DC Database
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
DC Database
DC Database
129,054
pages
in: C.C. Beck/Cover Artist, Otto Binder/Writer, C.C. Beck/Penciler,
and 63 more

Shazam! Vol 1 8

Sign in to edit

"Captain Marvel: "A Twice-Told Tale"": This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #80.

Shazam! #8 is an issue of the series Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1973. It was published on September 11, 1973.

Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "A Twice-Told Tale"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #80.

Doctor Sivana creates time traveling pills so that he can visit the past and kill Billy Batson before he became Captain Marvel. Once in the past, Sivana loses his memories that exist in the future and he wonders what is he doing in an empty lot. He walks down the street and buys a newspaper from the newsboy, Billy Batson. After reading the headlines, he remembers that he is the "phantom scientist" mentioned in the main article. Since he is back in the past, he takes up the thread of his life, exactly as he lived it the first time. He heads to his apartment to plan his next caper. Meanwhile, Billy is approached by a mysterious figure who leads him to an underground cavern where he meets Shazam for the first time. The origin of Captain Marvel happens again and after his transformation, Billy/Captain Marvel, learns of Doctor Sivana's hideout and goes after him. During their (first) confrontation, Sivana remembers he has time traveling pills and swallows them in order to escape his "new" enemy. He pops back into present time, where (the present) Captain Marvel is waiting to apprehend his "old" nemesis.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "A Twice-Told Tale"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Locations:

Items:

Concepts:


Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #18.

Billy is hosting a quiz bowl at WHIZ Radio with three young contestants. During a commercial break, Billy receives an urgent letter from Sarah Primm requesting his presence. He immediately goes to see the dying woman, who tells Billy about his twin sister. When the Batson twins were orphaned after their parents died in a car accident, Primm had substituted Mary for the baby girl of a rich family she nursed for, who had suddenly died, and sent Billy to an orphanage. Primm gives a locket broken in half to Billy. Mary, Primm tells Billy before dying, wore the other half of the locket.

After the quiz is over, Billy recalls that one of the contestants, Mary Bromfield, wore a broken locket, so he and Freddy Freeman trail Mary's limousine in their super-powered forms of Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr.. Mary is kidnapped for ransom by thugs, prompting the two Marvels to intervene, save her, and knock out the kidnappers.

Captain Marvel then learns that Mary's locket matched his own, and that she was indeed Billy's sister. The Marvels reveal their secret identities to Mary, who thinks if, since she is Billy's twin, she could become a Marvel by saying the magic word "Shazam."

The kidnappers wake up and gag Billy and Freddy, preventing them from saying their magic words. "Oh no," exclaims Mary, "Billy can't say 'Shazam!'" Shortly after saying the word, inadvertently, a magic beam hits Mary Bromfield, and she turns into a super powerful version of herself. She then defeats the bandits alone and frees Freddy and his brother. Looking for answers, the three kids visit Shazam's cave and summon the wizard's ghost. He explains that because of their relation, Mary's able to derive Marvel powers from a group of female divinities, whose initials spell out the magic word. Junior flies off on his own, while Captain Marvel offers to show the new heroine the ropes.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Kidnappers

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for Marvel Family: "The Mighty Marvels Join Forces!"

This story is reprinted from The Marvel Family #1.

A man in a black and yellow Marvel Family suit lands in the middle of a city intersection. When a cop angrily tells him to move, he tries to snap the man in two for having the audacity to address his betters in such a manner. Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. are on hand to save the beleaguered officer of the law. To their great surprise, he isn't only dressed like them, he has all the same powers as them too and is unhurt even by their mighty blows. With superhuman speed he slips away into the crowd to have time to come up with a way to deal with his new rivals. Hoping for answers, Billy and Freddy head to Shazam's tomb and summon the wizard's ghost. He's disturbed to hear that his former pupil, Black Adam, has returned to Earth, and tells the sorry tale.

In the days of ancient Egypt, Shazam tried to empower a champion as he empowered them in the modern day. The recipient he selected was a man named Teth-Adam, who by saying "Shazam" became Mighty Adam, the first World's Mightiest Mortal. Adam was corrupted by his power, overthrew the pharaoh and was soon dreaming of global conquest. Unable to harm the invulnerable champion-turned-tyrant, Shazam renamed him Black Adam and instead banished him to the farthest star in the universe. By flying for 5000 years, Black Adam finally managed to return to the world of his birth.

As soon as the specter fades, Black Adam springs from the shadows and gags the boys before they can transform. Noticing Billy and Freddy are missing, Mary and Dudley go to Shazam's tomb hoping for some help finding. Seeing them at the mercy of the World's Mightiest Villain, Mary transforms while Dudley saves the boys. Even the entire Marvel Family's unable to budge their predecessor. Dudley summons the wizard's ghost again for advice, and is told to make Adam say his name. Dudley then tries to convince the others to let Adam join them. After all, he got his powers from the same wizard, whose name he repeatedly fails to pronounce, prompting a frustrated Black Adam to correct him that the name is "Shazam". Which on cue summons magic lightning that reverts Black Adam to his mortal form. Since he's thousands of years old, Adam immediately decays away to his skeleton.

Appearing in Marvel Family: "The Mighty Marvels Join Forces!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:



Synopsis for Captain Marvel, Jr.: "The Vest Pocket Levitator"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel, Jr. #14.

Appearing in Captain Marvel, Jr.: "The Vest Pocket Levitator"

  • Appearances not yet listed

Synopsis for Mary Marvel: "Mary Marvel and the Dog-Nappers"

This story is reprinted from Mary Marvel #17.

Appearing in Mary Marvel: "Mary Marvel and the Dog-Nappers"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Dog-Nappers
    • Barky Bowzer
    • Mike
    • Rex (watchdog)

Other Characters:

  • Mrs. Upcreek
  • Brutus (dog)
  • Bozo (dog)

Locations:

  • The Offices of Shazam, Inc.

Items:


Vehicles:



Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "The Adventure in Time!"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #71.

Billy finds out Captain Marvel's being honored at four different locations around the world at the same time. Even Captain Marvel can't be in four places at once, so he enlists the Lieutenant Marvels to stand in for him at three of the celebrations. Sivana hears about the different celebrations and decides to ruin them to spite his enemy, only to apparently find the World's Mightiest Mortal on hand at each one. The true Captain Marvel chases him back across the international date line, and technically catches Sivana the day before he got up to his mischief.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "The Adventure in Time!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:


Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:

  • Sivana's Instantaneous Ship

Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "The Talking Tiger"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #79.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "The Talking Tiger"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:


Other Characters:

  • A Hermit
  • A Museum Director

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:



Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "The Return of Mr. Tawny"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #82.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "The Return of Mr. Tawny"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • murderer

Other Characters:

  • Tom Todd (Flashback and main story)
  • old hermit (Flashback only)
  • J.C. Garner (Dies)

Locations:

Notes

First story: If Sivana returned to the period when Billy Batson first became Captain Marvel, there would be another younger duplicate of Sivana there and history itself hinted at it: when the 1948 Sivana reaches 1940, amnesiac, read headlines in a newspaper about a "ghost scientist" threatening the US radio system, and he recalls that he is the scientist mentioned in the main article and then re-enacts his role; his henchmen did not realize that Sivana was from another period of time. According to Whiz Comics Vol 1 2, Sivana did not meet Captain Marvel personally at the hero's debut, the scientist communicated via a special TV, thus the 1940 Sivana was hidden elsewhere.



See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More DC Database