Captain Marvel & the Marvel Family

Created by Bill Parker & C C Beck • Mary created by Otto Binder & Marc Swayze

Marvel

NAME + ALIASES:
Billy Batson, Captain Marvel I

KNOWN RELATIVES:
C.C. Batson (father, deceased), Marilyn (mother, deceased), Mary Batson Bromfield (sister), Ebenezer (uncle, deceased)

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice League International, Justice Society of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Historical: Whiz Comics #1 (February 1940).
Current: Power of Shazam Graphic Novel

Mary Marvel

NAME + ALIASES:
Mary Batson-Bromfield, Captain Marvel II

KNOWN RELATIVES:
C.C. Batson (father, deceased), Marilyn (mother, deceased), Billy Batson (brother), Ebenezer (uncle, deceased)

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
The Superbuddies

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Historical: Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (December 1942)
Current, as Mary: Power of Shazam Graphic Novel
As Captain Marvel: Power of Shazam! #4

Shazam II

NAME + ALIASES:
Freddy Freeman, CM3, Captain Marvel Jr.

KNOWN RELATIVES:
Unnamed grandfather (deceased)

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Teen Titans

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Historical: Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941)
Current, as Freddy: Power of Shazam #3
As Captain Marvel Jr.: Power of Shazam #7
As CM3: Power of Shazam #37
As Shazam: Trials of Shazam #12

Shazam

NAME + ALIASES:
Jebediah of Canaan

KNOWN RELATIVES:
Blaze (daughter), Satanus (son)

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
The Marvel Family

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Historical: Whiz Comics #25
Current: Power of Shazam Graphic Novel

DEATH:
Day of Vengeance #6

The young boy named Jebediah who would one day be known as the wizard Shazam was born in ancient Canaan. When his family was murdered, he called upon seven gods for power. This power was granted, and he became a god in his own right. He weilded aspects of Marzosh, Arel, Ribalvei, Voldar, Elbiam and Lumiun (whose initials spelled "Marvel). He became an immortal defender of several ancient kingdoms. One day Jebediah he was tempted by a demon who bore him two children, Blaze and Satanus. The gods were so angered that they banished the children to the netherworld. Later, the Rock of Eternity was formed to trap the Three Faces of Evil and the gods decreed Shazam must watch over it. (Power of Shazam! #10)

Shazam moved to Fawcett City in the winter of 1940, bearing the Egyptian mummy of Ibis, and secreted himself away. Soon, however, the Axis threat forced Shazam to awaken Ibis and to gather all Fawcett City's heroes to fight. They would team repeatedly throughout the war. (#12)

When Shazam lived in ancient Egypt, he granted power to a hero called Teth-Adam. At one point, Adam apparently went berserk and Shazam was forced to entomb his acolyte along with the scarab that powered him. There Adam rested until the 20th century, when his sarcophagus was disturbed by an expedition from the Sivana Foundation. This expedition was led by Marilyn and C.C. Batson. The Batson's were betrayed and killed by their expedition partner Theo Adam, who sought to obtain the scarab. Adam absconded with the treasure and the Batsons' infant twin children were separated and returned to the States. Young Billy was placed with his uncle, Ebenezer in Fawcett City and Mary was adopted by the Bromfield family in the Fawcett suburb of Fairfield.

Billy eventually stumbled upon Shazam's longtime secret lair and the wizard gave him access to his own ancient powers. By saying the wizard's name, Billy became Captain Marvel and was powered by the the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles and speed of Mercury. Theo Adam returned as well as Black Adam, Captain Marvel's arch nemesis. (Power of Shazam Graphic Novel)

Billy and Mary did not meet until they were teenagers. Soon after their meeting Mary discovered that it was also her birthright to access the awesome powers of Shazam. She too was known as Captain Marvel (II). (PoS #4)

The Marvel family was completed with the addition of one of Billy and Mary's friends, Freddy Freeman. One day Freddy and his grandfather were fishing when Captain Marvel was battling Captian Nazi overhead. Nazi landed in the nearby lake, but was not grateful to be rescued by the Freemans. Instead he killed Freddy's grandfather and crippled Freddy himself. Later in the hospital, Cap imparted his power to Freddy; upon saying his name, Freddy would become Captain Marvel Jr. and share Shazam's powers. (Power of Shazam #7, 1st app. #6) Freddy later confessed that he does harbor some resentment towards Captain Marvel causing his tragedy. But any ill will was outweighed by the magnitude of Marvel's gift, which Freddy truly came to own. Years later, when Freddy joined the Teen Titans, he went by the name CM3.

