Broken Frontier

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Guiding Lines! My name is William Gatevackes. Let’s take a look at the comics arriving in stores tomorrow, August 30, 2006.

Trials of Shazam #1 arrives tomorrow and it features yet another revamp of the DC’s version of Captain Marvel. But unlike previous re-imaginings, and there were quite a few, this one might stray too far from what made the character popular in the first place.

Originally published by a company called Fawcett Publications, Captain Marvel was at one time the best-selling hero to appear in comics, outselling Captain America, Wonder Woman, Batman and even Superman. This was during the mid-1940, when the primary reading audience was made up of children.

Kids probably identified with the Captain’s secret identity, a boy named Billy Batson who became Captain Marvel when he said the magic word, “Shazam.” Some might have also preferred the whimsical nature of the books, where orphans can gain superpowers from an elderly wizard, talking stuffed tigers could exist and a pink rabbit could gain the powers of Captain Marvel.

The differences in alter egos and tone aside, DC Comics thought Captain Marvel was just a little too close to Superman for comfort. They sent a cease and desist letter to Fawcett in June 1941. Deciding “The Big Red Cheese” was different enough from The Man of Steel that they were not in violation of copyright, Fawcett decided to hold its ground.

DC filed suit in September 1941, beginning a 12-year battle between the companies. Fawcett won the initial suit in 1948 on a technicality but finally lost on appeal in 1952. At that time, superheroes weren’t as popular as they were in the decade prior, so instead of fighting any longer, Fawcett agreed to settle with DC out of court. Part of the agreement entailed Fawcett ceasing publication of all Captain Marvel related titles.

Captain Marvel did not appear in comic books again until 1973, when DC, after licensing the rights for him and Fawcett’s other superheroes in 1972, published new adventures of the character. The title, named Shazam! due Marvel holding the copyright to the Captain Marvel name, ran for 35 issues and 5 years. It was similar in tone to the original stories and featured artwork by the character’s co-creator.

The first true revamp happened in 1987; seven years after DC bought the rights to the Fawcett characters outright. Tying in to the Legends mini-series, Shazam!: The New Beginning, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Tom Mandrake, retained the general concept behind the character but updated it so it fit in with the darker, more serious writing of the day.

Another attempt at reviving the character occurred with 1994’s Power of Shazam! graphic novel. Writer/artist Jerry Ordway retconned the Thomas/Mandrake re-imagining out of existence, returning the character closer to its roots.

Trials of Shazam! isn’t a true revamp, but more of a new direction for the character. From what could be gathered from the solicitations, it appears that the Billy Batson Captain Marvel will now take the place of the old wizard (who was killed in the Day of Vengeance limited series) and Captain Marvel Jr. will have to compete to become the next Captain Marvel.

I am of two minds on this. First, it’s not another revamp, which is good. I think when a character has been re-imagined twice already, that should be more than enough. But another part of me wonders if all of this is necessary. Does the status quo need to be shook up this much? I kind of liked the Billy Batson Captain Marvel and the fact that the concept wasn’t as dark and grim as everything else in comics seems to be.

DC seems to be taking a stance on a lot of its characters that instead of bringing characters back to their roots, they hire creators to come in and change as much as they possibly can so what remains only bears a slight resemblance to what has come before. And most of the time, these changes are at the very least unnecessary and at the most awful.

At least they didn’t kill Captain Marvel off. That seems to be what DC does to characters it can’t figure out how to write. But if this series doesn’t go over well, especially with new readers, there might be a hit list with Cap’s name on it.

Mythos: Hulk is the second in a line of Marvel’s “Mythos” books. It joins last year’s Mythos: X-Men and, like that book, is written by Paul Jenkins and painted by Paolo Rivera.

These books offer an updated view of the classic origin stories of these characters. They make the stories timelier and more in line with the current look and feel of the books Marvel puts out.

The traditionalist in me usually balks at stuff like this, the tweaking of past stories to put a modern spin on them. This is not only because we have new creators messing with classic stories written by legendary creators, but also because what is modern today is dated tomorrow. This new version of the origin story will have to be updated by future generations of storytellers in a few years anyway. And that revamp will have to be revamped further down the line.

