Just to have a little fun, here is what JulianPerez said about everyone's favorite Talking Tiger on Oct 09, 2005 at 2:48 pm:
And what's wrong with Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger? I've always been in favor of leaving characters period, but this sort of person has not gone away; I'd love to see an update of him. He'd probably listen to National Public Radio and drink Zima. (hey wait, that's me!)
Marvel is not great just because he is a great individual hero, but because of the wonderful world that surrounded him: Mr. Mind, Mr. Atom, Shazamo, the planet Venus, the crocodile men of Punkus, and yes, even the much maligned Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger.
Notice too, that besides taking a moment to slam that Silver Age straw man, Mr. Tawny, none of them ever mention any other member of the Marvel Family.
So why are you now "taking a moment to slam that Silver Age straw man, Mr. Tawny"?
Moral of the story: if I ever change my mind about something, make sure that SuperMonkey isn't watching!
Well, there, I guess I defended Mr. Tawny on principle, because he was kind of absurd and at some level superheroes shouldn't be divorced from their absurdity. It bugged me people were badmouthing Mr. Tawny for being ridiculous, because that sort of playful oddity was the purpose of a lot of the Shazam stuff; and slamming Tawky for it is missing the point.
But after having gotten some more access to SHAZAM! reprints, Mr. Tawny struck me as being more and more irritating and unwelcome. And maybe this isn't his fault, but Tawny was introduced in the post-war years, which is when the Marvel Family was starting to jump the shark and his presence is where dissatisfaction crystalizes, much like Jar-Jar is associated with the plot holes in PHANTOM MENACE. Though really, anything after the incredible Monster Society of Evil arc that ran from 1943 to 1945 in CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES would be something of a letdown, or the Mac Raboy art on CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. between 1942-1943 (as great as C.C. Beck could be, the Raboy action stuff was absolutely dynamite, as were his FLASH GORDON dailies). Much like STAR TREK in the third season, Marvel Family didn't stay jumped; guys like Binder and Kanigher still produced some amazing stuff after 1947, certainly (the Bulletgirl crossover comes to mind, as does the first appearance of Mr. Atom, one of the slickest supervillain designs yet).
Also...Mr. Tawny, that cad, never returns any of my calls. I'm in the book, Tawny! CALL ME!