Through his adventures, Fawcett Comics/DC Comics superhero Captain Marvel and his Marvel Family gained a host of enemies, including the following:
A Jekyll and Hyde-type who fought Captain Marvel Jr.
Based on the Nazi Dictator Adolf Hitler. Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, he was a member of the Monster Society of Evil. He ordered the creation of Captain Nazi, and caused many plots against America and its superheroes. Like his real-life counterpart, he probably committed suicide with his wife when the Allies were advancing to Berlin.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #27. Created by a scientist who thinks if everyone in the world was like him there would be no war. By studying amoebas he creates a serum that makes him split into two, and tells his duplicate to begin committing crimes. Captain Marvel captures him but he splits into two, Mary captures this duplicate, but the same thing happens, and the same with Jr. The captured duplicates multiply into 12 and break out of prison. Over the next few days hundreds of Amoeba family members are produced. The Marvels make an anti-fission formula and put an ad in the newspaper from Amoeba #56 to meet in the Grand Valley at noon, armed, to decide who should be leader. They argue and battle each other until finally only the original is left. The Marvels throw him into an anti-fission formula they created, stopping his splitting power, and then jail him.[1]
One of a trio of monsters summoned from the Netherworld in "Marvel Family" #21 which also includes a Satyr and Hydra. Argus has multiple eyes allowing it to see and dodge Captain Marvel Jr's blows, but he defeats it by using a pot of paint to blind him, and the monsters are then sent back to the Netherworld.[2]
George Tweedle was a fire insurance salesman who ingested a potion which transformed him into a demon-esque larger being known as the Arson Fiend. The Fiend had the power to set anything he touched on fire and set fire to buildings that did not buy fire insurance. He also appears to possess superhuman strength and durability. He sends a note to Billy saying he will give him information about the Arson Fiend; when Billy gets to the area he invites him in, then knocks him out from behind with a club, ties him to a chair and gags him, then reveals himself, claiming to have discovered Billy's identity through unexplained means. He leaves him to die in a burning building, but Billy escapes when his gag slips off--enabling him to transform. After a battle on top of an oil tank an explosion is caused and the burnt body of George Tweedle is later found by Billy. Originally a one-shot villain created for Captain Marvel Adventures #2 in 1941, the Arson Fiend was reintroduced in the 1990s Power of Shazam! series, where he gained the ability to shoot fireballs as well. Here he survives the explosion, but goes into a coma, and is given his powers back by Blaze, trying to take revenge on Ebenezar Batson who wanted to turn of his life support machine.[3]
Based on the real Attila the Hun. One of the beings that give Ibac his powers, giving him Fiearceness, and appears to him, summoned up by Lucifer. In Captain Marvel Adventures #20 is brought back to life by Doctor Sivana's reincarnation machine which gathers his atoms together and is shown to possess superhuman strength, breaking the necks of three tough men with a single blow. Cap defeats Attila with his far greater strength, then turns back to Billy to escape Beautia's affections. Sivana captures Billy by gagging him from behind, before tying him to a chair, and placing him in a cage. He also cages Beautia to prevent her interfering. He and Attila then attack the city. However Attila starts taking over from Sivana, he eats more food than ten men could, gives his horse Sivana's bed, and he even wants Beautia to marry him. Sivana frees Billy, who transforms into Captain Marvel and throws Attila back into the machine, where Sivana sends him back.[4]
A criminal mastermind who looks like a sweet old lady, but has deadly accuracy with a gun and a desire to find a new husband after her first five died. She tries to make Captain Marvel marry her, then Uncle Marvel.
Only appearig in Wow Comics #44. An escaped criminal. Mary and Freckles are in the vincinity and Freckles wants to look for him. A girl Lucy Lye says there is a maniac with an axe nearby. Mary and Freckles become Marvels, but find out iti s an oddly shaped tree, and that Lucy was lying. They start having a picnic together, but Lucy, after going off, says there is a bear. Though Freckles thinks it is a lie, Mary Marvel goes off and finds it was a lie. However a real bear attacks, but Mary stops it, saying the lie made so much noise the bear came after her. She goes off again, then yells about a witch. However the two girls think she is lying again, while she is really being carried away by a figure in dark clothinjg. She is taken to a shack and tied up, the 'Witch' saying they couldn't let the Kid go and report her. When Lucy doesn't return, Mary is worried, while Freckles think she is tricking them again. They searrch for her by following footprints and see the shack. However when they open the door they are both knocked out. When they come to all three girls are tied to chairs and gagged. The 'Witch' decides to get rid of them, but Mary is able to get her gag loose on the chair and transform. The villain starts shooting at her, but the bullets just bounce off. Lucy has worked one arm free, removes her gag, and tells Freckles she will try to free her, to which Freckles says she wants to get in on the fight. She strikes the crook, and it is revealed it is Bruto, who says he had the disguise in case anybody saw him. But Mary sats Lucy yelled so much he decided to capture her and shut her up. However she says if he had let Lucy go, no-body would have believed her story. Lucy says she has learnt not to lie again.
Created by Doctor Sivana to destroy Captain Marvel. Doctor Sivana creates a humanoid being with animal qualities, the strength of a gorilla, the speed of a snake, the fighting skill of a tiger, the cunning of a fox, the bravery of a lion, and the memory of an elephant. But the Beast-Ruler turns against Sivana, hating Man and wanting animals to rule. Captain Marvel is alerted to this and allows Sivana to get away while he goes after his creation. He receives news of animals attacking people and turns into Billy Batson to remain undetected in the long grass. However, he is captured by a polar bear which prevents him from speaking, and is knocked out by the Beast-Ruler. When Billy comes to he is in a cave with the Beast-Ruler who offers Billy the chance to become his spy. When Billy declines, he attacks but is foiled when Billy transforms. He uses a bomb to cause a cave-in while slipping through a small passage, but Marvel turns back and escapes. He meets animals who do not support the Beast-Ruler. With the help of those animals, he attacks the animal army and finally defeats Beast-Ruler by throwing him over a waterfall. Only appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #3.[5] It is possible King Kull was partially based on the Beast-Ruler.
An older Egyptian renegade protégé of the wizard Shazam, who was the first to be granted superpowers by the wizard. Adam eventually grew to abuse his power, and became a tyrant. Shazam returned to punish Adam with either exile to a distant Star (in the Fawcett comics) or death (in the modern DC Comics). He returns to Earth (or life) after Shazam appoints Captain Marvel his new successor, and was soon established as Captain Marvel's most powerful foe in physical abilities. Black Adam only appeared once in the Fawcett Comics era (in The Marvel Family #1, 1945) where he died after accidentally changing back, but was later reintroduced as a recurring villain in DC's Shazam! series of the 1970s. In later early-2000s DC Universe continuity, a reformed Adam joined the Justice Society of America, later quitting to stage a hostile takeover of his home country of Kahndaq. Black Adam was a featured character in DC's 2006-2007 52 comic book series, which followed his attempts to establish himself as a hero and create a "Marvel Family" of his own, which includes his superpowered wife Isis and her younger brother, Osiris. Isis and Osiris were murdered by a grand international conspiracy, sending Adam on a homicidal rampage which pitted him against the entire DC Universe and killed millions, chronicled in a 2007 miniseries entitled World War III. He later gives his powers to Mary Marvel (Mary Batson) after she loses hers, in an attempt to resurrect Isis, but it corrupts her during Countdown to Final Crisis. Isis is eventually brought back to life by Felix Faust, but she has become violent, and attempts to wipe out all life on Earth, meaning Black Adam gives up his power to bring Shazam back to life. He and Isis are then turned to stone by the wizard.
Black Alice is not a true Marvel Family villain, but she can manifest their abilities by siphoning the power of Shazam. Her true identity is high-school teenager Lori Zechlin who has the ability to draw on the magical powers of other mystical beings such as Doctor Fate, Zatanna and the magic-based powers of the Marvel Family.
An undersea fish-like pirate. Mary chases someone who has stolen plans for an invention to the waterfront. She transforms back so the villain will not run away when seeing her, thinking she can pretend to be a kid looking round the boats, but is gagged from behind and tied up by the hag, who reveals herself as Georgia Sivana, and shows she has stolen a bullet deflector. She takes Mary in a boat, ties an anchor to her neck, and throws her into the water, where the ropes become tighter due to the water. Mary starts falling unconscious, but is saved by mermaids who place her in an air tank, and she meets Father Neptune, King of the seas. But she thinks it is a dream and she is in the last few seconds of life. The castle is suddenly attacked by a group of pirates riding on giant lobsters, led by Black Barnacle. Mary transforms and is able to stop the pirates, but Black Barnacle sprays black ink at her allowing him to escape. Though Mary thinks it is a dream, she decides to go after him anyway. She defeats his trained giant octopus and his sharks, and brings him and his crew back captives. She is given a Jewelled ornament to wear in her hair, but turns back due to underwater lightning, caused when clouds of warm water hit clouds of warm water. She wakes up due to two fishermen, who say they caught her in their nets. Thinking Father Neptune was a dream, she transforms and defeats Georgia Sivana. However she sees the ornament in her hair later that day and realises Neptune was not a dream.[6]
The nefarious Black Beauty single-handedly wrestled the underworld throne from gangster Bull Norton by murdering him in front of his men. She posessed incredible combat skills and called herself the World's cleverest woman. Out to prove her worth in a man's world, Beauty also took on Captain Marvel when he tried to stop her robberies and caused him undue embarrassment by playing on his chivalry, enabling her to escape. Captain Marvel defeated Black Beauty by convincing her that he had fallen in love with the femme fatale. Captain Marvel sprayed her with tear gas while hugging her and then rounded up Black Beauty's gang and turned her over to the authorities.
While Mary is staying with Freckels for the weekend, a telegram is sent for Miss F. Dudley from Higgs, Higgs, and Higgs Attorneys, saying she has inherited $1,000,000 from her Uncle Bart, being his favorite niece. Her father says it is odd, as Bart was always the black sheep of the family. Freckles calls the newspaper, though Mary says maybe she should wait until the letter comes through. Freckles next day gets the Grocer to send round a 100 baskets of food to her poor friends, and to charge it to her account, which he agrees to as he has read the news. Freckles then buys stuff for her parents, everybody is giving her credit as they have read the news. Mary becomes so overloaded she transforms, after which they go to get a refrigerating unit. Her parents think Freckles has not get anything for herself, but she shows a B-B Gun which she has wanted for months. She practices with it and even takes it to bed. That night, two criminals get into her bedroom through the window using a ladder, gag Freckles, the boss telling the other not to wake Mary, and take Freckles away. Next day Mary is worried as Freckles does not get up so early, and her parents think she is spending more money. A scruffy child gives them a note a man gave him, it is a ransom note demanding $10,000 or Freckles will ever come home again. It must be brought to the swamp, and the Police must not be told or else. Mrs Dudley is worried, as they have not yet got the money and she thinks her child will die. Mary transforms, and flies there, but hearing screams thinks Freckles is being tortured. She finds Freckles got loose and is using her B-B Gun against the crooks. One of them pulls a gun on her, but the masked boss tries to stop him. He sill tries to fire his gun, but Mary stops him, and she takes both the crooks of, saying the Masked one could get leniency for trying to stop the other. He is revealed to be Bart, Mr Dudley's brother, who hearing of the inheritance decided to kidnap Freckles, hiring the other crook as a helper. Evidently he did not read the story properly, or he would have known she was supposed to have inherited it from him. He says he is still penniless, and a call from the Attorneys reveal the money was meant to be sent to another F. Dudley. Freckles thinks she ill have to give everything back, but a Policeman Freckles gives $1,000 for the capture of the other crook, revealed to be the notorious Black Jack. Wasn't it Mary who actually captured him? Freckles can pay for the stuff she brought, but by the end she is only richer by one penny, but Mary says she helped a lot of poor people, and that is worth more than all the gold in the world.
