Goodbye to "The Big Red Cheese"

[thunderbolt]

Regardless of long any Shazam title lasts...my point is that it still gets cancelled. Not something you can say about Superman, who's been around since like the 40's?

The original Fawcett title would have continued publication if not for the DC lawsuit, so in effect it was not cancelled, just squashed by corperate DC people jealous of it outselling its precious Superman.

[Cosmicman]

Maybe DC decided they only wanted one real "Superman" and chose to do something with "the big red cheese." Just my thought.

[Figuremod73]

National had been pounding Fawcett for years with lawsuits. By the '50s superhero books were sorta low on sales to begin with so it was almost easy for Fawcett to end the title. I think part of the agreement was that Fawcett would NEVER publish the Character again.

[Figuremod73]

I think they just dont know how to do it anymore, to be honest. Lee wasnt a good choice.

[The Bat]

I don't think the problem is that DC doesn't give a crap about the Shazam character...I think he's just a hard sell because he's such a ridiculous character. And today's audience isn't interested in him.

And to my original point...Superman has NEVER, EVER been cancelled!

[samurainoir]

I think folks often forget that much more than say Batman and Superman who have their roots firmly in pulp fiction or Wonder Woman who draws on mythology, Captain Marvel/Shazam was by design a children's character.

As an adult audience, it seems we collectively want a character we can read within the regular DCU, which has been increasingly skewing older for the past decades.

Meanwhile, forgetting about DC's efforts at aiming the character back at the Big Red Cheese's intended audience... kids.

Have you guys been buying any of the Johnny DC Shazam comics? If you want to send DC a message, buy these ones in quantity and give them to all the kids in your life, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, godkids, kids of friends, neighbors... and some doubles to give away to their friends.

Amazon.com: Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam: Mr. Mind over Matter (9781401229931): Art Baltazar, Franco, Byron Vaughns: Books



plus... supporting the work of a fellow Mego Museum member and heckuva nice guy... Aw Yeah Mego Milk!

and the books by the other guys are good too.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Yes, a boy magically turning into a grown man with super powers is so much more ridiculous than alien who hides his secret identity behind a pair of glasses.

Chris

[palitoy]

I thought Smith and Baltazar/Franco were doing a great job bringing the character back to it's original roots.

[Figuremod73]

Really liked the Smith mini, i'll try to find the others.

[johnmiic]

From The Mayo Report:All of this points to the decision to reboot the DC Universe with the New 52 as having paid off so far."

I guess that writer got paid off by DC. This is just a case of the shinny newness not wearing off yet. It will and the titles sales will decline. At one of the stores I buy from they always ask if I need any new 52 issues. I always tell them-I ain't buying a single one of them.

[The Bat]

I guess that writer got paid off by DC. This is just a case of the shinny newness not wearing off yet. It will and the titles sales will decline. At one of the stores I buy from they always ask if I need any new 52 issues. I always tell them-I ain't buying a single one of them.

Yeah that's it, the Writer got paid off. As for you not buying a single one of them...I don't think you're going to cripple DC. But I'm helping out in your place...I'm buying more DC comics than I ever did before. Good times.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^You can have 'em.

Chris

[samurainoir]

Yes, a boy magically turning into a grown man with super powers is so much more ridiculous than alien who hides his secret identity behind a pair of glasses.

Chris

I was thinking specifically about the pulp iconography that Bats and Supes were grafted onto in their most primal incarnations, rather than their trappings to turn it into kids entertainment. The best writers always seem to go back to the pulp roots with Batman and Superman... the alien stuff is a classic example. Current creators have taken that fear of aliens from beyond, going back to the earliest pulps, and making that the prime motivator for Lex Luthor in recent years, for example. Made even more real by the fact that malevolent aliens like Brainiac exist in that setting.




I feel playful Whimsy seems to be so much more integral to Captain Marvel... particularly his Golden Age incarnation. And the kid into grown up is classic childhood wish fulfillment.

Which is why to me, the most successful contemporary versions are the Jeff Smith, Mike Kunkel, and Baltazar/Franco runs.

Not saying that you can't have the same kind of kid fun with Superman either.

[samurainoir]

One of my all time favourite comics is Miracle/Marvelman by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and co. I think it's strength is the fact that it went even beyond Watchmen... which a company that isn't Warner Brothers can do. At the end of the day though, I'm really glad that they used an analogous character instead of Captain Marvel.


Anyone ever read the Twilight of Superheroes crossover pitch by Moore? As much admiration as I have for him as a creator and most of his body of work, I'm glad he never got his mitts on Captain Marvel. Even for today's audience, his incestuous Marvel Family and midget Billy Batson killed by prostitute angle might be a tad too shocking.

[thunderbolt]

I don't think the problem is that DC doesn't give a crap about the Shazam character...I think he's just a hard sell because he's such a ridiculous character. And today's audience isn't interested in him.

And to my original point...Superman has NEVER, EVER been cancelled!

Ridiculous to you maybe, maybe not so to others. Nahh, Supes hasn't been cancelled, just rebooted umpteen times. And he will be again, when this tanks.