Saturday, May 7, 2005

Shazam!
I just added the old serial Adventures of Captain Marvel at the top of my Netflix queue. Holy moley! The serial is from 1941, when Captain Marvel comics outsold both Superman and Batman by a wide margin. In a way, the serial, though I've never seen it, was my first exposure to Captain Marvel and the power of the wizard Shazam.

There are two multiplex cinemas in the Flint metropolitan area, Showcase East and Showcase West. (Who needs competition?) For years and years there was only Showcase East, but in the mid/late '90s National Amusements, the parent company, constructed Showcase West. It is a much more attractive structure than East, with a high roofed lobby running the width of the building. One end of this lobby is adorned with images, posters from the golden age of Hollywood and oversized portraits of the stars. There are posters for Charlie Chan at the Opera and The West Point Story ("Dandier than Yankee Doodle Dandy!"), and portraits of Audrey Hepburn and Sean Connery. Among the posters is one for Adventures of Captain Marvel.

Before I read Shazam!: Power of Hope, I had no idea who Captain Marvel was, and so I had never specifically noticed the poster. It depicts the Captain holding what appears to be a giant scarab beetle over his head, making ready to hurl it. Yeah, it's an old serial from the '40s, but from what I have read it is one of the finest examples of the genre. Plus, unless I descend into madness to the point of digging up the '70s Saturday morning series Shazam! (Billy and the Wizard, curiously named Mentor, travel the country in an RV), this will probably be my only chance to see Cap outside of comics.

Potential titles for an MW penned Captain Marvel series:
Shazam!
Shazam Comics
The Magic of Shazam!

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