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #2. After a poacher named Spike escapes from Mary Marvel after shooting a deer, he meets a magician to who he gives an idea that will make them a lot of money. They go to the Kid's picnic Mary is at and give all the children there animal heads causing them to lose their memories. Mary is given an owl head and with all the others imprisoned in a hut. However, the spirits of the goddesses that give her power appear and show their names to her causing her to accidentally transform which makes her memory and normality return. She confronts the poacher and Black Magician who are planning to exhibit the children in a freak show but have noticed her absence. The Magician tries to turn her into a swan and thinks he has succeeded, but Mary then appears and revealed she dived out of the way, and that it is a real swan that was struck by the spell. She then forces the Magician to restore the children, breaks his wand meaning he will never regain his black magic powers, then gives the two crooks to the police, before thanking the six goddesses.[7]
A wizard who used a magic dust that turned people into minature staues. His accomplices were a ruthless woman and a hunchbacked dwarf. He turned Freddy Freeman into a statue, but was defeated by Captain and Mary Marvel and Freddy was restored. Only appeared in "Marvel Family" #51.[8]
Another version appeared in Marvel Family #70. While King Arthur is away at the Crusades the Black Wizard tries to take over the Kingdom. Merlin sends a suit of armour to the Future to bring a descendant of King Arthur back. It brings back Sterling Morris. The Marvel Family travel back via the Rock of Eternity. The Black Wizard attacks with his warriors, but the Marvels and Morris defeat them, however he uses his magic to disapeer. He sends a flying Dragon against them with a thousand lives, but after the Marvels kill it 67 times Morris has his horse given wings by Merlin and slays the Dragon enough time to kill it with an enchanted sword. The Marvels go to the Black Wizard's castle, but the Wizard threaten to kill Queen Guinevere, who is chained in his dungeon, if they come closer. The Marvels turn back and swim across the Moat. But they are knocked out by a sword blow. When the Kids come to they are chained and gagged. The Black Wizard sends magic flame from his wand to heat up their chains. However Billy burns of his gag on Freddy's chains and transforms. He removes the gags of the other two who transform. However as Captain Marvel tries to strike the Wizard the Wizard becomes a wraith. The Marvels free the Queen and fly back. They fly to the Crusades, help Arthur win a battle, and take him nad his Knights back. The Wizard conjurs up a thousand black Knights, but despite bing outnumbered 20-1 Arthur attacks them, telling the Marvels not to help. They defeat the Wizard's army, he makes a Giant Black Knight appear to squash Camelot, but the Marvels dig a pit it falls into. Sterling captures the Wizard with his magic sword, but sentances him to wear a suit of armour for the rest of his life, as he found it uncomfortable. After that Morris and the Marvels return to their time.
Present only in modern-day Marvel Family stories, the demoness Blaze and her brother Lord Satanus originally appeared in the Superman books in the early 1990s. They were later revealed in the Power of Shazam! series to be the illegitimate children of the Wizard Shazam, who was bewitched by their mother during his early superhero days in Biblical Canaan. Blaze has attempted to spread her evil influence throughout Fawcett City since the 1940s, requiring Shazam and his allies to work together to stop her. They are each rulers of parts of Hell. They each oppose the other and recently Blaze took control of Hell.
A former heavyweight boxer who has plastic surgery to look like Captain Marvel. At a theater with a show for Orphans from the Municipal Orphanage Billy finds from Beautia that Marvel has promised to appear. 'Marvel' appears, but kidnaps Katinka and the real Captain Marvel then appears and realizes the manager is Sivana who then escapes by slipping out of his coat. Captain Marvel is arrested for kidnap and finds out from an ambassador that Katinka is the princess of Mentonia. Marvel escapes and turns into, postmarked Toughtown. After he leaves 'Captain Marvel' appears and drives Beautia, making her suspicious as he takes 20 minutes to drive there while the real Captain Marvel could make it there much quicker. In Toughtown, under the pretense of putting on makeup, Beautia leaves the message 'Katinka' on the outside wall. Billy finds from the police another orphan, Maxim, is missing. In Toughtown Sivana reveals to Beautia this Marvel is really Bummy Bond and that they are going to ask for gold, jewels, and power over the people. Maxim then appears, revealing himself as Maxim the midget, who pretended to be a homeless boy as he found out about the scheme and wanted a share of the loot. Maxim says they must lie low and they need an outside man, so Sivana agrees to take him in. Maxim says they must fix Beautia also. Meanwhile the real Captain Marvel makes the police follow, sees Katinka written, breaks down the door, and destroys Maxim's gun. When the police enter, Marvel proves who is real by beating up Bummy. The police arrest him and Sivana, but Maxim dives through a small hole in the floor. Marvel enlarges it, and when Maxim complains Marvel is larger than he is, he turns into Billy and defeats him. As Marvel he takes Maxim back, the gang is then jailed.[9]
The Captain of the ship 'Skull,' who with fake spiritualist Professor Skull plans to swindle families out of their money in 'one of the cruelest rackets ever devised.' Using a suction pump he drags people through the water while they are bathing, then imprisons them on the ship. Professor Skull uses his crystal ball, really a Television set turned to the yacht, to bring images of the 'drowned' people to their relatives, who pay him well. They plan to eventually kill their captives, as everybody thinks they are dead anyway the racket will get away with it. Captain Marvel captures the crew and Professor Skull and frees the captives.[10] In Whiz Comics #21 another Captain Death appears, who while having the same name does not resemble the original Captain Death. With Doctor Sivana, Nazi agent Herr-Geyer, and bandit "Biggy" Brix they try to kidnap Billy Batson, but instead capture his namesakes, Tall Billy, Fat Billy, and Hill Billy. Captain Death captures Tall Billy. They then lure Billy to the mill, where they gag and bind him, planning to finish all four Billy Batsons, wh oare tied to a log which is sent towards a buzzsaw. This leads to the formation of the Lieutenant Marvels when Billy removes his gag and all four yell Shazam so it can be heard over the buzzsaw, who crash the plane in which the villains try to escape. Although Sivana returns again, his accomplices are not seen again, presumably meaning they perished.[11]
Adolf Hitler's champion, created through science as the "perfect specimen" of a soldier, giving him superhuman strength and stamina. Obviously inspired by the events of World War II, Nazi continued to appear in classic-era Marvel Family stories until the 1980s. In the Power of Shazam! series of the 1990s, Nazi was brought back into action after having been in suspended animation for fifty years, and quickly became an enemy of the Marvel Family. Captain Nazi was responsible for crippling young Freddy Freeman in both Pre-crisis and Post-crisis continuity, leading to the character's eventual emergence as Captain Marvel Jr.
First appeared in Captain Marvel Jr. #2 (Dec. 18, 1942): Brutish Japanese equivalent of Captain Nazi. He was created by the Jamambux, sorcerers of the dark arts of medieval times, who answered directly to the emperor Hirohito. In his first appearance, Captain Nazi meets with Hirohito on a mission from Hitler to complain that the Japanese are not doing enough towards the downfall of America. Hirohito's answer is they are just completing the creation of Captain Nippon. Compounded of brute power, murder, hate, terror, lust and greed. Mind of a cunning spy, and strong enough to fight Captain Marvel Jr. toe to toe. His first act of strength, to prove to Hirohito and Captain Nazi of his power, was to snap a steel bar in his teeth. Usually goes about wearing a loose fitting soldier's uniform and carries a spiked club. Teamed up with Captain Nazi in his first appearance in Captain Marvel Jr. #2. When he lands a blow to Captain Marvel Jr. with this club he renders the superhero unconscious. Also in that first appearance uses a head of a "medusa look alike" to render Captain Marvel Jr. immobile. Escapes in a two man sub in that first encounter with Captain Marvel Jr. Not to be confused with Captain Marvel's foe, Nippo, a member of Mr. Mind's Monster Society of Evil.
First appearing as a one-shot villain in World's Finest Comics #272 (1981), Chain Lightning is a metahuman who has the power to absorb and dispel electricity in the form of lightning bolts. As such, she can cause the Marvels to revert to their non-powered forms if she attacks them with enough of a charge. When re-introduced in the Power of Shazam! series in the 1990s, Chain Lightning was depicted as a teenage girl with multiple personality disorder, whose four personalities (her "actual" persona of Amy, the embittered Amber, her inner child, and her id) fuel her powers. Chain's Amy personality has an unrequited crush on Captain Marvel Jr., after he saved her (and "the others") from committing suicide.
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #111. A Viking ship led by Captain Sharker, the sea captain who turned criminal years ago attacks a ship in the China Reef. They send a message which Billy picks up, so he transforms to Captain Marvel and flies there. He defeats thepirates, but Sharker tells him the ship they robbed will soon be wrecked on the rocks. As they escape he tells Cap their hide-out is in the Eighth Sea. Though Cap rescues the ship, Sharker has got away with their cargo. He asks the Captain who thinks Sharker was mocking Cap, he has been sailing ships for 30 years and has never heard of an Eighth Sea. Cap searches all the Seas but cannot find Sharker. Meanwhile they rob a Pearl Boat, so Cap follows them into a cave where the ship is lifted up the face of a cliff. He flies up and finds an underground sea. While the pirates unload their loot he, for some odd reason, decides to turn into Billy to ask a guard why there are Vikings. He asks how Vikings of ancient Scandinavia got here. The guard, who must have been taught English by Sharker, says Vikings explored the world first a thousand years ago. One ship sailed into the hidden sea and never got out. Wonder how they got up the cliff, is there another entrance? Billy deduces Sharker found the place, made the crane and led them out for piracy, which the guard says is right. Before Billy can transform he is coshed by Sharker who says to bind and gag him. When Billy comes to he is on the ship and is recognised. Sharker says they will dynamite the cliff causing sea levels to rise and allowing them to loot big cities. After the cliff is destroyed Billy is thrown into the sea to drown.
However a piece of the crane drifts towards him, and he removes his gag on a nail and transforms. He then plugs up the hole with a mountain top. However some coastal areas have already been flooded and Sharker is sailing to rob a coastal city treasury. But as they try to leave Cap finds them and they run aground. Cap easily defeats them and they are jailed. Billy reports Cap made one more trip to the Eighth Sea to pick up the stolen loot, which must have been in a safe area to prevent it getting washed away, then sealed it up again. Interesting how though this story was written in 1950 today it is like global warming stories.[12]
A strongman in a Circus which includes beasts Sivana has exported from Venus to make money, in six thousand-mile a second ships. He is claimed to be 'more gorilla than man,' though it is unknown whether he is from Earth or Venus. Falling in love with Lovelina the aerolist, who tells her to marry him or he will kill her, but she refuses. While performing a high-wire act, the wire breaks and she falls into a cage containing sabre-tooth tigers. Clarence bends the bars to save her, but is knocked over by a tiger, enabling the beasts to get out. However Billy Batson is at the performance, he summons Captain Marvel, who stops both the tigers. Furious at Lovelina showing affection to him, Clarence decides to release all the animals and kill everybody. However Captain Marvel defeats the animals, even the ferocious Gorillalion (a centaur-like cross between a lion and gorilla) that Sivana releases, by dropping it from a great height. He then imprisons all the animals in the tent, and possibly in his first time shown flying he goes out over the Ocean and unhumanely drops the tent in. He then goes back to get Sivana, but the evil scientist is already going back to Venus. It is unknown what happened to Clarence, who is not seen after he goes to release the beasts. Either he got away or was jailed off-panel. He may have been killed by the beasts though.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #57. Two owners of a canned goods store which is not doing so well in the town of Biddletown, which is well known for it's fine fresh food, so they break into the post office and put something on the stamps to make people who lick them lose their taste. Sterling Morris and Billy Batson go to the town, but find the food is no taste. Billy transforms and stops a riot in the restaurant, realising that the food is delicious, but the people have lost their sense of taste. It happens all over the town, and the Doctor's office is swamped by people who could not taste overseasoned food or the difference between salt and sugar. Clem and Dubner starts a rumour of a man dying from eating poisoned food. People then say five died, then ten died, and decide to buy canned food, causing a riot. Captain Marvel hears them say people died of food poisoning, and hears Clem and Dubner talk about their plan. He hits them, claiming they coated the stamps with a taste-bud paralyzer and started the rumour, to which they confess. He then starts a barbecue with antidotes in the sauce.[13]
Only appeared in "Mary Marvel" #3. A criminal who after studying in Tibet can project different coloured rays which effected emotions, for example green calmed people. He starts testing them around town. Mary Marvel investigates and stops all the trouble, she tracks him to the Oriental section of town,turns to Mary Batson so he will not run away, and enters a store, but is seized from behind by his henchmen, who gag her and tie her up. He decides to kill her by projecting all his colours at once, thus tearing her mind apart, but she closes her eyes, thus meaning she is not affected. The Colour King orders his men to untie and ungag her and dispose of the body, but she then turns into Mary Marvel. The Colour King tries calming her, but she is resistant to his colours, knocks him out, and captures him.[14]
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #87. A yacht floating in the sky advertises a business where boat prices are really low from the Crazy Captain. The prices for the boats the Crazy Captain sells are very low. Later the Marvels go on a weekend sail with Sterling Morris. They are suddenly attacked by a giant Octopus, so the Marvels summon their superpowered forms and stop the Octopus, but Captain Marvel sees it has left an oil slick behind, but the other two decide to patrol the bay in case it attacks again. Another boat is attacked and dragged underwater, so the Marvels try to save the occupants. Jr. throws down life-preservers, while Mary makes life-boats from shells. Cap dives underwater following an oil trail and finds the Octopus is an artificial monster with rubber tentacles and tractor treads. The Octopus squirts black ink at Cap, enabling it to escape. Cap finds an old Viking wreck and jams it with seaweed to fill the holes and cracks, making another lifeboat. The Marvels decide to investigate in their civilian forms at the point where the Octopus came up twice, but they are knocked out from behind by the robot's tentacle. The octopus driver realises they seem to summon the Marvel Family, but decides to take them along and get rid of them. Rather than dunking them in the sea or crushing them with the tentacle he uses to lift them up, they are bound and gagged, and taken to the Crazy Captain's underwater cave base, where the Captain reveals his racket. Everybody thinks there is a real monster sinking ships, but really the ships are taken to the cave where the Crazy Captain's gang alters and re-paints them beyond recognition. The Captain sells them real cheap, but it's a profit to him. The Captain throws the kids into a water tank, which they first start floating in, but they realise it has hungry baby piranha fish inside, which start trying to eat them. However, Billy seizes two of the fish, and after thrashing around, uses them to chew through Mary's gag as they are so eager to get at her, allowing her to transform and free the other Marvels. They then defeat the Crazy Captain's gang and drag the Octopus backwards when it tries to steal a water-wagon, finally making it hit a rock, where it is destroyed. The Crazy Captain is captured and the Marvels later say he is stir crazy behind bars, his stolen ship racket is over, and 'Anybody who thinks crime will pay is just plain crazy.'[15]
A race of humanoid crocodiles from the planetoid Punkus who were members of the Monster Society of Evil.
