I've fallen behind on my blogging, but a recent spate of reviews about the Shazam Deluxe Hard Cover like this one in in the Sunday Book section of The San Francisco Chronicle, Friday's Columbus Dispatch, and today's review on the website The Daily Cross Hatch snapped me out of it. This book is getting reviewed everywhere. To see the complete list that DC sent me, click here.
But before I can even begin to go through that list, I want to give you a quick tour of the Deluxe Hard Cover collection…
To start with, the book was put together by original series designer Louis Prandi, and he's done another great job of tying together bold graphics and nostalgic fun, especially on the 40 pages of behind-the-scenes material in the back.
Alex Ross reinvigorated the character for me with his portrayal of the Big Red Cheese in Kingdom Come, and was my first choice to write the introduction. He did a great job of putting the character into the context of the 1940s as well as the 21st century.
Alex also seemed to like my portrayal of Billy Batson and Captain Marvel as two beings in one body, something that has been surprisingly controversial with some readers.
A side by side comparison between the Deluxe Hard Cover and the original comic page: first, you can see how much larger the new book is; a full inch taller and 3/4" wider. These pages were shot from completely new film, so not only is the artwork noticeably larger, its colors are much truer (which almost never happens!). The Deluxe Hard Cover on the left looks exactly the way colorist Steve Hamaker intended. Compare that to the darker, browner version of the comics on the right.
Of course my favorite thing is the dust jacket. When you take it off, you find a folded over, beautifully printed, double sided poster…
…on the front you have the original series covers…
…then when you flip it over, it's a poster of the back cover puzzle from the comics. The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man are inside the letters of the SHAZAM! logo! I love that!
The whole double sided giant poster thing was cooked up between DC's collection editor Bob Harras and designer Louis Prandi in an attempt to recreate the original mini-series feeling of fun. They put a lot of love into this book and I appreciate it.
The whole package which includes the oversized new artwork, dustjacket, and 40 pages of extras like sketches and notes is priced at $29.95.
In Part 2: The Haters, I'll look at some of those controversial elements…
