Say the Word... Feel the Power
Captain Marvel is featured in a story running through Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, and Superman; both Cap and the wizard Shazam appeared in the first issue of Day of Vengeance (the good captain will be on the cover of the third); the Wizard was in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, with only a cameo by Cap; Mary Marvel is in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" running in JLA: Classified; and, I am told, CM3 has been in the most recent issues of Teen Titans.

This morning, I read Paul Dini and Alex Ross's Shazam!: Power of Hope. While I was cooking and eating lunch, I read Jerry Ordway's graphic novel The Power of Shazam!, prelude to the long-cancelled monthly series of the same name. This summer, there is going to be a Superman/Captain Marvel miniseries, a prequel to the story currently in Action, Adventures, and Superman. By the end of the year, Jeff Smith's long-delayed Shazam: Monster Society of Evil is finally being released. Holy Moley, I'm excited!

I cannot fully explain why, but I absolutely adore Captain Marvel and the whole Marvel Family. I have ever since I was introduced to the Marvels via Shazam!: Power of Hope. The first two books in the Dini-Ross series were Superman: Peace on Earth and Batman: War on Crime; the fourth was Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth. At the time, I was greatly puzzled as to who this Captain Marvel chap was and how in blazes he rated a place alongside the big three of the DCU when I had never even heard of him. The publication history of Captain Marvel is long and complex, but the reason I had never heard of him is quite simple: he's not that popular. Superman has three monthly books: Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, and Superman; Batman has four: Detective Comics, Batman, Batman: Gotham Knights, and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, plus a multitude of miniseries and crossovers; the two of them share the monthly title Superman/Batman; and while Wonder Woman "only" has one monthly book, Wonder Woman, she is one of only three characters who has been continuously published for sixty-five years (her, Supes, and Bats). The aforementioned series The Power of Shazam! ran forty-seven issues from early 1996 to late 1999, including a four-issue crossover with the magnificent Starman, but on the whole Cap, Mary, Junior, and the Wizard have been confined to guest and cameo appearances. Black Adam, Captain Marvel's archenemy, has fared somewhat better, being a member of the Justice Society of America for almost three years in JSA and having recently joined the so-called Secret Society of Super-Villains soon to star in the miniseries Villains United. Cap, too, was seen in the pages of JSA, but not for as long a period as Black Adam.

Of course, that I am so fond of Captain Marvel goes a long way to explaining why he does not have an ongoing book. I have found that just as in music, magazines, and all other forms of pop culture, my taste in comic books does not often conform with that of the greater public. Poor Cap. Still, I shall enjoy the Marvel guest appearances, Cap's return to JSA, and the two miniseries due later this year; I'll take my Marvel Family fix almost wherever I can get it.

(As part of my general fantasy to one day write comic books, I would love to write for Captain Marvel. I have ideas for stories with Sivana, Black Adam, Mr. Mind, Captain Nazi, Ibac, and all the Fawcett City villains. "A Tale of Two Captains," wherein Captain Nazi decides to stop fighting the Marvels with his fists and instead recruit an army of neo-Nazi skinheads to conduct marches and distribute hateful literature, all within the bounds of the law. How can Billy defeat an enemy he can't punch? Of course, that's the real challenge of writing the Marvels. You have to maintain the innocence of the characters, who are after all children, but the fanciful stories of the Golden Age just don't work anymore.)