The Power of Shazam! #19 is an issue of the series The Power of Shazam! (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1996.
Synopsis for "The Wall"
STAR Labs researchers tell Captain Marvel, Jr. that Chain Lightning has been asking about him for some time and she angrily says she doesn't trust Dr. Rousso, the head of her project. What's worse, Chain Lightning seems to think that Dr. Rousso has sealed her in a protective science bubble so she can have the World's Mightiest Boy all to herself. Junior makes entirely clear that him saving her from killing herself wasn't a romantic gesture, but she insists that him coming to see her now is just as much “proof” and this isn't her meek Amy personality, but the flirtatious Tandy, who demands his affections, showing off her four electric personas wafting behind her. Junior points this out to Dr. Rousso, but the science bubble detects her powers flaring up and gasses her to keep her knocked out. Junior is less than impressed this is all they can do, but Dr. Rousso insists they're trying to fix her “chemical imbalances” as well, but they've had no luck yet and she clearly cannot be released until they can. Junior asks where Tandy got the idea they're an item, mentioning how he's also been staying in Dr. Rousso's house for some time, but Dr. Rousso reminds him he's staying in her daughter's room and she isn't interested. He walks under a skylight so he can safely call CAPTAIN MARVEL to return to being Freddy for another check-up and she scans him, finding most of the spinal damage has healed and he's getting nerve response, but he has permanent damage in the bones of his right leg, meaning he'll walk with a crutch the rest of his life. Freddy finds this an improvement over never walking again and Dr. Rousso asks why he doesn't just stay Captain Marvel, Jr. the whole time (since they also look almost identical,) but Freddy says doing so makes him feel like he's leaving a meter running and he feels a personal responsibility to Captain Marvel and Shazam due to the source of his powers, deciding he only wants to use them when he needs to. However, when he brings up how he was injured by Captain Nazi, Dr. Rousso becomes suspicious, thinking that he's done all of this at STAR Labs to find him, since Captain Nazi was restrained with STAR Labs equipment and is being extradited that day to Poland to stand trial for his war crimes. Freddy, though he was unaware of this, decides to call CAPTAIN MARVEL and get involved anyways, breaking into the containment area where Capt. Nazi is being kept and dragging him out on the large science cross he's restrained to. Two American agents watch, noting that there is a tracker in the restraint device and Dr. Rousso says that Junior isn't a criminal.
Junior soon sets him down in an abandoned warehouse as Capt. Nazi calls him a coward for wanting to kill a restrained man, but Junior instead says he wants to say his piece to him. Capt. Nazi openly says that he wishes he wasn't even frozen so he could've helped win the war. Junior calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Freddy again and shows him his injuries and that he won't be fighting him as the disabled boy he is now, but as the World's Mightiest Boy, calling CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Junior once more. He starts to demand to know why he took time out of fighting Captain Marvel to kill his grandfather and horribly maim him, but Capt. Nazi says he's an “inferior race” and that was reason enough. Junior stops short of punching his face in, realizing there was never any reasoning with a madman like him… as Capt. Nazi breaks free!
Soon enough, STAR Labs arrives to pick up Capt. Nazi, but find he's managed to escape and buried Junior under some metal rubble to keep him out of his hair. One of the American agents tells Junior that he's Jack Weston, the man formerly known as “Minute-Man” (The One-Man Army) and that he's an old rival of Capt. Nazi, tasking Junior with recapturing him. Luckily for them, Capt. Nazi is already outside their van and has attacked their security guards, grabbing both agents by the necks from behind. Junior drop-kicks Capt. Nazi in the back and punches him away as Jack tells him he's been a body-builder most of his life. Jack takes off his jacket, revealing he's got on his Minute-Man shirt and goes to help his unconscious ally while Junior handles Capt. Nazi, shoving him through a brick wall. Minute-Man helps out his ally and then gets out a specialized bullet to fire at Capt. Nazi. Capt. Nazi says that he'll find others who support his cause of hatred and tries to strangle Junior, but Junior manages to jab him hard enough in the throat to stun him without killing him and drags him back. Minute-Man commends him for facing “that wall” but not going “over it” by killing Capt. Nazi and bringing him down to his level. Junior manages to hold Capt. Nazi still in a full nelson while Minute-Man blasts him with the bullet, which releases a knock-out gas strong enough to stun elephants and promises he'll see what he can do to explain this away to STAR Labs and the DoJ. Junior only asks for one last favor and reaches over, tearing the swastika off of Captain Nazi's uniform before the villain passes out. Junior says that he can now face justice in front of the world and Minute-Man thanks him, saying that this will honor those who died fighting Nazis far more than a fight to the death would have.
Later, Freddy is at a Yankees game when he goes to catch a fly ball… only for a rude New Yorker to shove a disabled boy out of the way to snatch it himself. Other New Yorkers taunt him for stealing from a disabled boy, making him hand over the ball. When the man still complains, Freddy trips him with his crutch and knocks him over, making him drop his nuts, but charitably offers to help him up and that Dr. Rousso (who's with him) will buy the man a beer. She notes he'll be the first of many people to try to take advantage of a boy with a crutch, but Freddy says he can still take care of himself… and that he should've tripped him earlier to get the ball first himself...
Appearing in "The Wall"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- S.T.A.R. Labs
- Doctor Caitlin Rousso (First appearance)
- Chain Lightning
- Minute-Man
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Grandpa Freeman (Mentioned only)
- Marvel Family (Mentioned only)
- New York Yankees
- Minute-Man's Unnamed Partner
Locations:
Items:
- A Knockout-Gas Gun
Vehicles:
See Also