This story has the quality of a fairy tale. It is very simply told with a definite view of the battle between good and evil. This is a glimpse into the metaphysics of Captain Marvel Jr. After death people turn into ghosts. If they are followers of the good Queen of Shades they go about doing good and helping good people. Opposed to the Queen is the Evil One--a cross between Pan of Greek myths and the Devil. Shazam describes him, "The Evil One's a disgruntled ghost, jealous of the good queen of shades! He wants to spread evil in the world by killing all the good people." The parallels with Biblical theology are striking. Satan is a fallen angel because of his pride and envy. He is described as a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). Old Shazam has the ability to temporarily change the Blue Boy into a ghost.
This story parallels the rise of the mystery, supernatural and horror stories that were becoming popular at the time as published in Adventures into the Unknown (The first regular series with supernatural/horror stories). Beautiful art by Bud Thompson.
Wow, that's some of the best Thompson art I've seen yet!
ReplyDeleteThis is just about the best CMJ story I've seen.
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