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Marvel Family

March 20, 2023

The Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family[1] (also Shazamily), are a group of superheroes who originally appeared in books published by Fawcett Comics and were later acquired by DC Comics. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and artist Marc Swayze, the team was created as an extension of Fawcett's Captain Marvel franchise, and included Marvel's sister Mary Marvel, their friend Captain Marvel Jr., and, at various times, a number of other characters as well.

Marvel Family
Marvel Family
Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. on the cover of The Marvel Family #4 (September 1946). Art by C.C. Beck.
Series publication information
PublisherFawcett Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
GenreSuperhero/adventure
Publication dateDecember 1945 – January 1954
Number of issues89
Main character(s)Marvel Family
Creative team
Writer(s)Otto Binder
Artist(s)C. C. Beck, Pete Costanza, Kurt Schaffenberger
Editor(s)Wendell Crowley

Because Marvel Comics trademarked their own Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the demise of the Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel comics in 1953 and DC's revival in 1972,[2] DC Comics is today unable to promote and market Captain Marvel under that name. Since 1972, DC has instead used the trademark Shazam! for their comic book titles with the Marvel Family characters, and the name under which they market and promote the characters.[3] When referring to the Marvel Family on comic book covers or various merchandise, they are by this legal necessity called the "Shazam Family".

In 2012, DC officially changed Captain Marvel's name to Shazam, making Shazam Family the name of the superhero's associates. In current continuity, the Shazam Family comprises the superpowered alter egos of Billy Batson (teenaged alter-ego of Shazam, formerly Captain Marvel) and his foster siblings: Mary Bromfield (formerly Mary Marvel), Freddy Freeman (formerly Captain Marvel Jr.), Darla Dudley, Pedro Peña, and Eugene Choi.

The Shazam Family made their cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe film Shazam!, released in 2019 by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros., and they are set to return for a sequel film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, in 2023.

Publication history

The Marvel Family was established in 1942 after the introductions of Captain Marvel's partners, the Lieutenant Marvels (Whiz Comics #21, September 1941), Captain Marvel Jr. (Whiz Comics #25, December 1941) and Mary Marvel (Captain Marvel Adventures #18, December 1942). With Junior and Mary's additions to his adventures, Captain Marvel became the first superhero to have a team of sidekicks who share his powers, abilities, and appearance; a concept later adapted for heroes such as Superman and Aquaman, among others.

The members of the Marvel Family appeared both separately and together in many of Fawcett's comic book series, including Whiz Comics, Wow Comics, Master Comics, Captain Marvel Adventures, Captain Marvel Jr., Mary Marvel, and The Marvel Family. By the late 1940s, Marvel Family comics were among the most popular in the industry, and the Marvel Family had expanded to include both non-superpowered characters (Uncle Marvel and Freckles Marvel) and even talking animals (Hoppy the Marvel Bunny). By 1953, all of these books had ceased publication, due to Superman publisher DC Comics' lawsuit against Fawcett.

In 1972, DC licensed the rights to the Marvel Family characters, and began publishing them in a comic series titled Shazam!. Fawcett sold DC the rights to the characters in 1980, by which time Shazam! had been cancelled, and the Marvels had been relegated the back-up feature of World's Finest Comics, and, later, Adventure Comics. DC retconned Captain Marvel in 1986 with their Legends miniseries, establishing him as a solo hero without a team. Writer/artist Jerry Ordway resurrected the Marvel Family in 1995 with his Power of Shazam! series, establishing the team as being made up solely of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. Following several attempts at relaunching the Shazam! franchise during the mid-2000s, the Marvel Family was temporarily dissolved by writers Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #25, with only Captain Marvel Jr., now known as Shazam, retaining his powers, but from another source. In the interim, Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel continued to appear in Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, an all-ages comic book series published under DC's youth-oriented Johnny DC line which ran from 2008 to 2010. Captain Marvel Jr. joined the pair towards the end of the run of Magic of Shazam!, following a brief period serving as the sidekick of the Marvels' enemy under the name Black Adam Jr.

The Shazam Family was reintroduced during DC Comics' continuity-altering Flashpoint miniseries in 2011, as six kids who all spoke "Shazam!" in unison to become one superhero, Captain Thunder. In the later company-wide "New 52" reboot that followed Flashpoint, the Captain Marvel character was renamed "Shazam" and starred in a backup segment of the Justice League series (second volume) from 2012 to 2013. These backups, by writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank, introduced Billy Batson/Shazam and his new Shazam Family, consisting of Billy and his five foster siblings, with whom he shares his powers.

In 2022, DC published a facsimile edition of Marvel Family Comics No. 1 as a tie-in with the release of the film Black Adam.[4]

Marvel/Shazam Family members

 
The modern-day Shazam Family on the variant cover of Shazam! (vol. 3) #13 (September 2020). Clockwise from center: Shazam/Billy Batson, Freddy Freeman, Mary Bromfield, Eugene Choi, Darla Dudley, and Pedro Peña. Art by Julian Totino Tedesco.
 
Captain Marvel and the three Lieutenants Marvel as depicted on the cover of Whiz Comics #34 (September 1942). Clockwise from top: Captain Marvel, Lt. Hill Marvel, Lt. Fat Marvel, and Lt. Tall Marvel. Art by C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza.

Primary members

Billy Batson (Captain Marvel/Shazam)

See also: Captain Marvel (DC Comics)

The "World's Mightiest Mortal", Captain Marvel is the superpowered alter-ego of Billy Batson, an orphaned boy who speaks the name of the wizard Shazam to become an adult superhero. Billy has the powers of Solomon (wisdom), Hercules (strength), Atlas (stamina), Zeus (power), Achilles (courage), and Mercury (speed); and served as the wizard Shazam's champion and herald.

In the Golden Age and Bronze Age comics, Billy chose to share his powers with his sister Mary and his friend Freddy Freeman, creating the Marvel Family. Outside of the Marvel Family, Captain Marvel served briefly as a member of both the Justice League International and the Justice Society of America.

After the 2011 New 52 reboot of the Shazam! characters by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank, Billy Batson is a troubled foster child who has inherited the name, powers, and seat on the council of magic of the wizard Shazam. Becoming a hero inspired the initially brash and standoffish Billy to evolve into a noble hero and leader who embraces his new foster family. As Shazam, Billy has powers and a red-uniformed appearance similar to the traditional version of Captain Marvel with the added ability to wield magic via the "living lightning" that powers him.

Mary Bromfield (Mary Marvel/Lady Shazam)

See also: Mary Marvel

In traditional Shazam! stories, Mary is Billy's once-lost twin sister Mary Batson. She is technically the oldest in the pair (adopted as Mary Bromfield), who found she could say the magic word "Shazam!" and become a Marvel as well. The Golden Age Mary Marvel remained a teenager in superhero form, while the modern version is transformed into an adult like her brother. The Golden Age Mary Marvel had a different set of patrons from Captain Marvel who contributed to her powers. They were Selene (grace), Hippolyte (strength), Ariadne (skill), Zephyrus (swiftness), Aurora (beauty) and Minerva (wisdom).

During the 2007 and 2008 limited series Countdown to Final Crisis and Final Crisis, Mary Marvel lost her powers and gained the powers of Marvel Family foe Black Adam. She temporarily became a villain working for Darkseid and possessed by the New God Desaad.

In current DC Comics continuity from 2012 on, Mary Bromfield is Billy Batson's foster sister, having run away from an abusive home at a young age and being placed in the Vázquez home. The oldest of the Shazam kids, Mary acts as the "den mother" and conscience of the group. She shares Billy's secret, and by saying "Shazam!" she can gain a superpowered form similar to the traditional Mary Marvel in a red uniform.[5]

Freddy Freeman (Captain Marvel Jr./Shazam Jr.)

See also: Captain Marvel Jr.

In both the Golden Age and 1990s versions of the Marvel Family, Billy's friend and classmate, Freddy Freeman, was attacked and left disabled by the supervillain Captain Nazi, and was given the power to become a Marvel to save his life. Whenever he spoke Captain Marvel's name, Freddy becomes a teenage version of Captain Marvel. This created the odd problem that he could not identify himself without changing back to his regular form.

During the mid-1990s, the Freddy character went by the alias CM3 (short for "Captain Marvel Three", "CM1" being Billy and "CM2" being Mary) so that he could identify himself without transforming. He was a member of the Teen Titans during the late 1990s and later, the Outsiders in the early 2000s. The 2006–2008 Trials of Shazam! mini-series featured Freddy gaining the powers of Captain Marvel as Shazam, while Billy took over for the dead wizard Shazam as Marvel.

In current DC Comics continuity from 2012 on, Freddy Freeman (now a blond teenager instead of the traditional black-haired youth, though still physically disabled) is Billy Batson's foster brother, a smart-mouthed pickpocket and trickster whose parents are in prison. He shares Billy's secret and by saying "Shazam!" can gain a form similar to an adult version of the traditional Captain Marvel, Jr., in a blue uniform.[5]

Eugene Choi

Eugene Choi is Billy Batson's foster brother, an intelligent, bookish teenager about his age of Asian descent with a love of technology and video games. Eugene's bookishness is offset by a competitive and impulsive nature that causes trouble for him and the others at times.[6] Introduced in the Flashpoint miniseries, Eugene can share Billy's power by saying "Shazam!" and become an adult Shazam-powered version of himself in a silver/gray uniform.[5]

In addition to the standard Shazam power-set, Eugene has the additional power of technopathy, which allows him to talk to and control machines and technology.

Pedro Peña

Pedro Peña is Billy Batson's foster brother, an overweight teenager of Mexican descent who is around Billy's age. Introduced in the Flashpoint miniseries, Pedro can share Billy's power by saying "Shazam!" and becoming an adult Shazam-powered version of himself in a green uniform.[5] Pedro's adult form, resembling a tall, bearded powerlifter, is a stark contrast to his personal insecurity and shyness.[7] While the comics have yet to make any such distinction, the 2019 live-action feature film Shazam! implies that Pedro is gay or asexual,[8] and later confirmed to be gay by the Shazam! Fury of the Gods screenwriter Henry Gayden.[9]

In superhuman form, Pedro has extra amounts of super-strength compared to the rest of the Shazam Family, gaining the strenght of Hercules.

Darla Dudley

Darla Dudley is Billy Batson's foster sister, an exuberant African-American preteen who was abandoned by her parents and adopted by Billy's foster parents, the Vásquezes. Despite her hardships growing up, Darla is very openly affectionate and loving towards her foster family and virtually anyone she meets. Introduced in the Flashpoint miniseries (as a teenager the same age as the other kids), Darla can share Billy's power by saying "Shazam!"[5]

She wears a purple uniform, and her speed abilities are amplified, making her faster than the others. She is also unable to keep secrets, which proved rather difficult to overcome.[5]

Past members

The Lieutenant Marvels

See also: Lieutenant Marvels

The Lieutenant Marvels are three other boys named "Billy Batson" (nicknamed "Tall Billy", "Fat Billy" and "Hill Billy" — the last because he was from the Appalachian Mountains — to differentiate themselves from "Real Billy", Captain Marvel) who learned that, because they also were named Billy Batson, they could draw on the power of Shazam. They vowed only to use their power if asked by Captain Marvel, and only if all three were to say the magic word, "SHAZAM!" in unison.

They did not appear in Marvel Family stories between Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985 and Flashpoint in 2011, except for a scene in The Trials of Shazam! #2 (2006) where they briefly appeared, only to lose their powers.

Following DC's 2011 New 52 reboot, the Lieutenant Marvels appear as non-superpowered allies of the Marvel Family in the 2015 one-shot comic The Multiversity: Thunderworld, where they, Mister Tawny, and Uncle Marvel help defeat the Monster Society of Evil while Captain Marvel is fighting Doctor Sivana for control of the Rock of Eternity.

