Quote:

ShazamGrrl1 said:

(All images drawn by Cynthia Finnegan)


Hope you don't mind if I do a write-up on most of the "family" (in order of creation) and some of their foes. It's just general stuff.

Captain Marvel: By saying the name of the ancient wizard, Shazam, Billy Batson is transformed by magic lightning into Captain Marvel, the World’s Mightiest Mortal, who is blessed with the Wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, and the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.

Billy and Captain Marvel are one and the same, but at two different stages of life. In essence, Captain Marvel is what Billy will look like in adulthood and with jet-black hair and lightning-blue eyes, he heavily favors his late father, Merrill. Billy is a wiry, daring, resourceful impetuous to the point of recklessness and self-assured youngster of 5 ft., 5 ins. tall.

Captain Marvel stands about six feet four and has the physique of a martial artist or an acrobat: a bit rangy and well-muscled, but not massive. Captain Marvel’s laid-back attitude and easygoing demeanor are well-known and he handles even the most dangerous foes, impossible situations or Earth-shattering crises with courage, determination and a healthy dash of flair.

His age is whatever the reader thinks it is.

Billy was destined to be a hero from the moment of he was born, and is living up to the birthright Shazam gave him. Billy may have been chosen to be Captain Marvel, but ultimately it was his choice to embrace his destiny and he’s never regretted his decision.

Billy is a youngster who's wiry, ballsy, resourceful, self-assured and impetuous to the point of recklessness. He often charges (or sneaks) into dangerous situations that are better suited for his red-suited alter ego.
He says "Holy Moley" more than he say "There's something screwy about all of this" or "What a load". Although he was robbed, betrayed and kicked out by one uncle, he hasn't let the tragedies in his life turn him into an embittered teenager.

His job as a TV reporter gives him some measure of popularity among his peers. Especially girls (who want to kiss him) and women (who want to adopt him). He cares about his family, both real (Mary, Uncle Dudley) and acquired (Freddy, Mr. Tawny). He makes friends easily and keeps in touch with them.

Billy's NOT perfect by a long shot. He has a wide smart-aleck streak and can be sarcastic. But he has a good sense of humor, too. He's also a scrapper.



Captain Marvel Jr.: Like his best friend, newsboy Freddy Freeman was destined to become a hero. Rescued by the World’s Mightiest Mortal after receiving life-threatening injuries from Captain Nazi, Captain Marvel willingly gives the boy a portion of his powers to save the dying Freddy.

Now, by saying the name of his hero, he gains the same powers as Billy does when he changes into the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Since he gets his powers from Shazam through Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior cannot say his own name, or he will instantly change back into Freddy. Junior has to be very creative with introducing himself, but has told no one of his real identity.

Freddy is an almost pretty boy who is oblivious to how his looks affects most girls. He's a slim-built, slightly muscled boy, almost elfin in appearance, with long, shaggy blue-black hair and deep blue eyes. He's a musician, plays both piano and guitar, has a very good singing voice and enjoys writing, but he’s far from perfect. He can become easily bored by school, even though he enjoys his classes.

He’s a bit of a daredevil when as Junior, handling both villains and almost impossible situations with a poise and enthusiasm that would make many adults envious. The youngster has the remarkable ability of keeping the facts of a situation clear without tailoring them to his own perspective, and keeps a daily record of his adventures in a journal.

When we first meet him, Freddy and his grandparents, Jacob and Elizabeth, had just moved from Portland, Maine, to New York, trying to get him away from some trouble. He’s been an orphan since the age of 7, the sole survivor of the freak storm that killed his parents.

When he finds out about Billy’s situation with Ebenezer Batson, Freddy looks after his best friend like a brother, even asking his grandparents to take him in temporarily while waiting for his bid for emancipation to go through.

Like Captain Marvel, Freddy always tries to do what’s right; so much so, at one point some of the kids at school start calling him “Captain Marvel Junior” because of this and for his idolization of the World’s Mightiest Mortal. He's proud to call Captain Marvel his hero and Billy and Mary Batson his best friends.

Though he’s normally an even-tempered boy, Freddy is the most emotionally volatile of the three. He can show an intensity of emotion that some consider frightening, literally going from near-hysterical laughter to blind rage in a split second. His hatred of Captain Nazi is nearly fanatical.

After his grandfather is murdered, he becomes sullen and angry about the incident and expresses his grief by lashing out. The only one he won’t take this tack with is Mary, because he’d never strike a girl. He doesn’t blame Captain Marvel for what happened, but even the World’s Mightiest Mortal feel the sting of Freddy’s anger.




Mary Marvel: By saying the ancient wizard’s name, Mary Batson becomes Mary Marvel, receiving the powers of the following six goddesses and heroines: the stamina of Selene, the strength of Hippolyte, the courage of Ariadne, the speed of Zephyrus, the power of Aurora (which includes her invulnerability) and the wisdom of Minerva.

