Shazam! #21 is an issue of the series Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1975.
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "The World of Giant Rats"
This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #145.
Billy Batson is visiting his original elderly genius friend, Prof. Edgewise, who is having trouble with his Transubstantiator Machine, which sends things into the future. He tried sending a slab of wet concrete to the future too, but it came back with giant rat tracks, leading him to believe that… Rats have seized control of the near future! Thus, Billy calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel, who figures that humans very well may have died off by the year 81,953. Captain Marvel hooks off of the Rock of Eternity to arrive in a city of the future, but finds that it’s populated entirely with giant rat-people. He soon finds a man with his arms being seized by the robotic arms of a Man Trap, which are built by the rats. Captain Marvel punches out the other rats approaching and escapes with the human to an underground passageway of tunnels below the city and then to their secret hideout. Within, an older man tells Captain Marvel that thousands of years ago, humans created mass space travel and emigration to other worlds. With only a few thousand humans left on Earth, they soon found a new Ice Age starting during which rats became highly evolved and seized control of the world. Captain Marvel decides to attack the Rat King, Mork-El, which makes the humans bloodthirsty to kill him. The human Captain Marvel led becomes disillusioned hearing that Captain Marvel wants peace with the Rat-Men. A Rat attacks them with an Atom Pistol and the human with Captain Marvel becomes more suspicious that the rats have missed them. However, as Captain Marvel tries to crash into Mork-El’s skylight, but find he has a large lightning generator there that turns Captain Marvel back into Billy! Billy is taken to meet Mork-El who says that the rats are peaceful and it is only the violent people who have tried to kill them and destroy society.
Mork-El shows him that humans they captured are alive and educated to not be violent or cruel to others and have positions of honor and trust among rats. A rat runs in to tell Mork-El that humans have killed a guard and stolen their destructive weapon, the Nitrogen Shell, which the rats deemed too powerful, capable of destroying the world! Billy calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel and flies off to stop the humans from setting off the Nitrogen Shell and throws it into space where it explodes with a flame as bright as the Sun! Mork-El commends Captain Marvel and says that humans are known throughout the Universe as that there’s no reason to feel shame that humans chose to left Earth. The only people who remained devolved into being backwards and “warlike.” Later, Billy finds out Prof. Edgewise is creating an Electronic Rat Trap and Billy hopes that he doesn’t figure it out too soon!
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "The World of Giant Rats"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Prof. Edgewise
- Mork-El leader of the rats
- Giant Rats of the Future
Antagonists:
- Man
Locations:
- Earth-S
- 20th Century
- Rock of Eternity
- 820th Century
- 81,953 AD
- A future civilization ruled by evolved rats
- 81,953 AD
- 820th Century
Items:
- Prof. Edgewise's Transubstantiator Machine
- Nitrogen Shell
Synopsis for Captain Marvel, Jr.: "The City in the Mirage"
This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel, Jr. #106.
While traveling across the Mojave Desert, Freddy Freeman and Red O'Riley encounter a geyser whose eruption brings an entire city into existence! When the city's mysterious ruler, Dakmore, comes across the two, he mistakes them for barbarians and seeks to have them captured, only to meet with the might of Captain Marvel Jr.
After a brief battle, the World's Mightiest Boy and his friend learn of how this city existed 138,000 years ago, and about how Dakmore used the Protonic Disassembler to save the city from a coming ice age by timing it to the next eruption of the geyser, resulting in the city disappearing and then reappearing again every thousand years when the geyser erupts. But upon learning from Captain Marvel Jr. and Red O'Reilly that the world has been repopulated since the ice age, Dakmore reveals his intent to conquer the world, shortly before he uses the Proton Attractor to trap Captain Marvel Jr. and his friend as he gathers a robotic army.
Upon resisting the Proton Attractor and turning it off, Captain Marvel Jr. descends on Dakmore's robotic army and turns it into so much scrap before confronting Dakmore himself, who threatens him with a miniature version of the Proton Disassembler. Captain Marvel Jr. survives the blast of the weapon and knocks it out of Dakmore's hands, but Dakmore is not so lucky, as he is hit by the blast himself and fades away to nothingness.
Soon after, Captain Marvel Jr. and Red meet with the councilors of the city, who opposed Dakmore's dreams of world domination, but feared his power. They take over rule of the city, and as the geyser begins to wane, they bid Captain Marvel Jr. and Red go before the city vanishes again, which they promptly do.
Appearing in Captain Marvel, Jr.: "The City in the Mirage"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dakmore
- Dakmore's Robotic Army (Destroyed)
Other Characters:
- Geyser City Councillors
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Mojave Desert
- The City in the Geyser Mirage
Items:
- Protonic Disassembler
- Proton Attractor
- Miniature Protonic Disassembler
Vehicles:
- Red O'Riley's Car
See Also