C.C. Batson & Marilyn Batson

Clarence Charles "C.C." Batson (named after Captain Marvel co-creator Charles Clarence "C.C." Beck) is the biological father of Billy Batson. Billy's biological parents had been alluded to in a handful of Shazam! stories published prior to 1990 under different names. The 1994 graphic novel The Power of Shazam! by Jerry Ordway introduces C.C. and his wife, Billy's mother Marilyn, and how their deaths in that Post-Crisis continuity at the hands of Theo Adam (alter-ego of Black Adam) led to Billy gaining his powers. Much emphasis is made of Captain Marvel/Shazam's almost-identical appearance to the deceased C.C. Batson.[10]

In a story arc from the subsequent The Power of Shazam! ongoing series (issues 24-27, 1997), Dr. Sivana sneaks into the timestream outside of the Rock of Eternity and alters the timeline so that Theo Adam never kills the Batsons.[11] Instead, Marilyn and C.C. themselves become the heirs to Shazam's power as the Captains Marvel, while Billy and Mary remain typical, upper-middle-class teenagers. C.C. himself is employed by the Wizard Shazam and Waverider to correct the timestream by stopping Sivana from making his changes.

In current DC Rebirth continuity, C.C. Batson is still alive, resembling an older Captain Marvel/Shazam with greying hair. As a younger man, C.C. had abandoned Marilyn and Billy when Billy was a toddler and become a grifter. After spending a decade in prison, C.C. returns to Philadelphia to find Billy at the Vazquezes' foster home. When he is attacked by Black Adam and the Seven Deadly Sins, Billy shares his Shazam powers with his father, making him the prophesied seventh and final member of the Shazam Family.[12] In superhero form, C.C. Batson wears a yellow/gold costume with red trim (an inverse of the colors of Billy's costume).[12]

However, it is revealed that C.C. Batson had been possessed by Mister Mind since his prison release, who intended to uses the Shazam powers in a plot to unite the Seven Magiclands under his rule.[13] Using a spell, Shazam shrinks himself down small enough to enter his father's ear canal and battle the worm directly. Following Mind's defeat, C.C. loses his powers and is freed from Mind's control, but reveals that he has no intentions of actually reuniting with his son.[14]

Other members

These members of the Marvel Family appear in stories set in the future.

  • Hoppy the Marvel Bunny is a spin-off character generally confined to his own series, the pink talking rabbit version of Captain Marvel periodically assisted the human Marvels in their adventures.
  • Thunder: The star of The Power of Shazam! Annual 1996, Thunder is the super-powered alter-ego of a young girl from the planet Binderaan, circa 9,000 A.D., named CeCe Beck (or Beck for short). An aged Captain Marvel serves as the girl's mentor the same way Shazam served as his mentor. Whenever Beck speaks the magic words "Captain Marvel", she is transformed into Thunder, an adult super-heroine. After being lost in the timestream, Thunder briefly teamed up with the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. The names "CeCe Beck" and "Binderaan" are tributes to Marvel Family creators C.C. Beck and Otto Binder.
  • Tanist: A teenaged male Marvel who appeared in The Power of Shazam! #1,000,000 (November 1998, part of the DC One Million event). After his mother is killed, Tanist, a disabled resident of Mercury in the 853rd century, meets the aged Captain Marvel in the Rock of Eternity. Marvel grants the boy superpowers to save his life as he had done for Freddy Freeman/Captain Marvel Jr.

Black Marvel Family members

Black Marvel Family
 
Isis, Black Adam, and Osiris, from Countdown #41 (July 18, 2007). Art by Dan Jurgens.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearance52 #23 (October 11, 2006, first joint-appearance of Black Adam, Isis, and Osiris)
Created byOtto Binder, C. C. Beck, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Grant Morrison
In-story information
Base(s)Royal Palace, Kahndaq
Member(s)Black Adam
Isis
Osiris
Sobek

The Black Marvel Family, a variant of the Marvel Family concept with Captain Marvel's archvillain Black Adam as the central focus, was introduced in the pages of the weekly DC comic book 52.

Black Adam

See also: Black Adam

An older Egyptian renegade protégé of the wizard Shazam, who was the first to be granted superpowers by the wizard. Adam eventually grew to abuse his power, and became a tyrant. Shazam returned to punish Adam with either exile into deep space (in the original Fawcett Comics) or death (in the modern DC Comics). He returns to Earth (or life) after Shazam appoints Captain Marvel his new successor, and was soon established as Captain Marvel's most powerful foe in physical abilities. In later DC continuity, Black Adam joined the Justice Society of America, claiming to have reformed, later turning on the Justice Society by using some of its younger associates to help him overthrow the government of his home country, the mythical Kahndaq.

Adam was one of the main characters in DC's 52 weekly maxi-series, which followed his attempts to establish himself as a hero, which led him to create a "Marvel Family" of his own, which included his superpowered wife Isis and his own "Captain Marvel Jr.", Osiris.

In the current "New 52" continuity, Black Adam was a former Kahndaqi slave in ancient times who was granted the power of Shazam along with his young nephew, whom he kills for not sharing his taste for vengeance against their enemies. Adam kills the members of Earth's Council of Wizards save for the wizard Shazam, who imprisoned him and hid the magic until Adam was freed by Doctor Sivana in modern times.

Isis

See also: Isis (DC Comics)

The superheroine Isis was originally created for live-action television to star in Filmation's The Secrets of Isis TV show, a sister series for Filmation's adaptation of !. Isis teamed up with Captain Marvel on occasion in both television and comics, and briefly starred in a licensed DC comic book in the late 1970s.

In 2006, DC Comics created a new, unrelated Isis and introduced her into the DC Universe. This Isis is the alter-ego of Adrianna Tomaz, originally a slave from Egypt offered to Black Adam by the terrorist group Intergang as a token to curry his favor. Although Adam dealt harshly with the slavers and kills one of them, Adrianna becomes Adam's love interest and made him a more merciful figure, and was granted a special amulet that allowed her to become the avatar of the Egyptian goddess. Adam married Isis, but her death at the hands of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips drove him to a fit of mass murder. At the end of the Black Adam: The Dark Age mini-series in 2007, Isis was resurrected by Felix Faust. However, the ordeal of her death, and many months spent as a brainwashed slave, routinely abused by Faust, left her much colder and ruthless than before, making her even less merciful than her husband.

In current "New 52" continuity, Adrianna Tomaz is a peaceful freedom fighter who helps her brother Amon resurrect Black Adam after his defeat at the hands of the superhero Shazam.[15]

Osiris

See also: Osiris (DC Comics)

The teenaged Osiris is Amon Tomaz, Adrianna's long-lost brother who was kidnapped, enslaved, and crippled by Intergang. Adam shared his powers with Amon, allowing him to transform into the superpowered Osiris by saying the name "Black Adam". Osiris was murdered by his trusted companion, Sobek the talking crocodile, revealed to be Famine, one of the Four Horsemen. During the 2009-2010 crossover event Blackest Night, Osiris was resurrected alongside other heroes, and was later resurrected as a White Lantern, for the purpose of releasing Isis, for which he joins the new Titans.

In current "New 52" continuity, Amon Tomaz is a rebellious freedom fighter who helps resurrect Black Adam after his defeat at the hands of the superhero Shazam.[15]

Sobek

Sobek is an intelligent humanoid crocodile, created and abandoned by the Sivana Family, who befriends the Black Marvel family during the 52 maxi-series after escaping from his cage at the Sivana compound. Despite his monstrous appearance, the character is portrayed as timid, meek, and good-natured, making him the Black Marvel Family's analogue to Tawky Tawny. Sobek reveals a more horrifying side in 52 Week 43, when he convinced a distraught Osiris to change into his mortal form, then suddenly killed and devoured him. Sobek was revealed in Week 44 to be the Fourth Horseman, Famine. He appeared to have been killed by Black Adam both in self-defense and revenge, but reappears in the 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen mini-series reincarnated as a humanoid hyena with cybernetic parts.

Marvel Family allies

 
The cover of Whiz Comics #59 (October 1944), featuring most of the Golden Age Marvel Family and supporting cast. Art by C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza.

Introduced during the Golden Age (1939-1953)

  • The Wizard Shazam - Although he is killed as prophesied after giving Billy the power to become Captain Marvel, Shazam's spirit remains as the vigilant caretaker of the Rock of Eternity. His power level varies in different stories from high-level magician to godlike. In the 1990s-2000s continuity, Shazam does not die after granting Billy his powers, and was a much more active character than he was during the Golden Age Marvel Family adventures. In current continuity, Shazam - known to most as only "The Wizard," whose true name is Mamaragan - was one of the first humans on Earth to wield magic in ancient times, and becomes the head chair of the Council of Eternity. After the betrayal of Black Adam, Shazam's compatriots on the Council are murdered, and as the remaining member, he imprisons Adam and hides magic from the world. When Adam is freed by Doctor Sivana in modern times, Shazam drafts Billy Batson as his successor.
  • Mr. Sterling Morris - The President of Amalgamated Broadcasting, owners of Station WHIZ, the radio (and later TV) station for which Billy Batson works. He debuts in the very first Captain Marvel story in Whiz Comics #2.
  • Beautia and Magnificus Sivana - Dr. Sivana's beautiful adult daughter Beautia shared her father's passion for world domination until meeting, and falling for, Captain Marvel. She has an unrequited crush on the shy Captain, not realizing that he is actually only a young boy. Beautia first appeared in Whiz Comics #3b in 1940.[16] Most Golden Age Marvel Family stories feature Beautia as Dr. Sivana's unwitting assistant, who betrays her father to assist the heroes. Her older brother Magnificus is also generally depicted as a Marvel Family ally, although in his only Golden Age appearance (Whiz Comics #15, 1941), Magnificus was super-strong and fought Captain Marvel hand-to-hand at his father's request.
  • "Muscles" McGinnis - The antagonist of a story included in Captain Marvel Adventures #3 (1941), the toughest gangster of the city possessing enormous strength. "Muscles" McGinnis promises to go straight after being defeated by Captain Marvel when he tries to take over Station WHIZ, as he feels the side opposing crime is much stronger. The character was reintroduced as a recurring character in the Power of Shazam! series of the 1990s, in which "Muscles" had indeed reformed to become an undercover cop and a frequent ally of Captain Marvel.
  • Steamboat - In the 1940s Fawcett stories, Steamboat is Billy Batson's African-American valet. Depicted as cowardly and subservient, Steamboat accompanied Billy and Captain Marvel on many of their adventures following his first appearance in America's Greatest Comics #3 in 1941. Drawn in a racially stereotyped manner and speaking with a stereotypical Negro dialect, Steamboat was retired from the Captain Marvel stories after the Youth Builders, a diverse group of New York City and Philadelphia area students, protested the use of the character in 1945.[17]
  • Cissie Sommerly - Billy Batson's girlfriend and Sterling Morris' niece. She first appears in Captain Marvel Adventures #12 (1942). Billy immediately fell in love with her at first sight, soon growing close to each other; she had a very positive and cheerful personality, and sang certain words when talking to Billy in her first appearances in the original comics. Her last name was originally spelled Summerly before they changed it replacing the U with an O, and she also had a brother named Pete. She didn't have a full status role in Billy's life, only recurring; but whenever she and Billy got together, they always cared about each other deeply' and whenever they encountered danger, Billy would secretly transform into Captain Marvel and save her. After she and all the other Fawcett characters were acquired by DC, She spent some more time with Billy going to the local burger store and such for the first couple of years before she was forgotten about, and years before the crisis on infinite earths storyline. She hasn't reappeared since unfortunately.
  • Uncle Marvel (Uncle Dudley) - During the Golden Age, an old man named Dudley claimed that he was not only a relative of the Marvels but also a Marvel himself, although neither was true. Regardless, the Marvels took a liking to him and decided to humor his pretense, and "Uncle" Dudley became Uncle Marvel, the Marvel Family's manager. He would make his "transformation" along with one or more of the others, but not by magic; rather, by quickly removing his break-away garments (under the cover of lightning that the real Marvel(s) called down) to reveal his homemade Marvel costume underneath. He explained his lack of superpowers by claiming he suffered from "shazambago". Dudley first appeared in Wow Comics #18 in 1943. In the 1990s The Power of Shazam! comics, Dudley H. Dudley is simply a janitor at Billy's school who finds himself involved in the Marvel Family's adventures, although in one story (The Power of Shazam! #11, 1996) he was temporarily given superpowers by Shazam's ally Ibis the Invincible to help round up the escaped Seven Deadly Enemies of Man][18]
  • Freckles Marvel (Mary Dudley) - Uncle Dudley's adopted niece, who was an irregular companion of Mary Marvel's in her Golden Age solo adventures. First appearing in Wow Comics #35 (1945), Freckles Marvel had no superpowers of her own, but wore her own Mary Marvel costume to help her super-powered friend fight crime.
  • Tawky Tawny - A humanoid sapient Bengal tiger who wishes to live among the humans in civilization instead of in the wild or the zoo. As such, he is typically dressed in a tweed business suit and usually carries himself in a formal, dignified manner. Tawny first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #79 (1947), and became Captain Marvel's sidekick and best friend. Other variants of Tawny at DC have included a version magically animated from a stuffed tiger doll (The Power of Shazam!, 1995–99), a benevolent shapeshifter who prefers to become a tiger when appropriate (Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil, 2007), and a tiger at the local zoo who is briefly given enhanced strength and size by Shazam (Shazam! backup feature in Justice League, 2013). The Tawky Tawny of the current-continuity Shazam! comics series hails from the Wildlands, one of the Seven Magiclands connected to the Rock of Eternity, where he strives to live among the other humanoid animals of that realm despite the discrimination and segregation pitted against tigers.[19]

