessarily so. Some of the best artists in comics were also among the most prolific.
Jack Kirby, for example, could turn out three blockbusting pages a day. And he wasn't just drawing. He was plotting the stories and essentially creating the Marvel Universe at the same time.
Mac Raboy, meanwhile, could reportedly spend an entire day penciling, erasing and re-penciling one panel of a single page. Granted, they were really nice panels! But the guy was slooow and a perfectionist. That's the testament of nearly every peer of his interviewed by Roger Hill for this beautiful new book.
Raboy is likely best-known for his Golden Age work on Captain Marvel Jr. and his long run, from 1948 to 1967, on the Flash Gordon Sunday strip. He was an incredibly talented draftsman, one of those guys who could paint with a pencil. His faces and figure work were gorgeous, and clearly his true love. As Hill reports, some of his peers in comics complained that Raboy didn't like illustrating action, which, obviously, is the bread and butter of the superhero game. So, consequently, you get the sense that Raboy was one of those creators who, despite being supremely talented at what he did, didn't much enjoy doing it. Which is sad. Still, you'd never get that just from looking at the pictures.
What more do we learn about Raboy in this book? Not a heckuva lot. He was a quiet guy who didn't socialize much with his work peers. We don't get too much more information about his personal life or personality, but that's not for lack of trying on Hill's part. He includes interviews with several of Raboy's assistants and has done a great deal of research. He also interviewed the artist's son. But, for all of that, Raboy, the man, still emerges as a bit of a mystery.
Fortunately, there's a great deal of wonderfully selected and, often, rare art on display here, too. Included are some beautiful woodcuts Raboy did for the WPA during the Depression and, of course, lots of his comics work. The book is nicely written and designed, with excellent reproduction. You can order it via TwoMorrows Publishing now.
Coming Up: 1970s "Shazam!" series on Blu-ray
Out Oct. 8. Order from Amazon now.
Details:
By uttering a single magic word young Billy Batson transforms himself into the world s mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. The acronym of the first letters of the names of the six elders who train Billy with their respective special gifts: Solomon, wisdom; Hercules, strength; Atlas, stamina; Zeus, power; Achilles, courage; and Mercury, speed, in a word...SHAZAM! Now, the entire series is available in this 4-disc set featuring every exciting episode of this classic television show!
Coming up: "Mac Raboy: Master of the Comics"
Pre-order from Amazon now.
Details:
Beginning with his WPA etchings during the 1930s, Mac Raboy struggled to survive the Great Depression and eventually found his way into the comic book sweatshops of America. In that world of four-color panels, he perfected his art style on such creations as Dr. Voodoo, Zoro, The Mystery Man, Bulletman, Spy Smasher, Green Lama and his crowning achievement, Captain Marvel Jr. Raboy went on to illustrate the Flash Gordon Sunday newspaper strip, and left behind a legacy of meticulous perfection. Through extensive research and interviews with son David Raboy, and assistants who worked with the artist during the Golden Age of Comics, author Roger Hill brings Mac Raboy, the man and the artist, into focus for historians to savor and enjoy. This full-color hardcover includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics!
Shazam! stuff
"Shazam!" opens in theaters today. We can't speak for the quality of the movie, yet, but we love Captain Marvel the the Marvel Family.
Here's a selection of cool "Shazam!" stuff you might enjoy - ranging from comics collections to clothes and toys.
Here's a selection of cool "Shazam!" stuff you might enjoy - ranging from comics collections to clothes and toys.
Books
In 1973 DC brought back one of comics' most popular heroes: Captain
Marvel, also known as Shazam!, whose Golden Age adventures sold in the
millions of copies. These new adventures combined the cartoony art of
C.C. Beck, the original artist from the 1940s, with the modern,
tongue-in-cheek sensibility of writers including Dennis O'Neil (Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow).
Collects Shazam! #1-18.
Collects Shazam! #1-18.
Young orphan Billy Batson has bounced from foster home to foster home,
but he's far from the ideal child. Brash and rude, Billy is a troubled
teen who just can't seem to find a calling. But after a fateful night on
a subway car, that all will change.
