The Power of Shazam! #18 is an issue of the series The Power of Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1996.
Synopsis for "Sin"
“Iron Pants” McNulty returns to try ordering Mary Marvel put down the doctor she's demanding to know from why they were injecting hormones into Sinclair Batson. The doctor meekly says that Ebenezer was the only other person there. She has McNulty come in to look at Sinclair and he's promptly agreeable in how disgusted he is by what's been done. The doctor starts to realize that he's been injecting experimental growth hormones into him, only for Ebenezer Batson to come in behind him, grab McNulty's gun and shoot at the tank himself, then flip McNulty over his shoulder. Mary Marvel is pretty confused about Ebenezer wanting Sinclair to avenge his “brethren,” finding that Sinclair is now a large purple behemoth that calls himself “Sin.” She kicks him in the groin, but it does nothing to stop him as she tries to hold him off, telling the doctor to give sedatives to Ebenezer, who she believes is controlling Sin. However, “Ebenezer” quickly orders the doctor to just inject himself with the sedatives and he promptly falls over.
Back at Billy's apartment, Shazam finds out about the Freya III landing almost safely on Earth again and manages to get an operator to connect him to the Bromfields, finding Mary isn't home (claiming he's her guidance counselor.) Thus, he flies back off to the Secret Subway Lair near Binder Blvd and arrives at the Rock of Eternity to consult the Historama, finding Ibis has fallen asleep at his post. Mr. Mind, within Ebenezer, now finds that he has the combined might of the Worms of Venus for himself, which is strong enough to blast Mary Marvel out of a window at a powerful speed. SWAT cops soon burst in to try to arrest him, only for Ebenezer to blow up most of the hospital. Mary gets to work saving injured people and staff while Sin is forced to carry Ebenezer off by grabbing on to a police helicopter. However, the sound of the rotors is enough even to dull Mr. Mind's control, making Sin drop them back to the ground below…
Back at the Rock of Eternity, Shazam finds that Captain Marvel and the dead Worms of Venus are now somewhere south of Saturn and Shazam goes off to find him, worrying that the sleepy Ibis may not be the best person to watch the Rock of Eternity… Reaching through time and space, he is able to drag Captain Marvel back to the Rock, removing his helmet and saying the worms are all frozen dead and reveals it now has control over Ebenezer Batson (and Sin by extension.) Mary Marvel struggles to hold off the mental powers of the Last Worm of Venus as he has Sin throw a Freezo ice cream truck at her, but she manages to stop it in time. Mr. Mind tries to create a forcefield inside Mary's nose to give her some form of embolism, but she manages to activate the siren on an ambulance, which sends Ebenezer reeling and enough room to punch Sin backwards. She tries to see if bringing Mr. Mind closer to the siren will stop him, but instead he uses his powers to crush it and then blast her back again. She tries to use the “behind him” trick, but Mr. Mind refuses to listen… until Captain Marvel punches him over easily. Ebenezer's body struggles to get up and Mr. Mind's vessel launches out of his ear, trying to get to Shazam, recognizing he's stronger and wiser than he may look. Soon enough, Shazam manages to run into a recording studio while Captain Marvel has the Freezo ice cream man keep his truck open. Once Mr. Mind enters his ear, Shazam puts on a headset and Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel work together to play loud rock music directly into his ears, which stuns Mr. Mind. Captain Marvel is able to take the vessel out of Shazam's ear and keep it between the headset's earphones and locks Mr. Mind into the Freezo ice cream. Sarge Steel soon arrives to berate Captain Marvel (who is eating a Toffee Chocolate Crunch,) but the World's Mightiest Mortal tells him that he managed to kill the Worms of Venus by teleporting them towards Saturn and freezing Mr. Mind as well. He tells Sarge to keep the Last Worm of Venus on ice for good (and to reimburse the ice cream man.) He adds further that the Mother Box sacrificed herself to stop the Worms, but they can dissect Mr. Mind if they're so interested. Mary Marvel is still pretty confused and says they need to discuss Ebenezer, who is already being taken away in an ambulance. They find that Sin, however, is gone. Shazam finds Mr. Mind's vessel, but discovers its now full of dust. The Marvel Family change back to normal and head to Billy's place to discuss things.
Mary explains that Nora Bromfield knew about both Billy and Ebenezer and, not wanting him to have control of Mary too, kept them apart, letting them think Mary Batson was dead and adopted her via falsified birth records (as “Mary Smyth.) Billy explains that Ebenezer stole his inheritance and kicked him out on to the streets, which the Bromfields were able to spare Mary from happening to her as well. Billy urges that what's important is that they're together now.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sivana falls through the vortex into… the Rock of Eternity and recognizes Ibis as a hero from when he was but a lad himself. He decides to hide and bide his time to see what his next move should be…
Appearing in "Sin"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Shazam
- Ibis, the Invincible
- "Iron Pants" McNulty
Antagonists:
- Mister Mind
- Ebenezer Batson (Mind Controlled)
- Sin (First appearance as Sin) (Mind Controlled)
- Doctor Sivana
Other Characters:
- Queen Taia (Mentioned only)
- Sarge Steel
- An Unnamed Doctor
Locations:
Items:
- Historama
- Seven Deadly Enemies of Man
- Mother Box (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
- Freezo Ice Cream Truck
- A Police Helicopter
See Also