Introduced in the Bronze Age (1970-1985)

  • Kid Eternity - A Golden Age hero co-created by frequent Captain Marvel writer Otto Binder for Quality Comics, first appearing in Hit Comics #25 in 1945. Kid Eternity is the alter-ego of Christopher "Kit" Freeman, a boy who is killed with his grandfather by Nazis, and, upon learning he was not meant to die, is granted the power to summon any historical or mythological figure by speaking the magic word "Eternity!" In the 1970s, Kid Eternity, acquired from Quality by DC, was integrated into the Shazam! franchise set on Earth-S, with his first appearance in a new DC story being Shazam! #28 (February 1977). Kid Eternity often joined forces with the Marvels in early-1980s Shazam! adventures from World's Finest Comics and Adventure Comics. In World's Finest Comics #279-280 (May–June 1982), Kid Eternity and Captain Marvel, Jr. learn they are long-lost brothers (a retcon made given the characters' identical surnames and similar origin stories).

Introduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986-2011)

  • Miss Wormwood - In the 1990s The Power of Shazam! comics, Billy's teacher (and later principal), presented as the typical "mean teacher" stereotype. She is named after Calvin's teacher in Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.
  • Nick and Nora Bromfield - In the 1990s The Power of Shazam! comics, Mary Batson's adoptive parents, who adopted her through illegal means after their maid, Sarah Primm brought the child to them (Primm saved Mary from her kidnapper/Primm's brother Theo Adam). Nora Bromfield was a cousin of Billy and Mary's mother, but chose not to tell Mary about her real family. The Bromfields would eventually gain the rights to legally adopt both Mary and Billy, giving the children a traditional family structure again. The couple was named after Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man film series.

Introduced after Flashpoint (2011-present)

  • Victor and Rosa Vasquez - The foster parents of the six kids in the Shazam Family; a working-class couple who had grown up as foster children themselves. The Vasquezes debuted in Geoff Johns & Gary Frank's 2012-13 reboot of Shazam!

Marvel Family enemies

Key villains

Besides the Black Marvel Family, the following are among the most prominent members of the Marvel Family's rogues gallery, in order of first appearance in the comics:

Doctor Sivana

See also: Doctor Sivana

Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, Sr. - "The World's Wickedest Scientist" - debuted in Whiz Comics #2 alongside Billy Batson and Captain Marvel, quickly becoming his main archenemy and most frequently recurring villain. A mad scientist who fights the Marvel Family using his genius intellect and inventions, the Golden Age Sivana had been a humanitarian scientist who bitterly fled 20th-century Europe after his inventions were ridiculed by the scientific society. Living on Venus with his four children, he became a mad scientist, bent on taking over the universe.[20]

Other versions of Sivana in later DC Comics have positioned him as Billy Batson's wicked step-uncle (Shazam!: The New Beginning), a wealthy, wicked businessman driven to ruin by his entanglements with Black Adam (The Power of Shazam!), and the wicked Attorney General of the United States (Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil). The current-continuity Doctor Sivana, following the 2011 reboot, is a rich scientist determined to prove the existence of magic, which leads him to free both Black Adam and Mister Mind. Sivana acquires the ability to both see magic and project magic lightning from his right eye.[21]

During the early and mid-1940s, Dr. Sivana was often assisted, under duress, by his good-natured adult daughter Beautia (and, briefly, Sivana's oldest child, his son Magnificus). From the mid-1940s onward, his youngest children - teenaged twins Thaddeus, Jr. aka Sivana, Jr, and Georgia Sivana, both dead ringers for their father - became his henchmen as the Sivana Family. Georgia Sivana became a prominent villain for Mary Marvel, as did Sivana, Jr. for Captain Marvel, Jr.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Main article: Seven Deadly Enemies of Man

Originally known as the "Seven Deadly Enemies of Man" and first appearing in the Whiz Comics #2 origin story in 1940, the sins are seven powerful demons held prisoner by the Wizard Shazam in his lair. The demons, whose forms vary by era and artist, sometimes escape and cause havoc through murder and using their powers to influence sin in humans.

Based upon the seven deadly sins as enumerated in the Christian faith, the original "Seven Deadly Enemies of Man" were slightly censored for suitable reading for children: Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness, and Injustice. Each demon could influence their namesake sin in human victims. Beginning with DC's JSA series in the mid-2000s, the proper Christian names/versions of the sins were used: Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lust.

Captain Nazi

See also: Captain Nazi

Introduced in a three-part crossover between Master Comics and Whiz Comics in 1941 during World War II, Captain Nazi - real name Albrecht Krieger - is a genetically-altered Nazi who is Adolf Hitler's champion. Wearing a green costume with a swastika insignia, Captain Nazi has super-strength, near-invulnerability, and can use a special chemical gas to fly.

Created to wreak havoc on America, Captain Nazi murders an elderly man and cripples a teenage boy during his fight with Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941). The boy, Freddy Freeman, is granted powers by Captain Marvel to save his life, becoming Captain Marvel, Jr. and declaring Captain Nazi his mortal enemy.

Ibac

See also: Ibac

A frail thug named "Stinky" Printwhistle who was empowered by Lucifer himself after Lucifer saved Printwhistle from a fall caused by Captain Marvel. Printwistle is imbued with the powers of four of the most evil men to walk the face of the earth (Ivan the Terrible, Borgia, Attila the Hun and Caligula). When he says the name "IBAC", he is engulfed in green fire and brimstone and becomes a large, muscular brute with super-strength.[22] Saying his name again transforms him back into Printwhistle (therefore, like Captain Marvel, Jr., Ibac also cannot say his own name).

Ibac first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #8 in 1942 and became a recurring Marvel Family villain through the characters' run in Fawcett and DC Comics. The 2011 rebooted version of Ibac is the descendant of a long line of evil despots, the first of whom - Ibac the Terrible - was known in ancient times as "the man who invented evil."[23]

Sabbac

See also: Sabbac

Similar to Ibac, Timothy Karnes is granted the powers of six demons when he says the magic word "Sabbac". As opposed to fire, Sabbac transforms via black lightning cast up (rather than down) from Hades. First appearing in Captain Marvel Jr. #4 (February 1943), Sabbac's pantheon grant him powers similar to the Marvel Family, with the added power of pyrokenesis.

A second Sabbac, Ishamel Gregor, was introduced in the mid-2000s in the Outsiders comic book. While Karnes' Sabbac became a more muscular version of himself in a green cloak with demon fangs, Gregor's Sabbac is a large, muscular, horned demon with red skin and hair.

In the 2011 Shazam! reboot, the Seven Deadly Sins have the power to possess a wicked human and transform him into a fifty-foot tall demon resembling the Ishamel Gregor version of Sabbac.[24]

Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil

See also: Mister Mind and Monster Society of Evil

First appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #22 (1943) as a disembodied voice, and later in issue #26 in his actual form, Mister Mind - "The World's Wickedest Worm" - is an evil alien caterpillar with genius intellect. Given his small stature, he wears a talkbox to communicate and is often depicted wearing eyeglasses as well. He runs the supervillain team called the Monster Society of Evil, whose membership includes most of the Marvel Family's key and recurring villains, including characters such as Doctor Sivana, King Kull, the Crocodile-Men, Captain Nazi, Mister Atom, Ibac, Jeepers, and Oggar. Mister Mind's own powers have included mind control (typically by crawling into a host's ear),[25][26] telepathy, mental projection, and, once evolved into a "Hyperfly", the ability to eat time itself.[27]

The 2011 reboot of Mister (Maxivermis) Mind presents him as a native of one of the Seven Magiclands (The Monsterlands according to Mind, The Wildlands according to rumor) who gained high-level magic powers by reading every book in the Rock of Eternity's library.[28] His Monster Society includes creatures from across the Magiclands who had been banished to the Monsterlands' Dungeon of Eternity by the Council of Wizards. Its members include Doctor Sivana, Black Adam, the Crocodile-Men, King Kull, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Red Queen, Jeepers, Evil Eye, and Mister Atom, as well as new villains Mister Merry-Go-Round and Scapegoat.[29]

Crocodile-Men

The Crocodile-Men (also called "Punkusians") are a race of humanoid crocodiles from the planetoid Punkus who were members of the Monster Society of Evil in Captain Marvel Adventures during the mid-1940s. There were many unnamed Crocodile-Men who just acted as henchmen for Mister Mind. One of them was one of Mister Mind's Monster Professors while the others were Monster Students.

  • Herkimer - A Crocodile-Man in a business suit who is Mister Mind's second-in-command.[30] Between the end of the Fawcett Marvel Family run in 1953 and the start of the DC Shazam! run in 1972, Herkimer reforms and gets a job as part of a carnival.[31] In the third volume's special interlude issue that takes place before the first issue, Herkimer attacks a museum stating that the reign of the Crocodile-Men is nigh. He was mentioned to have fought Shazam before. When Freddy asks why Herkimer is in a business suit, Billy states that he didn't say. Herkimer is defeated by Shazam. Billy later mentioned his fight with him to Batman following Shazam's disastrous fight with Scarecrow where Batman mentions that he has fought Killer Croc many times. Batman does answer "No" when asked by Billy if he wears a business suit.[32]
  • Jorrk - The greatest scientist of the Crocodile-Men and one of Mister Mind's three lieutenants.
  • Sylvester - A Crocodile-Man and one of Mister Mind's preferred gunners.

