Curses! It's the Big Red Cheese! 
Shazam! #30 is an issue of the series Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1977.
Synopsis for "Captain Marvel Fights the Man of Steel"
Billy Batson and Uncle Dudley travel to Ft. Pitt in Pittsburgh, where they discover that Doctor Sivana broke into the facility and stole a copy of a DC Comics comic book. In his hidden lair, Sivana reads about the adventures of Superman and decides to create his own Man of Steel. He produces a robotic brain and then dumps it into a smelting vat at a local steel factory. The molten metal forms around the robotic brain, taking the form of an old folk hero, Joe Magarac.
As Joe Magarac begins sabotaging the steelworks, Billy Batson changes into a Captain Marvel and confronts him. He punches him through the ceiling, but Magarac comes back and later captures the hero while he is in his human guise of Billy Batson. Sivana has Magarac place a metal gag across Billy's mouth, but Billy manages to trick Joe Magarac into removing it, thereby allowing him to transform back into Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel defeats the robot Magarac, but finds Sivana's constructed an army of robot animals to ruin the plants in the area, so the hero uses the eterni-phone to consult with the elders. The spirit of Atlas informs Marvel that he will need the aid of the entire Marvel Family to stop Sivana's scheme. Captain Marvel flies across the country and rounds up Captain Marvel, Jr., Mary Marvel and the Lieutenant Marvels. They all return to Pittsburgh, and Captain Marvel has one final showdown with Joe Magarac, reshaped into the likeness of Superman himself. Marvel succeeds in defeating him, disguises himself in a shell of steel to infiltrate his enemy's hideout, and apprehends Sivana.
Appearing in "Captain Marvel Fights the Man of Steel"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Doctor Sivana
- Robotic Joe Magarac
- Robotic animals
Other Characters:
- Joe Magarac (Single appearance)
- A steel mill worker, whose great-grandfather was Croatian
Locations:
Items:
Notes
- Despite the image depicted on the cover, no version of Superman actually appears, besides the one in the fictional comic read by Sivana.
Trivia
- Dudley wears a mustache in order to look like Mentor, character of the Shazam! TV Series; other elements were also incorporated due to the influence of the TV series, such as the van, the Eterni-phone and the fact that he and Billy are traveling.
- Joe Magarac is an American folk hero who protected the steel workers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Magarac (pronounced magarats) means jackass in several Slavic languages. He first appeared in print in a 1931 journal. The story is believed to be a conscious adaptation which combines elements from the stories of John Henry and Paul Bunyan, rather than an authentically developed legend.
- Doctor Sivana is inspired to create his own Man of Steel by reading a copy of Action Comics #467; On Earth-S, Superman is only a comic book character.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Captain Marvel Adventures
- Captain Marvel, Jr.
- Hoppy the Marvel Bunny
- Marvel Family
- Master Comics
- Shazam!
- The Power of Shazam!
- Shazam!: The New Beginning
- Superman/Shazam - First Thunder
- The Trials of Shazam!
- Whiz Comics