There were many unnamed Crocodile-Men who just acted as henchmen for Mr. Mind. One of them was one of Mr. Mind's Monster Professors while others were Monster Students.
Only appearing in Shazam #7. A millionaire who owns a private zoo and makes his money by Jewel smuggling. Captain Marvel finds two jewel smugglers coming off a ship, ad despite guns in their violin cases he is able to capture them. However, he is unable to find the Jewels, meaning they are simply held for shooting at Cap. Tawky Tawny talks to the tigers on the ship and decides to investigate. Cap finds a cheque signed by Dana Dana with the men, so goes off to investigate, but turns to Billy Batson as he cannot just go in without a warrant. Tawney removes his clothes and moves towards a cage, but a lasso is thrown round his neck by a Keeper and he is kicked into a cage. He cannot roar as his vocal cords have been paralyzed. Tawny looks into the bottom of the cages and finds the smuggled Jewels there. Dana is showing Billy his animals, though when Billy asks how he made his fortune, and says he heard he was a Jewel trader, Dana gets nervous. He asks Billy if he wants to see his private collection, but when Billy is in the shed he is knocked out. When he comes to he is gagged and tied up. Dana pours Catnip on him as he cannot finish him off in cold blood...but one of his tigers can. He releases Tawky, who cannot control himself, though Billy recognises him. He is able to hook his gag on a tooth and transform just before Tawky bites his head. Tawny then realises his voice is back. Dana shoots at them, but Cap blocks the bullets and hits him. Dana is then arrested with and the jewels as evidence, the Commissioner claims he and his confederates will be behind bars for a long time. Tawny feels naked so wants to get his clothes back, but Cap takes him to get better clothes, as earlier on in the story he wanted them, so he goes to MR JULIUS MOD TOGS FOR MAN AND BEAST and gets better clothes.[16]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #57. Mrs Wagner is unable to decide between two department stores, Maxon's and Daggert's, but leaflets then fall down advertising Maxon's Department Store, that delivers in minutes. She call for a coffee pot, and is told to give her address and it will be there in 3 minutes and 27 seconds. At first Freddy thinks it has failed, and a package wit ha parachute appears outside the window, wit ha coffee pot inside. Freddy and Ma see a blimp floating outside and realizes this is how it works. Freddy says Daggert will lose a lot of business, wonder who will be the villain? However the blimp starts heading for a building, so Freddy becomes Captain Marvel Jr. and stops Maxon's Sky delivery service crashing. He finds Martin Maxon inside, and a pilot reveals while he was looking out of the window something changed the controls. Jr. thinks it sounds like Gremlins, and is taken on a tour round the blimp by Maxon. Maxon laughs at how much business he will take from his rival Daniel Daggert, which makes him sound rather mean, but suddenly there is a gas leak. Jr. sees it looks like someone made a cut with a knife, but holds it with his cape. Jr. has a plan and transforms, deciding to be inconspicuous and pretend he is just a worker. He finds a worker pulling sabotage, but knocks a crate over accidentally, and is knocked out by the man's fist. When he comes to he is tied up and gagged, and the Workers claims the blimp will burn up due to the Inflammable crate he set on fire. He can jump out by parachute, as can the rest of the crew, but the blimp will be gone. Fredd removes his gag on a bicycle handlebar, transforms, and hits the man, knocking his mask off, and reveling Daniel Daggert, who knew his store would lose out. Apparently he did not mean to kill anybody since parachutes were always handy, though Freddy would have been killed if he was left on the blimp, though he may have been seen by the crew. However Danie;l is going to jail anyway. Later Mrs Wagner is still unable to decide between things, and has bought both a red and blue dress from Maxon, planning to return one later.[13]
Appearing twice, her first appearance in World’s Finest Comics #278 and final in Adventure Comics #491, Dora Keane is empowered by Satan in order to battle Mary Marvel.
A Bulletman foe but in Mary Marvel #8 he teamed up with the Weeper II, and battled Mary Marvel and Bulletgirl before being jailed. He is a hunchbacked criminal who leaves riddles as clues for his crimes. Riddle was apparently killed when Bulletman knocked him of a great height. He later teamed up with the second Weeper in Mary Marvel #8, and succeeded in capturing Bulletgirl and Mary by luring them to an asylum. The Weeper saw Bulletgirl outside, but Riddle said that was part of his plan. First the Weeper went into another room with a straitjacket while Riddle waited for Bulletgirl. Bulletgirl knocked Riddle over, not noticing the Weeper moving towards her. The Weeper placed the straitjacket on her from behind just after she decided to look for him. Then with Riddle's help she was tied to a chair and gagged. The two villains then tell Bulletgirl they know that Mary is here also. Mary was lured in when she decided to look for Bulletgirl and stopped from speaking with a hose. While binding and gagging her, the Weeper talked about how he wept for Mary. The two villains carried the two heroines into a cell which they made airtight, and left. Bulletgirl was able to remove Mary's gag with her helmet, allowing her to transform into Mary Marvel, free Bulletgirl, and break open a cell wall. The two superheroines found a riddle in the asylum and deciphered it, showing the duo were planning to rob a plane carrying gold bullion, and one of them would wait on the ground as the gold would be dropped. Mary Marvel flies after the plane after Riddle has knocked out the two pilots. Dr Riddle is able to escape from the plane by parachute as Mary saves the plane, and knock out Bulletgirl by landing on her just as she has met Weeper II, but Mary Marvel then captures him and Bulletgirl gets the Weeper.
See also: List of Bulletman enemies.
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #124. A circus comes into town, with claims of genuine historical heroes, which Billy thinks is fake. A wooly mammoth appears as well, but starts getting out of control, so Billy transforms and keeps it under control to get it to the circus. Doc Wunder claims he has a time travelling circus. He reveals a Time Ship, and says he will tour time. After leaving 1951, he will tour 1952, 1953, 1954 and so on into the far future. The 'historical' characters, such as Don Quixote are genuine, and Wunder claims it is the greatest circus of all time. Billy advertises for it, but then sees Don Quixote on his way home. Thinking a street car is a monster swallowing a fair maiden he tries to slay it with his lance, but Billy transforms and lifts him over. He hears the other historical characters have left, and is alerted to a sound which turns out to be Daniel Boone trying to shoot a lion, which Marvel informs him is made of stone. He finds a Native American chief chasing a thief to get his scalp, but his hair comes off as he is wearing a toupee. Cap stops the burglar with a single blow, then sees smoke ahead, and finds Oob the caveman cooking meat in the middle of the street. When Cap tries to stop him, Oob smashes his club over Cap's head, thinking he is trying to steal the meat, but Cap says he only wants to put the fire out, which he does, as he does not want it to spread. He tells Oog this is not One Million B.C, so he cannot build a fire in any place. When he tries to take Oob back, the caveman says they fled because Wunder is a cruel master who unwillingly dragged them from their own times and pays them nothing. Cap finds a wanted poster revealing Wunder is from the future and wanted for swindling, robbery and theft of time ship. This is odd as the mention of a time ship must have meant Wunder returned to his own period, or it took time for him to work the time ship and he took the poster with him. Cap says he will find Wunder, causing the historical figures' excitement as they like 1951 and want to stay. But Cap thinks it would be better to take them back to their own times, or they will drive everybody wild. Wunder tries to escape in the Time Ship, but the Mammoth knocks him away, Cap says 'Elephants never forget," in reference to the whipping. Later, Billy makes a broadcast saying Cap returned the visitors back to the past, and delivered Doc Wunder to the police in 2488.[17]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #1. Billy receives a radio message from another planet about a race of Dragon men that have enslaved the humanoid population. Using a spaceship taken from an evil scientist (probably Sivana) he travels to Saturn, but the ship is hit by a weapon while over Saturn, so he uses his cape to parachute down. He finds a group of people who reveal a legend of a Thunder God who would one day free them from the Invaders, who are rumoured to come from another world. An old scientist Dharka reveals he sent the message to Earth. However a traitor, Ghoppo, tells of Cap's existence to the Dragon Men, who capture him with a paralysing ray. The Emperor sentences him to death, ordering the Executioner to split him in two, but the axe bounces off his body and strikes another Dragon Man, who is taken to the hospital. He is then sealed in concrete and when the ray wears off he is questioned by the Emperor. After hearing that not all men on Earth are like Cap, and that he is the mightiest of them, he decides to invade Earth. However, Cap turns to Billy Batson, enabling him to escape the concrete. Ghoppo sees him and alerts the Dragon Men, but after they return and find Captain Marvel still there as he had sneaked back, Ghoppo is executed. Captain Marvel then leads a rebellion and when a Dragon Man throws a bomb at him he throws it back, killing numerous Dragon Men. The Dragon Men are wiped out, but before returning he says Dharka should be leader.[18]
Only appearing in World’s Finest Comics #255, Dreamdancer was a woman whose dance could entrance men. She brought Captain Marvel and Bulletman under her hypnotic sway in this way.
An intelligent gorilla that fought Captain Marvel in "Special Edition Comics" #1.
First Captain Marvel non-Sivana foe and only appearing in "Whiz Comics" #5. After five years of work, Dr. Aloysius Lake creates a machine with which he plans to take over the country. Billy Batson's investigation in Washington of $250,000,000 worth of jewels being stolen across the country leads him to a modern Fagin robbery ring when he follows a hypnotized looking boy, where he is briefly hypnotized by a strange machine before two thieves break him out of his trance when they attempt to rob the same jewelry store Billy has been ordered to rob. Captain Marvel then hypnotizes the rings leader after his magic lightning gets the boys out of their trances, and finds out Doctor Aloysius Lake is the leader and has rings in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. He breaks up the New York, then Chicago ring, before finding out Lake is the leader of the San Francisco Ring. Under the pretense of joining the gang, Billy confronts the Doctor, summons Captain Marvel, then arrests the Doctor.[19]
Only appearing in Wow Comics #23. A short villain of high malevolence. Through unexplained means he captures Mary Batson, hoping to kill her as he thinks she is a friend of Mary Marvel. He ties her to a log in a saw-mill and gags her, then activates the engines. However just before she is killed Mary is taken to 2999 by some kids who were trying to summon Mary Marvel. They hope to revolt against the system there, where they are quickly educated by robots. Mary is given the pills that give knowledge and are now used for lessons. She transforms again to try stopping the revolt, but as Mary Marvel she feels sick and weak. She already possesses the knowledge the pills gave her so she has 'mental indigestion'. She is then captured by Dr. Dwarf, who was also sent to the Future. He takes her to a cellar where he has an Assembly of Robots planning to take over the Earth. They are clearly bsed on the Nazis here, giving the salute and saying 'Hail Der Dwarf.' Mary is then thrown into a Furnace where she is subjected to the heat of 1,974,230,469.989 Fahrenheit. However when she can't last much longer the indigestion is baked out of her. She makes them think she is joining in with their revolt, and together they defeat the Robot revolt. Mary is then sent back to the Saw-Mill of the 20th Century. Dr. Dwarf is mistaken for a child in 2999 and in school, where the teacher thinks he is telling fibs when he says he is a crook of the 20th Century.
