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"Captain Marvel: "Better Late Than Never!"": Billy Batson finishes his noon broadcast and is admired by Mr. Morris and Miss Jameson and a “watchmaker” offers him a special new watch, which he enjoys, not knowing this man was Dr. Sivana in disguise and that the watch is part of a sinister pla

Heh heh! My gift watch is working perfectly ! Little does the Big Red Cheese suspect that it is made of my secret compound, Suspendium! Whenever he or that idiot, Batson, starts to say that magic word, it will automatically put him into suspended animation for two minutes... which is all I need to become the Rightful Ruler of the World! Oh-heh heh hee hee haw haw ho ho! From there it will be only a short step to my ruling the Universe!
Dr. Sivana, always thinking two minutes ahead.

Shazam! #6 is an issue of the series Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1973. It was published on July 19, 1973.

Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Better Late Than Never!"

Billy Batson finishes his noon broadcast and is admired by Mr. Morris and Miss Jameson and a “watchmaker” offers him a special new watch, which he enjoys, not knowing this man was Dr. Sivana in disguise and that the watch is part of a sinister plan from the World’s Maddest Scientist. Hearing the South Side Bridge has collapsed and closed for repairs, so Billy goes to call SHAZAM… but doesn’t recognize that it now takes him two minutes to do so, making him inherently a little bit late, finding the bridge already collapsed. Dr. Sivana snickers, as the watch is made of Suspendium, putting him in a suspended animation for 2 minutes, which is enough time for Sivana to laugh at him, mock him and then leave. Billy soon finds his watch is seemingly two minutes slow and instead sets the watch ahead by two minutes. However, a custodian notes that the clock is actually running fast and fixes it. Soon, Dr. Sivana jams the wavelengths and is on all stations, readying his Universal Will-Power Paralyzer. Billy quickly calls SHAZAM and the Suspendium watch blows up due to being set a different way, so Captain Marvel now transforms instantly and flies half the speed of light to get to Sivana’s lab, saying that his show has been canceled and stomps the Universal Will-Power Paralyzer. He soon drags him to prison, almost seemingly enjoying a punch to the face “for old times’ sake.”

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Better Late Than Never!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Dr. Sivana (Also appears in disguise as a watchmaker)

Other Characters:


Locations:

Items:

  • Sivana's Universal Will-Power Paralyzer (Single appearance) (Destroyed)
  • A Suspendium wristwatch (Single appearance) (Destroyed)

Vehicles:




Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Dexter Knox and His Electric Grandmother!"

Billy Batson’s brainy friend, genius Dexter Knox, is at his Private Laboratory and Billy asks what his grandmother thinks of his inventions. Dexter says that she doesn’t mind, as long as he keeps things tidy and that she fixes his bed for him even if he gets up for a midnight snack. She goes dusting around and cleans up his lab, but finds herself charged with electricity after dusting a large machine. She finds herself energized enough that she keeps cleaning and can vacuum the floor without plugging the vacuum in, but ends up racing into the boys while they’re playing chess due to the vacuum being overcharged. Billy calls SHAZAM and becomes Captain Marvel, finding he can’t seemingly turn it off, so he instead just does the vacuuming himself. Dexter figures that they were both charged with electric power and his grandmother is the origin of it! They soon find her iron going nuts, so Captain Marvel does this for her too and Dexter points out that if she did dust one of his new inventions, she has enough electricity to light the whole of Fawcett City! He suddenly hears on the radio that Miami, FL is having a sudden power failure, so Captain Marvel offers to fly her there… only to find that she only travels by rail as Captain Marvel pushes the train there at top speed as she touches the Miami Light and Power company, relighting them! Dexter calculates that she’s out of energy now and Dexter decides to stay in Miami for a bit to help redesign their power grid for them, sending Billy a postcard.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Dexter Knox and His Electric Grandmother!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Other Characters:


Locations:

Items:

  • An Electrical Invention

Vehicles:

  • A Train

Synopsis for Marvel Family: "The Marvel Family Battles the Man Who Changed the World" (Part 1)

This story is reprinted from The Marvel Family #53.

Appearing in Marvel Family: "The Marvel Family Battles the Man Who Changed the World" (Part 1)

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:


Antagonists:


Other Characters:

  • Miss Baker (An organist employed at WHIZ Radio)
  • Mrs. Barstow (Mary Batson's neighbor)
  • Professor Martin Mason (An "eminent atomic scientist")

Locations:

Items:

  • Professor Martin's Expander Ray

Vehicles:


Notes

Trivia

  • Formerly, Dexter Knox had parents; a supportive mother and a slightly older father facing some nonspecific disability that made him an invalid. It is unknown if they were sealed in the Suspendium Globe or if they are no longer in the picture.


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References