Brought to the feet of the magical wizard Shazam at the Rock of Eternity, Billy is imbued with powers beyond any mortal man. By shouting the wizard's name--Shazam!--the young teen is mystically transformed into the powerhouse known as Captain Marvel! Now given abilities that make him Earth's Mightiest Mortal at the utterance of a simple phrase, will Billy make the right choices and do what it takes to become a hero? Or will he succumb to the poor choices of youth--and the villainous Black Adam?
Perfect for any new fan of the World's Mightiest Mortal, this new edition of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's classic graphic novel features a photo cover of star actor Zachary Levi. Collects Justice League #0, #21 and stories from Justice League #7-11, #14-16 and #18-20.
Brought to the feet of the magical wizard Shazam at the Rock of Eternity, Billy is imbued with powers beyond any mortal man. By shouting the wizard's name--Shazam!--the young teen is mystically transformed into the powerhouse known as Captain Marvel! Now given abilities that make him Earth's Mightiest Mortal at the utterance of a simple phrase, will Billy make the right choices and do what it takes to become a hero? Or will he succumb to the poor choices of youth--and the villainous Black Adam?
Perfect for any new fan of the World's Mightiest Mortal, this new edition of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's classic graphic novel features a photo cover of star actor Zachary Levi. Collects Justice League #0, #21 and stories from Justice League #7-11, #14-16 and #18-20.
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
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
2015 marked the 75th anniversary of Shazam! DC Comics is proud to present
this new hardcover anthology collecting some of Shazam's greatest
stories.
Presents
the complete Shazam! stories from legendary comics author Roy Thomas,
his co-writer and wife Dann Thomas and acclaimed artists Tom Mandrake,
Rick Stasi and Rick Magyar. Featuring a new introduction by the author,
this special hardcover edition reveals a unique and
never-before-reprinted chapter in the history of one of the most beloved
and enduring superheroes of all time! Collects SHAZAM!: THE NEW
BEGINNING #1-4 and the Captain Marvel stories from ACTION COMICS WEEKLY
#623-626.
Shazam made his debut in Whiz Comics in 1940, and outsold his biggest competitor, Superman, by
14 million copies a month. It wasn’t long before a variety of
merchandise was licensed—secret decoders, figurines, buttons, paper
rockets, tin toys, puzzles, costumes—and a fan club was created to keep
up with the demand. These collectibles now sell for outrageous prices on
eBay or in comic book stores and conventions. Seventy years later, an
unprecedented assortment of these collectibles are gathered together by
award-winning writer/designer Chip Kidd and photographer Geoff Spear.
Join Kidd, Spear, and the World’s Mightiest Mortal in this first,
fully authorized celebration of ephemera, artwork, and rare,
one-of-a-kind toys, and recapture the magic that was Shazam!
A collection of the first 33 issues of the 1970's comics in which Billy
Batson, an adolescent newscaster, is given god-like powers by the wizard
SHAZAM and becomes Captain Marvel, the world's mightiest mortal!
Thanks to a magical rift created when Captain Marvel battled Mr. Mind's
monsters, 14-year-old Theo Adam has been returned to Earth from his
banishment. But Theo has one problem: he can't remember the magic word
that gives him the powers of Black Adam. There's only one solution:
follow Captain Marvel and get the word out of his alter ego, 11-year-old
Billy Batson.
Videos
By uttering a single magic word young Billy Batson transforms himself
into the world’s mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. The acronym of the
first letters of the names of the six elders who train Billy with their
respective special gifts: Solomon, wisdom; Hercules, strength; Atlas,
stamina; Zeus, power; Achilles, courage; and Mercury, speed, in a
word...SHAZAM! Now, the entire series is available in this 3-disc set
featuring every exciting episode of this classic television show!
When
sold by Amazon.com, this product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R
recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
Toys and collectibles
T-shirts
Pop Artifact: Isis/Shazam! publicity cel, 1976
Via Heritage Auctions.
Details:
Isis, aka The Secrets of Isis was a live-action series, the first to feature a female superhero (predating both Wonder Woman and The Bionic Woman). The lovely Joanna Cameron starred as Andrea Thomas, a science teacher who discovers a magic gold amulet that gave her super powers whenever she said "Oh mighty Isis." Shazam! was another Filmation live-action Saturday morning series, starring Jackson Bostwick as the legendary Captain Marvel.
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