I'm off to see the Wizard.
Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil #1 is an issue of the series Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 2007. It was published on February 7, 2007.
Synopsis for "Billy Has a Secret!"
Billy Batson is a young boy living on the streets of Fawcett City. A grimy street urchin named Lagreen attempts to steal Billy's money, but the young boy flees and takes comfort in the company of an old man named Talky. In the middle of the conversation, Billy sees a man who looks like his father and takes off in hot pursuit.
The shadowy figure leads him down into the city's subway system and onto a shiny red and yellow subway car that takes him to a cave of an aging wizard named Shazam. Shazam informs Billy that he has been chosen to become the new Captain Marvel. After touching the wizard's hand and saying the wizard's name, Billy transforms into Captain Marvel.
Shazam informs Marvel that he has a new host body, and that his time on this mortal plane is up. He tells Marvel how to contact him should his advice be needed, and dies.
Billy returns to his apartment and Marvel protects him from Lagreen. After seeing the way Billy lives, Marvel decides to return to Shazam and attempt to get better lodging for the boy. He carries Billy through time and space to reach the wizard's cave on the Rock of Eternity Once they arrive, Marvel warns Billy that he must never attempt to reach the peak of the mountain. After a short conversation with the wizard, in which Billy almost learns that he has a baby sister, he steps outside to give Marvel and Shazam some privacy- and climbs to the top of the Rock.
After Marvel pulls him down from the peak of the Rock, Billy wakes in his hole. Every alarm in the city is going off because strange alligator men are attacking humans. After transforming into Captain Marvel and fighting several of them off, the alligators show him a grassy field that boasts over-sized giant shoe-prints he recognizes as Billy's. The crocodile-men warn Captain Marvel of the coming of Mr. Mind.
Appearing in "Billy Has a Secret!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Lagreen
- Alligator-Men
Other Characters:
- Mr. Mind (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Notes
- Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil (Volume 1) is a four-issue limited series published in a 48-page prestige format.
- This series re-imagines the origin of Captain Marvel and contradicts material supplied in earlier established canon; notably the Power of Shazam graphic novel. The most drastic alteration is the fact that Billy Batson and Captain Marvel are now two separate people that merge together. In nearly every other iteration of the character, Billy and Marvel were the same person, albeit with a different body and personality.
- This issue is reprinted in Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil.
Trivia
- The chapter titles for this series are printed in "The Secret Code of the Monster Society." A decoding tool is available from DC Comics' web site. Each letter of the code represents its exact opposite character in the alphabet. A=Z, B=Y, C=X, etc.
- Captain Marvel's line, "I'm off to see the Wizard." is a play on "We're off to see the Wizard", a musical number featured in the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil series
- Images from Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil Vol 1 1
Recommended Reading
- Marvel Family Recommended Reading
- Whiz Comics (Volume 1)
- Captain Marvel Adventures (Volume 1)
- Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1)
- Mary Marvel (Volume 1)
- Master Comics (Volume 1)
- Wow Comics (Volume 1)
- The Marvel Family (Volume 1)
- Hoppy the Marvel Bunny (Volume 1)
- Shazam! (Volume 1)
- Shazam!: The New Beginning (Volume 1)
- The Power of Shazam! (Volume 1)
- Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder (Volume 1)
- Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil (Volume 1)
- The Trials of Shazam! (Volume 1)
- Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! (Volume 1)
- Shazam! (Volume 2)
- Shazam! (Volume 3)
- Shazam! (Volume 4)
- The New Champion of Shazam! (Volume 1)
- Shazam! (Volume 5)