A scientist who after 20 years work perfects a three-dimensional camera. Only appearing in "Whiz Comics" #9. It transforms a man's body into a three-dimensional negative in a gelatine-like substance, which when washed in a developing solution dissolves, leaving a miniaturized human. It can make a six-foot man six inches tall. After the Elban Crown Jewels, worth $50,000,000 disappear, Billy investigates and sees lines in the dust. Finding Dr. Durgan has bought a miniature airplane, Billy visits him, but is told to stay out by Durgan. Seeing a toy autogyro, he turns into Captain Marvel, who seizes it. Turning back into Billy Batson, he sees a tiny man inside who has stolen a gold watch. However, he is then captured by Dr. Durgan, who uses his hand to stop Billy speaking. Billy is then bound to a chair and gagged. Durgan demonstrates the process on his chauffeur Pete, then tells him to steal $10,000,000 of Elban bonds from the city bank. He then prepares to shrink Billy, then let a snake kill him. However, the first tiny man frees Billy. His hands freed, Billy rips the gag from his mouth and transforms. He then stops Durgan using his camera. However Durgan won't says how to restore people. Cap ties him to a chair in front of the camera. He shrinks Durgan down. The first tiny man fights Durgan, who reveals where an enlarger is, which Captain Marvel uses to enlarge the first man, who reveals himself as Elban citizen, Derek Morgan. Capt removes the jewels from a safe, then goes to the bank to find it has been robbed. He goes back, but finds a bound and gagged Derek, who when freed reveals Durgan and Pete enlarged themselves and the autogyro and are heading for the Mexican border. Captain Marvel makes their plane crash and captures them, returning their loot and sending the two to jail.[20]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #87. Many years ago a Pharaoh is buried in a pyramid. Pa Potter later clears it out, thinking it is a dusty antique. Later, while cleaning, Mary says they should open it. Inside they find a muumy with a shrunken head. Pa reads the hieroglyphics and says the man was stricken by the Pinhead Plague, which caused the heads of living people to shrink. Mary thinks it must have died out, and Billy shuts the sarcophagus again. Pa's head starts shrinking down however, and the doctor says there is no modern remedy for it. He claims the patient, dying by inches, feels no pain an is a delirium of joy. The unknown germs are from 3000 B.C. Freddy is told, and claims in the newspaper he found out about Dr. Roy Ralston, who was deported last year, is doing medical research in Cambodia, near Anckor Watt. He is the only living expert on ancient diseases. The Marvel Family transform, but Ralston was deported and has no passport to re-enter, so he cannot be brought to America. Potter cannot be moved from his bed or house, one jar could be fatal, so the house is taken. They see Ralston being gored by a water buffalo and chase him away, but find Roy has no pulse and is apparently dead.
However Cap says hearts have been started up by electric shock. The lightning is used, and Freddy gives Roy artificial respiration. They tell him about Pa Potter and he begins work, examining the mummy. However a man of Asian appearance with two other thugs comes along just when Ralston has made plaguecillin, and tells Ralston to sell his discovery. Ralston tells Ivan Ching to go away, but he offers $50,000. He reminds him he was deported for trying new experiments on human who dies, so he owes America revenge. The youngsters hear the talk, and Billy says Ivan Ching is a notorious red agent. But the Doctor refuses, and when Ching says to his thugs they must use 'Persuasion,' the Marvel Family is summoned, and chases the agents away. Ralston says they went the Germs and Cure for bacteriological warfare, they could drop pinhead plague germs on America and millions would suffer, they could first inoculate their own people to safety. Ralston says he will purify the cure first, but that night a stone tower collapses, which could destroy all the ruins,crushing Pa and the Doctor. Mary and Jr. bring a Hindu idol which supports the tower, not thinking of merely pushing the tower away. They then find Ralston, and the Sarcophagus gone, and signs of a struggle, and realize the tower was a decoy by Ching, who is taking the plague, cure, and Doctor away on an elephant. Jr. says it is to dark to follow any trail, even an elephants. Is that dramatic irony, or did he just know, in which case how did he find out? But Cap uses an Indian trick of sound carrying through ground. Jr. stops the elephant, Mary takes the Doctor and sarcophagus, and Marvel knocks the spies over. Ralston then administers the cure at dawn. But Pa has trauma reaction shock and needs a blood transfusion, so the kids transform, and it is revealed that Freddy has the wrong blood type. But the kids are then struck from behind with a plank of wood, and when they come to they are bound hand and foot, mouths gagged. They are on a giant stone drum ringed with spikes, with a huge stone idol holding a hammer above it. A voice says in ancient days they made sacrifices to this idol. A lever makes the arm and hammer swing down, to crush the victims like bugs. Billy thinks Ching is behind it as the hammer comes slowly, but steadily. Why did not they imprison Ching?
But Freddy uses his crutch to stand up, and making up for not giving blood to Pa, removes his gag on a spike and becomes Captain Marvel Jr. He then smashes the hammer, and frees the other two, who also transform. They find a scrawled message saying 'SPIES GOT ME, THIS WAY' under which is an arrow pointing to the right. The Marvels find the hide-out, with pictures of Mao Tse-Tung and Malenkov on it, but the spies surrender, and reveal they gave up trying to get Dr. Ralston. Pa is recovering, but the sarcophagus, plague, and Doctor are gone. Billy says he has a hunch they will find the thief in the ruins, but a trapdoor opens, plunging them towards a fire god idol's jaws, which connect to an underground pool of molten lava. The person who yells this must have said this very quickly, as the Idol is a short distance below, and the Marvels transform before they enter the jaws. The villain pushes a minaret towards the house, but it falls apart as it is hit. However Mary moved Ma and Pa Potter from the house, he can be moved safely since he got the serum. They find Ralston, and it is revealed he was behind it like Billy figured. He cured Pa as he knew Plaguecillin would be important, and turned down the money knowing he could get a million dollars easily from red agents. Mary says they should never have trusted anybody deported from America, and they throw the plague into the fire idol, and leave the bound Ralston for the authorities. They take the Potters back, but a doctor says it will take at least a year for Pa's shrunken head to return to normal size, so Billy and Mary leave, and move into Freddy's boarding house, owned by Landlady Mrs Wagner.[15]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #145. Professor Edgewise's Kiss-Of-Fire gun is being tested but instead aims at Billy and the Professor. Billy summons Captain Marvel who stops the blast. Because of this the army will not let Edgewise's Atomic Jet plane be tested as test pilots are not allowed, so Captain Marvel takes the position. However it crashes at 2000 mph, and Captain Marvel reveals someone deliberately sawed through several bolts. As Professor Edgewise was the only person working on it he is arrested as a spy. Cap tries to get him released, but is told by the General all the other men on the project have had their records checked and nothing suspicious was found. He invented a new detonator for H-Bombs, but after what happened to his other inventions nobody can be asked to test it. To prove Edgewise's innocence Cap volunteers. On a deserted island he arms the explosive to go off in ten minutes, but it goes off in a few seconds, shaking the whole island. Cap survives, though his uniform will need repairing. The technicians think this proves he is a spy, but Cap thinks it proves a saboteur is at work. Knowing a new Space Station of Edgewise will soon be tested, Cap tells the men to go ahead, as he has a plan to reveal the identity of the saboteur. The Professor is paroled in Cap's custody, and calls Edgewise's colleagues. Though there is no suspicion cast on them, he knows one of them is a spy. Dr. Torpe says he will not be accused of treason and says he will leave, though Cap says this is the only way to clear Edgewise's name, the others agree with him. But Cap takes the whole building to the Space Station and forces all the occupants on the Station which will soon become a satellite of Earth. Though Torpe says it is illegal to force them to go with him, Cap says he is getting off. But he becomes Billy Batson, thinking the real Traitor would not reveal himself if he thought Captain Marvel was around and sure to save him, and claims he was on the Space Station to do a broadcast when it started to ascend. Saying they are nearly 200,000 feet high, Dr Torpe says he planned for the Anti-Gravity spheres to come loose. Billy suspected him ((Sarcastic) What a surprise!), and knew the fear of his own death would make the saboteur tell the truth. He transforms as the spheres break and repairs them. While the others continue with the experimental flight he takes Torpe to the FBI. He confesses he took the place of the real Torpe to sabotage Edgewise's inventions. Edgewise has mislied his speech for this occasion, causing Cap to think that although he is as absent-minded as ever, 'there's no denying that he is a genius.'[21]
Captain Marvel's very first and primary foe. Thaddeus Sivana, a bald, diminutive mad scientist, often attempts to take over the world or destroy the Marvels using his inventions. hIn Pre-crisis continuity he was originally dismissed from the Scientific community as his inventions were called a fake so he travelled to Venus. Sivana's teenage children Georgia and Thaddeus Sivana, Jr. often joined their father in his evil schemes; the three of them are collectively known as the Sivana Family. In addition, there are two other children of Sivana, Magnificus and Beautia, who are staunch friends of the Marvel Family. In current DC Universe continuity, Sivana was a mega corporation head who was eventually ruined because of his early battles against Captain Marvel and implications in the deaths of Billy Batson's parents. Currently, he operates underground and heads the Fearsome Five, a team of supervillains, who have fought both the Teen Titans and the Outsiders.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #58. The Marvels are summoned to the Rock of Eternity by Shazam. Shazam on his Chronoscope shows a danger to civilisation. Leonardo Da Vinci, who is called the greatest genius of all past ages, is shown in 1500 being attacked by a hooded figure who Shazam says they shall call Doctor X. He then shows the greatest scientist of 3000 AD, Master Zane, being attacked by Doctor Y, who has a Y on his hood. Then in 1951 Professor Bockberg the Mathmatician is shown being attacked by Doctor Z. Shazam says these three men are the Greatest Geniuses of human history of the Past, Present, and Future. Doctor X, Y, and Z are planning to steal their minds. Shazam says he cannot tell any more, but they will conquer all civilisation for all time if they suceed. Jr. goes to the past, Mary to Future, and Captain Marvel to Present. Jr thinks he is attracting too much attention so becomes Freddy again. He cleans up Da Vinci's studio while the genius works on a submarine. But Doctor X, with an X on his head, comes up through the floor using a trapdoor and knocks Freddy out. When he comes to he and Da Vinci are both tied to chairs and gagged. X has connected a device to the brain of Da Vinci which will record the convulations of Da Vinci's brain onto the mechanical brain. With the minds of te Geniuses he plans to make weapons to crush civilisation. When he finishes he throws a knife at Da Vinci but Freddy starins up out of his chair and cuts his gag off, allowing him to transform. He saves Da Vinci stopping the knife with hs hand. X escapes in a Rocket shp which is a Time ship, but Jr. holds it and is dragged through time. In 1951 the rockets are turned on knocking Jr. off, but it moves towards a cave, which Jr. follows it to. In 3000 Mary Marvel is sent out of Zane's lab as he is busy. She pretends to be his daugter Kitty as he is near-sighted. He completes invention 6,787, and she says he is the Thomas Edison of the Future. However Y then swings down and knocks her out. When Mary comes to she is tied on a chair and gagged, while Zane is strapped to a chair and the metal brain has taken his knowledge. Y sets the place on fire, but Mary sticks her face in the flames so her gag burns of and she transforms. She takes Zane out, then chases Y through time by hanging onto his ship. Again she follows him into a cave. Cap watches Bockberg for hours but distracts him so turns to Billy, saying he wants to hear about his new formula. Bockberg says his formula controls htought and they can build thought broadcasters someday like radio stations, but Billy is knocked out from behind by Z's gun-blow to the head. He and Bockberg are tied to chairs and Billy is gagged. Before Bockberg can be shot after Z has the recording of his brain, Billy gets his gag off by hooking it on the gun, transforms, stops the bullets, then unties Bockberg and chases Z to the cave, where he meets the other 2 Marvels. They fly in and Cap defeats Z, but they can't find the other two. Cap realises X, Y, and Z were the same guy. In answer to Mary asking how they could be fought at the same time, Cap points out they fought him in different times. Shazam says only the Marvel Family could have stopped the attack and Cap smashes the metal brain. Presumably the villain goes to jail.
Only appearing in Mary Marvel #16. Doc Younger is released from prison after 40 years, 35 when arrested, 75 now. However in the pharmacy he worked out how to make a serum that would make him young again. He gets to a hospital to steal the last ingredient Hormone-G. However Mary is working due to a shortage of work and seeing him, transforms and stops him. He pretends to have a heart-stroke and while Mary Marvel gets a Doctor he escapes with Hormone-G. He then makes the pills and takes one, taking 25 years off and making him 50. He thinks of selling them, but wants revenge first. On a bus he holds up Mary, but she transforms and takes him to the Police. But on the way he takes another pill, making him 35. At the station Mary sees a different man, not noticing he is wearing exactly the same clothes. Mary thinks she must have accidentally let go of his arm and grabbed someone elses. Doc Younger reads Alicia De Haven, the richest young debutante in the country wins high honours at May Flowers school, and decides to kidnap her. Next day he hides on campus and places a hood over her hood while she is walking with Mary and not at all guarded. Mary transforms and removes the hood, but the crook takes another pill and becomes 20, which nobody else notices despite all the students walking past him. He tells Mary he saw the Kidnapper run away, she does not notice he is wearing the same clothes. He decides to get Mary who has called Mary Marvel three times. He offers to carry her bags, then at a secluded spot near his car he hits her with her bookbag, knocking her out. When she comes to she is securely tied to a chair and gagged. He reveals who he is and about his youth pills. He decides to feed her one which will turn her into helpless little baby and removes her gag to give her one, enabling her to transform to Mary Marvel, who is not effected by the pill. He then decides to take his last two pills as a baby cannot be convicted. However he turns into a man of 90, as to many damaged the tissues. He is then taken back to prison for another 20 years.[22]
Three evil stereotypical Japanese scientists during the war and members of the Monster Society of Evil, who are all fanged. They claim to also be members of the Black Dragon Society of Murder, the Tokyo Torture Temple, and the Jap Jab-in-the-Back Club.
