Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil
Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil collects auteur Jeff Smith’s 2007 Captain Marvel story, putting the creator’s stamp on a well-known character while paying homage to its Golden Age roots.
Homeless orphan Billy Batson gets the surprise of his young life when a ride on a bizarre subway car brings him to the Rock of Eternity and the wizard Shazam. Gifting Billy with a magic word (also Shazam) that grants him an adult form and amazing powers, the wizard sends him back to Earth to do good. After Billy accidentally allows the alien Mr. Mind a foothold to invade Earth with a horde of gruesome creatures, and running afoul of the power-hungry Dr. Sivana, Billy finds his long-lost younger sister, allies with the heroic talking tiger Talky Tawny and learns to balance the two sides of himself as he finds a way to beat back Mr. Mind’s invasion and save the day.
Similar to the marketing blitz for that other Captain Marvel whose movie opens a few weeks before the forthcoming Shazam, The Monster Society of Evil is part of a rollout to make sure product is on the shelves for the cinematic outing. Fortunately, this collection spotlights a story many readers might have missed from a decade ago that’s worth rediscovering.
Smith, creator of the award-winning Bone, took a deliberately retro approach, both in writing and visuals, that gives the story a timeless feel. Styles from different eras were mixed and matched for maximum appeal, which allowed Smith to boil the Captain Marvel concept down to its primary components. He calibrated Billy and his sister Mary as young children, counter to the trend of recent decades of casting them as teens, which amped up the awe around them and, at least for Billy, provided more of a contrast to his heroic alter ego. Smith also worked the concept of Billy and Marvel being different aspects of one person, making them more like brothers in some regards, even as they slowly began to share consciousness. Mary became the epitome of the spunky younger sister.
Smith’s use of Captain Marvel’s best known villains was a smart move. Sivana and Mr. Mind have identifiable personas that Smith was able to play with effectively. He took more of a chance with Talky (né Tawky) Tawny, giving the character a mythological spin that made sense. The hallmark of the story was fun, with Smith taking a deliberately broad approach, spiced with humor and exaggerated emotions that gave the proceedings a light feel a lot of the time. But he didn’t shy away from the darker aspects; villains both human and other posed enough danger to make the story more a nostalgia trip for adult readers, as opposed to something geared toward an all ages audience.
Smith’s art paid homage to the classic Golden Age work of C.C. Beck, with a cartoony, larger than life quality that served the nostalgia idea of the story very well. The visuals blithely referenced any number of sources and inspirations, providing a stylish backdrop for Billy and Captain Marvel’s adventures that pulled off an eye-popping widescreen vista when called for, but which effectively made use of a standard panel layout to move the action along briskly. Colorist Steve Hamaker gave everything a bright, energetic sheen.
The flaws of The Monster Society of Evil were minor and easily forgiven, including a feckless attempt at political commentary that hasn’t aged especially well. Fortunately, those small missteps don’t distract from a timeless story that’s a love letter to the Golden Age and is worth checking out.
