Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal - Volume Three!

The third volume of Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal is all about E. Nelson Bridwell and Don Newton. Bridwell had proven his affection for the characters from Fawcett when he took over the writing chores from Denny O'Neil and Elliot S Maggin. He sent the character onto a premise-changing tour of the country alongside his "Mentor" when the TV show caused a spark of interest in the waning comic. And now he was there to shepherd the Marvel Family as they moved from their own comic into the expansive pages of World's Finest. This was in the days of the dollar comic and DC once again proved creative in trying to find packages and price points which allowed fans to get value for money and which would allow DC to ascend once again to their coveted number one position. That never happened but it wasn't for lack of trying. 

Don Newton was a Captain Marvel fanboy from way back. I do believe that he cosplayed as the "Big Red Cheese" at early comic book conventions. Newton was a fan artist of some repute who finally got a gig at DC drawing the heroes he adored. He'd busted out in the pro ranks at Charlton on Lee Falks' The Phantom. Later he'd make a mark on Batman, but I firmly believed his best work was on Shazam! in the pages of World's Finest and later Adventure Comics. And it's all here between these two covers. 

Bridwell and Newton gave the reader fresh stories which drew successfully on the rich history of the Marvels. Familiar villains such Dr. Sivana, Mr. Mind, Ibac, and Captain Nazi made appearances. But so did less familiar baddies such as Sabbac and Oggre. They even created a few new menaces such as Darkling and Chain Lightning. The adventures are brisk and fun but not as light-hearted as what had come before. There was a sense of consequences and a whisper of real danger which had not been with the early Shazam! stories. The stories might even continue from month to month such as a three-part yarn which reformed the infamous Monster Society. Bridwells demonstrated a keen knowledge of the Marvel mythology and Newton brought it to life in a delightful manner.  

Alas Shazam was not featured on the covers of most of the World's Finest run. But here are a few select covers on which Captain Marvel does put in an appearance. 

The series wrapped up its World's Finest run when that comic reverted to a regular format. The last two stories by Bridwell and Newton appeared in the first two digest-sized Adventure Comics. 

The Marvel Family then went on a hiatus and would not make a substantial return to the DC firmament until after the Crisis on Infinite Earths when Captain Marvel was tapped to join the Justice League. There was a meager attempt to revive the characters by Roy Thomas and Mark Beachum but it failed to find its mark. Later Jerry Ordway developed The Power of Shazam which took the same approach in art that Don Newton had followed and gave us a Shazam for new audiences. The characters remained in the ever-changing DCU until in more recent years a feature film has once again raised awareness of one of comic's most successful characters. 

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