Why has DC turned Shazam into the world's mightiest wimp?

[Marvelman]

Back in the day, Captain Marvel could go toe to toe with Superman. The only two heroes who had a chance of taking him on were Superman and maybe Wonder Woman. (Remember the War of the Gods?) Now, Geoff Johns and DC have turned him into a fourth-rate Superman! He used to able to crack a planet in two. He used to be able to survive underwater and in space! But, over the years, DC has turned the original Captain Marvel into somebody Robin could beat up! This has been bugging me for a loooooong time, but today's Shazam! was the final straw! The story itself is not a bad story, but it is built on what is from my perspective a faulty premise. Captain Marvel/Shazam ought to be above a villain like the Scarecrow - a guy without powers! How is it that the Scarecrow's fear-gas even effects Shazam? He's supposed to be invulnerable! Not only that, he has the courage of Achilles! That should count for something! It doesn't help that Billy acts like a tool most of the time. Yeah, he's a teenager, but he's not retarded! There are some things that DC and Geoff Johns have done with the character that I like, but the wimpification of the world's mightiest mortal is not one of them! When is the original Captain Marvel going to get some respect?

[Masterff]

Back in the day, Captain Marvel could go toe to toe with Superman. The only two heroes who had a chance of taking him on were Superman and maybe Wonder Woman. (Remember the War of the Gods?) Now, Geoff Johns and DC have turned him into a fourth-rate Superman! He used to able to crack a planet in two. He used to be able to survive underwater and in space! But, over the years, DC has turned the original Captain Marvel into somebody Robin could beat up! This has been bugging me for a loooooong time, but today's Shazam! was the final straw! The story itself is not a bad story, but it is built on what is from my perspective a faulty premise. Captain Marvel/Shazam ought to be above a villain like the Scarecrow - a guy without powers! How is it that the Scarecrow's fear-gas even effects Shazam? He's supposed to be invulnerable! Not only that, he has the courage of Achilles! That should count for something! It doesn't help that Billy acts like a tool most of the time. Yeah, he's a teenager, but he's not retarded! There are some things that DC and Geoff Johns have done with the character that I like, but the wimpification of the world's mightiest mortal is not one of them! When is the original Captain Marvel going to get some respect?

1. Fear Toxin etc. also affects Superman..
Look at Injustice, it affected Zod and Superman..
He was also under control of POISON IVY

2. I think its not consistent, but even Superman needs air to live..

So all that what you said also count for Superman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marvelman]

1. Fear Toxin etc. also affects Superman..
Look at Injustice, it affected Zod and Superman..
He was also under control of POISON IVY

2. I think its not consistent, but even Superman needs air to live..

So all that what you said also count for Superman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. I'm pretty sure those instances involved Kryptonite.

2. No, Superman can survive in Space - at least in the comics. In recent issues, Superman has be flying around in space without air. In the cartoons, in JLU, and Young Justice, Superman does indeed need a supply of oxygen to survive in space.

[jb681131]

1. I'm pretty sure those instances involved Kryptonite.

2. No, Superman can survive in Space - at least in the comics. In recent issues, Superman has be flying around in space without air. In the cartoons, in JLU, and Young Justice, Superman does indeed need a supply of oxygen to survive in space.

2. No, he can't survive in space. You said it youself, "he needs a supply of oxygen" ! Any being can survive in space with oxygen ! It's not specific to superman.

[Gaastra]

Don't know about post new 52 but pre new 52 superman could breath in space and water just fine. He would even head to space for fun. Death battles superman vs goku 2 even showed a full scene in the comics where superman is in space with no space suit and makes a point that superman can breath in space.

[Toreador]

Don't know about post new 52 but pre new 52 superman could breath in space and water just fine. He would even head to space for fun. Death battles superman vs goku 2 even showed a full scene in the comics where superman is in space with no space suit and makes a point that superman can breath in space.

Byrne era Superman needed to to have an oxygen belt when going into space. A breath could last him several hours but he still needed air to breathe.

[hareluyafan1]

2. No, he can't survive in space. You said it youself, "he needs a supply of oxygen" ! Any being can survive in space with oxygen ! It's not specific to superman.

If you had paid attention Marvelman clearly stated that the "he needs a supply of oxygen" bit only applies to the cartoon series. Specifically JLU and Young Justice.

In the comics Superman does not require an atmosphere and can indeed survive in outer space. This is because Mongul Jr. helped him overcome the psychological barriers that convinced him he needed food and oxygen. Now that he has overcome them he needs only sunlight to survive.

The story itself is not a bad story, but it is built on what is from my perspective a faulty premise. Captain Marvel/Shazam ought to be above a villain like the Scarecrow - a guy without powers! How is it that the Scarecrow's fear-gas even effects Shazam? He's supposed to be invulnerable! Not only that, he has the courage of Achilles! That should count for something!

