Captain Marvel Jr. and Flash Gordon

 

Time for an all-Mac Raboy cover.  I liked the cool sky cycles that Captain America or Hawkeye would zip around in on their Avengers adventures.  I have to wonder if those were inspired by Flash Gordon's Rocket Cycles, which he was known to use.

Sub-Mariner and Captain Marvel Jr.

 

The Golden Age Namor wasn't a big fan of working with other heroes, but when the mission was crushing Captain Nazi and his minions, I am sure he would make an exception.  

Captain Marvel Jr. and Bucky in: "Bunker Busters!"

 Freddy Freeman previously met Bucky Barnes in STF #2934, and I thought that I would revisit this pairing.  This time out, they have the despicable Red Skull to contend with.

Captains Marvel (Vs. Thanos & Mr. Mind!)

 

I thought it was time for this assemblage of heroes that have held the Captain Marvel title to return.  Of course, a team this powerful requires some formidable opponents.  Who better than two of their greatest adversaries, putting their evil mind and might together?

Captains Marvel first appeared in STF #1610...

Silver Surfer and The Marvel Family

 

For the conclusion of this Five-Part Tale, The Surfer has finally come to his senses and granted the Power Cosmic to some more worthy recipients than Black Adam.  Time to clean up the mess that he left behind and put Galactus in his place!

Captain Marvel previously faced off against the World Devourer with Superman at his side in STF #2969...

Captain Marvel Jr. and Ms. Marvel in: "Squid Game!"

 

This is the third adventure these two have shared together.  They were last seen battling Sivana's Sentinel in STF #3626, and first met in STF #3034... Let's hope that this Squid Game is not as lethal as the one I watched on Netflix.

Captain Marvel Jr. and Spider-Man

 

I never really understood those weird helmets that the A.I.M. henchmen would wear.  They looked like evil beekeepers and I can't imagine they had great peripheral vision.

Spidey and Freddy first met in STF #1358

I was glad to use an image by Stan lee's brother, Larry Lieber here.  I remember seeking out his few daily panels for the Spider-Man newspaper strip.  Many years back, I picked up an original strip by him:

The Marvel Family and Eternity

 

With all of the recent movie delay announcements, it was nice to learn that at least Shazam! Fury of the Gods will actually be coming out a little sooner than previously expected. I've liked the brief glimpses that have been shown of the film so far.  The costumes look to be a big improvement over the first installment and I can't wait to see Helen Mirren in a comic book movie.

Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. in: "Sivana's Pet Sentinel!"

 

The first trailer for the Disney+ Ms. Marvel series has been released, and it looks fun.  The show seems to be targeting a slightly younger demographic, sort of a John Hughes-type high school comedy mixed with the MCU.  That approach has worked for the Spider-Man movies, so it should do well here.  Her powers seem to be altered from the comics, I'm guessing so as not to be too similar to Mr. Fantastic.  

Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. first met in STF #3034...

Captain Marvel Jr. Vs. Jason Voorhees

 

Happy Halloween!  for this years festivities, I thought  that it was high time that this horror icon finally made his STF debut.  Who better to face off against him than one of comicdom's famous Freddys?  I suppose I could have gone with Fred Jones from the Scooby-Doo gang, but I can't imagine that would be a very long story.  Panel one: Fred removes Jason's hockey mask.  Panel two: Jason removes Fred's head.

Godzilla and Mr. Mind

 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods looks to be a jam-packed film.  Its got a whole extended Shazam Family to deal with, with promises of DC character Cameos, Sivana's return and presumably some Gods are going to be furious.  Still, I hope there's plenty of room left for the antagonist teased at the end of the first film - Mr. Mind!  He is one of my all-time favorite villains and I love that he is finally getting a big budget movie treatment.

Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr.

I keep hearing that Marvel Studios is close to announcing who will be cast as Kamala Khan in the Disney+ Ms. Marvel series. Hopefully they will find a young enough actress that can play the character for years without aging out of the role.  That may be a problem for the kids from Shazam! if they don't get that sequel up and filming soon!

Captain Marvel Jr. and Bucky

I am looking forward to Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney+, but the title begs one big question.  Why would Bucky Barnes want to continue going by the Winter Soldier code name?  Wasn't that given to him by the people who manipulated him into being a mindless mercenary for years?  I'd think he would never want to be called that again.  We'll see if that point is addressed in the new show.

The Marvel Family and The Watcher

As far as I know, The Don Newton-illustrated tales of the Shazam Family that were featured in World's Finest when it was an over-sized Dollar Comic have never been collected.  That's a real shame, because I think is would be a big seller.  The stories are a ton of fun and Newton's artwork was absolutely gorgeous.  There have been many attempts to modernize the look of the world of Shazam over the years, and I feel that those stories were the most successful at that.

The Hulk Vs. The Marvel Family

I wasn't sure about the casting of Zachary Levy as Captain Marvel for the upcoming Shazam! film, but I am really on board now.  He definitely has the looks facially, and recent pictures that I have seen have shown that he is indeed bulking up for the role.  Christopher Reeve went through a similar transformation in preparing for the first Superman movie, and that turned out OK.  Acting-wise, I think Levy has the chops to portray a kid in an adult's body with the wisdom of Solomon.  I have seen Asher Angel act before, and he will make a fine Billy Batson (although maybe a year or two too old if they want to do a bunch of sequels - but first things first).

Thor and The Marvel Family

It seems that Shazam! will be one of the next DC movies to go into production, and it has been announced that there will not be an appearance by The Rock as Black Adam after all.  The obvious choice for an villain would be Doctor Sivana, but I hope that there's room for at least one other antagonist as well.  There are plenty of good ones to choose from, but my choice would definitely be Mr. Mind!  

Thor and Captain Marvel  clashed in STF #990 and they first crossed paths in STF #120... Thor met the whole Marvel Family in STF #1518...

Captain Marvel Jr. and Elvis

We all know that Elvis looks great in his white Captain Marvel suit, so he'd have made a great Lieutenant!  This cover comes about from another suggestion by Michael Eury, editor of the always awesome Back Issue Magazine.  Michael just released a new book, Hero-A-Go-Go, celebrating the camp age of comics, I highly recommend checking it out.

Captain Marvel, Jr. and The Human Torch

Off-Topic from the above cover - I was saddened to read of the passing of legendary artist Bernie Wrightson.  Like many, I was introduce to his moody artwork in the pages of Swamp Thing, with his excellent use of light and shadow and his amazing character design.  My mind was (and still is) completely blown when I saw his black &white Frankenstein project.  The amount of detail he put into those images just floored and inspired me, I had never seen anything like it before, and it still stands as one of my all time favorite examples of comic book artwork.  May he rest in Peace.

Captains Marvel

I can understand why they finally made the change, but I still think it's too bad that the original Captain Marvel no longer goes by that name and now calls himself Shazam.  If they had to change the name, I always preferred something like Captain Thunder. At any rate, on this blog Billy Batson's superheroic persona will always be Captain Marvel.

The Marvel Family Vs. The Avengers

We've seen The Avengers battling world-conquering megalomaniacs, alien invasions and even each other on the big screen.  While it will be fun seeing them all together against Thanos, I hope for some future installments we can see them square off against another team of super-characters.  The Masters of Evil would be great, or even a dimension-spanning story featuring the Squadron Supreme.