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You are here: Home / Reading Orders / DC Comics / Shazam! (DC’s Captain Marvel & The Marvel Family) Reading Order

Shazam! (DC’s Captain Marvel & The Marvel Family) Reading Order

July 18, 2018 by Dave 2 Comments

Billy Batson, aka Shazam, aka Captain Marvel (but, no, not that Captain Marvel) is one of the more beleaguered heroes in all of superhero comics. Lawsuits, alleged infringement (with the Man of Steel himself!), and copyright issues have kept the world’s mightiest mortal from never quite reclaiming his title as the most popular hero of the 1940’s (or so I’m told).

Nonetheless, there’s all sorts of storied and celebrated Captain Marvel comics throughout DC’s history, including of course, Mary Marvel, Freddie Freeman, and the larger Marvel Family. In the 2000’s, Marvel’s rival Black Adam became an integral part of series like JSA written by Geoff Johns, as well as the weekly classic 52.

Below you’ll find a complete guide to Shazam! comics throughout history. Likewise, you’ll find plenty of stories including Dr. Sivana, Black Adam, and the whole Marvel Family.

Related Reading Orders:

DC Comics Timeline

Superman

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Shazam speaks his magic word in the 1940s comics

Captain Marvel Origins – The 1940’s and Early 50’s

Shazam!: A Celebration of 75 Years

Collects: Whiz Comics #2 – “”Introducing Captain Marvel””
Whiz Comics #21 – “”The Vengeful Four””
Captain Marvel Adventures #18 – “”Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel””
Captain Marvel, Jr. #12 – “”Baffin Land””
Captain Marvel Adventures #38 – “”The Monster Society Of Evil Ch. 17: Mr. Mind’S Movie Madness””
Captain Marvel Adventures #39 – “”The Monster Society Of Evil Ch. 18: Peril Behind The Camera””
Marvel Family #1 – “”The Mighty Marvels Join Forces!””
Hoppy The Marvel Bunny #6 – “”Phantom Of The Forest””
Captain Marvel Adventures #137 – “”King Kull And The Seven Sins””
Captain Marvel Adventures #148 – “”Captain Marvel Battles The World””
Superman #276 – “”Make Way For Captain Thunder!””
Shazam #1 – “”In The Beginning…””; “”The World’S Wickedest Plan””
Shazam #29 – “”Ibac Meets Aunt Minerva!””
World’S Finest #275 – “”The Snatching Of Billy Batson””
Dc Comics Presents #49 – “”Superman And Shazam””
L.E.G.I.O.N. #31 – “”Where Dreams End””
Power Of Shazam #1 – “”Things Change””
Power Of Shazam #2 – “”The Arson Fiend””
Power Of Shazam #33 – “”Yeah — This Is A Face Only A Mother Could Love…””
Action Comics #768 – “”O Captain, My Captain””
Jsa #48 – “”Princes Of Darkness Part 3: Enlightenment””
Shazam: Monster Society Of Evil #2 – “”Chapter 2: Nzib Gzpvh Gsv Xzpv!””
Justice League (Volume 2) #21 – “”Shazam!: Conclusion””

Shazam!: The Greatest Stories Ever Told VOL 01

Collects: Whiz Comics #2,Captain Marvel Adventures #1,137,148, Marvel Family #21, 85, Shazam! #1, 14, Dc Comics Presents Annual #3, Superman #276, L.E.G.I.O.N. ’91 #31, Power Of Shazam! #33 And Adventures In The Dc Universe #5

“Shazam!, The – Archives, Volume 1 

Collects: Whiz Comics #2
Whiz Comics #3A
Whiz Comics #3B
Whiz Comics #4
Whiz Comics #5
Whiz Comics #6
Whiz Comics #7
Whiz Comics #8
Whiz Comics #9
Whiz Comics #10
Whiz Comics #11
Whiz Comics #12
Whiz Comics #13
Whiz Comics #14
Whiz Comics #15

Shazam!, The – Archives, Volume 2

Collects: Special Edition Comics #1
Captain Marvel Adventures #1
Whiz Comics #16
Whiz Comics #17
Whiz Comics #18
Whiz Comics #19
Whiz Comics #20

Shazam!, The – Archives, Volume 3

Collects: America’S Greatest Comics #1
Captain Marvel Adventures #2
Captain Marvel Adventures #3
Whiz Comics #21
Whiz Comics #22
Whiz Comics #23
Whiz Comics #24
Captain Marvel Thrill Book #1
X-Mas Comics #1

Shazam!, The: Archives – Volume 4

Collects: Captain Marvel Adventures #4
Captain Marvel Adventures #5
Master Comics #21
Whiz Comics #25
Master Comics #22
America’S Greatest Comics #2

It’s worth noting here that the Fawcett era of Captain Marvel comics (before their lawsuits and eventual sale to DC) runs for substantially more issues than collected here. Whiz Comics ran for 155 issues, Captain Marvel Adventures reached issue #150, and The Marvel Family made it to issue #89.

Shazam! Family Archives: Volume 1

Collects: Master Comics 23-32, Captain Marvel Jr. #1 And Captain Marvel Adventures #18

Superman gets punched by Captain Marvel

Shazam Relaunch Of the 1970’s

Showcase Presents: Shazam!

