Reprints All-New Special Edition #C-58, DC Comics Presents #33-34, 49, DC Comics Presents Annual #3
Written by Roy Thomas, Joey Cavalieri, Gerry Conway, Paul Kupperberg, Julius Schwartz and Gil Kane.
Penciled by Rich Buckler, Gil Kane.
Inked by Dick Giordano, John Calnan and Gil Kane.
Summary:
On Mars, a sorcerer known as Karmang The Evil lives a solitary existence. Thousands of years ago, he tried to discover the secret to immortality. His attempt made him immortal, but killed off everyone else on Mars. He hatches a plan to resurrect them. Karmang wants to force a collision between two planets, Earth-1 and Earth-S. This collision will generate enough energy to bring his fellow Martians back to life.
Using his sorcery, he brings two super-villains to Mars: Black Adam, arch foe of Shazam (AKA, Captain Marvel) and Quarrmer, who recently battled Superman.
Karmang sends them to the Earths of their foes where they will activate a device called the space-time engine that will force each Earth towards the other. Quarrmer and Black Adam will also get Shazam and Superman to fight each other so they're too distracted to save their home planets from destruction.
Superman is surprised when Captaian Marvel shows up in Metropolis and challenges him to a fight. The fight is brief, but before Shazam flies off, he zaps Superman with a judgement ray. This causes the Man Of Steel to lose all judgement and sends him into a berserker rage, focused on nothing but fighting Shazam. We learn that "Shazam" was really Black Adam in disguise as the villain activates a "space-time engine" and leaves it in Metropolis.
Superman's cousin Supergirl witnesses this and is concerned. She has never seen Kal-El in such a rage and wonders why the two heroes want to kill each other. Supergirl follows her cousin as he pursues Captain Marvel.
In the New York City of Earth-S, Captain Marvel is attacked by Superman. A fight similar to the one on Earth-1 ensues, with Shazam being blasted with a judgement ray. "Superman" was actually Quarrmer masquerading as the Man Of Tomorrow and he activates the space-time engine that will propel Earth-S towards our planet. Captain Marvel is out for blood and heads for Earth-1.
Mary Marvel, sister of Captain Marvel, wonders what's happened to make Shazam so enraged and follows him to Earth-1.
Captain Marvel and Superman engage in one the greatest brawls any Earth has ever seen. They punch and throw each other across the United States, from Niagara Falls to the Grand Canyon.
Supergirl and Mary guess that impostors must have caused Superman and Shazam to fight each other. They deduce that Black Adam and Quarrmer must be the culprits. This leads them to Mars where Mary Marvel and Supergirl go after Karmang.
Earth's time is running out, the heroes have only two hours before Earth-S and Earth-1 will collide and be destroyed. Can the heroes come to their senses and stop fighting each other in time to thwart Karmang's plot and save two Earths?
Sometime later, Clark Kent is working at the Daily Planet when he hears trouble and rushes off to change into Superman. Clark is shocked to find that he's wearing the red and gold costume of Captain Marvel! He uses a passageway to Earth-S to visit Shazam and finds that the World's Mightest Mortal is wearing a Superman costume!
The heroes learn that it's the work of Superman's mischievous enemy, Mister Mxyzptlk, the imp from the fifth dimension. In addition to causing the costume-switch, Mxyzptlk has cast a spell which traps Superman on Earth-S.
But Mxyzptlk isn't working alone. He's teamed up with Shazam's old foe Mr. Mind, the worm-like alien genius, as well as the super-strong, barbaric King Kull, another adversary of Captain Marvel. Kull states that he plans to kill every human bein on Earth. His strength has been increased by Mr. Mind, making King Kull deadlier than ever.
If Shazam and the Man Of Steel want to triumph over their enemies, they'll need the help of Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior and...last but not least Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny!
Subsequently, when Superman saves an ancient Egyptian temple from an explosion, he unwittingly releases Black Adam into the world. The villain attacks New York City and declares himself the new ruler of Earth. Superman battles Black Adam, but after a brief exchange, the Man Of Steel makes a tactical retreat.
