Shazam!: Greatest Stories Ever Told (Shazam) Paperback – 25 April 2008

A good addition to my library, everything from the Alex Ross cover to the overall collection is quality. I always advise looking up what issues are collected in "Best of" collections, but my position is that I generally liked the 1940's and 1950's stuff the best, and the rest is pretty darn good! The weakest issue for me is probably the one where he fights Lobo (it isn't horrible or anything, I just don't really think it qualifies to rate in both this title AND The Celebration of 75 Years collection). It's biggest flaw is not even its own fault, the people who made The Celebration of 75 Years title included all but four of the stories that can be found here. I don't know if it's a licensing issue or something, but it makes things somewhat repetitive which is annoying for fans of both "The Greatest Stories Ever Told" and "A Celebration of 75 Years." Some overlap is always to be expected, but the debuts of beloved supporting characters like Captain Marvel Jr., Uncle Marvel, and Tawky Tawny are completely absent from both of these versions in favor of telling the same stories again in the latter volume, and that is disappointing as a big fan of the Shazam mythos. But I still had a fun time reading it, and that Alex Ross cover looks terrific on my shelf. :)