Billy was a charter member of the newly formed Justice League International. (Legends #6) His tenure was short-lived and he soon departed. (Justice League International, v.1 #7) Once later, he helped the new League against the chaos of the 5th dimension (JLA #28-31) Then, when the world was taken over by the Ultra-Humanite, Billy joined an underground version of the Justice Society. (JSA #33) After Ultra's defeat, he joined the team officially. (#37) He stayed with them for a time and even developed a crush on fellow member, Stargirl. The Flash, who didn't know that Marvel was really a teenager, became concerned when he noticed the two together. He confronted Marvel about the relationship and rather than reveal his identity, Billy quit the team. (#59)

Billy was approached by Maxwell Lord, who was forming a new team with old Justice League members. Billy declined but Mary took up the offer instead. Her time with these "Super Buddies" was rather traumatic; she was mind-controlled by the villain Roulette and pummelled Captain Atom nearly to death. (Formerly... #1-6)

Things became dire for Billy when the new Eclipso, Jean Loring, was born. Eclipso took over Superman's body but was repelled by Billy and Shazam. Shazam bade the Spectre to intervene, and Eclipso's black diamond prison was recreated. But the diamond was immediately drawn to its new host, and Shazam was charged with the burden of containing Eclipso. When Eclipso reappeared in league with the Spectre, Shazam sent Billy in search of aid. He returned to the JSA, who were also alerted to trouble. (JSA #73)

Billy is very protective of Mary. He has disapproved of the budding romance between she and Freddy. He also tried to forcibly remove her from the Super Buddies' headquarters.

Day of Vengeance

When Alexander Luthor began his plot to remake the universe, he unleashed an unstable Spectre on the World. Without a mortal tether, the Spectre began a rampage to eradicate magic from the Earth. This prompted the formation of a magical super-group called the Shadowpact. Their chief sorceress, the Enchantress managed to keep the Spectre at bay. (Day of Vengeance #1-2)

The Enchantress called upon the magicians of the world to channel their power into Captain Marvel. (#3) Cap grew to epic proportions and began a hand-to-hand battle with the Spectre. Soon, both combatants were exhausted, but the Spectre was spirited away by the new Eclipso. (#4)

Once revived, the Spectre made a beeline for the Rock of Eternity, where the wizard Shazam had been preparing for the Spectre's arrival. (#5) The wizard was overcome, and perished as the Rock of Eternity exploded into shards. This also released its most dangerous prisoners: the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. (Infinite Crisis #1)

In the midst of the Crisis, Dr. Fate called all the world's remaining mystics to defeat the Spectre and reconstruct the Rock of Eternity. Teams of mystics coaxed the Seven Enemies back into submission and Zatanna prepared the spell to cement the Rock anew. Once assembled, she informed Billy that in the absence of Shazam, it was now his responsibility to guard the Rock. Dr. Fate ended the Spectre's threat and a new "Tenth Age of Magic" was begun. All the old magics were gone, changed, or disrupted — and many new threats were borne. (Day of Vengeance: Infinite Crisis Special)

Cap struggled to keep his sanity as grew accustomed to Shazam's power and kept the Seven Enemies contained. Soon skill grew and he became strong enough to leave his new home. One of these times, he Mary and Freddy attended the wedding of Black Adam to Isis: who created a new Black Marvel Family.

In time, Billy began to master his new job. He built his home in the Rock of Eternity and developed a fuller understanding of Shazam's magic. Much of Shazam's power still roamed free, but when the wizard's spells began to heal themselves, Shazam's power was reclaimed from all his other champions. Freddy was left merely confused, but Mary fell from the sky at a horrible distance and was left comatose. In this moment, Billy was judged fully ready to assume all Shazam's power. It transformed him into a much older person, with long white hair and wearing a white uniform. Now simply Marvel, Billy possessed everything that was Captain Marvel and Shazam. (Trials of Shazam #1-2)

Marvel soon summoned his friend, Freddy, who had been living in New York City. Cap unveiled the many changes that had occurred and declared that the power of Shazam needed a new acolyte to maintain the balance between magic and humanity — Freddy was chosen to undergo the Trials of Shazam. In them, he would be tested by all seven gods. If he failed, the magic would pass to a different lineage. If he succeeded, he would become the new Shazam! To begin the trials, Marvel sent Freddy to meet the magician Zareb Babak.