Their fight is observed by a young man named Billy Batson. On Earth-S, his counterpart is the alter ego of Captain Marvel. But on Earth-1, Billy is just a normal kid and Shazam only exists as a comic book character. He confronts Black Adam and even shouts "Shazam" in vain hopes he will turn in to Captain Marvel. Black Adam laughs at the boy.
Black Adam seems more powerful than ever. Superman finds a way to get Shazam to Earth, knowing it will take their combined power to stop Captain Marvel's deadliest foe. But young Billy Batson will also prove to be a valuable asset in their battle.
Finally, Captain Marvel's foe Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana attacks Metropolis in a giant robot. Superman is able to stop the robot, but Sivana escapes.
When the villain returns to Earth-S, he cooks up his deadliest scheme yet. Sivana creates a device that will give him the powers of Shazam.
The device works and Dr. Sivana becomes Captain Sivana! In addition to his scientific genius, Sivana is now one of the most powerful beings who ever lived.
Shazam will need to enlist the assistance of the Marvel Family and the Supermans of two Earths if he wants to defeat Captain Sivana!
Review:
The material reprinted in Superman Vs. Shazam is exciting and should appeal to fans of both characters. It also features scripts and art from some of the greatest comic book talents of all time.
Story:
The plot of the first story, written by Gerry Conway, is a bit thin, but it's lots of fun. It basically consists of "two extremely powerful heroes fight each other." But that's okay, and I thought that Mary Marvel and Supergirl were written well in the story.
Conway and Roy Thomas co-wrote the two-part tale from DC Comics Presents 33-34 and it's another good story. Mxyzptlk has long been one of my favorite DC villains (I even had his Mego doll when I was a kid!) and he's very entertaining in this tale. When Mxyzplk objects to Kull and Mr. Mind killing people, it's a good reminder that not all super-villains are bent on world domination and oppression.
I also appreciated the presence of Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny. Is he a bit silly? Sure, but adding a "funny animal" character helped lighten the mood in a story about characters trying to kill or conquer.
The final portion gives us a story credited to Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Joey Cavalieri and legendary DC editor Julius Schwartz. Normally, when I see a story credited to four people, I expect the worst. Thankfully, that is not the case here. It's another great brawl issue, with Captain Sivana slugging it out with Shazam and the Supermans of Earth-1 and Earth-2.
It was published in DC Comics Presents Annual #3. Bronze Age annuals were often mediocre but this is a great story.
Art:
Rich Buckler penciled most of this book and his art is good throughout. The art in the first story features Buckler's pencils inked by Dick Giordano. They give us page after page of fantastic art. When Captain Marvel and Superman are under the influence of the judgement ray, Buckler and Giordano do a great job depicting the heroes as psychotic madmen. Their facial expressions are almost scary. Lots of great action and fight scenes by two of the Bronze Age's best artists.
Buckler and Giordano also provide the art on tale that features Mxyzptlk, Mr. Mind, and King Kull. Buckler's style had changed quite a bit since the first story, but it still looks good. John Calnan embellished Buckler on the next reprinted story. It's not bad, but it's the weakest art in the book. Black Adam just doesn't look right when depicted by the Buckler/Calnan team.
Comics legend Gil Kane penciled and inked the Sivana story. Kane is one of my favorite artists, but this is near the end of his career. Kane's work here is good, even if it looks a bit rougher than his best work. Of course, Kane was a master of odd perspectives and he doesn't disappoint in that regard.
How Does It Look?:
I found this scan, from All-New Special Edition #C-58 on the internet:
This is how it appears in the tpb:
J.A. Morris' rating:
Superman Vs. Shazam features two of the greatest heroes of all time fighting each other and teaming up against great villains and is recommended. Fans of Rich Buckler's art will especially enjoy this tpb. It's also a good way to introduce the uninitiated to the quirky and amusing world of Shazam.
.5
