Shazam! and the Shazam Family

    (DC, 2002)
™ and ©2002 DC Comics

In 2002 DC Comics published a series of reprint annuals that evoked the appeal and excitement of the 80-Page Giants from the summers of the Silver Age. Costing considerably more than 25 cents, these titles contained significant stories from the character’s history.

Shazam and the Shazam Family treats the fans of the original Captain Marvel to the first appearances of Mary Marvel and Black Adam. A Captain Marvel Jr. story, with art by the impressive Mac Raboy, and a five-chapter epic battle between the Marvel Family and the Sivana Family round out this volume.

The whimsical nature of these stories could qualify this title as the antithesis of the grim and gritty comic book. These stories were originally published by Fawcett in the early-to-mid-1940s, before a copyright infringement lawsuit by DC induced Fawcett to stop publishing Captain Marvel in 1953. DC acquired the rights in 1973, but by that time Marvel Comics had secured the name for its own Captain Marvel character. Consequently, Shazam, (the magic word Billy Batson speaks to become Captain Marvel and also the name of the old wizard who gave him his powers), figured prominently in the titles of all the series DC published.

— George Haberberger
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  • Anl 1
    Annual #1
    Sep 2002
    Cover: $5.95
    W: Otto Binder, Earl Binder  ·  A: Marc Swayze, Mac Raboy, C.C. Beck, Pete Costanza
    Reprints from Captain Marvel Adventures #18, Captain Marvel Jr. #12, Marvel Family #1 and #10; Reprints Golden Age stories including 1st Mary Marvel and 1st Black Adam
    2 copies from $7.80