With Mister Mind they try to lift the Great Wall of China using electrical forces, which will help the Japanese Invasion. Billy Batson finds them, but Mr Mind tells them what to do. They seize Billy, preventing him from speaking, then tie him up and gag him. At Mister Minds orders they attach him to the wires. They plan for the electrical force they are using on the Wall to kill Billy. Billy is electrocuted, but his gag is burnt off, and a second before he would be turned into a cinder he transforms. He then destroys the electrical device. While he is reporting to Station Whiz though, he does not notice Mister Mind, who quickly spins silk round his moth to gag him, then spins round his whole body to create a cocoon. However Billy escapes in the next issue.
As this was wartime, there were a lot of negative portrayals of other nationalities. However these portrayals have now been called racist.
The real life uncle of Billy Batson. When rich he threw the poor boy out to get his trust fund, as Shazam shows Billy in "Whiz Comics" #2. Eventually, he fell on hard times and he visited Billy at the radio station, hoping to get money from him, erroneously thinking that Billy must be rich being a famous boy broadcaster. Failing that, he gets the idea that as Billy's real uncle, he'd expose Uncle Dudley as a fraud and gain control over all the money that Shazam, Inc brings in. And, failing in that but succeeding in getting a job as a clerk for Shazam, Inc, he contrives a fake emergency at sea (that turns out to be real) to get Captain Marvel and Dudley out of the office while he robs the company safe (attributing it to a gang of thieves) and from there he searches Billy's apartment for his "riches". However, Dudley had stumbled on to his lies and plans and alerts Billy who summons Captain Marvel who retrieves the money and kicks Uncle Ebenezer out to never return, preferring his fraud uncle to his real one. In Post-Crisis, Ebenezar Batson only steals Billy's trust fund. However, he inures the enmity of the Arson Fiend.
Only appearing in "Whiz Comics" #13. Billy is alerted when the Gnatzi Consul warns a U.S rescue ship of refugees may be sunk. Billy goes to Europe to stop this and on the way he prevents ann enemy plane destroying the aeroplane he is on. He finds out Edward Smith is in charge of the refugees and has over 200 of them in the building, he claims it is bomb-proof, but leaves for a meeting during an air raid. A bomb sets the building on fire, but Captain Marvel uses a barrage balloon filled with water to put out the fire and takes the Nazi propeller to suck the poison gas fumes out. He is suspicious of Mr. Edward Smith leaving and gets onto the ship the refugees are on. Billy hides and sees Smith use a flashlight message at night to contact a boat which takes him from the ship. A submarine then fires a torpedo at the ship, but Captain Marvel sends it back toward the submarine, destroying it. All the submarine's crew is rescued and Billy then reveals Smith is Nazi agent Doktor Hans Krauss who planned to kill the refugees. 5 days later the ship reaches New York with the Nazis prisoners.[23]
Cousin to the Clayton Family, heir to a large fortune after Mr Clayton's Uncle dies. After the father, mother, and son disappear, the family Lawyer asks Billy to get the Marvel Family to find them. Their cousin Egbert tells Cap they just ran away a few months ago. They find they bought a small launch and went to a small island, where they are living in a cave as hermits. They were driven there by a letter from some 'Killers,' as a few years ago, Mr Clayton was witness in a murder trial, giving the Killer the electric chair, and this letter seems to be from his friends. When eh went to the police, gunshots drove him away. The Marvel Family then bring the Clayton's inheritance to the island, including a castle, but the Killers have apparently followed the Marvels and shoot at the Claytons, then push a stone block from the Castle towards them, but Cap stops both attempts. He leaves the safe open, and when the criminals try to steal the money, Mary and Jr. drop a turret onto them. Their leader tries to escape in his launch which he arrived in, but Cap has been waiting for him and unmasks him, revealing him to be Cousin Egbert, who wanted to kill the Claytons to steal their fortune, and hired thugs so he could pretend it was Killers who wanted revenge. The Claytons say they want to continue living on the Island with the property the Marvels brought there, but Egbert becomes a hermit in a jail cell.
Homer Drizzle is a life insurance salesman who is not doing very well. He is told by his boss Mr Jones that he has one last chance, if he can sell life insurance to Captain Marvel he will be made new sales manager. Skink, another employee, is upset as he thought he was going to get that job, so he complains, then when Jones says not even he can sell it to Cap, Skink goes of to try. Billy has finished his broadcast, and when Susy tells him about Homer Drizzle he thinks it is about the petition for beautifying the city zoo, which he promised to sign. He asks for the pen, but when Drizzle says he wanted Captain Marvel, he transforms and signs. Drizzle tries to explain, but thinking it wold take too long because he is stuttering, Cap claims Billy Batson explained everything. Skink meets Drizzle, and decides to stop him, so takes him of for 'a celebration.' Meanwhile a Woman with the real zoo petition has turned up, so Cap goes to find Drizzle. Skink has told the barman who wants the papers intact but he does not care what happens to Homer Drizzle. Skink tells Drizzle there is someone in the back room who'd like to meet Homer, and tells him he can sell him life insurance. When Homer asks 'Wh-Who is he?' he is told 'You'll find out!' Cap hears him being attacked, so leaps into the dark room and defeats the two thugs, though he recognizes Drizzle because of his stutter. Cap asks for the paper, not realizing one of the thugs is crawling away with it. When Drizzle tells him it is life insurance he does not believe him, and when Drizzle tries to find it, he cannot. Skink thinks Drizzle was knocked unconscious, but meets the thug who gives him the papers, and when asked what happened he falls over. Drizzle says Skink could have taken the policy back to the Office for him, and directs Marvel, who flies with him, back to the Office. Jones is amazed, and is told by Skink nobody can resist a sales talk from him. He says Drizzle got tossed out before him, and claims he told Cap he was getting older and weaker every day, not realizing Cap has flown in the window and is behind him. When he sees Cap behind him he faints. Homer hopes Skink is insured, but Cap says he never bought any life insurance from him and never intended to buy any insurance. Homer is leaving, but Cap says Homer Drizzle persuaded him he was wrong, and he will take the policy. Jones then makes Drizzle sales manager. Billy says Cap believes everybody should safeguard their future.[24]
A member of the Monster Society of Evil. A one-eyed humanoid monster with the ability to hypnotize. When Mr Mind tries to write a book about himself, Mind Kampf, to convince people he should be their leader, Billy Batson meets a thug who is selling parts of it, and says he would like to come along to the printers. The thug says Mr Mind recently killed one of the staff in a fit of anger so Billy can take his position. When Billy gets there Mr Mind recognizes him and orders Evil Eye to hypnotize him. Billy then obeys orders to advertise the book over the radio, say Captain Marvel is bad, and complement Mr Mind. Evil Eye is ordered to tell Billy to get to work but snaps his fingers at him, getting him out of the hypnotic sway. He summons Captain Marvel, who is apparently hypnotized as well. Mr Mind puts him to work printing new copies, but finds out too late that Cap was not hypnotized and what he wrote is criticizing Mr Mind.[25]
An inventor who invents a Fight Ray, which wn=hen directed on two people or tow groups makes them start fighting. Cap stops two men fighting in the streets, they say they were perfect strangers and cannot remember why they were fighting. Cobb reveals himself, but Cap does not believe him, and thinks it is merely a hot day. Cobb decies to prove it, and after finding most of the Police are in the W Side on a clean-up who targets the Sky and Everest Building in the East Side. An Office Boy fires a paper clip at the Everest Building, causing something to be fired back. This continues until a small war is on between the Buildings. Billy wants to interview a man at the Sky Building, but finds stuff being thrown from the Everest Building. He flies in there and asks why thye are throwing stuff at the Sky Building, to which he is told 'Because they're throwing stuff at us.' Captain Marvel realises this is a war between buildings and wonders how it started. Cobb sends a note to the Mayor saying he started the fight and will make the entire city fight unless he is paid $1,000,000 from the city treasury. Cap remembers Cobb and flies to a building where twin rays are coming from. He knocks out Cobb and smashes the machine, stopping the fighting. Cobb is jailed and in each building a collection is taken up to pay for the damge to the other building. The next day the two buildings have a grand picnic together.
Only appearing in Wow Comics #9, Mary Marvel's first appearence in Wow Comics. Mary Batson invites Orphan children to her home for Christmas. She and her adoptive mother go to buy presents for the children. At a large Toy Shop a clerk acts strangely, saying he wants to hide a Toy Band so nobody buys it. When Mrs Bromfield asks if they have a Toy Band he says they are out of them, but they are wound up and march out. The clerk says they are not worth her money and not for sale. When she insists on buying them the Clerk takes out a bat, threatening to hit her. Mary wants to get help, then remembers to transform. She says the clerk should sell it, and when he hits her the bat breaks on her head. She throws him away then transforms. The Manager lets them buy the Band and discharges the Clerk, who tells a group of crooks who bought them, one says he was supposed to buy them like a customer. At the Bromfield House on Christmas Eve the orphans play then go to bed. Mary stays up to read, reading The Night before Christmas. Then a 'Santa' comes down the chimmney and starts taking presents. Three more come down and take the Toy-Band players. Mary transfoms to a Marvel, and has machine-gun bullets fired at her, which bounce off. She crumples the gun like tissue paper, not wanting the orphan kids to be woken. The crooks all attack her at once, but are knocked aside. One smashes a chair over her head, but she withstands that. The crooks leap out of the window with their loot, but she flies out and brings them back. However Mrs Bromfield has woken and calls to Mary. Mary is about to revive the crooks to ask why they want the Toy Band, but doesn't want Mrs Bromfield to know about the crooks or it would spoil her Christmas. She transforms behind a curtain to muffle the sound and says she knocked over a lamp. Mrs Bromfield says she'll go back to sleep and tells Mary not to stay up too late. However when Mary goes downstairs again she is seized and prevented from speaking by one of the Santas. Mary is then tied to a chair and gagged, and one Santa decides she is a witness and must be taken care off. He prepares to cosh her, but other Santa come down thee chimmney who see what is happening. One revels himself as Captain Marvel, who saves Mary, the other two are Mr. Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid who stop two other crooks. Cap removes Mary's gag, and she says she is ashamed at getting caught and wants to handle the last crook herself. She transforms and defeats him. One of the Toys breaks open, revealing Jewels inside. She realises the crooks were Jewel Smugglers, who got Jewels past the police by hiding them in toys. However the rest of the house has been awaken. Cap sees it is 12 O'Clock, causing all the heroes to say 'Merry Christmas.' The crooks are preseumably arrested.