The third volume of the Shazam! comic book series, launched in 2018, introduced an unnamed three-headed Crocodile-Man in striped prison attire from the Wildlands who is a member of the Monster Society of Evil.[13]

Oggar

See also: Oggar

A wizard who is the "World's Mightiest Immortal." Oggar was originally part of the Shazam pantheon before the Wizard, then known as "Shazamo"", dismissed him.[33] Seeking revenge, Oggar uses his extensive magic powers to battle Shazam and his champions, though his powers cannot directly harm women and girls, allowing Mary to battle him directly. First appearing in a multi-issue arc starting with Captain Marvel Adventures #61 in 1946, Oggar recurred regularly in Shazam! stories during the 1970s and 1980s.

King Kull

See also: King Kull (DC Comics)

The king of the Beast Men (also called the Submen), Neanderthal-like humanoids who ruled the earth in ancient times and enslaved the Homo sapiens populace. Kull fakes his death and goes into suspended animation, awakening in the modern-day and attempt to take over or destroy the world again. He possesses super-strength, near-invulnerability, and expert weaponry and military skills.[34] Kull first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #125 in 1951.

Blaze and Satanus

See also: Blaze and Satanus

Originally introduced in the early 1990s as Superman villains, Blaze and Satanus are powerful twin demons who are among the rules of Hades. They are also the estranged children of the Wizard Shazam, from his younger days as the ancient Canaanite superhero Vlarem The Champion.[35] While Satanus has a soft-spot for his father and assists him from time-to-time (including giving life to Tawky Tawny), Blaze hates the Wizard and stages attacks on both him and the Marvel Family, believing the power of Shazam to be her birthright.[36]

Other notable recurring villains

Villains introduced during the Golden Age (1939-1953)

  • The Arson Fiend - First appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #2 in 1941 as a one-shot villain, the Arson Fiend - a tall, vampire-like being with the power of pyrokinesis - was revived in the 1990s The Power of Shazam! series. He is the alter-ego of George Tweedle, a small, husky insurance salesman who transforms into the Arson Fiend using a magic salve in order to cause havoc (and boost his business).[33]
  • Mister Banjo - Kurt Filpots worked as an agent for the Axis powers during World War II. Dressed as a stout man in a baggy green suit and straw hat who carried around an old banjo with him, Filpots delivered secrets to the Japanese in the form of musical notes. Someone in a military meeting would whistle musical notes which were a code, Banjo would play the music next to a house with an agent inside who would radio them to the Japanese. Although evil, Mr. Banjo would go up against Captain Marvel with nothing more than a banjo. He first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #8, in the same issue as - though in a different story than - Ibac.[22]
  • Aunt Minerva - A criminal mastermind who looks like a sweet old lady, but has deadly accuracy with a gun and a desire to find a new husband after her first five died. She first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #59 in 1946 - in which she attempted to force Captain Marvel to marry her.[37] Minerva recurred as a Marvel Family villain thereafter through to the 1990s.
  • The Three Faces of Evil - A three-headed monster - Terror, Sin, and Wickedness - imprisoned beneath or within the Rock of Eternity with the ability to hypnotize victims, even the Marvels, into doing evil. First introduced in The Marvel Family in 1947 as a humanoid three-headed monster, the later DC Comics version of the character resembles a giant hydra.
  • Mister Atom - First debuting in Captain Marvel Adventures #78 in 1947, Mister Atom is a giant robot created by Dr. Charles Langley. Mister Atom's artificial intelligence malfunctions and he becomes a threat to humanity and to the Marvel Family.

Villains introduced in the Bronze Age (1970-1985)

  • Chain Lightning - A young woman with the power of electrokinesis, which allows her to depower the Marvels by blasting them with lightning.[38] First appearing in World's Finest Comics in 1981, Jerry Ordway reintroduced Chain Lightning in The Power of Shazam 15 years later as young woman with electric metahuman powers suffering from multiple personality disorder. While her main persona Amy is good-natured, her other persona Amber fuels her worst impulses and sometimes takes over her body and her powers. The other two personas are Inner Child and Id.[39]

Other versions

 
New Earth 5 from 52 Week 52, art breakdowns by Keith Giffen.

In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-5". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-S, including the Marvel Family characters. The names of the characters are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but characters visually similar to the Marvel Family appear. There is also an alternative version of Green Lantern Hal Jordan that also exists on Earth-5 alongside the Marvel Family.[40]

Based on comments by DC writer Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-S.[41]

In other media

Television

Film

DC Extended Universe

  • Billy Batson / Shazam! and both the kid and adult identities of the Shazam Family (Mary, Freddy, Pedro, Eugene, and Darla) featured in the DC Extended Universe feature film Shazam! (2019), produced by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures. The film featured Zachary Levi in the title role, Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Grace Fulton and Michelle Borth as Mary, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy, Ian Chen and Ross Butler as Eugene, Jovan Armand and D. J. Cotrona as Pedro, and Faithe Herman and Meagan Good as Darla.[43][44] Mary, Freddy, Eugene, Pedro and Darla are the first to see Billy in their foster family. Freddy and Darla are the first to discover that Billy Batson is Shazam and the others will find out later. Pedro was the one who discovered that Billy's biological mother, Marilyn, is two stops from the subway. While trying to escape from Doctor Sivana, Billy was about to surrender to Sivana in giving him the powers, he remembers the Wizard's words, Billy takes the staff from Sivana and uses it to share his powers, transforming his brothers and sisters into adult superheroes like him, before breaking the staff. After the Shazam Family battles the Seven Deadly Sins, Shazam removes the Eye of Sin from Sivana, leaving him unable to recapture the Seven Sins. Billy and his family are hailed as heroes and return the Eye and Seven Sins to their prisons. Billy and his siblings realize that the now-vacant Rock of Eternity may be their new lair and base of operations.
  • The Shazam Family appeared in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Billy, Mary, Freddy, Eugene, Pedro and Darla as heroes protect their city, but they hardly work well as a team by letting a bridge collapse. When they face the Daughters of Atlas, Hespera, Kalypso and Anthea, the 5 brothers (except Billy), lose their powers being taken away by Kalypso, who possesses the staff of the Wizard Shazam by preventing him from taking the Golden Apple, the seed of the Tree of Life, and they failed. Mary, Freddy, Eugene, Pedro and Darla having no powers, decide to help Billy and ride unicorns to fend off the Kalypso's monsters that attack the city. After the defeat of Kalypso and her army of monsters, Billy has sacrificed himself and was taken to Anthea's kingdom for his funeral, until they see Wonder Woman, who uses the Wizard's staff to bring life back to revive the Gods' Realm and resurrect Billy, being with his family again and also to restore the powers of his brothers and those of Anthea and the Wizard, now living with them in their world.

Video games

  • The Marvel Family are included in one of the DLC bundles for Lego DC Super-Villains. Based on the Shazam! film, the "Shazam! Movie Level Pack 1 & 2" is broken into 'Sivana Escape' which focuses on Shazam's confrontation with Sivana in the department store, and 'Sivana Showdown' which focuses on the Family's final fight with Doctor Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins at the Christmas fair. Purchasing these DLCs unlocks all of the film's versions of the Marvel Family, as well as their superhero counterparts, but only if the levels are finished. Each member has different powers both in their human and Shazam form, such as Darla being a Speedster type character, Pedro has super strength, and Eugene can summon a drone in his regular form.

References

  1. ^ "Shazam Family". DC. 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  2. ^ Smith, Zack (30 December 2010). "An Oral History of CAPTAIN MARVEL: The Lost Years, pt. 3". Newsarama. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  3. ^ Bricken, Rob (4 September 2013). "The Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel/Shazam Clusterf*ck Explained". Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  4. ^ [https://web.archive.org/web/20221125015347/https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-to-surprise-publish-marvel-family-first-appearance-of-black-adam/ Archived 2022-11-25 at the Wayback Machine "DC To Surprise-Publish Marvel Family First Appearance Of Black Adam", Bleeding Cool
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shazam! (vol. 3) #1 (February 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics
  6. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #4 (May 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics
  7. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #5 (June 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics
  8. ^ "Shazam! May Hint at DC's First Gay Movie Superhero". CBR. 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  9. ^ "Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Meet writers Chris Morgan and Henry Gayden". Dorkaholics. 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
  10. ^ Ordway, Jerry (1994). The Power of Shazam! New York: DC Comics.
  11. ^ The Power of Shazam! #24-27 (March 1997-June 1997). New York, NY: DC Comics
  12. ^ a b Shazam! (vol. 3) #9 (December 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics
  13. ^ a b Shazam! (vol. 3) #11 (February 2020). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  14. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #14 (September 2020). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  15. ^ a b Justice League of America #23.4: Black Adam (2013)
  16. ^ Because of a numbering error at Fawcett Publications, there are two issues of Whiz Comics assigned the number 3.
  17. ^ "Comic Book Legends Revealed #467". CBR. 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  18. ^ Power of Shazam! #11 (1996)
  19. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #4 (June 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  20. ^ Whiz Comics #15 (May 1941). New York: Fawcett Publications.
  21. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #8 (December 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  22. ^ a b Captain Marvel Adventures #8 (August 1942). New York: Fawcett Publications.
  23. ^ Justice League (vol. 3) #19 (June 2013). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  24. ^ Justice League (vol. 3) #21 (August 2013). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  25. ^ The Power of Shazam! #13 (March 1996). New York, NY: DC Comics.
  26. ^ JSA #58 (April 2004). New York, NY: DC Comics.
  27. ^ 52 #52 (May 2, 2007). New York: DC Comics.
  28. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #2 (April 2019). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  29. ^ Shazam! (vol. 3) #10-11 (March–April 2020). Burbank, CA: DC Comics.
  30. ^ Captain Marvel Adventures #22. DC Comics.
  31. ^ Shazam #2 (March 1973). New York: DC Comics.
  32. ^ Shazam (vol. 3). #12 (June 2020). DC Comics.
  33. ^ a b Captain Marvel Adventures #2 (June 1941). New York: Fawcett Publications.
  34. ^ Captain Marvel Adventures #125 (October 1951). New York: Fawcett Publications.
  35. ^ The Power of Shazam! #10 (December 1995). New York: DC Comics.
  36. ^ Shazam! (vol. 2) #1 (February 2011). New York: DC Comics.
  37. ^ Captain Marvel Adventures #59. New York: Fawcett Publications.
  38. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  39. ^ The Power of Shazam! #14 (April 1996). New York: DC Comics.
  40. ^ 52 #52: 12/5 (May 2, 2007), DC Comics
  41. ^ Brady, Matt (2007-05-08). . Newsarama. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  42. ^ "Batman: The Brave And The Bold: "The Malicious Mr. Mind!"". Tv.avclub.com. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  43. ^ "Production Starts on New Line Cinema's Magical Super Hero Action Adventure "Shazam!" [Press Release]". Business Wire. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  44. ^ Bentley, Jean. "Surprise! Your Fav "OC" & "Riverdale" Alums Are In "Shazam"". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2019-04-06.

