Oh Mighty Isis #1: DC-TV

Isis #1. November 1976.
Cover by: Kurt Schaffenberger
“Scarab – the Man Who Would Destroy!”
Story/Editor: Denny O’Neil; Art: Ric Estrada and Wally Wood

Logo Isis
From DC Wikia:
An ancient Egyptian pyramid is being erected in the town square, as Andrea, Cindy, Rick and Doctor Joshua Barnes, the High School Principal, watch. From the pyramid emerges Scarab, an evil sorcerer who was imprisoned inside. As he uses his magic to capture the others, Andrea transforms herself into The Mighty Isis and saves her friends. Scarab then attacks Isis with a lightning bolt and she deflects it with one of her spells. Scarab takes to the air to get away and Isis follows him. To distract her, Scarab causes an airplane to disintegrate while airborne and Isis has to rescue the passengers. Scarab gets away and Isis returns to the high school to become Andrea.
She is met by Cindy, who asks Andrea about the time she helped in finding a pyramid. Andrea’s mind then wanders back to the time she found the amulet that gave her the powers of Isis. As Andrea looks through magic books to find a way to defeat Scarab, he roams the streets. He uses his telepathy to locate Isis but finds Andrea instead. He uses her to set a trap for Isis by creating a magic aura around her that destroys anyone with magical powers. He sets fire to Andrea’s house, then flies to the White House to capture the President. Meanwhile, Andrea’s pet bird, a crow named Tut, unties the gag in her mouth. Andrea quickly says, “Mighty Isis!” As she is transformed into the Goddess, the aura that surrounded her is destroyed instantly. She commands the fire to go out, then takes to the sky to go after Scarab. On the way to the White House, Isis uses her powers to transport the pyramid to the White House grounds. She creates oak trees to camouflage it. Isis challenges Scarab to face her. As Scarab attacks Isis, she lowers the pyramid and traps him inside. Afterward, Andrea explains to her friends that when Scarab was forced to reenter the pyramid, he would be imprisoned there forever.

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The text page provides a brief history of the goddess.

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Shazam Isis Hour

This comic was on the shelves in July 1976. By this time the TV show Isis was completed her first season. In September, season two, comprising seven new shows, would debut.
A great beginning. The art is wonderful – Wally Wood’s inks dominates Estradas’ pencils – who is himself a great artist – with a very clean and (otherwise) identifiable style.
The story was NOT aimed at children. Adult comic book fans would find the story and art enjoyable, too. Like the TV show, there was a lesson, of sorts, at the end; but it was in the context of character conversation as opposed to Isis speaking directly into the screen (as was done in her first appearance in Shazam #25).
Isis’ incantations are wordy, but never annoying (compared to, say, Zatanna, where one needs a pocket mirror to read her spells). At one point in their battle Scarab calls her “noisome”, which means smelly, not noisy.
I’d bet she smells nice … more flowery and earthy than perfume-y … I don’t know why …

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About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!