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #20. A criminal boss who steals the Horn of Plenty, trying to find the magic word which makes things come out. He accidentally stumbles upon the word and money starts coming out, however it begins to crush them, but Cap comes along and tries to stop it. Captain Marvel asks for flowers to come out, then caterpillars to eat them, then birds to eat these, then wolves to eat those. He thinks he may have to summon lions next, but Steamboat Willy, who earlier used the horns to make apple pies come out, but then stopped it, accidentally makes plenty of nothing come out. The word turns out to be plenty, but Cap buries it ten miles underground. Fingers is presumably jailed.[4]
Based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Four spirits of destruction that the Marvel Family are warned about by Shazam. They cause evil around the world. For example they cause Verndt (see below), an oil baron, to set fire to his dried up wells for insurance, which nearly leads to Mary Marvel's death by fire, though Captain Marvel rescues her. They are finally defeated.[26]
April–July 1941, "Captain Marvel Adventures" #2. Sivana's latest scheme is to shrink Billy Batson/Captain Marvel with a formula while he pretends to be selling sodas and giving a free one for every customer, and throws him in a potted plant before he shrinks down to microscopic size. Beautia happens to come in and protests, so dear old dad shrinks her too. Captain Marvel saves Beautia from an insect-like germs, but is then forced to turn to Billy to escape from a giant carnivorous plant Sivana tricks him into diving into. In this world of giant plants and strange creatures, Billy and Beautia meet up with a humanoid race that call themselves the Germ People, who revere Sivana who visits and teaches them, making them the masters of the microscopic world. Beautia is taken as a slave to the chief's wife, while Billy is forced to fight for his life against the chief's champion, a magician with a whistle given by Sivana that summons all sorts of creatures. While he as Captain Marvel defeats the creatures and kills the chief when they attack him, Beautia finds the potion that Sivana uses to grow himself after his visits in the chief's hut. She and Captain Marvel then take it, and return to their normal sizes, Captain Marvel defeats Sivana. Unfortunately for the Germ People, once her normal size, Beautia sprays the potted plant with some old fashioned germ killer.[3]
A crook who faced Captain Marvel and used smokescreens to make his escape. He later returns in Shazam #13 where he tries to make the members of the Mary Marvel club think their clubhouse is haunted. He fires bullets that form ghostly figures while supplying the voices, and uses compressed air to blow out the candles. Mary realises the ghosts smell of phosphorus, she flies outside and captures Gordon, then ties him up and reveals how he caused the happenings. She checks under the clubhouse and finds loot from Ghost Gordon's crimes were hidden there, he wanted to scare the club away so he could get the loot back.[27]
1944, "Captain Marvel Adventures" #40. John Larch was the bellringer of the western town Chimeville, announcing births, deaths, weddings, etc. He accidentally falls and dies from a broken back, and subsequently buried at the base of the bell tower. Later, Chimeville is plagued by mysterious deaths and a "ghost" ringing the bell, announcing each death. Billy Batson is sent by the radio station to investigate and he comes across a strange and agile hunchback claiming to be the ghost and seems to vanish without a trace. Ultimately, Captain Marvel captures and reveals the hunchback as Larch himself who had gone mad when found buried alive and was killing off those who buried him.[28]
1941, "America's Greatest Comics" #1. Al Spriggins, radio broadcaster for W.T.E.L. kills the inventor of the invulnerable Z-metal, the scientist known only as Hugo who has been working for weeks on it, and steals the secret. He then builds a suit of armor which he hid under black robes and hood. The Ghost plans to attack Navy ships in his indestructible submarine, leaving messages in which he accepts responsibility, and broadcasts threats on radio, planning to become a dictator. He seems to have a diving suit concealed in his costume, as he is able to swim underwater without discomfort. The Ghost ruthlessly kills henchmen that fail him, emerging from the water to murder them and dragging them down. He captures Billy at the Panama canal, jumping from a boat and dragging him down. He orders his henchmen to bind and gag him and give him artificial respiration. He escapes the Ghost when one of the henchmen removes the gag while mocking him by asking if he wants pie, but then not giving it to him to mock him. The Ghost, after the submarine is torn open kills the two henchmen. After a full-blown knock-down fight, Captain Marvel manages to bust open the submarine and armor and capture then unmask the Ghost, who fires at a General in anger, but the bullet bounces back of Captain Marvel and kills the Ghost.[29]
April 1946 (?), "Captain Marvel Jr." #37. In 1846, a man is sent to prison for a 99 year sentence. While there, he reads and studies every book on crime as well as exercising and keeping his body in tip top shape so that a century later, he is released from prison having served his entire term. Armed with a sword cane and having a long bushy graybeard he takes over a gang and puts his prison education to work. His crime wave brings him to the attention of Captain Marvel Jr, but even Junior has trouble outsmarting the old crime lord. In fact, at the end of #37, the Graybeard was still on the loose.[30]
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #80, the Great Red Brain was used by Tong to devise strategies to defeat the American forces during the Korean War. It even used its telepathy to halt the Marvel Family. The Marvel Family managed to defeat the Great Red Brain by breaking its protective casing. As the Brain fell out of its casing, it seemingly crushed and killed Tong, but Tong survived to battle the Marvel Family another day.[31]
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #76. While the Marvels are watching Operation Atom, an atomic plant in the desert, they come across Gremlins. The Marvels first think they want to damage the weapons, then the Gremlins say they want Operation Atom to succeed. Later, when the Marvels are in their civilian forms and riding a truck, Mary is first knocked out with a spanner, then so are the other Marvels. They are bound and gagged by the Gremlins, who reveal they are from another world and want to steal the Atomic weapons. They are thrown into the desert by the Gremlins, who hijack the truck. The Marvels first think they will die from the heat, butare caught in a sandstorm, but Billy removes his gag on a dead cactus, transforms, rescues the Marvels and the driver, and goes back to protect the atomic devices. The Marvels foil the first attempted robbery, but the Gremlins escape. In their ship, they bury the workers' homes with sand to lure the Marvels away, then steal the weapons and take the cadmium control rods from the atomic pile, meaning the Marvels have to let them escape to stop the Dynamo's boiler from exploding using cadmium rods to hold it together. They follow rocket smoke to the planet Zorkia, where it is revealed the mastermind is Glozzk, a former munitions maker of atomic bombs, who went bankrupt when war was outlawed. He plans to use the inventions to win the atomic fair, then manufacture more of them, starting an atomic monopoly. The Marvels use the atomic inventions to win the fair, saying they will send the blueprints later. Glozzk drops an atomic bomb toward the fair, but is found by atomic radar, the weapon is stopped, and he is presumably jailed.[32]
Only appearing in Whiz Comics #116. Billy is taking a poll to find out how many people in a village tune into Station Whiz, it having no radio station of its own. He finds a gypsy troup, including dancing, then a knife-throwing act. They attract most of the townspoeple, but seem to be involved in shady activity. Billy tries several houses but no one answers. However he sees someone inside one of them. Gypsy Joe and two others are looting the empty homes while the show keeps the town occupied. Billy transforms and runs at the thieves, knocking them over. Joe's knife obunces off, so he cuts a telephone wire, which Cap holds to stop a fire enabling the Gypsies to escape. It is an hour before he is free again, and by then the camp is gone. The Wagons and Horses are inside a trailer truck, meaning as Cap searches the only main road leaving town he cannot find them. At the next town he tries taking the poll, and finds the Gypsies again. He flies to the swankier section of town, but finds the Burglars are Women, who Cap feels he cannot strike, which the Gypsies planned. However with the ashcans he barricades the Women on Main Street, hoping to run them to the Police. However one hurls a knife at a truck's tyre, and while Cap stops the truck, the troup leaves town. They must be very quick. Cap uses the tyre-marks to deduce that they hide the Wagons and Horses inside a large trailer. He follows it to the next town and knocks down Gypsy Joe. Gypsy Joe says Cap cannot prove robbery unless he produces the loot as evidence. Cap cannot find the loot, and Joe tells 'Grandma' that Cap is leaving. Wonder where the loot is hidden? Cap, once out of earshot, turns to Billy to spy on them. Billy sees Women's wigs on the line, but trips over a stone, crashing into Grandma who oddly enough does not move or make a sound. But Billy is suddenly grabbed by one of the Gypsies who stops him from speaking. The Gypsies gag Billy and tie him to a tree, and Joe starts throwing his knives closer and closer. But one knife slices the gag apart, enabling Billy to transform. He fights the 'Women,' realising from the wigs they were men posing as women. He subdues the gang and finds they are not gypsies under their swathy grease-paint, just a gang of thugs. And the loot is inside the Grandma dummy. The gang is jailed, and Billy finds from a Woman that she listens to Whiz every day and espically likes Billy's voice.[33]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #133. The neighbourhood loafer. When Billy moves into a new home he meets Gus, who pushes past him. He transforms to Captain Marvel. To escape, Gus sets fire to the clothes line Ma Potter is putting clothes on. Cap saves her and a boy uses a gun that fires a pellet that gives off foam and puts out the flame. The boy introduces himself as Dexter Knox, and says he likes inventing things. Cap becomes Billy Batson to make friends with Dexter, who reveals his parents are poor and the device will make money. He reveals who the thug from before was. They decide to get the gun patented. When they go into the shed they meet Gus, who knocks out, then binds and gags the two. He reveals he started the fire to see how the gun worked, and wants to make money himself. He sprays a pellet at both of their faces to suffocate them. But Dexter uses his feet to activate the helical fan he made, which blows away the foam. Billy then removes his gag on the fan, transforms, and frees Dexter, asking where Gus lives. Dexter goes outside to show him, but sees his house is on fire. When the firemen come, the villain says he will put it out with his Quench Gun, but Cap knocks him out, realising he started the fire to show the gun. The real inventor puts it out. Gus goes to jail and the fire department will apparently pay well for the gun. That night at Haven House Billy feels he will like this neighbourhood.[34]
An agent who tells Mr Tawny he can make a great singer out of him. Though his voice is terrible, people will want to see a singing tiger. When Billy tells him not to be forced into something he does not want, and when Hooey tries to stop him he transforms and tries to throw him out. But Hal flatters Tawny, making him sign the contract. When Cap criticises him, Hal claims he is jealous. A Gala party is arranged to celebrate this next day, but Hal drops the invitation to Captain Marvel into the bin as he wants their friendship to break up. The feud will be good publicity. Tawney is upset Cap does not turn up, and Cap is upset Tawney did not invite him. A fire breaks out from a dropped match and Cap puts it out, but they are still angry at each other. Odd that Cap with the wisdom of Solomon could not act more cleverly. The news spreads of the 'feud' and it is claimed Cap will beat up Tawky if he meets him again and on the radio it is reported Tawny called Captain Marvel a big red cheese. The publicity means seats are sold out for the performance, and when Billy comes to try to patch up the friendship he is kncoked out by Hooey and locked in the prop room. Tawny is booed for his awful singing, and Billy is woken up by this, summons Captain Marvel, and stops the hurled projectiles. He then stops Hooey from running away with the money, and he admits he threw the invitation away. Tawny realises never to doubt a true friend.
A six-armed alien and accomplice of Mr Mind, who first apppears when he helps give the Rainbow Squad their powers. He also helped Mister Mind build his Mr Wonderful Robot. Next issue Mr Mind captures a baseball team and challenges a human baseball team to fight his team, made up of aliens suited to the roll. Handyman acts as batsman. When Captain Marvel decides to help the humans, Mind sends Handyman after Billy Batson, who after making a call about the game is captured, by Handyman, who takes him back to the Dressing Room, gags Billy, and ties him up. Mr Mind says he will have Billy killed later, but first he must see his triumph. However Billy removes the tape over his mouth on a spiked shoe a member left behind, and summons Captain Marvel, who wins against the aliens. He then follows Mr Minds team back to their base, and stops Handyman from executing the kidnapped team. Presumably the team is sent to jail.
A man who collects letters of hate. Only appearing in Marvel Family #57. He calls Mr Patterson to wake him up and annoy him, who sends a letter to him of hatred at Box 1034. He has already tried putting glue in people's heads, and sending dead fish to people. He then tries to paint the house of people on holiday black, and when Mary Marvel sees someone has broken in due to the light being on and tries to stop him, he blinds her with black paint and escapes. He causes trouble around the area, putting a skunk in a new car, killing a dog, and chopping a tree down, leaving notes telling people to send hate letters to Box 1034. Mary Marvel tries to find him by waiting at Box 1034, oddly enough the police have no got the idea, but turns to Mary Batson so he will not stay away. When he sees her watching for him, he gags her by stuffing a letter into her mouth, then kidnaps her, holding his hand over her mouth so she cannot remove her paper, saying people will think she's his daughter who got sick. At his house he binds and gags her, then reveals his biggest plot. He will pretend that seismographs show that an earthquake will destroy the city and it must be evacuated. From his plane he plans to drop the leaflets ordering evacuation of the town, and throws out Mary too. Mary twists about and hooks her gag on an ariel, transforms, and gives the hate of Mary Marvel to the Hate-Collector by hitting him. He is then jailed, and apparently hates it.[13]
The Hen: 1949, "Marvel Family" 28: A thin woman who happens to be a ruthless criminal mastermind. Besides her thin angled features, she further mimics her name-sake by having a tendency to cackle. She is also a genius with gases. During her first appearance she hypnotised wealthy lady Mrs Vanrock into forgetting she had been wearing the Royal Ruby of Tashmir when she went into a beauty parlour. Mary Batson had seen the lady's ruby had gone, but while investigating she was knocked out by the Hen's henchman, tied up on a chair and gagged next to a bomb that would go off in five minutes. But she was able to free her hands by pushing them over a chair bolt, remove her gag, turn into Mary Marvel, and escape. The Hen is so ruthless, she killed off her whole gang just so's not to share the loot. However, this kinda makes other criminals not want to work for her.[35]
So in Marvel Family #34 after pretending to drown, she teams up with Georgia Sivana, combining the Sivana daughter's goal with being Princess of Earth with her own goal to be the World's Wealthiest Woman. The Hen invented a powerful sleep gas, while Georgia had a spray gun for it. Mary sees Georgia's rocket ship, transforms, and flys after it. At a diamond importers they Georgia sprays bubbles containing sleep gas inside, knocking out those inside. Wearing gas masks, they try to take the diamonds, but Mary appears. She recognises the Hen, but Georgia shoots bubbles at the street below, making the people fall asleep. While Mary stops a truck from hitting the people, the two escape. Georgia tells the Hen about Mary Batson, and the next day while Mary is shopping she is knocked out when accidentally popping a bubble she trys to catch thinking it was a children's toy, not realising it was Georgia imitating a child's voice. However, you cannot have two leaders and this team-up was doomed as eventually the two got to fighting over who was the best for so long it allowed Mary to wake up, transform, capture them, and put them in jail.[36]
A plumber who gets sick of fixing pipes and decides to rob a big lawn party after Mr. Randall hires him to fix a leak in the kitchen pipe using some pills. The next day at the party, he goes to fix the fountain, and when Freddy Freeman arrives late everybody is in a frozen sleep. He sees Pipe robbing them and transforms to Captain Marvel Jr., but Pipe throws a woamn into the fountain, and while Jr. stops her from drowning, as not even that wakes her, he escapes. After Jr. calls the hospital, a doctor describes the same thing happened to four people at a small lawn party, who were all robbed of their valuables. The next day Jr. sees Mrs. Charles Dunning is giving a big lawn party for charity on the third, which all society will attend. Jr. goes ther and hears a man has come to check on her fountain, however she and the guests then go into a frozen sleep, and Jr. sniffs a faint misty vapour coming from the fountain. Jr. investigates the fountain and finds little pellets wedged inside the nozzle which emitted the vapour with the water. He takes up the same position as the other guests, and soon the crook appears wearing a gas mask. Jr. then reveals he is not asleep and knocks Pipe into the fountain. Pipe confesses and gives enough information for an antidote to be developed. He is then jailed.
First appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #32. Herr Phoul is a German Nazi, one of the three lieutenants of Mr. Mind's Monster Society of Evil. As required of Nazi officers, he was bald and had a monocle. He died when he was caught in the explosion of an ammunition dump.[24]
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #74. The Hiss-Men are reptiles that resemble humanoid crocodiles even though the Hiss-Men are not related to the Crocodile-Men from the planetoid Punkus. The come from 1,000,000 BC who are battling the humans of that age for control of the world. Needing humans, they create a time-tube to the present day. Dexter Knox uncovers the tube with his metal detector, and with the Marvel's help unearths it. Hiss-Men emerge who fire lava balls at the group, causing the Marvel Family to be summoned, who chase the Hiss-Men back down the tube, but find they have disappeared, so they cap the tube. Dexter keeps watch, but when he falls asleep the Hiss-Men emerge and net him. They then start using their nets to catch more people and bring them down the tube. Billy wakes up and transforms when he hears cries for help, and saves someone. Freddy Freeman hears Profesoor Edgewse being kidnapped, so transforms and defeats the Hiss-Man. One of the Hiss-Men tries to net Mary, telling her 'Come to the past with me!' but she becomes Mary Marvel and defeats her foe. The Marvels fly back to the tunnel, but find Dexter Knox was knocked out, and the tube has been moved so the Marvels do not wreck it. The Hiss-Men they try to capture kill themselves rather than reveal the location. By now over a thousand humans have been kidnapped and a radio alert is given, some Hiss-Men have been killed but there are always more, but the Marvels use a tracker Dexter Knox made to track the time tube, inside a cave. They realize it does not work on the Marvels, so change back to their civilian forms, and go down the Time Tube, but when emerging they are knocked out by the Hiss-Men using a club from behind. They are placed inside a machine and changed into Hiss-Men, and reveal they plan to make an army of Hiss-Men to defeat the humans of their age. The children cannot say their words with their hissing accents, so they try to escape over the walls with their more agile bodies, but are chased back by a dinosaur. They are forced back to the protection of the Hiss-Men, whose walls and weapons keep the monsters out. They pretend to resign themselves to their fate, but throw a note to Dexter through the time tube. He goes through and is told by them what has happened, after which he is able to reverse the machine. The Marvels defeat the Hiss-Men and send the kidnapped humans back to their own time. They then find the battlefield of the humans and Hiss-Men, where the two sides seem deadlocked, and help the humans to win the battle and drive the Hiss-Men into the sea. They use the time-tube to return while in their civilian forms, then become the Marvels and destroy it.[37]
The Hydra II: 1945, Captain Marvel Adventures, vol 1, #42. In his war against Captain Marvel, Mr. Mind creates a monstrous body with a human head. Only the human head turns out to be an imbecile so Mr. Mind decides to kill his monster. When he chops the head off, it not only grows back but a dog's head does as well. Deciding such a creature could be useful, he takes it to steal some weapon plans. Losing and gaining more heads in battle with Captain Marvel and the police, the beast is finally defeated when Captain Marvel feeds it some raw meat and the various heads attack each other over it.[38]
This is not to be confused with another Fawcett villain, Hydra: All-Hero #1. John Oberon is able to turn into the Greek monster Hydra and is opposed by Ibis.[39]
In "Marvel Family" #21 a Hydra is one of a trio of monsters summoned from the Netherworld. It resembles a two-headed tough man and possesses superhuman strength, battling Mary Marvel as its two heads mean it cannot be easily knocked out. She gets past this by hitting the heads together, and the trio of monsters are sent back to the Netherworld.[2]
In Marvel Family #24 another Hydra appears, with seven heads. After Vikings appear who destroy cars thinking they are dragons. Bullets cannot hurt them, and they claim they are already dead. Mary Marvel stops the Vikings who think she is a Ogre, and claim to be from Valhalla, where Vikings go where they die.(Although not said in the story, it is only those who die in battle that go there.) The Vikings go to the Hydra in an old house, and Mary follows them. Hearing 'a little red ogre girl of steel' attacked them the Hydra realises it is Mary Marvel, the one foe he fears. When Mary flies through the window, he tells the Vikings to go through the door to Valhalla while he gets rid of her with his Flame Gun. Mary hits him, but he changes to another face. He changes again to a Viking, and claims to be Hydra, the man with seven heads, created by a scientist ages ago and possessing eternal life. He then changes to the brainy head which invented the fourth dimensional door which will take him to Valhalla where dead Vikings live for ever. Believing there to be no such thing as a Fourth dimensional door Mary says 'I'll get you yet.' The door is locked, but she breaks it open with a single blow and goes through a long tunnel to a sign saying Valhalla Viking Castle. She finds the Hydra with his Viking head telling the Vikings he will lead them to Earth to slay Dragons and Ogres and rescue fair maidens. He really plans for them to wreck civilisation, allowing him to conquer Earth. Mary attacks and he tells 10 to occupy her. The Warriors cannot be hurt or killed, Mary hits one 18 times and he is still not hurt, while the Hydra is planning to lead them to Earth. She flies out to think of a way to defeat them. She finds some "Amazon Women" in a four walled canyon. They think she is a goddess and reveal the Hydra imprisoned them. They refused to help him, so he sealed the tunnel that leads from the castle beyond imprisoning them there. Mary makes an opening in the cliff and leads them on. Then it is revealed they are Valkyrie maidens. Mary knocks out all the Hydra's heads, and the Vikings realise he caused the trouble and will keep him imprisoned in the dungeon from which nobody ever escapes. After returning Mary wrecks the door to make sure the Hydra never escapes.[40]
A frail thug named "Stinky" Printwhistle who was empowered by Lucifer himself after he was saved from a fall caused by Captain Marvel, with the powers of four of the most evil men to walk the face of the earth (Ivan the Terrible, Borgia, Attila the Hun and Caligula). When he says the name "IBAC", he becomes a large, muscular brute with super-strength. Saying his name again transforms him back into Printwhistle (therefore, like Captain Marvel, Jr., Ibac also cannot say his own name).
A being whose people are from the last ice age, therefore making him used to cold temperatures. Using a freeze ray he causes snow to bury a town so he can steal the gold and make a giant ice ray with which he can start a new ice age. He escapes the Marvels using an ice wall, and meets two native children, Kyak and his sister Olia, whose village was attacked, with many of the inhabitants enslaved by the Ice king. They find them in the Ice city and stop an attempt by the Ice King to destroy the town with a train and mammoths. They find him but he reveals Kyak and Olia behind a 25 foot ice wall. If his wall is smashed they die, and the wall is so thick the guard will have time to kill them if they try getting through. When the Marvels gets through there using welding while in their civilian forms, the guard pretending to sleep knocks them out, and the Ice King uses his freeze ray to make ice on their heads, gagging them, and nearly suffocating them. He throws them down a chute to a pack of wolves, but Billy breaks the ice on a wolf's skull, allowing him to turn into Captain Marvel, the others copy him, and defeat the wolves. The Ice King meanwhile has frozen the ocean. The Marvels use an atomic pile to heat up the ocean, his mammoth turns against him, the ray is smashed, and he is jailed while the natives take over the Ice city. Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #82.[41]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #10. An India rubber man in the Bingling Bros Circus, Mahatma Squatma, who gets sick of tying himself in knots every day. He passes Thor the Strong Man while of duty, and finds he is also unhappy, so they join together. They find the Wild Man from Borneo is also unhappy. Squatma reveals a strange oriental poison he brought from India, with which they can rule instead of be ruled. The others agree with him. That evening they go to the home of Baker, the rich banker as they need money. The India Rubber man gets into Baker's house and poisons Baker's soup with his skills. Baker is having dinner with Billy, but sddenly realises he has been poisoned. Mahatma reveals the antidote pill and says Baker will die in 24 hrs unless he gives them a million dollars. Baker says it will bankrupt him, but the Rubber Man tells him to bring it to the Circus tomorrow. The Wild Man tries to hit Billy's head with a hammer, but Billy transforms and defeats the Wild Man, and when Thor attacks him he is knocked out. Marvel attacks the Rubber Man, but his contortionist skills mean he can absorb the blows easily. Marvel streches his foe back, but the crook flies out of the window like a rubber band. Baker's doctor can find no cure, so Baker decides he will call his bank for the million dollars. Billy tells Morris, but says he did not tell the police or Squatma would destroy the antidote and Baker would die. Billy goes to the Circus and sees Baker handing over the million dollars, so he summons Captain Marvel. Squatma gives him the pill, which stops Baker shivering, then Baker calls the police he brought with him. The policemen run past Marve, so the two henchmen of Squatma break the roller coaster supports, delaying Captain Marvel while he rescues the occupants. He then follows them into the house of mirrors. Captain Marvel is unable to find the real criminals, allowing them to slip away. The manager runs in to sue Marvel for wrecking the place, so he transforms to Billy, who says Squatma will pay as he is the cause of this. Billy reports the story, but gets stomach cramps which is reported on the radio. Squatma gets in pretending to be a Doctor, then his men and him hold Billy down and pour the poison down his throat before he can say Shazam. Billy cannot say the magic word as his teeth are chattering too much. The two henchmen tie up Sterling Morris and escape. Billy sees a nantiote pill has been dropped by Squatma and swallows it, enabling him to transform. Marvel tries being conspicuous, so rings the bell and wins a cigar each time. He performs sword swallowing and fire-eating acts. The three villains notice it, but Squatma has made enough of the poison to kill an army, and plans to dump it in the city reservoir to enslave them all. They reopen the Three Tasks exhibit. Marvel does not recognise Squatma wearing dark glasses apparently and enters the exhibit. First he must lift a stone cat, which Marvel lifts revealing it is connected to an underground stone, then defeat what looks like an old weakman who is actually a strong wrestler, which Marvel also wins revealing it is a robot which he destroys with a single blow. Then he must empty a drinking horn with one gulp, which the other two henchmen are filling with all the poison, enough to kill five states. But Marvel survives it and knocks the two henchmen onto a merry-go-round. The leader still withstands the blows of Marvel, so is bounced round with the blows until he gets dizzy, then tied up in a human knot, which is how it all started.[42]
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #36. Resemble giant fireballs. They are first seen from a watchtower on Pluto who think they are meteors and radio their headquarters on Neptune. However the inhabitants are killed by the fireballs, which then move away from Pluto. The United Nations contact the Marvels after Neptune contacts them about the fireballs which are attacking them. The Marvels go there, and finding nothing on the surface they go underground, thinking the Neptunians must be a mole-like race. Captain Marvel Jr. find wreckage and think the Neptunians might have all been killed. The Marvel Family shouts loudly at the suggestion of Captain Marvel, but still finding nobody, so they leave Neptune. However after this happens the fireballs reappear and reveal they plan to crush all resistance in this corner of the universe, then they will systematically demolish all forms of matter, then have a limitless empty infinity of space in which to live. The Marvels then go to Jupiter, although they imply they went to Neptune and Saturn and found no trace of civilization there. Captain Marvel thinks the Jupiterians must be tall like their buildings, but when they meet the Jupiterians, who despite their tall buildings are short and wide, which Mary Marvel alludes to the high gravitational mass, which according to them is 300 times that of Earth. The scientists claim the fireballs are actually a form of life, and the Marvels deduce with their incredible intellects they come from Infinity, the realm beyond the Universe. The Jupiterians are confident their space fleets will destroy the fireballs, but their weapons do not destroy the fireballs, meaning the Marvels after saving the ships have to evacuate the planet Jupiter and clear a path through the asteroid belt. They receive a report the fireballs are attacking Mars. The Jupiterians say the Martians are a warlike treacherous race and that this must be a trick, but the Marvels go there anyway. The Martian leader who resembles a humanoid military dictator surrenders, but understands the fireballs thoughts and realizes they want them to help in the conquest of the Solar System. When the Marvels arrive they are attacked, and Mary Marvel realizes the Martians have sold out to the invaders. The Martians finally surrender and the Marvels go to Earth, although they know the Fireballs are invulnerable to every known weapon. The Marvels battle and are enveloped by the Fireballs, but are able to free themselves, realizing neither can hurt the other. They work out a formula for a basic finite substance through which no Infinite substance can pass, and construct a prison of it, luring the Fireballs into it. They then defeat the Martians, and are told by the Jupiterians they will drop the Martians off on their way back to Jupiter and that the Martians will always be thankful to the Marvels. The Marvels check the Fireballs, but find they have burnt out as imprisonment of any kind was fatal to them which is why they wanted to destroy the Solar System for more space.[43]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #54. A scientist whose Greenhouse is in financial difficulties so he creates an animal hormone that gives plants the power to move and talk, causing them to commit a holdup for him. He comes along disguised as another plant. Mary Batson is due at the party, sees the robbery, and becomes Mary Marvel. She overpowers them but they escape by standing stll next to other plants. They then give the Jewels, which they are hiding in themselves, to him. Later Mary visits Zooly and thinks she saw a cactus move. She hides and sees him give orders to the plants. She tries to say her magic word, but a tendril from a plant coils round her throat, preventing her saying her magic word. Mary is then bound and gagged and placed inside a Tiger plant from the tropics that starts closing on her, after which it will digest her. But she hooks her gag on a spikes and jerks her head back, removing her gag and enabling her to transform. She destroys the plants and takes Zooly to jail.