External links

  • Captain Marvel Culture: A history of the many Captains Marvel
  • The Marvel Family Web

March 20, 2023
marvel, family, also, known, shazam, family, also, shazamily, group, superheroes, originally, appeared, books, published, fawcett, comics, were, later, acquired, comics, created, 1942, writer, otto, binder, artist, marc, swayze, team, created, extension, fawce. The Marvel Family also known as the Shazam Family 1 also Shazamily are a group of superheroes who originally appeared in books published by Fawcett Comics and were later acquired by DC Comics Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and artist Marc Swayze the team was created as an extension of Fawcett s Captain Marvel franchise and included Marvel s sister Mary Marvel their friend Captain Marvel Jr and at various times a number of other characters as well Shazam FamilyMarvel FamilyThe cover of Captain Marvel Adventures 18 published in 1942 by Fawcett Comics featuring left to right Captain Marvel Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr Art by C C Beck Publication informationPublisherFawcett Comics 1942 1953 DC Comics 1972 present First appearanceCaptain Marvel Adventures 18 December 1942 Created byOtto BinderMarc SwayzeIn story informationBase s Fawcett CityPhiladelphiaRock of EternityRosterSee Billy Batson Captain Marvel Shazam Mary Batson Bromfield Mary Marvel Freddy Freeman Captain Marvel Jr Lieutenant MarvelsTawky TawnyThe Wizard ShazamSteamboatHoppy the Marvel BunnyUncle Marvel Uncle Dudley Black AliceKid Eternity Christopher Freeman Eugene ChoiPedro PenaDarla DudleyMarvel FamilyMarvel FamilyCaptain Marvel Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr on the cover of The Marvel Family 4 September 1946 Art by C C Beck Series publication informationPublisherFawcett ComicsScheduleMonthlyFormatOngoing seriesGenreSuperhero adventurePublication dateDecember 1945 January 1954Number of issues89Main character s Marvel FamilyCreative teamWriter s Otto BinderArtist s C C Beck Pete Costanza Kurt SchaffenbergerEditor s Wendell CrowleyBecause Marvel Comics trademarked their own Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the demise of the Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel comics in 1953 and DC s revival in 1972 2 DC Comics is today unable to promote and market Captain Marvel under that name Since 1972 DC has instead used the trademark Shazam for their comic book titles with the Marvel Family characters and the name under which they market and promote the characters 3 When referring to the Marvel Family on comic book covers or various merchandise they are by this legal necessity called the Shazam Family In 2012 DC officially changed Captain Marvel s name to Shazam making Shazam Family the name of the superhero s associates In current continuity the Shazam Family comprises the superpowered alter egos of Billy Batson teenaged alter ego of Shazam formerly Captain Marvel and his foster siblings Mary Bromfield formerly Mary Marvel Freddy Freeman formerly Captain Marvel Jr Darla Dudley Pedro Pena and Eugene Choi The Shazam Family made their cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe film Shazam released in 2019 by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros and they are set to return for a sequel film Shazam Fury of the Gods in 2023 Contents 1 Publication history 2 Marvel Shazam Family members 2 1 Primary members 2 1 1 Billy Batson Captain Marvel Shazam 2 1 2 Mary Bromfield Mary Marvel Lady Shazam 2 1 3 Freddy Freeman Captain Marvel Jr Shazam Jr 2 1 4 Eugene Choi 2 1 5 Pedro Pena 2 1 6 Darla Dudley 2 2 Past members 2 2 1 The Lieutenant Marvels 2 2 2 C C Batson amp Marilyn Batson 2 3 Other members 2 4 Black Marvel Family members 2 4 1 Black Adam 2 4 2 Isis 2 4 3 Osiris 2 4 4 Sobek 3 Marvel Family allies 3 1 Introduced during the Golden Age 1939 1953 3 2 Introduced in the Bronze Age 1970 1985 3 3 Introduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths 1986 2011 3 4 Introduced after Flashpoint 2011 present 4 Marvel Family enemies 4 1 Key villains 4 1 1 Doctor Sivana 4 1 2 The Seven Deadly Sins 4 1 3 Captain Nazi 4 1 4 Ibac 4 1 5 Sabbac 4 1 6 Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil 4 1 7 Crocodile Men 4 1 8 Oggar 4 1 9 King Kull 4 1 10 Blaze and Satanus 4 2 Other notable recurring villains 4 2 1 Villains introduced during the Golden Age 1939 1953 4 2 2 Villains introduced in the Bronze Age 1970 1985 5 Other versions 6 In other media 6 1 Television 6 2 Film 6 3 DC Extended Universe 6 4 Video games 7 References 8 External linksPublication history EditThe Marvel Family was established in 1942 after the introductions of Captain Marvel s partners the Lieutenant Marvels Whiz Comics 21 September 1941 Captain Marvel Jr Whiz Comics 25 December 1941 and Mary Marvel Captain Marvel Adventures 18 December 1942 With Junior and Mary s additions to his adventures Captain Marvel became the first superhero to have a team of sidekicks who share his powers abilities and appearance a concept later adapted for heroes such as Superman and Aquaman among others The members of the Marvel Family appeared both separately and together in many of Fawcett s comic book series including Whiz Comics Wow Comics Master Comics Captain Marvel Adventures Captain Marvel Jr Mary Marvel and The Marvel Family By the late 1940s Marvel Family comics were among the most popular in the industry and the Marvel Family had expanded to include both non superpowered characters Uncle Marvel and Freckles Marvel and even talking animals Hoppy the Marvel Bunny By 1953 all of these books had ceased publication due to Superman publisher DC Comics lawsuit against Fawcett In 1972 DC licensed the rights to the Marvel Family characters and began publishing them in a comic series titled Shazam Fawcett sold DC the rights to the characters in 1980 by which time Shazam had been cancelled and the Marvels had been relegated the back up feature of World s Finest Comics and later Adventure Comics DC retconned Captain Marvel in 1986 with their Legends miniseries establishing him as a solo hero without a team Writer artist Jerry Ordway resurrected the Marvel Family in 1995 with his Power of Shazam series establishing the team as being made up solely of Captain Marvel Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr Following several attempts at relaunching the Shazam franchise during the mid 2000s the Marvel Family was temporarily dissolved by writers Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway in Justice Society of America vol 3 25 with only Captain Marvel Jr now known as Shazam retaining his powers but from another source In the interim Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel continued to appear in Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam an all ages comic book series published under DC s youth oriented Johnny DC line which ran from 2008 to 2010 Captain Marvel Jr joined the pair towards the end of the run of Magic of Shazam following a brief period serving as the sidekick of the Marvels enemy under the name Black Adam Jr The Shazam Family was reintroduced during DC Comics continuity altering Flashpoint miniseries in 2011 as six kids who all spoke Shazam in unison to become one superhero Captain Thunder In the later company wide New 52 reboot that followed Flashpoint the Captain Marvel character was renamed Shazam and starred in a backup segment of the Justice League series second volume from 2012 to 2013 These backups by writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank introduced Billy Batson Shazam and his new Shazam Family consisting of Billy and his five foster siblings with whom he shares his powers In 2022 DC published a facsimile edition of Marvel Family Comics No 1 as a tie in with the release of the film Black Adam 4 Marvel Shazam Family members Edit The modern day Shazam Family on the variant cover of Shazam vol 3 13 September 2020 Clockwise from center Shazam Billy Batson Freddy Freeman Mary Bromfield Eugene Choi Darla Dudley and Pedro Pena Art by Julian Totino Tedesco Captain Marvel and the three Lieutenants Marvel as depicted on the cover of Whiz Comics 34 September 1942 Clockwise from top Captain Marvel Lt Hill Marvel Lt Fat Marvel and Lt Tall Marvel Art by C C Beck and Pete Costanza Primary members Edit Billy Batson Captain Marvel Shazam Edit See also Captain Marvel DC Comics The World s Mightiest Mortal Captain Marvel is the superpowered alter ego of Billy Batson an orphaned boy who speaks the name of the wizard Shazam to become an adult superhero Billy has the powers of Solomon wisdom Hercules strength Atlas stamina Zeus power Achilles courage and Mercury speed and served as the wizard Shazam s champion and herald In the Golden Age and Bronze Age comics Billy chose to share his powers with his sister Mary and his friend Freddy Freeman creating the Marvel Family Outside of the Marvel Family Captain Marvel served briefly as a member of both the Justice League International and the Justice Society of America After the 2011 New 52 reboot of the Shazam characters by Geoff Johns amp Gary Frank Billy Batson is a troubled foster child who has inherited the name powers and seat on the council of magic of the wizard Shazam Becoming a hero inspired the initially brash and standoffish Billy to evolve into a noble hero and leader who embraces his new foster family As Shazam Billy has powers and a red uniformed appearance similar to the traditional version of Captain Marvel with the added ability to wield magic via the living lightning that powers him Mary Bromfield Mary Marvel Lady Shazam Edit See also Mary Marvel In traditional Shazam stories Mary is Billy s once lost twin sister Mary Batson She is technically the oldest in the pair adopted as Mary Bromfield who found she could say the magic word Shazam and become a Marvel as well The Golden Age Mary Marvel remained a teenager in superhero form while the modern version is transformed into an adult like her brother The Golden Age Mary Marvel had a different set of patrons from Captain Marvel who contributed to her powers They were Selene grace Hippolyte strength Ariadne skill Zephyrus swiftness Aurora beauty and Minerva wisdom During the 2007 and 2008 limited series Countdown to Final Crisis and Final Crisis Mary Marvel lost her powers and gained the powers of Marvel Family foe Black Adam She temporarily became a villain working for Darkseid and possessed by the New God Desaad In current DC Comics continuity from 2012 on Mary Bromfield is Billy Batson s foster sister having run away from an abusive home at a young age and being placed in the Vazquez home The oldest of the Shazam kids Mary acts as the den mother and conscience of the group She shares Billy s secret and by saying Shazam she can gain a superpowered form similar to the traditional Mary Marvel in a red uniform 5 Freddy Freeman Captain Marvel Jr Shazam Jr Edit See also Captain Marvel Jr In both the Golden Age and 1990s versions of the Marvel Family Billy s friend and classmate Freddy Freeman was attacked and left disabled by the supervillain Captain Nazi and was given the power to become a Marvel to save his life Whenever he spoke Captain Marvel s name Freddy becomes a teenage version of Captain Marvel This created the odd problem that he could not identify himself without changing back to his regular form During the mid 1990s the Freddy character went by the alias CM3 short for Captain Marvel Three CM1 being Billy and CM2 being Mary so that he could identify himself without transforming He was a member of the Teen Titans during the late 1990s and later the Outsiders in the early 2000s The 2006 2008 Trials of Shazam mini series featured Freddy gaining the powers of Captain Marvel as Shazam while Billy took over for the dead wizard Shazam as Marvel In current DC Comics continuity from 2012 on Freddy Freeman now a blond teenager instead of the traditional black haired youth though still physically disabled is Billy Batson s foster brother a smart mouthed pickpocket and trickster whose parents are in prison He shares Billy s secret and by saying Shazam can gain a form similar to an adult version of the traditional Captain Marvel Jr in a blue uniform 5 Eugene Choi Edit Eugene Choi is Billy Batson s foster brother an intelligent bookish teenager about his age of Asian descent with a love of technology and video games Eugene s bookishness is offset by a competitive and impulsive nature that causes trouble for him and the others at times 6 Introduced in the Flashpoint miniseries Eugene can share Billy s power by saying Shazam and become an adult Shazam powered version of himself in a silver gray uniform 5 In addition to the standard Shazam power set Eugene has the additional power of technopathy which allows him to talk to and control machines and technology Pedro Pena Edit Pedro Pena is Billy Batson s foster brother an overweight teenager of Mexican descent who is around Billy s age Introduced in the Flashpoint miniseries Pedro can share Billy s power by saying Shazam and becoming an adult Shazam powered version of himself in a green uniform 5 Pedro s adult form resembling a tall bearded powerlifter is a stark contrast to his personal insecurity and shyness 7 While the comics have yet to make any such distinction the 2019 live action feature film Shazam implies that Pedro is gay or asexual 8 and later confirmed to be gay by the Shazam Fury of the Gods screenwriter Henry Gayden 9 In superhuman form Pedro has extra amounts of super strength compared to the rest of the Shazam Family gaining the strenght of Hercules Darla Dudley Edit