Anyone who knows me also knows that I am an unabashed fan of the Marvel Family. They also know that I feel that the characters have been constantly mis-handled in the normal DCU for the past, let’s say five years or so. That being said, when it comes to DC’s all-ages line of books, the Marvels have gotten a pretty fair shake, even if their book wasn’t a best seller. A big part of why the Marvel Family succeeds in these books owes a lot to the efforts of Art Baltazar and Franco, so when I saw the solicit for Tiny Titans #37 starring the Marvels, I was understandably stoked. The question remains, will the characters thrive in the elementary school world of Tiny Titans? Let’s break it down.
If you’ve never read Tiny Titans before (and if you haven’t, shame on you), all of DC’s younger heroes attend Sidekick Elementary School, and generally hang out and have fun. It’s a simple premise that works exceedingly well. Each issue is broken down into a bunch of smaller stories, with a common theme uniting them all. This issue’s theme of course, is the Marvel Family. The first story shows the various Marvels (including the often neglected Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny) saying the magic word “Shazam!” to transform into their super-selves. All except Freddie, who says “Captain Marvel!” instead. Superboy asks Freddie why that is, and Freddie explains that Cap is the inspiration for his powers. This causes Superboy to yell out the inspiration for his powers, with hilarious results.
The second story is probably my favorite, for a couple of reasons. Psimon wants a cool lightning bolt shirt like the Marvels so he asks them how they got theirs. The answer of course, is more magic word goodness. When “Shazam”, doesn’t work for him, Psimon tries many variations including one that brought a smile to my face.
The third main story involves Mr. Tawky Tawny, the world’s most educated Tiger, being the new teacher at Sidekick Elementary. This leads into the last installment of the issue, where the Tony Titans have another meeting of their Pet Club. Mary Marvel is a shoo-in with Mr. Tawky, while the world’s most insidious worm, Mr. Mind tries to convince Psimon to adopt him as a pet so they can infiltrate the club. It is equally great.
It goes without saying that I enjoyed this issue. What surprised me is how much I did. It is clever, cute, and a great introduction to the Marvel Family stable of characters. I would read a monthly Tiny Titans-style Shazam book in a heartbeat. So in closing, If you want a fun book to read, where you don’t have to worry about pesky things like continuity, or mature themes, pick this up. If you happen to have a little one, absolutely pick it up, they’ll love you for it.
Oh! I didn’t mention the one-page stories in the book, but they are by far the cutest thing in the entire comic. I’ll leave you with a single image from those.
Dawwww.
Tiny Titans #37 is on sale now at finer comic shops for $2.99