Yet, in the case of Mythos, I am of a different opinion. The good thing about Marvel Comics in the 60s was that the company played off the times well. They were hip current and trendy. The Fantastic Four’s origin grew out of the space race the U.S. had with the Soviet Union. The Hulk’s came from the arms race between the two countries. And Iron Man’s was inspired by the Vietnam conflict. However, since they were a product of their times, the stories had a shorter shelf life and became dated quicker.

There are a lot of readers of comics today that never lived through the arms race, know nothing of the space race and Vietnam is just a chapter in a history book. These readers also know that if a person was exposed to a great deal of radiation, they wouldn’t grow into the Hulk, they’d die, probably slowly and painfully.

So, Mythos polishing up those stories we knew and loved from years ago really doesn’t bother me—especially since Marvel is treating the project with respect and reverence. Everything from the format, the publishing schedule and the painted artwork gives an air of importance to the book. They are treating the Mythos line as an important part of Marvel’s history. And if they are giving the stories respect, I feel I should too.

Diamond’s advance shipping list has Cross Bronx #1 coming out tomorrow from Image, a week before it was scheduled. Whether this means that it will actually come out this week is anybody’s guess. If it doesn’t, then consider this an advance preview (editor’s note: an advance preview it is; Cross Bronx will debut next Wednesday).

Co-written by Michael Avon Oeming and Ivan Brandon with art by Oeming, it is described as a “violent noir…with a twist of the paranormal”. A New York City detective by the name of Ortiz must rely on answers from a comatose girl to help solve murders of low-level gang members across the city. It sounds a lot like Oeming’s other co-creation, Powers, except with the supernatural instead of superheroes.

You might think it unfair to compare Cross Bronx to Powers. After all, Bendis is nowhere to be found, though, co-writer Ivan Brandon isn’t some kid off the street as he co-created the popular NYC Mech series. But when Image says in its solicitation that the book is “a must-read for any fan of Powers,” it’s hard not to compare the two.

So, if you ARE a fan of Powers, or NYC Mech or Oeming’s writing on Thor and Red Sonja, perhaps you should give Cross Bronx a shot. Who knows, it could be BETTER than all of the above.

Another title Diamond is saying will arrive in stores earlier than anticipated is After Hours Press’ Model Operandi. This title was reviewed right here at Broken Frontier by our own Dave Baxter and by myself over at Pop Matters. Both Dave and I came to similar conclusions, the book, while flawed, is better and more complex that other examples of its genre.

The book is an espionage thriller wrapped in the guise of good girl art. Co-created by Dennis Budd and Joe Caramagna, the comic details the adventures of an international supermodel named Legsy Diamond as she becomes embroiled in a mystery while working in Paris.

If you have an extra $5.99 in your pocket, you might want to give Model Operandi a try. You get 88-pages of story in one convenient package. That’s 4 times the story at only twice the price.

Captain Canuck Legacy #1 hits stores tomorrow as well. Published by Comely Comix/ Semple Comics, it is written by the character’s co-creator Richard Comely and marks the fourth series to feature a version of the hero.  For those of you who think that Captain Canuck is the punchline to a joke (or a rip off of Guardian from Marvel’s Alpha Flight), you would be mistaken.

First off, he was created in 1975 by Comley and Ron Leishman, three years before Guardian (then called Vindicator) first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #109. Second, the various series featured some of the first comic work of artists such as George Freeman and Leonard Kirk. Third, the character has appeared in a TV show, has a movie in the works and even appeared on a postage stamp in his native Canada.

So, you see, legacy is an excellent title for this new series. While not many people know of him down here, Captain Canuck appears to have become a part, small or big, of Canadian heritage. If you want to see what our neighbors to the north like about the character, perhaps you could pick up a copy of Captain Canuck Legacy #1.

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY. He spent his honeymoon with his wife Jennifer traveling across Canada, so he has fond memories of the country. He didn’t see anything about Captain Canuck, but he didn’t spend much time in comic shops. He was busy doing other things. Bill writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for the Comicbase collection management software.