Darla Dudley is Billy Batson s foster sister an exuberant African American preteen who was abandoned by her parents and adopted by Billy s foster parents the Vasquezes Despite her hardships growing up Darla is very openly affectionate and loving towards her foster family and virtually anyone she meets Introduced in the Flashpoint miniseries as a teenager the same age as the other kids Darla can share Billy s power by saying Shazam 5 She wears a purple uniform and her speed abilities are amplified making her faster than the others She is also unable to keep secrets which proved rather difficult to overcome 5 Past members Edit The Lieutenant Marvels Edit See also Lieutenant Marvels The Lieutenant Marvels are three other boys named Billy Batson nicknamed Tall Billy Fat Billy and Hill Billy the last because he was from the Appalachian Mountains to differentiate themselves from Real Billy Captain Marvel who learned that because they also were named Billy Batson they could draw on the power of Shazam They vowed only to use their power if asked by Captain Marvel and only if all three were to say the magic word SHAZAM in unison They did not appear in Marvel Family stories between Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985 and Flashpoint in 2011 except for a scene in The Trials of Shazam 2 2006 where they briefly appeared only to lose their powers Following DC s 2011 New 52 reboot the Lieutenant Marvels appear as non superpowered allies of the Marvel Family in the 2015 one shot comic The Multiversity Thunderworld where they Mister Tawny and Uncle Marvel help defeat the Monster Society of Evil while Captain Marvel is fighting Doctor Sivana for control of the Rock of Eternity C C Batson amp Marilyn Batson Edit Clarence Charles C C Batson named after Captain Marvel co creator Charles Clarence C C Beck is the biological father of Billy Batson Billy s biological parents had been alluded to in a handful of Shazam stories published prior to 1990 under different names The 1994 graphic novel The Power of Shazam by Jerry Ordway introduces C C and his wife Billy s mother Marilyn and how their deaths in that Post Crisis continuity at the hands of Theo Adam alter ego of Black Adam led to Billy gaining his powers Much emphasis is made of Captain Marvel Shazam s almost identical appearance to the deceased C C Batson 10 In a story arc from the subsequent The Power of Shazam ongoing series issues 24 27 1997 Dr Sivana sneaks into the timestream outside of the Rock of Eternity and alters the timeline so that Theo Adam never kills the Batsons 11 Instead Marilyn and C C themselves become the heirs to Shazam s power as the Captains Marvel while Billy and Mary remain typical upper middle class teenagers C C himself is employed by the Wizard Shazam and Waverider to correct the timestream by stopping Sivana from making his changes In current DC Rebirth continuity C C Batson is still alive resembling an older Captain Marvel Shazam with greying hair As a younger man C C had abandoned Marilyn and Billy when Billy was a toddler and become a grifter After spending a decade in prison C C returns to Philadelphia to find Billy at the Vazquezes foster home When he is attacked by Black Adam and the Seven Deadly Sins Billy shares his Shazam powers with his father making him the prophesied seventh and final member of the Shazam Family 12 In superhero form C C Batson wears a yellow gold costume with red trim an inverse of the colors of Billy s costume 12 However it is revealed that C C Batson had been possessed by Mister Mind since his prison release who intended to uses the Shazam powers in a plot to unite the Seven Magiclands under his rule 13 Using a spell Shazam shrinks himself down small enough to enter his father s ear canal and battle the worm directly Following Mind s defeat C C loses his powers and is freed from Mind s control but reveals that he has no intentions of actually reuniting with his son 14 Other members Edit These members of the Marvel Family appear in stories set in the future Hoppy the Marvel Bunny is a spin off character generally confined to his own series the pink talking rabbit version of Captain Marvel periodically assisted the human Marvels in their adventures Thunder The star of The Power of Shazam Annual 1996 Thunder is the super powered alter ego of a young girl from the planet Binderaan circa 9 000 A D named CeCe Beck or Beck for short An aged Captain Marvel serves as the girl s mentor the same way Shazam served as his mentor Whenever Beck speaks the magic words Captain Marvel she is transformed into Thunder an adult super heroine After being lost in the timestream Thunder briefly teamed up with the Legion of Super Heroes in the 30th century The names CeCe Beck and Binderaan are tributes to Marvel Family creators C C Beck and Otto Binder Tanist A teenaged male Marvel who appeared in The Power of Shazam 1 000 000 November 1998 part of the DC One Million event After his mother is killed Tanist a disabled resident of Mercury in the 853rd century meets the aged Captain Marvel in the Rock of Eternity Marvel grants the boy superpowers to save his life as he had done for Freddy Freeman Captain Marvel Jr Black Marvel Family members Edit Black Marvel Family Isis Black Adam and Osiris from Countdown 41 July 18 2007 Art by Dan Jurgens Publication informationPublisherDC ComicsFirst appearance52 23 October 11 2006 first joint appearance of Black Adam Isis and Osiris Created byOtto Binder C C Beck Geoff Johns Greg Rucka Mark Waid Grant MorrisonIn story informationBase s Royal Palace KahndaqMember s Black Adam Isis Osiris SobekThe Black Marvel Family a variant of the Marvel Family concept with Captain Marvel s archvillain Black Adam as the central focus was introduced in the pages of the weekly DC comic book 52 Black Adam Edit See also Black Adam An older Egyptian renegade protege of the wizard Shazam who was the first to be granted superpowers by the wizard Adam eventually grew to abuse his power and became a tyrant Shazam returned to punish Adam with either exile into deep space in the original Fawcett Comics or death in the modern DC Comics He returns to Earth or life after Shazam appoints Captain Marvel his new successor and was soon established as Captain Marvel s most powerful foe in physical abilities In later DC continuity Black Adam joined the Justice Society of America claiming to have reformed later turning on the Justice Society by using some of its younger associates to help him overthrow the government of his home country the mythical Kahndaq Adam was one of the main characters in DC s 52 weekly maxi series which followed his attempts to establish himself as a hero which led him to create a Marvel Family of his own which included his superpowered wife Isis and his own Captain Marvel Jr Osiris In the current New 52 continuity Black Adam was a former Kahndaqi slave in ancient times who was granted the power of Shazam along with his young nephew whom he kills for not sharing his taste for vengeance against their enemies Adam kills the members of Earth s Council of Wizards save for the wizard Shazam who imprisoned him and hid the magic until Adam was freed by Doctor Sivana in modern times Isis Edit See also Isis DC Comics The superheroine Isis was originally created for live action television to star in Filmation s The Secrets of Isis TV show a sister series for Filmation s adaptation of Isis teamed up with Captain Marvel on occasion in both television and comics and briefly starred in a licensed DC comic book in the late 1970s In 2006 DC Comics created a new unrelated Isis and introduced her into the DC Universe This Isis is the alter ego of Adrianna Tomaz originally a slave from Egypt offered to Black Adam by the terrorist group Intergang as a token to curry his favor Although Adam dealt harshly with the slavers and kills one of them Adrianna becomes Adam s love interest and made him a more merciful figure and was granted a special amulet that allowed her to become the avatar of the Egyptian goddess Adam married Isis but her death at the hands of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips drove him to a fit of mass murder At the end of the Black Adam The Dark Age mini series in 2007 Isis was resurrected by Felix Faust However the ordeal of her death and many months spent as a brainwashed slave routinely abused by Faust left her much colder and ruthless than before making her even less merciful than her husband In current New 52 continuity Adrianna Tomaz is a peaceful freedom fighter who helps her brother Amon resurrect Black Adam after his defeat at the hands of the superhero Shazam 15 Osiris Edit See also Osiris DC Comics The teenaged Osiris is Amon Tomaz Adrianna s long lost brother who was kidnapped enslaved and crippled by Intergang Adam shared his powers with Amon allowing him to transform into the superpowered Osiris by saying the name Black Adam Osiris was murdered by his trusted companion Sobek the talking crocodile revealed to be Famine one of the Four Horsemen During the 2009 2010 crossover event Blackest Night Osiris was resurrected alongside other heroes and was later resurrected as a White Lantern for the purpose of releasing Isis for which he joins the new Titans In current New 52 continuity Amon Tomaz is a rebellious freedom fighter who helps resurrect Black Adam after his defeat at the hands of the superhero Shazam 15 Sobek Edit Sobek is an intelligent humanoid crocodile created and abandoned by the Sivana Family who befriends the Black Marvel family during the 52 maxi series after escaping from his cage at the Sivana compound Despite his monstrous appearance the character is portrayed as timid meek and good natured making him the Black Marvel Family s analogue to Tawky Tawny Sobek reveals a more horrifying side in 52 Week 43 when he convinced a distraught Osiris to change into his mortal form then suddenly killed and devoured him Sobek was revealed in Week 44 to be the Fourth Horseman Famine He appeared to have been killed by Black Adam both in self defense and revenge but reappears in the 52 Aftermath The Four Horsemen mini series reincarnated as a humanoid hyena with cybernetic parts Marvel Family allies Edit The cover of Whiz Comics 59 October 1944 featuring most of the Golden Age Marvel Family and supporting cast Art by C C Beck and Pete Costanza Introduced during the Golden Age 1939 1953 Edit The Wizard Shazam Although he is killed as prophesied after giving Billy the power to become Captain Marvel Shazam s spirit remains as the vigilant caretaker of the Rock of Eternity His power level varies in different stories from high level magician to godlike In the 1990s 2000s continuity Shazam does not die after granting Billy his powers and was a much more active character than he was during the Golden Age Marvel Family adventures In current continuity Shazam known to most as only The Wizard whose true name is Mamaragan was one of the first humans on Earth to wield magic in ancient times and becomes the head chair of the Council of Eternity After the betrayal of Black Adam Shazam s compatriots on the Council are murdered and as the remaining member he imprisons Adam and hides magic from the world When Adam is freed by Doctor Sivana in modern times Shazam drafts Billy Batson as his successor Mr Sterling Morris The President of Amalgamated Broadcasting owners of Station WHIZ the radio and later TV station for which Billy Batson works He debuts in the very first Captain Marvel story in Whiz Comics 2 Beautia and Magnificus Sivana Dr Sivana s beautiful adult daughter Beautia shared her father s passion for world domination until meeting and falling for Captain Marvel She has an unrequited crush on the shy Captain not realizing that he is actually only a young boy Beautia first appeared in Whiz Comics 3b in 1940 16 Most Golden Age Marvel Family stories feature Beautia as Dr Sivana s unwitting assistant who betrays her father to assist the heroes Her older brother Magnificus is also generally depicted as a Marvel Family ally although in his only Golden Age appearance Whiz Comics 15 1941 Magnificus was super strong and fought Captain Marvel hand to hand at his father s request Muscles McGinnis The antagonist of a story included in Captain Marvel Adventures 3 1941 the toughest gangster of the city possessing enormous strength Muscles McGinnis promises to go straight after being defeated by Captain Marvel when he tries to take over Station WHIZ as he feels the side opposing crime is much stronger The character was reintroduced as a recurring character in the Power of Shazam series of the 1990s in which Muscles had indeed reformed to become an undercover cop and a frequent ally of Captain Marvel Steamboat In the 1940s Fawcett stories Steamboat is Billy Batson s African American valet Depicted as cowardly and subservient Steamboat accompanied Billy and Captain Marvel on many of their adventures following his first appearance in America s Greatest Comics 3 in 1941 Drawn in a racially stereotyped manner and speaking with a stereotypical Negro dialect Steamboat was retired from the Captain Marvel stories after the Youth Builders a diverse group of New York City and Philadelphia area students protested the use of the character in 1945 17 Cissie Sommerly Billy Batson s girlfriend and Sterling Morris niece She first appears in Captain Marvel Adventures 12 1942 Billy immediately fell in love with her at first sight soon growing close to each other she had a very positive and cheerful personality and sang certain words when talking to Billy in her first appearances in the original comics