Her powers are equal to those given her brother and Freddy Freeman, yet, like Freddy, she remains a young teen when she changes, giving her the advantage of being underestimated by a foe because of her youth and petite stature.

Adopted by Geoffrey and Noreen Bromfield when she was six months old, Mary was sent to one of the best schools in the five Boroughs, Rosemont Academy for Girls. She also takes ballet classes, which make her alter ego more graceful in flight, and has a good working knowledge of self-defense.

Mary’s best described as being an ‘angelic’ or ‘doll-pretty’ 13-year-old, and though her looks heavily favor her mother’s with her auburn curls and almost turned-up nose, she has her father’s lightning-blue eyes. Like her twin brother, she is kind, courageous, brash to the point of recklessness, resourceful and she doesn’t take garbage from anyone. After reuniting with her twin brother, Mary begs the Bromfields to have her last name legally changed back to Batson.

She is the last person on Earth to become hysterical for more than a moment, but her natural calm can give way to anger, especially when she’s provoked and she will explode when she’s angry. Two of her favorite pastimes are reading and drawing, and she’s often seen with either a book or a drawing pad and a pencil in her hands.

Dudley Batson, Billy’s legal guardian, was Merrill’s older brother and is a recovering con-man blessed with a heart of gold. While many folks will dismiss Dudley as a “bumbling fool” on sight, he’s actually quite sharp and can spot a phony from a mile away. Among his other talents, Dudley happens to be very good at electronics. He dabbles in stage magic, illusion and escape artistry. He can, and has, picked his way out of a pair of handcuffs in about 10 seconds flat without looking. He knows he’s not the best role model in the world for them, but the kids love him anyway.

He finds out Billy, Mary and Freddy’s secret identities by reading his young niece’s diary, which she accidentally leaves at his apartment, and decides to make himself a costume and “help them out”. Mr. Morris offers Dudley his own kids show on WHIZ-7, where he’ll spend most of his time when he’s in his “Uncle Marvel” suit.

When he’s not working at WHIZ-7, Dudley will spend time working on a pair of animatronic cartoon rabbits he’s named Hoppy and Millie, who will wind up appearing on the show. Easygoing and laid back, he has seen and experienced much in his life, but hasn’t let them make him jaded or embittered. He has the faith and the sense of wonder of a much-younger person.

Shazam, the ancient wizard who blessed the Marvel Family with their incredible powers, resides in a palace he built on the fabled Rock of Eternity, where he keeps an ostensive eye on his “family” and chronicles their adventures in the massive tome that rests near his throne.

Since the old wizard was nearly a god at the time of his “death”, he knows everything that has happened throughout the world, from the highest to the lowest. The reason is that he is about 10,000 years old, give or take a century, and in his very long life he has seen much, done much, and has been a trusted friend, teacher and counsellor to rulers and deities alike.

For some 3,000 years before becoming a wizard, Shazam battled evil as the Champion of the Lumarian people, until the gods he knew were forgotten by all save himself. Not much is known about the centuries between the last appearance of the Champion and the wizard Shazam’s emergence in the court of King Djet, Egypt’s second king, but legends say that he travelled far and wide, learning all the secrets of White Magick that he could.

Exactly when and why he left Egypt is not certain, but Shazam travelled to Israel in the time of wise King Solomon. Later, he was in Greece during its Heroic Age, becoming friends with Zeus, Hermes and the Titan Atlas and the heroes Hercules and Achilles. Centuries later, when Achilles and Solomon were long dead and free from the corruptions of the living, Shazam summoned their spirits to join Zeus, Hermes (renamed Mercury by the Romans), Atlas and Hercules (now a god) to do good in the world.

Before creating the Marvel Family, Shazam entrusted two others with his powers and secrets, only to see that trust cruelly betrayed. The first one was Khem-Adam, or Black Adam, his first heir to the role of champion. Out of greed and jealous rage, Adam murdered his cousin, King Djet, then slew Djet’s wife and most of their children and, with the aid of a corrupt priest named Set-Kerak, usurped the throne for himself.

The second was a vain young wizard named Oggar, whom he tried to teach compassion and to use his powers to help others, but the lessons both Shazam and the spirit of Solomon tried to teach fell on deaf ears. Ultimately, Oggar felt he had no further use for either Shazam or his teachings. He found a new master in the form of the sorceress Circe, whom he gave the gift of immortality, then turned against the old wizard and his fellows. With a heavy heart, Shazam defeated his former protegé even as Circe struck down the vain young sorcerer with a five-fold curse. She cursed him with the horns, legs and hooves of a goat, the inability to use a spell more than once and the inability to use his powers against any female of any age.

Shazam became a great adept at Magick; so great; he was at last virtually a god - but not quite. Eventually, he had to die. In Eternity, Shazam took residence in the temple he built on the Rock of Eternity. From Eternity, one can reach any era or alternate dimension, so the members of the Marvel Family use it in order to travel through time.

Although a spirit, he still commands great Magickal powers as well as dispatching his magic lightning bolts and advising the Marvel Family. Shazam relies on a bracelet made of a magickal element called Shazamium to maintain his spirit form. The Shazamium bracelet can send anyone who puts it on instantly to the Rock of Eternity.

Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana: Sivana is the Marvel Family’s ultimate enemy: the quintessential mad scientist, always thinking of ways to conquer the Universe and destroy his archenemies, proving once and for all why he’s the worst of the worst. He was a brilliant scientist driven mad by seeing men of lesser intellect steal his ideas and profit from them, then having his wife leave him and their four children for one of those thieves. Embittered and nearly bankrupt, he took his children and fled to the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula to carve out a life for themselves. Eventually, he turned his back on mankind and swore to do as many harm to humanity as his super-science could cause until he was crowned the Rightful Ruler of the Universe.

Being functionally insane, he has the capacity for wild inventions of nearly magical capabilities which conventional science says are impossible. He has the driving obsession to destroy the three people who will ever and always thwart his ambitions, a total lack of scruples and a towering rage that will put the fear of God into even the most monstrous of henchmen. He will gleefully sacrifice friend or foe to achieve even the smallest of aims and will kill anyone who gets in his way without feeling the slightest qualm about it.

Although he is at least sixty years of age, he’s fathered four children. Sivana tolerates Magnificus and Beautia as long as they don’t get in the way of his schemes of conquest. The two younger Sivanas, Georgia and Thaddeus Junior, have targeted the younger Marvels for their murderous brand of mischief. Although they are all-around scientists like their father, Georgia’s specialties are chemicals and computer programming, while Tad is more a nuts-and-bolts, all-around tinkerer who leans more towards giant, mangaesque robotics and other fantastic vehicles. The by-products of their patriarch’s tinkering with their genetic make-up before they were born, they blessed with their father’s brilliance, but they are also cursed with their sire’s sociopathic tendencies and anemic gargoyle looks. Their father dotes on the younger two shamelessly. They even hate Mary and Freddy as much as their father does Billy and will try killing them on several occasions.

The Sivanas know the real identities of the Marvel Family, but while Sivana Sr., Junior and Georgia have chosen to selfishly cherish the secret, Beautia and Magnificus have become friends with the heroic trio and sworn themselves to secrecy. The self-proclaimed Rightful Rulers of the Universe return to bedevil Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family time and again, but have yet to rid the World of them.

Mr. Mind: Mr. Mind is a worm-like alien creature from a planetoid called Punkus. Sivana finds a derelict alien space station orbiting Venus, builds a spacecraft and a suit to withstand the murderous heat and toxic atmosphere, then travels to the planet. Once there, he discovers that not only can he understand the language, but he can make this strange mecha work. Exploring further, Sivana finds the crew of the strange craft, several tall, humanoid crocodile creatures, seemingly lying dead on the floor, surrounding a black and green skinned humanoid. Out of the mouth of the “biodroid” crawled a two-and-a-half inch long creature that vaguely resembled an Earthly cutworm.

Mind has limited telepathic and empathic abilities and thanks to his initial “bond” with Sivana, he’s not only functionally insane, but has a macabre sense of humor, cracking jokes as he’s about to have a hapless victim killed. Mind has goggles and a voice amplifier, made for him by one of his minions.

Black Adam, the World’s Mightiest Villain: Khem-Adam, or Black Adam, was Shazam’s chosen champion in Egypt almost five thousand years ago. After he betrayed the old wizard and slew the Pharaoh he was supposed to serve, Shazam used his magick to banish Khem-Adam in-between life and death, to wander in space for all eternity, swearing bloody vengeance on the old wizard and his next successor.

Thousands of years later, the villain somehow returned to the world and confronts the Marvel Family. Black Adam’s powers are similar to the ones the Marvel Family possess, and he is one of the few people who can go toe-to-toe with all three of them at once. He knows that the Marvel Family are actually a trio of adolescents, but can’t be bothered to find out their names.

When Teth-Adam invokes the ancient wizard's name, he is granted the following powers: the stamina of Shu; the strength of Hershef; the power of Amon-Ra; the wisdom of Zehuti, another aspect of the god Thoth; the speed of Anpu, another aspect of Anubis; and the courage of Menthu, the Egyptian god of war.

Oggar, the World's Mightiest Immortal: Oggar was a selfish, vain young sorcerer in Bronze Age Greece whom Shazam took on as an apprentice. The old wizard hoped to teach him compassion, and to use his powers for the common weal, but he ignored the lessons even Solomon’s spirit sought to teach him. Eventually, he turned against the old wizard and his teachings, having found a new master in a sorceress called Circe.

The pair had nearly beaten Shazam in a magickal dual, but before they could kill him, Circe turned against Oggar, hitting him a five-fold curse, even as he gave her the immortality she craved. She cursed him with the horns, legs and hooves of a goat, made him unable to use a spell more than once (without an outside power source) and the inability to work his magic directly against females of any age.

Well, whaddaya think?



I love this shit, 'specially the " not perfect " part and the pics are cool, too. You draw them yourself?