Why does only Billy turn into a different person when in Shazam Mode?

[Buried Alien]

When Billy Batson yells "SHAZAM!" and transforms into Captain Marvel/Shazam, he physically becomes a different person...a full adult who does not particularly resemble Billy.

When other Shazam/Marvel Family members transform, however, they still look like themselves...except with the Shazam powers and costumes. Why is Billy unique in this aspect?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[BohemiaDrinker]

But the adult Billy becomes is actually adult Billy. I believe this has been established in a bunch of places, though I can't recall exactly where except fo Kingdom Come. (There's also a mention somewhere else about, when transformed, Billy looking very much like his biological father).

I'd guess that the others, since they get a portion of the power, not the full charge, don't get to age up to full adulthood, so they look more like their civilian IDs due to age difference alone?

[qwertyuiop1998]

in pre-crisis,shazam and billy was different person,from mental to body IIRC,and in some post-crisis story also use this concept,but majority is shazam = adult billy(body)

[Güicho]

When Billy Batson yells "SHAZAM!" and transforms into Captain Marvel/Shazam, he physically becomes a different person...a full adult who does not particularly resemble Billy.

When other Shazam/Marvel Family members transform, however, they still look like themselves...except with the Shazam powers and costumes. Why is Billy unique in this aspect?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Golden age was separate, sometimes the line somewhat blurred.
I imagine they all look like their own more idealized (and often more adult) self.
Billy doing the same.

[Digifiend]

Mary's already nearly an adult anyway, that's why she doesn't change much. Darla is so short because she's the youngest - even aged up by the transformation she still looks like a teenager. The guys clearly age into their adult selves.

[Frontier]

I've always thought his adult self looked a lot like Billy probably would as an adult, if not as dramatically as Mary or Freddy's (but Freddy doesn't transform as much as the other Marvels do).

[Phoenixx9]

I agree with most of the replies.

Billy looks like his adult self. Freddy doesn't really change his looks. Mary used to age slightly into a late teen or early 20's adult. With Mary now older, she may not appear to change looks anymore.

[SelinaK12]

In Fawcet Era when he said shazam he transformed into a adult version of himself and he was more mature. In pre-crisis/new 52/rebirth he took the image of his father but acts like a kid (sometimes). Billy is unique because he was the first one to be given the power i dont think the wizard was expecting to have more than one champion but he accepted it(in fawcett era) In pre-criss he kinda didnt like it but got used to it. Pedro, eugene,Mary,freddy,and Darla do change (in new 52/rebirth). But, in fawcett and pre-crisis mary and freddy dont change because they still stay kids

[Jody Garland]

It really depends on the era. in the Golden Age, especially early on, it was implied Captain Marvel was an outright different entity that switched places with Billy, ala Mar-Vell and Rick Jones. Sometimes they'd even refer to each other as seperate. Later, during the Post-Crisis Power of Shazam era, Captain Marvel was a doppleganger of the late CC Baton, Billy's dad. Presumably that means that Billy will grow up to resemble him too, an idea that Waid and Ross used in Kingdom Come, where Billy has grown up to be the spitting image of Marvel.

[Jim Kelly]

Shouldn't the question be turned around? The original concept was a boy says a magic word and becomes an idealized miltary figure that looks like Hollywood movie idol Fred MacMurray. Why didn't the kids after him do the same thing and become idealized figures?

Well, actually, the first Marvels after Billy did just that. Fat Billy, Tall Billy and Hill Billy became adult heroes, the Lieutenants Marvel--although maybe they resembled their young selves a little more than original Billy. But in fact the adult Lieutenants were modelled after real life people as well--but in their case not a screen actor and rather three men at Fawcett: Paul Peck (Tall Marvel), Ed Hamilton (Hill Marvel), and Frank Taggart (Fat Marvel).





The strange thing is, in 1941, the Lieutenants debuted in WHIZ COMICS 21 (on sale August 8) and Junior appeared in WHIZ COMICS 25 (on sale November 28). So the publisher seemed to decide, after having three more kids that turn into adults, it was better to add another kid who stays a kid--and make him the lead in MASTER COMICS. Probably a smart move in the end. And I guess, because Captain Marvel loaned his powers to Freddy, it was in the concept that he was a Junior Marvel.

[Adekis]

There's a couple times I recall - such as in Parker's "Monster Society of Evil" for example - it's implied that Captain Marvel sort of existed before Billy called him into being, in a less concrete way, floating around in ideaspace somewhere. I like that thought to a certain extent, that the reason only Billy becomes an adult is because Captain Marvel was sort of pre-existent. Of course, that doesn't at all work with Jim's observation that the Lieutenant Marvels of Tall Billy, Fat Billy, and Hill Billy are also adults, so in this case it might be better to just accept, also as Jim points out, that the real reason is because the editors decided more kids would just be better. And heck, aren't they? Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel are a dozen times more charming and memorable than the rarely-seen Lieutenants Marvel. Guess being an all-American sweetheart, and a Nazi-hating, disabled newsboy helped Mary and Freddy out, though now that I put those descriptions next to each other it's hard to believe they're so different on the surface level.

As a side note, I would like to say, I really like the idea that even without all the powers and everything, Hill Billy's country music career is still a big hit, and when most people meet "our" Billy, their first thought is "ooh, same name as the country singer, huh?" I mean, I've never once seen Billy's relationship with Hill Billy framed that way, even when Hill Billy's music career occasionally got referenced (a No-Prize to whoever knows when that last happened, I sure don't) but I just think it's a fun, funny idea.

[Montressor]

Fascinating topic, I've wondered how this has been dealt with over the decades. I love Alan Moore's revisionist explanation for the superhuman body switch in Miracleman, and I've toyed around with the concept in a webcomic I do in which one of the supporting characters is a Captain Marvel homage--in this case, a younger and older brother who switch places. I do like the idea of Marvel being some sort of 'spirit' that existed before Billy. In what issues was that idea presented?

[DrNewGod]

Honestly, I think it's because the authors of the original Fawcett stories weren't as hung up on consistent logic as on entertaining 6-10 year old boys. And it worked.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

It would be awesome if he did. Like he never knows who he'll turn into. It could be a dude, next time a lady. Could lead to some very Quantum Leap type moments.

[Güicho]

It would be awesome if he did. Like he never knows who he'll turn into. It could be a dude, next time a lady. Could lead to some very Quantum Leap type moments.

Seems more like what you want is the Dial H concept.