Her last name was originally spelled Summerly before they changed it replacing the U with an O and she also had a brother named Pete She didn t have a full status role in Billy s life only recurring but whenever she and Billy got together they always cared about each other deeply and whenever they encountered danger Billy would secretly transform into Captain Marvel and save her After she and all the other Fawcett characters were acquired by DC She spent some more time with Billy going to the local burger store and such for the first couple of years before she was forgotten about and years before the crisis on infinite earths storyline She hasn t reappeared since unfortunately Uncle Marvel Uncle Dudley During the Golden Age an old man named Dudley claimed that he was not only a relative of the Marvels but also a Marvel himself although neither was true Regardless the Marvels took a liking to him and decided to humor his pretense and Uncle Dudley became Uncle Marvel the Marvel Family s manager He would make his transformation along with one or more of the others but not by magic rather by quickly removing his break away garments under the cover of lightning that the real Marvel s called down to reveal his homemade Marvel costume underneath He explained his lack of superpowers by claiming he suffered from shazambago Dudley first appeared in Wow Comics 18 in 1943 In the 1990s The Power of Shazam comics Dudley H Dudley is simply a janitor at Billy s school who finds himself involved in the Marvel Family s adventures although in one story The Power of Shazam 11 1996 he was temporarily given superpowers by Shazam s ally Ibis the Invincible to help round up the escaped Seven Deadly Enemies of Man 18 Freckles Marvel Mary Dudley Uncle Dudley s adopted niece who was an irregular companion of Mary Marvel s in her Golden Age solo adventures First appearing in Wow Comics 35 1945 Freckles Marvel had no superpowers of her own but wore her own Mary Marvel costume to help her super powered friend fight crime Tawky Tawny A humanoid sapient Bengal tiger who wishes to live among the humans in civilization instead of in the wild or the zoo As such he is typically dressed in a tweed business suit and usually carries himself in a formal dignified manner Tawny first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures 79 1947 and became Captain Marvel s sidekick and best friend Other variants of Tawny at DC have included a version magically animated from a stuffed tiger doll The Power of Shazam 1995 99 a benevolent shapeshifter who prefers to become a tiger when appropriate Shazam The Monster Society of Evil 2007 and a tiger at the local zoo who is briefly given enhanced strength and size by Shazam Shazam backup feature in Justice League 2013 The Tawky Tawny of the current continuity Shazam comics series hails from the Wildlands one of the Seven Magiclands connected to the Rock of Eternity where he strives to live among the other humanoid animals of that realm despite the discrimination and segregation pitted against tigers 19 Introduced in the Bronze Age 1970 1985 Edit Kid Eternity A Golden Age hero co created by frequent Captain Marvel writer Otto Binder for Quality Comics first appearing in Hit Comics 25 in 1945 Kid Eternity is the alter ego of Christopher Kit Freeman a boy who is killed with his grandfather by Nazis and upon learning he was not meant to die is granted the power to summon any historical or mythological figure by speaking the magic word Eternity In the 1970s Kid Eternity acquired from Quality by DC was integrated into the Shazam franchise set on Earth S with his first appearance in a new DC story being Shazam 28 February 1977 Kid Eternity often joined forces with the Marvels in early 1980s Shazam adventures from World s Finest Comics and Adventure Comics In World s Finest Comics 279 280 May June 1982 Kid Eternity and Captain Marvel Jr learn they are long lost brothers a retcon made given the characters identical surnames and similar origin stories Introduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths 1986 2011 Edit Miss Wormwood In the 1990s The Power of Shazam comics Billy s teacher and later principal presented as the typical mean teacher stereotype She is named after Calvin s teacher in Bill Watterson s comic strip Calvin and Hobbes Nick and Nora Bromfield In the 1990s The Power of Shazam comics Mary Batson s adoptive parents who adopted her through illegal means after their maid Sarah Primm brought the child to them Primm saved Mary from her kidnapper Primm s brother Theo Adam Nora Bromfield was a cousin of Billy and Mary s mother but chose not to tell Mary about her real family The Bromfields would eventually gain the rights to legally adopt both Mary and Billy giving the children a traditional family structure again The couple was named after Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man film series Introduced after Flashpoint 2011 present Edit Victor and Rosa Vasquez The foster parents of the six kids in the Shazam Family a working class couple who had grown up as foster children themselves The Vasquezes debuted in Geoff Johns amp Gary Frank s 2012 13 reboot of Shazam Marvel Family enemies EditKey villains Edit Besides the Black Marvel Family the following are among the most prominent members of the Marvel Family s rogues gallery in order of first appearance in the comics Doctor Sivana Edit See also Doctor Sivana Dr Thaddeus Bodog Sivana Sr The World s Wickedest Scientist debuted in Whiz Comics 2 alongside Billy Batson and Captain Marvel quickly becoming his main archenemy and most frequently recurring villain A mad scientist who fights the Marvel Family using his genius intellect and inventions the Golden Age Sivana had been a humanitarian scientist who bitterly fled 20th century Europe after his inventions were ridiculed by the scientific society Living on Venus with his four children he became a mad scientist bent on taking over the universe 20 Other versions of Sivana in later DC Comics have positioned him as Billy Batson s wicked step uncle Shazam The New Beginning a wealthy wicked businessman driven to ruin by his entanglements with Black Adam The Power of Shazam and the wicked Attorney General of the United States Shazam The Monster Society of Evil The current continuity Doctor Sivana following the 2011 reboot is a rich scientist determined to prove the existence of magic which leads him to free both Black Adam and Mister Mind Sivana acquires the ability to both see magic and project magic lightning from his right eye 21 During the early and mid 1940s Dr Sivana was often assisted under duress by his good natured adult daughter Beautia and briefly Sivana s oldest child his son Magnificus From the mid 1940s onward his youngest children teenaged twins Thaddeus Jr aka Sivana Jr and Georgia Sivana both dead ringers for their father became his henchmen as the Sivana Family Georgia Sivana became a prominent villain for Mary Marvel as did Sivana Jr for Captain Marvel Jr The Seven Deadly Sins Edit Main article Seven Deadly Enemies of Man Originally known as the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man and first appearing in the Whiz Comics 2 origin story in 1940 the sins are seven powerful demons held prisoner by the Wizard Shazam in his lair The demons whose forms vary by era and artist sometimes escape and cause havoc through murder and using their powers to influence sin in humans Based upon the seven deadly sins as enumerated in the Christian faith the original Seven Deadly Enemies of Man were slightly censored for suitable reading for children Pride Envy Greed Hatred Selfishness Laziness and Injustice Each demon could influence their namesake sin in human victims Beginning with DC s JSA series in the mid 2000s the proper Christian names versions of the sins were used Pride Envy Greed Hatred Sloth Gluttony and Lust Captain Nazi Edit See also Captain Nazi Introduced in a three part crossover between Master Comics and Whiz Comics in 1941 during World War II Captain Nazi real name Albrecht Krieger is a genetically altered Nazi who is Adolf Hitler s champion Wearing a green costume with a swastika insignia Captain Nazi has super strength near invulnerability and can use a special chemical gas to fly Created to wreak havoc on America Captain Nazi murders an elderly man and cripples a teenage boy during his fight with Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics 25 December 1941 The boy Freddy Freeman is granted powers by Captain Marvel to save his life becoming Captain Marvel Jr and declaring Captain Nazi his mortal enemy Ibac Edit See also Ibac A frail thug named Stinky Printwhistle who was empowered by Lucifer himself after Lucifer saved Printwhistle from a fall caused by Captain Marvel Printwistle is imbued with the powers of four of the most evil men to walk the face of the earth Ivan the Terrible Borgia Attila the Hun and Caligula When he says the name IBAC he is engulfed in green fire and brimstone and becomes a large muscular brute with super strength 22 Saying his name again transforms him back into Printwhistle therefore like Captain Marvel Jr Ibac also cannot say his own name Ibac first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures 8 in 1942 and became a recurring Marvel Family villain through the characters run in Fawcett and DC Comics The 2011 rebooted version of Ibac is the descendant of a long line of evil despots the first of whom Ibac the Terrible was known in ancient times as the man who invented evil 23 Sabbac Edit See also Sabbac Similar to Ibac Timothy Karnes is granted the powers of six demons when he says the magic word Sabbac As opposed to fire Sabbac transforms via black lightning cast up rather than down from Hades First appearing in Captain Marvel Jr 4 February 1943 Sabbac s pantheon grant him powers similar to the Marvel Family with the added power of pyrokenesis A second Sabbac Ishamel Gregor was introduced in the mid 2000s in the Outsiders comic book While Karnes Sabbac became a more muscular version of himself in a green cloak with demon fangs Gregor s Sabbac is a large muscular horned demon with red skin and hair In the 2011 Shazam reboot the Seven Deadly Sins have the power to possess a wicked human and transform him into a fifty foot tall demon resembling the Ishamel Gregor version of Sabbac 24 Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil Edit See also Mister Mind and Monster Society of Evil First appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures 22 1943 as a disembodied voice and later in issue 26 in his actual form Mister Mind The World s Wickedest Worm is an evil alien caterpillar with genius intellect Given his small stature he wears a talkbox to communicate and is often depicted wearing eyeglasses as well He runs the supervillain team called the Monster Society of Evil whose membership includes most of the Marvel Family s key and recurring villains including characters such as Doctor Sivana King Kull the Crocodile Men Captain Nazi Mister Atom Ibac Jeepers and Oggar Mister Mind s own powers have included mind control typically by crawling into a host s ear 25 26 telepathy mental projection and once evolved into a Hyperfly the ability to eat time itself 27 The 2011 reboot of Mister Maxivermis Mind presents him as a native of one of the Seven Magiclands The Monsterlands according to Mind The Wildlands according to rumor who gained high level magic powers by reading every book in the Rock of Eternity s library 28 His Monster Society includes creatures from across the Magiclands who had been banished to the Monsterlands Dungeon of Eternity by the Council of Wizards Its members include Doctor Sivana Black Adam the Crocodile Men King Kull the Wicked Witch of the West the Red Queen Jeepers Evil Eye and Mister Atom as well as new villains Mister Merry Go Round and Scapegoat 29 Crocodile Men Edit The Crocodile Men also called Punkusians are a race of humanoid crocodiles from the planetoid Punkus who were members of the Monster Society of Evil in Captain Marvel Adventures during the mid 1940s There were many unnamed Crocodile Men who just acted as henchmen for Mister Mind One of them was one of Mister Mind s Monster Professors while the others were Monster Students Herkimer A Crocodile Man in a business suit who is Mister Mind s second in command 30 Between the end of the Fawcett Marvel Family run in 1953 and the start of the DC Shazam run in 1972 Herkimer reforms and gets a job as part of a carnival 31 In the third volume s special interlude issue that takes place before the first issue Herkimer attacks a museum stating that the reign of the Crocodile Men is nigh He was mentioned to have fought Shazam before When Freddy asks why Herkimer is in a business suit Billy states that he didn t say Herkimer is defeated by Shazam Billy later mentioned his fight with him to Batman following Shazam s disastrous fight with Scarecrow where Batman mentions that he has fought Killer Croc many times Batman does answer No when asked by Billy if he wears a business suit 32 Herkimer appeared in The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam episode The Circus Plot voiced by Alan Oppenheimer Jorrk The greatest scientist of the Crocodile Men and one of Mister Mind s three lieutenants Sylvester A Crocodile Man and one of Mister Mind s preferred gunners The third volume of the Shazam comic book series launched in 2018 introduced an unnamed three headed Crocodile Man in striped prison attire from the Wildlands who is a member of the Monster Society of Evil 13 Oggar Edit See also Oggar A wizard