Collects: Shazam! #1-35 (1973-1978)

The first chunk of these relaunched Shazam issues can also be found in the more recent collection below.

Shazam: The World’s Mightiest Mortal Vol. 1




Collects: Shazam! #1 to #18

Superman Vs. Shazam!

Collects: Dc Comics Presents #33-34 And 49, And Dc Comics Presents Annual #3

here comes Captain Marvel in the 1980s

Crisis And The Marvel Family

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Collects: Crisis On Infinite Earths #1-12

The Marvel Family’s “Earth-S” gets integrated into the fully merged post-Crisis DC Universe.

Legends

Collects: Legends #1-6

Shazam: A New Beginning 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Collects: Shazam!: The New Beginning #1-4 And The Captain Marvel Stories From Action Comics Weekly #623-626

Roy Thomas write the new origins of Captain Marvel for the post-Crisis DCU.

Justice League International

Collects: Justice League #1-6 And Justice League International #7

Captain Marvel plays a mighty guitar riff

Shazam In The 1990’s

Power of Shazam

Collects: Graphic Novel

Nearly 100 page story written and painted by Jerry Ordway, retelling the modern origins of Captain Marvel.

Power of Shazam (1995 to 1999)

Collects: Following The Success Of Ordway’S Graphic Novel Origins, Shazam Got His Own Marvel Family Ongoing For The Remainder Of The 90’S.

Kingdom Come

Collects: Ogn

The Mark Waid and Alex Ross DC classic features Billy Batson in an essential role, and a position as a secret weapon in the DC Universe.

Shazam! Power of Hope

Collects: Ogn

Paul Dini and Alex Ross’s oversized graphic novel collection through the DC Pantheon expands to include Shazam!

Black Adam fights alongside Captain Marvel

Marvel Family In The 2000’s

JSA

Collects: Jsa (1999 To 2006) #26 To #81

The Geoff Johns JSA relaunch brings Black Adam and Captain Marvel into the mix

Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder Deluxe Edition

Collects: Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder #1 To #4

Infinite Crisis

Collects: Infinite Crisis #1 to #6

52

Collects: 52 #1 To #52

The Marvel family plays a smaller role, but Black Adam and the new Black Adam family are a huge part of 52 and developing the Captain Marvel Universe mythos.

Justice

Collects: Graphic Novel

Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil 

Collects: Graphic Novel

By Jeff Smith of Bone fame!

Trials of Shazam: VOL 01

Collects: Trials of Shazam #1 to #6

Trials of Shazam VOL 2 

Collects: Trials Of Shazam #7 To #12

Justice Society of America

Collects: Justice Society Of America #23 To #28

Power of Shazam

Collects: Power Of Shazam #48

Power of Shazam was resurrected for a single issue (the 48th in the series) as a Blackest Night event tie-in.

Shazam! (2011)

Collects: Shazam (2011) #1, Titans #32

The World’s Mightiest Mortal! (Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!)

Collects: Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #1 To #6

Magic Words! (Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!)

Collects: Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #7 To #12

Brother vs. Brother! (Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!)

Collects: Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #13 To #17

Perilous Peril! (Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!)

Collects: Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam #18 To #21

Billy Batson gets a cover showing him as Captain Marvel in DC's New 52

Shazam In The New 52

Flashpoint

Collects: Flashpoint #1 To #5

It’s a sideplot, but the Marvel Family is reimagined in the Flashpoint universe.

Shazam! Vol. 1 (The New 52): From the Pages of Justice League 

Collects: Justice League #0, 21 And Stories From Justice League #7-11, 14-16, 18-20

You can find more of the Justice League in Comic Book Herald’s complete New 52 reading order.

Justice League (New 52)

Collects: Justice League #30 To #52

Captain Marvel takes on an active role in the New 52 Justice League after the events of Trinity War and Forever Evil.

Justice League – Darkseid War: Shazam

Collects: Justice League – Darkseid War: Shazam #1

Cyborg (New 52)

Collects: Cyborg #1 To #12

Billy Batson plays a supporting role in Cyborg’s solo ongoing as part of DC You

Multiversity

Collects: The Multiversity: Thunderworld Adventures #1

Even if the Marvel Family had nothing to do with Multiversity, you still gotta read Multiversity!

Convergence

Collects: Convergence: Shazam #1 To #2

Convergence is a mess, but these two Shazam issues from Jeff Parker, Ordie Bellaire, and Doc Shaner are nearly perfect.

Wonder Woman gives the ol 1 2 to Black Adam

DC Rebirth Shazam and the Marvel Family

Metal

Collects: Dark Nights: Metal #1-6

Light connections, but the mythos of the Marvel Family plays a role, as does Black Adam, for the first time (that I can tell) in DC Rebirth!

You can enjoy all of Metal following the complete Dark Nights: Metal reading order.

Filed Under: DC Comics, Featured Tagged With: black adam, Captain Marvel, shazam

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About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He's a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rob says

    April 13, 2019 at 7:21 pm

    Can you guys make it single issue?

    Reply
  2. bukdiah says

    July 20, 2018 at 10:41 am

    How good is Power of Shazam? I’ve only read about 3 things from this list.

    Reply

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