Freddy's new mission drew the attention of others who hoped to acquire Shazam's magicks: the Council of Merlin, led by a man named Terrom. The Council attempted to kill Freddy before he could acquire any powers. Their first attempt failed, and Freddy successfully completed the Trial of Solomon (who disguised himself as a tattoo artist Rachel Zallman). (#3)

Marvels Future

During the "One Million" incident, it was revealed that Billy might assume Shazam's role by the 853rd century. Given the plastic nature of time in the DC Universe, this may or may not come to pass. In one other possible future, Billy-as-the-wizard hands the reigns off to a young girl named Cece Beck, Thunder. Thunder traveled backwards in time to join the Legion of Super-Heroes.

The Ownership of "Captain Marvel"

DC has the rights to the Marvel Family characters originally created for Fawcett. But, Marvel has the rights to the name for use in marketing.

In 1953, Fawcett agreed simply not to publish any more Marvel Family material. The characters weren't acquired by anyone at that time. The Marvel name held a lot of equity, though, so a free-for-all ensued. In 1968, Stan Lee was ordered to create a Captain Marvel for Marvel Comics, which he did. And in 1973, DC made an official agreement with Fawcett, giving DC the rights to publish Marvel Family material. So because DC had the characters, but Marvel had already created a character with that name, DC cannot use the name "Captain Marvel" to sell any of their products.

Marvel's black heroine Captain Marvel was recently renamed Photon, and a new male hero again bears the name.

The first issue of Whiz Comics was not numbered on the cover; the indicia inside says #2, but a separate #2 was published a month later.
After the Crisis, Shazam: A New Beginning (by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake) was published, establishing his new continuity. However, the Power of Shazam! graphic novel now provides the current continuity, telling the story of Captain Marvel's origin and public debut. The graphic novel is set four years prior to the current series and also set before Cap's appearance in Justice League. The letter column for POS #4 states "most '80s and '90s appearances of Captain Marvel did happen — he was in the Justice League, was Eclipsoed, the whole nine yards." In POS #13, Cap himself mentions his JLA membership.
In post-Crisis continuity, Mary was always referred to as Captain Marvel (II), not "Mary Marvel." Only recently, in the Formerly Known as the Justice League series was she called by that name.
In the DC/Marvel Amalgam universe cross-over (1996), Captain Marvel was actually Billy Mar-Vell.

The Captains Marvel actually display few weaknesses but possess super-strength, invulnerability, flight and super-speed. One might assume their age would be a hindrance, but they also tap into the great wisdom of Solomon.

It is important to note, however, that the power of Shazam is equally distributed between the Marvels if all of them invoke the power simultaneously. When both Billy and Mary are changed, each possesses half the potential power. When using the power alone, their strength rivals (but does not surpass) that of Superman and Wonder Woman.

At times, the Marvels also use the magical lightning that transforms them as a weapon. Anyone in the bolt's vicinity is seriously rocked, while the Marvels are immune.

Sometimes, mostly in proximity to the Rock of Eternity, the Marvels are capable of interdimensional travel.

Appearances / References

Billy:
All-Star Squadron #36-37 America's Greatest #1-8 • Captain Marvel #1-150 • Justice League of America #135, #137 • Marvel Family #1-89 • Master Comics #20-21, 48, 50 • Shazam! #1-26 • Whiz #1-155

Freddy:
All-Hero #1 • All-Star Squadron #37 • America's Greatest #8 • Captain Marvel Jr. #1-119 • Justice League of America #137 • Marvel Family #1-89 • Master Comics #23-133 • Whiz Comics #25

Mary:
All-Star Squadron #37 • Captain Marvel Adventures #18-19, #37, #43, #65, #69 • Justice League of America #137 • Mary Marvel #1-25 • Marvel Family #1-89 • Master #118 • Wow #9-58

Modern:

Action #768
Adventures of Superman #639
Girlfrenzy: Starman: The Mist #1
JLA: Classified #4-9
JSA #27, 33-59
The Power of Shazam! Graphic Novel
Superman v.2 #102, 216

The Power of Shazam!, 47 issues (1995-99)
Formerly Known as the Justice League, 6-issue limited series (2004)
The Trials of Shazam, 12-issue limited series (2006-08)
Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, 4-issue limited series (2007)
Countdown to Infinite Crisis, 52-issue limited series (2007-08)

Cosmic Teams is a non-commercial site and the product of fan research. All characters and low resolution images © DC Comics. All text is © 1996-2008 Michael Kooiman, unless otherwise noted. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of copyright law.