who is the World s Mightiest Immortal Oggar was originally part of the Shazam pantheon before the Wizard then known as Shazamo dismissed him 33 Seeking revenge Oggar uses his extensive magic powers to battle Shazam and his champions though his powers cannot directly harm women and girls allowing Mary to battle him directly First appearing in a multi issue arc starting with Captain Marvel Adventures 61 in 1946 Oggar recurred regularly in Shazam stories during the 1970s and 1980s King Kull Edit See also King Kull DC Comics The king of the Beast Men also called the Submen Neanderthal like humanoids who ruled the earth in ancient times and enslaved the Homo sapiens populace Kull fakes his death and goes into suspended animation awakening in the modern day and attempt to take over or destroy the world again He possesses super strength near invulnerability and expert weaponry and military skills 34 Kull first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures 125 in 1951 Blaze and Satanus Edit See also Blaze and Satanus Originally introduced in the early 1990s as Superman villains Blaze and Satanus are powerful twin demons who are among the rules of Hades They are also the estranged children of the Wizard Shazam from his younger days as the ancient Canaanite superhero Vlarem The Champion 35 While Satanus has a soft spot for his father and assists him from time to time including giving life to Tawky Tawny Blaze hates the Wizard and stages attacks on both him and the Marvel Family believing the power of Shazam to be her birthright 36 Other notable recurring villains Edit Villains introduced during the Golden Age 1939 1953 Edit The Arson Fiend First appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures 2 in 1941 as a one shot villain the Arson Fiend a tall vampire like being with the power of pyrokinesis was revived in the 1990s The Power of Shazam series He is the alter ego of George Tweedle a small husky insurance salesman who transforms into the Arson Fiend using a magic salve in order to cause havoc and boost his business 33 Mister Banjo Kurt Filpots worked as an agent for the Axis powers during World War II Dressed as a stout man in a baggy green suit and straw hat who carried around an old banjo with him Filpots delivered secrets to the Japanese in the form of musical notes Someone in a military meeting would whistle musical notes which were a code Banjo would play the music next to a house with an agent inside who would radio them to the Japanese Although evil Mr Banjo would go up against Captain Marvel with nothing more than a banjo He first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures 8 in the same issue as though in a different story than Ibac 22 Aunt Minerva A criminal mastermind who looks like a sweet old lady but has deadly accuracy with a gun and a desire to find a new husband after her first five died She first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures 59 in 1946 in which she attempted to force Captain Marvel to marry her 37 Minerva recurred as a Marvel Family villain thereafter through to the 1990s Aunt Minerva made an appearance in the 1979 Hanna Barbera TV special Legends of the Superheroes portrayed by Ruth Buzzi The Three Faces of Evil A three headed monster Terror Sin and Wickedness imprisoned beneath or within the Rock of Eternity with the ability to hypnotize victims even the Marvels into doing evil First introduced in The Marvel Family in 1947 as a humanoid three headed monster the later DC Comics version of the character resembles a giant hydra Mister Atom First debuting in Captain Marvel Adventures 78 in 1947 Mister Atom is a giant robot created by Dr Charles Langley Mister Atom s artificial intelligence malfunctions and he becomes a threat to humanity and to the Marvel Family Villains introduced in the Bronze Age 1970 1985 Edit Chain Lightning A young woman with the power of electrokinesis which allows her to depower the Marvels by blasting them with lightning 38 First appearing in World s Finest Comics in 1981 Jerry Ordway reintroduced Chain Lightning in The Power of Shazam 15 years later as young woman with electric metahuman powers suffering from multiple personality disorder While her main persona Amy is good natured her other persona Amber fuels her worst impulses and sometimes takes over her body and her powers The other two personas are Inner Child and Id 39 Other versions Edit New Earth 5 from 52 Week 52 art breakdowns by Keith Giffen In the final issue of 52 a new Multiverse is revealed originally consisting of 52 identical realities Among the parallel realities shown is one designated Earth 5 As a result of Mister Mind eating aspects of this reality it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre Crisis Earth S including the Marvel Family characters The names of the characters are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear but characters visually similar to the Marvel Family appear There is also an alternative version of Green Lantern Hal Jordan that also exists on Earth 5 alongside the Marvel Family 40 Based on comments by DC writer Grant Morrison this alternate universe is not the pre Crisis Earth S 41 In other media EditTelevision Edit The Marvel Family stars in the Shazam segments of the 1981 Saturday morning cartoon series The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam The Marvel Family Captain Marvel Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr appear in the Batman The Brave and the Bold episode The Malicious Mr Mind 42 Batman and the Marvel Family face off against the Monster Society of Evil which is first led by Doctor Sivana and then by Mister Mind Film Edit In Justice League Crisis on Two Earths a 2010 animated film produced by Warner Bros Animation the Earth 3 supervillain Superwoman is the head of three Made Men named Super Family styled after her own costume low levels criminals Each head of the Crime Syndicate has teams of several cronies She shared her powers with these 3 men who resemble Captain Marvel Uncle Dudley Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr They are called Captain Super Uncle Super and Captain Super Jr The Flashpoint universe version of the Shazam Family Billy Mary Freddy Pedro Eugene and Darla appear in Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox the 2013 animated film adaptation of the Flashpoint comic book miniseries by Warner Bros Animation In Justice League War Freddy and Darla have cameo when they caught Billy sneaking back home after Billy snuck out to a Football despite warnings that people were disappearing They witness Billy transform and took off DC Extended Universe Edit Billy Batson Shazam and both the kid and adult identities of the Shazam Family Mary Freddy Pedro Eugene and Darla featured in the DC Extended Universe feature film Shazam 2019 produced by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Pictures The film featured Zachary Levi in the title role Asher Angel as Billy Batson Grace Fulton and Michelle Borth as Mary Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy Ian Chen and Ross Butler as Eugene Jovan Armand and D J Cotrona as Pedro and Faithe Herman and Meagan Good as Darla 43 44 Mary Freddy Eugene Pedro and Darla are the first to see Billy in their foster family Freddy and Darla are the first to discover that Billy Batson is Shazam and the others will find out later Pedro was the one who discovered that Billy s biological mother Marilyn is two stops from the subway While trying to escape from Doctor Sivana Billy was about to surrender to Sivana in giving him the powers he remembers the Wizard s words Billy takes the staff from Sivana and uses it to share his powers transforming his brothers and sisters into adult superheroes like him before breaking the staff After the Shazam Family battles the Seven Deadly Sins Shazam removes the Eye of Sin from Sivana leaving him unable to recapture the Seven Sins Billy and his family are hailed as heroes and return the Eye and Seven Sins to their prisons Billy and his siblings realize that the now vacant Rock of Eternity may be their new lair and base of operations The Shazam Family appeared in Shazam Fury of the Gods Billy Mary Freddy Eugene Pedro and Darla as heroes protect their city but they hardly work well as a team by letting a bridge collapse When they face the Daughters of Atlas Hespera Kalypso and Anthea the 5 brothers except Billy lose their powers being taken away by Kalypso who possesses the staff of the Wizard Shazam by preventing him from taking the Golden Apple the seed of the Tree of Life and they failed Mary Freddy Eugene Pedro and Darla having no powers decide to help Billy and ride unicorns to fend off the Kalypso s monsters that attack the city After the defeat of Kalypso and her army of monsters Billy has sacrificed himself and was taken to Anthea s kingdom for his funeral until they see Wonder Woman who uses the Wizard s staff to bring life back to revive the Gods Realm and resurrect Billy being with his family again and also to restore the powers of his brothers and those of Anthea and the Wizard now living with them in their world Video games Edit The Marvel Family are included in one of the DLC bundles for Lego DC Super Villains Based on the Shazam film the Shazam Movie Level Pack 1 amp 2 is broken into Sivana Escape which focuses on Shazam s confrontation with Sivana in the department store and Sivana Showdown which focuses on the Family s final fight with Doctor Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins at the Christmas fair Purchasing these DLCs unlocks all of the film s versions of the Marvel Family as well as their superhero counterparts but only if the levels are finished Each member has different powers both in their human and Shazam form such as Darla being a Speedster type character Pedro has super strength and Eugene can summon a drone in his regular form References Edit Shazam Family DC 2019 04 05 Retrieved 2019 09 27 Smith Zack 30 December 2010 An Oral History of CAPTAIN MARVEL The Lost Years pt 3 Newsarama Retrieved 11 September 2014 Bricken Rob 4 September 2013 The Captain Marvel Ms Marvel Shazam Clusterf ck Explained Retrieved 5 December 2017 https web archive org web 20221125015347 https bleedingcool com comics dc to surprise publish marvel family first appearance of black adam Archived 2022 11 25 at the Wayback Machine DC To Surprise Publish Marvel Family First Appearance Of Black Adam Bleeding Cool a b c d e f Shazam vol 3 1 February 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics Shazam vol 3 4 May 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics Shazam vol 3 5 June 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics Shazam May Hint at DC s First Gay Movie Superhero CBR 2019 04 07 Retrieved 2020 01 04 Shazam Fury of the Gods Meet writers Chris Morgan and Henry Gayden Dorkaholics 2023 03 02 Retrieved 2023 03 05 Ordway Jerry 1994 The Power of Shazam New York DC Comics The Power of Shazam 24 27 March 1997 June 1997 New York NY DC Comics a b Shazam vol 3 9 December 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics a b Shazam vol 3 11 February 2020 Burbank CA DC Comics Shazam vol 3 14 September 2020 Burbank CA DC Comics a b Justice League of America 23 4 Black Adam 2013 Because of a numbering error at Fawcett Publications there are two issues of Whiz Comics assigned the number 3 Comic Book Legends Revealed 467 CBR 2014 04 18 Retrieved 2018 01 19 Power of Shazam 11 1996 Shazam vol 3 4 June 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics Whiz Comics 15 May 1941 New York Fawcett Publications Shazam vol 3 8 December 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics a b Captain Marvel Adventures 8 August 1942 New York Fawcett Publications Justice League vol 3 19 June 2013 Burbank CA DC Comics Justice League vol 3 21 August 2013 Burbank CA DC Comics The Power of Shazam 13 March 1996 New York NY DC Comics JSA 58 April 2004 New York NY DC Comics 52 52 May 2 2007 New York DC Comics Shazam vol 3 2 April 2019 Burbank CA DC Comics Shazam vol 3 10 11 March April 2020 Burbank CA DC Comics Captain Marvel Adventures 22 DC Comics Shazam 2 March 1973 New York DC Comics Shazam vol 3 12 June 2020 DC Comics a b Captain Marvel Adventures 2 June 1941 New York Fawcett Publications Captain Marvel Adventures 125 October 1951 New York Fawcett Publications The Power of Shazam 10 December 1995 New York DC Comics Shazam vol 2 1 February 2011 New York DC Comics Captain Marvel Adventures 59 New York Fawcett Publications Cowsill Alan Irvine Alex Korte Steve Manning Matt Wiacek Win Wilson Sven 2016 The DC Comics Encyclopedia The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe DK Publishing p 63 ISBN 978 1 4654 5357 0 The Power of Shazam 14 April 1996 New York DC Comics 52 52 12 5 May 2 2007 DC Comics Brady Matt 2007 05 08 THE 52 EXIT INTERVIEWS GRANT MORRISON Newsarama Archived from the original on May 10 2007 Retrieved 2007 05 12 Batman The Brave And The Bold The Malicious Mr Mind Tv avclub com 9 April 2011 Retrieved 12 August 2019 Production Starts on New Line Cinema s Magical Super Hero Action Adventure Shazam Press Release Business Wire 5 February 2018 Retrieved 9 July 2018 Bentley Jean Surprise Your Fav OC amp Riverdale Alums Are In Shazam www refinery29 com Retrieved 2019 04 06 External links EditCaptain Marvel Culture A history of the many Captains Marvel The Marvel Family Web Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Marvel Family amp oldid 1145689619 Primary members, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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