Earth's Mightiest Mortals: The Shazamily Appreciation 2023

[Mantis-Ray]

spoilers:

Married? Well I guess you could get away with it if this is post-New 52, where they're just foster siblings. It's basically like Barry and Iris on CW Flash! But yeah, not pre-Flashpoint where they're twins. If this was supposed to be before Flashpoint, then it should be Freddy instead of Billy.

end of spoilers

I believe this was written in the 80s so definitelyspoilers:

long before Flashpoint. Apparently the reason for their marriage is a political one, for for power purposes so they can oppose/marry into the House of Steel. So another of Moore's typical deconstruction nonsense. Superheroes are Gods yadda yadda, so Billy and Marry get married and have a kid to consolidate power and since incest was a thing the Greek Gods did.

end of spoilers

Man that is gross to think about. Granted if you want an idea of how Moore would write Shazam, look at Miracleman since Miracleman/Marvelman started out as a blatant rip-off of Shazam/Captain Marvel. And that spoilers:

lis filled with a lot of weird sex stuff, Miracleman at one point kisses Dr. Gargunza before he kills him which is essentially the equivalent of Shazam kissing Sivana.

end of spoilers

[K7P5V]

I believe this was written in the 80s so definitelyspoilers:

long before Flashpoint. Apparently the reason for their marriage is a political one, for for power purposes so they can oppose/marry into the House of Steel. So another of Moore's typical deconstruction nonsense. Superheroes are Gods yadda yadda, so Billy and Marry get married and have a kid to consolidate power and since incest was a thing the Greek Gods did.

end of spoilers

Man that is gross to think about. Granted if you want an idea of how Moore would write Shazam, look at Miracleman since Miracleman/Marvelman started out as a blatant rip-off of Shazam/Captain Marvel. And that spoilers:

lis filled with a lot of weird sex stuff, Miracleman at one point kisses Dr. Gargunza before he kills him which is essentially the equivalent of Shazam kissing Sivana.

end of spoilers

I know, right?! Even The SHAZAM!/Marvel Family make a "cameo" in Moore's Miracleman/Marvelman

[Frontier]

Ha ha, oh Alan Moore .

[Alphaxman]

After watching the movie, it was a little annoying the the team didn't have super-heroes names. I'm not the biggest fan of the Marvel family, but I assume the extended family wasn't well received (I could be mistaken). I do know they were never given alias by Geoff and now most of them have been depowered.

Do most of you guys like the 3 added "Marvel" kids Darla Dudley, Pedro Peña, and Eugene Cho?
And if so, what names would you give them?
Would you keep the military ranks?
Use Marvel or Shazam within their names?

I'm clueless.

[Nomads1]

Well I just found out what Alan Moore's plan for Billy Batson were in his fabled Twilight of the Superheroes story and WOW this is crap. Gonna spoiler this cause its pretty gross so read at your own warning.

spoilers:

For one he would have Billy and Mary married... with a kid. Keep in mind they are still siblings. Also he would have wrote that Billy constantly transforming from child to adult would fry his libido and leave him with the sex drive of an adult even as a kid. Which he deals with by going to brothels and engaging in BDSM sex cause "deconstruction" This would then lead to his death as Martian Manhunter would disguise himself as a call girl, and then during some bondage sex he would strangle Billy to death in his human form and take his place while Billy's death wouldn't be investigated cause the patrons thought he was a dwarf.

end of spoilers

Yeah, Twilight was some real heavy-duty, damaging stuff. Why do you think DC didn't even let him use the recently acquired Charlton Heroes in Watchmen? The damage to the proprieties woiuld have been too huge for them to use the characters again. Hence, the "homages". As much as I respect a lot of Moore's works, I guess we were lucky that we ended with Alex Ross and Mark Waid's Kingdom Come, instead of Alan Moore and... (I don't recall if there ever was an artist attached to the project)'s Twilight of the Super-Heroes.

Peace

[Nomads1]

After watching the movie, it was a little annoying the the team didn't have super-heroes names. I'm not the biggest fan of the Marvel family, but I assume the extended family wasn't well received (I could be mistaken). I do know they were never given alias by Geoff and now most of them have been depowered.

Do most of you guys like the 3 added "Marvel" kids Darla Dudley, Pedro Peña, and Eugene Cho?
And if so, what names would you give them?
Would you keep the military ranks?
Use Marvel or Shazam within their names?

I'm clueless.

Though far from a Geoff John's hater, I have to say I'm not much of a fan of Johns' version of Shazam/Captain Marvel/ Marvel Family. It has none of the wide-eyed innocence that is a trademark of the character, and Billy seems too jaded a person to be the inspireing super-hero figure he is supposed to be. The foster family aspect is not a bad idea, but the setting in Philadelphia, instead of in Fawcett City is a HUGE mistake. Fawcett is basically as much a character in the Shazam Mythos as Gotham is in Batman's or Metropolis in Superman's. . His street smart Freddy Freeman and his relationship with Billy was, IMHO, a great addition, and the interpretation of that in the original movie was the best thing about it. Mary SHOULD always be Billy's twin, and the older, more mature and bossy Mary really doesn't sit well with me. No, I don't like the whole family having basically the same power set, for it makes Billy way less special, and yes, they are all so forgetful that they don't even merit their own super-hero names. That said, I found both films quite fun and entretaining, though he SHOULD have been allowed to face Black Adam at some point.

Peace

PS. I guess I should mention that, for me, the 90's Ordway Power of Shazam is one of the best modernization of any character, and franchise, I've ever read.

[StarSpangledMan]

Another Shazam #1 variant by Dan Mora

[Frontier]

Another Shazam #1 variant by Dan Mora

Absolutely gorgeous !

[signalman112]

Jerry Ordway cover to ALTER EGO #182.

AE182SHAZAM.jpg

[Frontier]

Jerry Ordway cover to ALTER EGO #182.

AE182SHAZAM.jpg

I'm glad Campbell brought back Uncle Dudley. I hope Waid does more with him.

[dswynne]

I really hope that the upcoming series will be as explorational as THE FLASH was under Mark Waid's direction.

[Frontier]

I really hope that the upcoming series will be as explorational as THE FLASH was under Mark Waid's direction.

I hope it's a great run for Billy .

[dswynne]

Just picked up WONDER WOMAN #797 and PLANET LAZARUS: REVENGE OF THE GODS #2. Decent reads, interesting take on the Billy/Champion dichotomy. Apparently, Mary and Billy have separate powers that are not directly tied together. Still no real reason for the Wizard's actions. I do suspect that the original Wizard will be making an appearance, IMO. Looking forward for more.

[Digifiend]

That's probably because Billy gave Mary her powers directly from the Rock of Eternity, instead of sharing his own. It was actually a plot point in New Champion of Shazam that Mary is now more powerful than before.

[Lucas 35]

INTERVIEW: Waid & Mora talk SHAZAM! and the evolution of their partnership

https://www.comicsbeat.com/shazam-ma...ora-interview/


New Panels from The Mark Waid and Dan Mora's Shazam! #1