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The Power of Shazam! (1995) #16

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"Captain Marvel And the Worms of Venus": Captain Marvel insists to Dr. Sivana that he's there to save the astronauts, not to help him with some hare-brained invasion plot, but Dr. Sivana says that he's not the one responsible, but that he will help them all the same. Dr. Sivana goes into

Curses! Noooooo! I was so close -- so close!
— Doctor Sivana, being invaded by Venusian Brain Worms.

The Power of Shazam! #16 is an issue of the series The Power of Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1996.

Synopsis for "Captain Marvel And the Worms of Venus"

Captain Marvel insists to Dr. Sivana that he's there to save the astronauts, not to help him with some hare-brained invasion plot, but Dr. Sivana says that he's not the one responsible, but that he will help them all the same. Dr. Sivana goes into he details of the plot he's party to as Captain Marvel recognizes the assembly line is creating the same pen-shaped spaceships that Sinclair Batson had in his ear. Dr. Sivana admits that he got one of these to Sinclair Batson, infecting him and that they are controlled by the Worms of Venus, who are even then crawling at Captain Marvel's boots. Dr. Sivana openly admits he let it happen to his own son (because he wasn't obedient) and the distress signal was a trap to lure him there. Sivana pulls off Captain Marvel's helmet and says that the telepathic Worms have a form of hive-mind. Sivana “accidentally” crushes one of them in his hand while trying to insert one of the controlling ships into Captain Marvel's ears. Captain Marvel notes how it's not in character for Sivana to take orders from someone else and Sivana unleashes a ship into Captain Marvel's ear…

Meanwhile, back in Fairfield, the Bromfields meet with Mary's therapist, Dr. Chiang, saying they don't know how to recover the trust they've almost definitely lost. Dr. Chiang notes that they did have every chance to talk with Mary about this, but Nora explains further; Marilyn Batson was a distant cousin of hers and they met little in general. Nora, due to medical reasons, couldn't bear a child herself and Sarah Primm, their maid, offered they looked into adoption, but Nick's former issues with the law made such things difficult. Sarah was able to find them a child that was “heroically smuggled” from Egypt by her brother via a fake passport, claiming that if total anonymity wasn't kept, the zealots who killed her parents may come after her. They wanted to try to keep Mary out of the grasp of the clearly villainous Ebenezer Batson and noted she clearly had nightmares often, something they chalked up to “emotional problems.” Dr. Chiang says they probably should tell Mary this, but Mary was listening in the whole time and runs off from them. She hides out around a corner and calls SHAZAM to become Mary Marvel and fly away.

Meanwhile, Ebenezer Batson is overseeing the construction of the Fawcett Casino, demanding the radio tower be higher and not to care what the City Zoning Commission asks them to not have. He is certain that he's going to have his way and will go see the Zoning Commission himself, since he wants the radio tower and satellite dish installed as he needs… for the coming invasion! Elsewhere in Fawcett City, Shazam is having a drink at a Big Belly Burger when it's suddenly held up by two street toughs with scientific guns, Patty-Patty Bang-Bang. Shazam suddenly teleports the gun out of Bang's hand and turns it on her for daring to shoot a child for a dollar. Mary Marvel flies in and whips the two criminals outside, making them nauseated before Patty throws a grenade at them. Shazam deftly throws it into the air where it does nothing. The cops arrive to arrest the brutal women and Mary Marvel finds Shazam has suddenly disappeared. She finds him on a rooftop and finds out that Captain Marvel is saving Venusian astronauts and that Shazam is not enjoying “fast food,” but merely enjoying coffee. Shazam points out he could've teleported him there easily via the Rock of Eternity (which sits at a nexus of space / time,) but flew off before that could be revealed to him. Shazam says that, though he's not upset at Mary Marvel, he thinks this mission requires the “raw aggression” of a man's touch, insulting that it's merely Mary's gender holding her back. Mary Marvel angrily says that she didn't exactly ask for these powers, but she'll use them all the same, leaving to investigate Ebenezer Batson rather than go with Shazam's idea of consulting the Wisdom of Solomon to move past her anger entirely.

Mary Marvel soon arrives at the hospital where Ebenezer is meeting with Sinclair, who is receiving an injection of non-specific “hormones” that will help him heal, implying that if the newest doctor stops, he'll likely kill him. Mary Marvel finds the doctor is incapable of remembering most of what just happened, only for the injured Sinclair to get up, saying his name weakly.

Back on Venus, Captain Marvel tries to resist the mental control of the Worms of Venus and manages to instinctively punch over Dr. Sivana, finding the Mother Box chooses not to work for him now that he's under mental commands. Sivana commands him to work without breaks to mine ores from the surface to make more vessels, since his body is far more durable. The other astronauts are sent back inside as it becomes apparent that Sivana is also being controlled by the Worms as well. The Worms soon contact Mr. Mind on Earth as he promises them that the beacon that will call them to Earth (at the Fawcett Casino) will soon be completed and the consistent gamblers coming in will make good hosts for them. They soon lose contact as the Worm inside Dr. Sivana loses control just long enough for him to smack his head into his console, removing the worm from his ear. He loudly exclaims how they deigned to mind control him and sets up his Dimensional Vortex Projector to get back to Earth immediately… only for a swarm of the Worms of Venus to attack him, sinking over him to drag him back into their control so they can conquer Earth… starting with Fawcett City!

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Notes

Full recounting of how the Bromfields adopted Mary Batson.



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