Mary Marvel’s Club was an exclusive all-girls club and just for joining each member got this magical badge that would transform Mary Batson into Mary Marvel each time the string was pulled and “SHAZAM” was shouted.
Mom’s badge apparently disappeared, so this photo comes from Hake’s Americana & Collectibles, where this cardboard badge sold for $230.00 back in January. (Ok mom, let’s hope this shows up buried in a drawer somewhere!)
Instead of advertising the club with a regular one page ad, those fun lovin’ Fawcett people introduced the club with an eight-page story. The club’s first appearance was in issue #39 of Wow Comics from Nov.-Dec. 1945 and the story title was Mary Marvel Launches Her Club. Here’s the full story by the Binder brothers with Otto writing and Jack drawing. Be sure to click on the pages to read them!
Amazing! Was this something you just discovered recently or did your mom ever tell you about being a member before? I think I'd have a heart attack if I ever found out that my mom even looked at a comic book anytime in her life.
ReplyDeleteMy grandma found this a few years ago stored away. My mom doesn't remember getting anymore letters or premiums. Both my parents read comics as kids, but unfortunately didn't save any.
ReplyDeleteNC, I'm upset. You never told me this. That's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteDo you have the actual issue or did you scan it from somewhere else? Also is that the right time frame? I thought our moms were about the same age and that would mean she got this when she was really little. If so, that's even cooler!
ReplyDeleteReally? I thought I showed this to you. Yeah, that's my issue from my collection. It wasn't mom's. I picked it up at a con a few years ago. She was pretty young, but she was probably trying to keep up with her older brother since he was a comic reader too.
ReplyDeleteWow, your mom was cooler than mine :(
ReplyDeleteYour mom rocks!!
ReplyDeleteMary's nice, but she's no Isis...
ReplyDelete