Earth's Mightiest Mortals: The Shazamily Appreciation 2023

[dswynne]

Well, he's not wrong...

My head cannon is that Billy's age has slowed down, thanks to being imbued with "magic".

[signalman112]

Charles Holbert Sketch.

MaryMarvel.jpg

[Digifiend]

My head cannon is that Billy's age has slowed down, thanks to being imbued with "magic".

More likely that he, Mary and Freddy all periodically have their ages regressed and their memories wiped so they don't realise (and yes, magic is how that's done). The complication of the current foster family setup has prevented them being reset yet again, as people would notice this time, hence why Mary has finally been able to grow up past 18 - and why Billy's age has de-synched from hers, as he joined the Vasquez family later than her (she was the first of the six, he was the last). That would explain Billy being around in World's Finest which is set around the time of comics published in 1970 (and before Crisis, which is a retcon since Captain Marvel had his own world before Crisis, Earth-S) as well as his pre-Flashpoint tenure in the JSA when his current origin happened in New 52.

[Frontier]

Charles Holbert Sketch.

MaryMarvel.jpg

Powerful Mary .

[Lucas 35]

Waid talks a lot of interesting things about Shazam in this interview

https://www.cbr.com/mark-waid-dc-spo...e-interview-1/

Some of the interesting parts of the interview

CBR: Shazam #1 is a lot of fun, with Billy teaming up with dinosaurs and hanging out on the Rock of Eternity. Without knocking the stories themselves, how was it moving from the more serious Shazam stories to a lighter, more fun Fawcett Comics-like tone?

Mark Waid: It was very important! With all due respect to Geoff [Johns] and all the other people who have worked on that character doing some really excellent work in the last few years, I felt like bringing that sense of whimsy was first and foremost. I remember that Geoff and I had a conversation 20 years ago about the book and treating the character with that sense of whimsy, which was really not something DC was terribly interested in doing 20 years ago in the height of grim and gritty.

I remember saying, at the time, "You either lean into it 100%, or you just don't do it. You make Tawky Tawny what he is, a talking tiger. You do intelligent worms and the Rock of Eternity, or you don't do it at all." This is finally my chance to put my money where my mouth was.

We also see Freddy Freeman here, who has been on the periphery lately. What do you think Freddy brings with his friendship to Billy Batson?

There's a slight cynicism that he can bring to the stories. He's an operator. He's the guy who knows a guy who knows a guy. That plays off Billy's natural innocence. Billy is not a wide-eyed, completely innocent dope. He knows the world, but Freddy knows a different side of the world.

This comes about a decade after Geoff Johns and Gary Frank redefined the Shazam family.

Originally in the Golden Age Shazam family, they all had the same personality. All the Shazam characters, with the exception of Uncle Dudley, had the same personality. Geoff did a nice job of differentiating them.

Geoff and Gary made Billy a more streetwise kid, going as far as to lie to prospective foster parents in their first issue. Did you want to take those changes and run with them or make some changes yourself?

I changed them up a little bit, but not much. I mostly like Freddy being that character. Billy certainly has some streetwise experience, but for me, he works best as a guy who's not dumb or innocent but hungry for new experiences. He's eager to jump into a world that's strange, wild, and crazy like the Captain's is. To make him too streetwise or cynical takes away from that sense of wonder that he has. We use that sense of wonder and communicate that to the readership.

This is a fun issue, but there's still a sense of danger with shadowy figures in the Rock of Eternity. It also comes off the heels of the wizard Shazam being a bit of a jerk lately.

Yeah, he has, but I think he and Billy made up in the last few pages of the Lazarus Planet crossover. I don't see him as a villain, so whoever is lurking in the shadows is not him.

What can you tease for Shazam! and Batman/Superman: World's Finest?

With Shazam!, once we're done with this story arc, which has Gorilla City showing up soon and an old Doom Patrol villain called Garguax, who is the Emperor of the Moon -- the Captain accidentally starts a war between Gorilla City and the Moon. That's a big part of what's coming up. After that, we have a Batman character -- not necessarily a Batman villain --someone on the cusp of villain/hero showing up in Shazam! and start things there in a crazy way. Dan Mora wanted to use the character in World's Finest, and tonally, I wasn't sure it was a good fit for World's Finest, but it's great for Shazam!

[dswynne]

In regards to Freddy Freeman getting his powers back: I would not be surprised if Waid will recreate the event that enabled Billy the means of bequeathing his powers to Freddy, by bringing in Captain Nazi.

[Frontier]

Waid talks a lot of interesting things about Shazam in this interview

https://www.cbr.com/mark-waid-dc-spo...e-interview-1/

Some of the interesting parts of the interview

I totally get where Waid is coming from.

Curious who the Bat character is. Anarky?

[Lucas 35]

Shazam! #2 Preview


https://aiptcomics.com/2023/06/02/dc...ew-shazam-2-2/

[Frontier]

Shazam! #2 Preview


https://aiptcomics.com/2023/06/02/dc...ew-shazam-2-2/

Poor Billy.

Also I get that Mary's older now but it's weird how she's taller than everybody.

[K7P5V]

Poor Billy.

Also I get that Mary's older now but it's weird how she's taller than everybody.

I know, right?! It's eerily reminiscent of Ordway's The Power of SHAZAM!

[Mantis-Ray]

Shazam! #2 Preview


https://aiptcomics.com/2023/06/02/dc...ew-shazam-2-2/

Damn going by the cover, Billy will indeed be battling all of Shazam's namesakes

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

I know, right?! It's eerily reminiscent of Ordway's The Power of SHAZAM!

Wow. I know this is Ordway, but I can't imagine the mental gymnastics it takes to think that somebody making a decision for themselves is actually a bad thing.

[justinslot]

Say is Mary officially Mary Marvel again on Earth-0 (or whatever the main Earth is these days)? From the Knight Terrors: Shazam! #2 preview in DC Connect:

"Trapped in the Nightmare Realm, Mary Marvel thinks she’s discovered her greatest
fear—but she is wrong. She won’t emerge from her dreamscape the way she
entered it…at least not if the Nightmare Captain has anything to say about it!"

I guess if Waid wants her to be Mary Marvel that's what she's gonna be.

[Vordan]

Say is Mary officially Mary Marvel again on Earth-0 (or whatever the main Earth is these days)? From the Knight Terrors: Shazam! #2 preview in DC Connect:

"Trapped in the Nightmare Realm, Mary Marvel thinks she’s discovered her greatest
fear—but she is wrong. She won’t emerge from her dreamscape the way she
entered it…at least not if the Nightmare Captain has anything to say about it!"

I guess if Waid wants her to be Mary Marvel that's what she's gonna be.

Yes she’s going by Mary Marvel again.

[Frontier]

Yes she’s going by Mary Marvel again.

Always has been, if you ask me .