Sadly this is yet another example of DC rubbishing other characters to hype up "Bat-God," this time indirectly by hyping up his villains.

[Sacred Knight]

Shazam will never be really shown to his full potential in a world he exists in with Superman, because Superman will always be better than him.. They'll always favor the homegrown character over the analogue they bought from another publisher. The solution is that Superman and Shazam should not be on the same world. But good luck getting DC to stop favoring ClutterEarth set ups.

[Masterff]

If you had paid attention Marvelman clearly stated that the "he needs a supply of oxygen" bit only applies to the cartoon series. Specifically JLU and Young Justice.

In the comics Superman does not require an atmosphere and can indeed survive in outer space. This is because Mongul Jr. helped him overcome the psychological barriers that convinced him he needed food and oxygen. Now that he has overcome them he needs only sunlight to survive.

Sadly this is yet another example of DC rubbishing other characters to hype up "Bat-God," this time indirectly by hyping up his villains.

As far as I know there ARE Superman Versions also in Comics who needed air.

Superman had 2 times problem with Fear Toxin:
-Injustice
-Superman/Batman TORMENT 37-42

I dont know what happened in Superman/Batman, Injustice included Kryptonite.

Superman and Supergirl had also problems with the BLACK MERCY...

[The True Detective]

If you had paid attention Marvelman clearly stated that the "he needs a supply of oxygen" bit only applies to the cartoon series. Specifically JLU and Young Justice.

In the comics Superman does not require an atmosphere and can indeed survive in outer space. This is because Mongul Jr. helped him overcome the psychological barriers that convinced him he needed food and oxygen. Now that he has overcome them he needs only sunlight to survive.




Sadly this is yet another example of DC rubbishing other characters to hype up "Bat-God," this time indirectly by hyping up his villains.

The irony is your favorite, Harley massively benefits from being a "Bat-God" character and is hyped up above others all the time. Why is that ok in your opinion?

[Flash Gordon]

The original Captain Marvel was a children's character, so if youd like to see more All Ages Shazam- I'm with you there.

Johns' book has been a solid mix of an all ages book along with the kind of usual fare superhero readers like- but I'd love to see it go harder on the wit 'n whimsy. Be weirder and more obtuse.

[DrNewGod]

(The Real) Captain Marvel has been neutered since CoIE. Of course, DC seems to have its hands full keeping Superman meaningful these days, I doubt they have capacity to do justice to two characters of such stature.

[dswynne]

Back in the day, Captain Marvel could go toe to toe with Superman. The only two heroes who had a chance of taking him on were Superman and maybe Wonder Woman. (Remember the War of the Gods?) Now, Geoff Johns and DC have turned him into a fourth-rate Superman! He used to able to crack a planet in two. He used to be able to survive underwater and in space! But, over the years, DC has turned the original Captain Marvel into somebody Robin could beat up! This has been bugging me for a loooooong time, but today's Shazam! was the final straw! The story itself is not a bad story, but it is built on what is from my perspective a faulty premise. Captain Marvel/Shazam ought to be above a villain like the Scarecrow - a guy without powers! How is it that the Scarecrow's fear-gas even effects Shazam? He's supposed to be invulnerable! Not only that, he has the courage of Achilles! That should count for something! It doesn't help that Billy acts like a tool most of the time. Yeah, he's a teenager, but he's not retarded! There are some things that DC and Geoff Johns have done with the character that I like, but the wimpification of the world's mightiest mortal is not one of them! When is the original Captain Marvel going to get some respect?

One, "Captain Marvel" doesn't exist anymore. Well, he exists on "Earth-5/S", but not on the main Earth, so there will be differences between the way "Shazam!" and the classic "Captain Marvel" character are portrayed.

Two, Shazam, as Billy's superhero persona is now called, is Billy in control, not the superhero persona. So, basically, we're dealing with a mixture of Tom Hank's "BIG" mixed with Superman.

Three, I read the issue, and I saw it as Billy being arrogant enough to assume that Scarecrow wasn't a threat, and that the villain was just some ordinary costumed clown. Not so. Scarecrow is a MASTER chemist, and has created a variety of toxins that could even affect Superman. So Billy didn't even use the Wisdom of Solomon or the Courage of Achilles until after he focused on the threat.

Four, "invulnerability" means Shazam can be physically harmed by ordinary means, such as bullets. Had Billy used his powers effectively, his "Wisdom of Solomon" could have told him that he shouldn't breathe the air around him. Billy would have then switched to using the Stamina of Atlas to hold his breath indefinitely. That would have been the right thing to do.

And, finally, the whole point of the story is that Billy thinks that he is not being effective as a superhero, especially since he has such great powers. However, the incident involving Scarecrow means that he still needs to earn more experience, and that his rogue's gallery could help him in that effort.

I actually liked this issue, where there is a bit of introspection at work. Peace.