Re-read - still love it! ( )

I liked this, but I wanted to love it; I got interested in reading more modern takes on Captain Marvel after enjoying the character's appearances in The Multiversity and Convergence: Infinite Earths. I don't think The Monster Society of Evil quite hits the notes of joy or childlike wonder that those stories do; Smith's take on Captain Marvel is a little too... bogged down. It's nowhere near grim and gritty, but it feels bound in a way that those other stories don't. Still: Smith's artwork is delightful and the story does a great job playing with a lot of classic Captain Marvel concepts but updating them for the 2000s. I can always go for a talking tiger.

5 stars for these lines on pgs 132-133

Captain Marvel: "...All i want to do is make peace."
Cyclops: "All I want to do is plow the earth...with your head!" ( )

Summary:
Billy Batson is a homeless orphan who is also a “host” for Captain Marvel. Billy's bad behavior almost causes mass destruction of the human race at the hands of Mr. Mind and the Monster Society of Evil. Dr. Sivana represents politics and he loves to collect money. Billy also invents a network called “SNN” to help him expose Dr. Sivana. Billy is abused from adults in a abandoned building while his sister Mary lives with a mean foster parent.
Personal Reaction:
Im not a big comic book reader myself but if it helps children love to read and develop a good vocabulary, then it is a good book.
Extension Ideas:
I would have my students write their own comic strip.
I would have the children create a class comic and each group create one box of the strip. ( )

An interesting take on Shazam. I'm glad I read the introduction, or I'd have been spending time saying "But that's not how it goes!" It's set in more-or-less now (some retro aspects, some futuristic ones), with both Billy and Mary a good deal younger than the classic story (5? 6? Young enough to still have round faces). All the classic elements are here - even Sivana's 'big red cheese' - but the backgrounds and explanations differ in several important places. It's not something I'll particularly seek out, but I'll happily read more if I happen to come across it. ( )