Jeepers is the last of a race of bat monsters. He was a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Based on a legendary figure made from steel who worked in Pittsburgh Steel mills. Sivan, after reading a Superman comic, gets the idea of making a man of steel. He makes a formula for a super-strong steel, and pours the formula into a steel vat, making another Joe Magarac. This robot is programmed to wreck the Pittsburgh Steel mills. However Billy, who is visiting the mill, transforms into Captain Marvel and knocks the robot through the roof. A homing device in the robot brain leads Magarac back to Sivana. Sivana is angry when he hears Captain Marvel stopped Magarac, but then realises Cap must have turned back to Billy by now. When Billy leaves the mill he is seized by Magarc. While he covers Billy's mouth he squeezes some steel into a gag for Billy. He welds it with his hands over Billy's mouth so he can't yell. He tells Billy that he doesn't need to tie his hands as he is not strong enough to get his gag off. However Billy gets a pad of paper out of his pocket and writes something down, hoping Sivana included knowledge of how to read into Magarac's mind. He writes an insult to Magarac, who hits him, breaking the gag. Billy's jaw is nearly broken, but he figured Magarac's hand was harder than his gag. Despite being dazed he is still able to say Shazam. He transforms and smashes Magarc apart. Sivana has meanwhile made other steel creatures to wreck the mills. After getting advise from Atlas, Cap gets the rest of the Marvel Family to help him smash the creatures. He then meets a steel Superman. He and the Superman hit each other at the same time, and the Superman is destroyed. He then takes Sivana to jail.
A taxidermist who sells stone animals then plans to turn the population of Volcanoville, a city in a volcano crater, to stone using a gas. It will be blamed on the volcano and he will make a fortune from exhibiting the city. Billy sees the people turning to stone and turns to Captain Marvel. He stops the spreading of the gas and blocks the hole, but sees Jark with a gas mask using a bomb to open the hole. He plugs it again with a tree, but turns to Billy to get through a small window in Jark's shop. However he breaks a vase accidentally, alerting Jark who knocks him out, then ties up and gags him. He tries to turn Batson to stone using a gas that only turns skin to stone, leaving someone alive for hours before they slowly die, and removes the gag to see the effect on his face, but Batson kept his mouth open so he can speak and turns into Captain Marvel, and defeats Jark. He realises a light blow on the skin will shatter the stone, and an new outer layer will grow in a few days. Jark is then jailed.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #88. At Mrs Wagner's boardinghouse someone tries to rent a room, but keeps getting turned down as it is full up. Freddy Freeman and Leroy Marks start playing pranks on each other, and challenge each other to a practical joke contest. They play them round the boarding house, and Mary and Billy find out about this prank contest. Billy in his room finds an imitation snake, then realizes it is a real cobra. He transforms into Captain Marvel, tangles it up, and saves it for the zoo. Mary finds firecrackers have set her bed alight, she becomes Mary Marvel, fills her mouth with water from a tap, and puts it out. Freddy finds a tear gas bomb in his room, and becomes Captain Marvel Jr. He throws it out and clears the place. They go to meet Leroy, and Jr. finds a bucket of water on the door. They tell Leroy they think he committed the other pranks, but he tells them he did not commit this. Mary says she thinks he is telling the truth, and by process of elimination they think Freddy committed them, forgetting the tear gas. They ask Jr. if he is covering up for Freddy. Jr. runs out sadly, transforms back, and starts crying. Billy and Mary are sad about the Marvel Family breaking up. Billy has an idea, the two Marvels tie up Leroy, and tie up and gag Freddy. In Professor Edgewise's lab someone prepares a device, then meets Cap and Mary who decided to wait for another prank, and are somehow in the lab. He throws the atomic drill, and while Mary and Freddy save Professor Edgewise the crook escapes. Cap frees and ungags Freddy who transforms. Jr. sees a light in the tower which was not noticed before by the Marvels, and Mary chases the helicopter. She plays a 'practical joke' on the pilot, he leaps out to run away, but finds her waiting for him. Freddy stops another person, and Cap finds a hidden bag on the top of the tower, the highest point in the neighborhood, which the plane was supposed to pick up. It is revealed this contains atomic secrets, which the spies had stolen. One of them reveals he sneaked in and played practical jokes, hoping Leroy or Freddy would get blamed and kicked out, leaving an empty room for him, from which he could pass secrets for months. The Marvel Family rejoice being together again. Later Leroy tries to scare them with a mask, but Mary says 'Silly man! After all those horrible jokes, do you think that cute mask can scare us?'[44]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #57. Professor Joel Jackson, an upright and honourable man, is stuck up by degraded vagrant Jud Hunkle. Billy summons Captain Marvel and stops him, but Jackson says he does not want to press charges, and he's just the man he's looking for to make a good citizen. He takes him to his laboratory and reveals he has discovered units of thought, Thotons, like units of matter, Electrons, Protons, Neutrons, Positrons, and Photons. He uses it on the man, and he sees the error of his ways. Cap thinks it might be temporary, but next day Jud is so clean-shaven and well-mannered Cap does not at first recognise him, and is working in the lab. Cap says not to give him anymore as it could make him a genius, so Jackson decides to do that. Next day Jud is in the lab, painting, having already produced a short opera and exquisite clay model. But he starts acting temperamental, so Marvel reminds him not to let it go to his head. Cap tells him not to give him any more, but next day Jackson says Jud is no longer a genius. Billy at first thinks he has slipped back to before, but Jackson says he gave Jud more photons, making him beyond a genius. He shows a chart, imbecile, moron, average man, intellectual man, genius, Billy is amazed at this, wondering what is higher than a genius. Jackson reveals Jud is now the most brainy and intelligent human being on Earth. Right now he is working out the master formula to the universe. Einstein's new gravity theory he says is like adding two and two. He has the formula for a weapon a million times more powerful then the atom bomb, with which he can wipe out all armies and rule Earth. Billy realises he has gone mad, but he and Jackson are knocked out. Soon they are bound and gagged and Jud is making a new weapon, which though small is the most powerful gun on Earth, and can disintegrate matter. He decides to kill them both, but first blows up the Thoton projector to stop anybody else being as intelligent as him. But the concussion hurls a piece of glass into the wall, which Billy cuts his gag on. He then transforms and knocks out Jud with a single blow. Jackson asks if Jud is going to jail, but Cap says he is going to an asylum as his mind snapped. They say a genius is akin to madness, above a genius is madness. Jackson tears up his formula for Thotons, not realising how beneficial they could be. Cap says it's like many drugs which are useful in tiny doses as medicine. But in bigger doses they are poison.[13]
The king of the beastmen, neanderthal-like humanoids who ruled the earth in ancient times and enslaved the homo sapiens populance. The beastmen were eventually overthrown by their slaves who vastly outnumbered them, although King Kull, hidden in a secret underground chamber, survived and vowed revenge on humanity, putting himself into suspended animation. Kull's people had developed significantly advanced technologies before their demise, and Kull often battles the Marvel Family using such technology. Kull in early appearances seems to have superhuman strength and durability. King Kull made his debut in the Fawcett Comics stories of the early 1950s, and appeared in DC Comics Shazam! stories during the 1970s and early 1980s. In one story, he is able to release the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, and tried to turn Billy Batson to stone. In Crisis in Eternity he captures nearly all the Elders that empower the Marvels, except for the Swift Mercury, and it takes the efforts of the JLA, JSA, and Squadron of Justice to beat him as he plans to wipe out humanity on all three earths. He joins the final pre-crisis Monster Society to attack the Rock of Eternity.
King of a civilisation of apes. He hires human workers to come over to the city he is building, and as the heat is hard for his workers to stand, he gives them the formula, claiming it will help, which it does by turning them into apes. He gives the Marvels, who have become kids in order to activate the radio, the formula which oddly enough turns them into monkeys instead of apes. He then knocks them out and pours the distilled potion down their throats, meaning they cannot speak, before leaving them in the jungle. The three are surrounded by crocodiles, but Billy gets the ideas of their using their tails, wound round a branch, to escape. As time goes on they start to lose memory of their human selves, so return to King Zonga's palace. He reveals he is Ira Gloot, a scientist who has developed the formula. He has taken the formula to make him more used to the heat, but takes the antidote at certain points to stop him forgetting his human self. He reveals the apes were formerly natives, who he transformed, and that he plans to make the entire world apes. The kids take the antidote and summon the Marvel Family. Zonga turns a nearby city into apes using his potion as gas and spreading it by plane, and oddly enough the apes just obey him. The Marvels stop the apes advancing to attack, but Zonga then tries to use a rocket to spread the gas round the world, as people will not be able to avoid breathing it in. The Marvels get to Zonga as the rocket is set off, and are unable to stop it exploding. The Marvels use a huge vacuum to suck up the gas and send it into space. Zonga turns on the radio, expecting to hear two billion apes, but finds they have not transformed. The Marvels capture him, turn him back, and everyboy else is restored, while Gloot is jailed.[45]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #24. A mysterious name that brings death is what it the caption calls Kistara. Captain Marvel Jr. observes a man crying Kistara then being shot. Despite the man escaping by shooting a bus' tires so Jr. has to prevent it crashing, he tracks him to Chinnatown where he sees him with a dagger in his back after saying 'Kistara.' The Chinese man says it is the name of Death, and some words should not be spoken aloud, like 'Kistara.' He dies suddenly, and Jr. realizes his cigarette has been impregnated with cyanide, and has Kistara written on it. At PYRAMID TOBACCO MFRS. he checks on their clients, and at the EL ROYALE Gambling Saloon meets the owner, Chip Greer. The bouncer is nervous, and when Jr. asks Chip about Kistara he tries to shoot Jr. When he hears Lum Fung is dead, he realizes Kistara is killing everybody and starts telling the story. Five people, including Kistara, stole a ruby he now has from an Ancient Chinese Temple. They agreed to wait a year till it was safe to sell the Ruby, and then split the proceeds. But Kistara would not wait, getting Matt Brown to kill Woodfolk, then getting rid of Matt Brown and Lum Fung herself. He does not realize a hooded figure is watching them. They then shoot him and attempt to shoot Jr., who seizes and unmasks them, revealing a Women of East Asian ethnicity. She says she will never be taken alive and throws something at the fireplace, causing an explosion. Jr. finds the Ruby, but the handkerchief is all he can find of Kistara. The Ruby is restored to its rightful owners at the Temple, but Jr. doubts he will ever forget his meeting with Kistara.[40]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #5. After a volcano explodes in the United States, Billy, who is near the scen, is called by Sterling Morris to go there. Several volcaos are going off, and one shoots a square-cut block at Marvel, which he knocks away and realises must be man-made. Billy asks the governor about it, and finds that the Chief of Police is evacuating people from the state, but nobody knows when the next one will explode and they fear many lives have been lost. A woman then appears and asks the Governor and Chief to save her baby. Cliche. She lived in Swan Creek Canyon, she thought her husband brought out all the children, but little Johny is still in there. The Chief says Swan Creek is doomed and he cannot order his men to go there. Billy says he will go, and when the Chief tries to stop him he goes behind a bush and transforms. When the Chief asks him about Billy, he says he is not there. Captain Marvel then flies to Swan Creek. Marvel finds Red Hot liquid rock spurting through Swan Creek. He finds the cabin, which is on fire. He rescues Johny and flies through the roof with him, and sees lava has stopped spurting from the volcano. He transforms and gives the baby back to the Woman. The Chief points out to he Governor that no sooner do the refugees all clear out, then the fire dies down. The Governor says it is like a human villain is using it to torment people. Billy takes them to where the block hit the ground, but it is gone. The men leave, but Billy stays to look for it, not realising two men in protective clothing are watching him from a bush. They attack him and stun him with a gun blow to the head when the word of power is half spoken.
When Billy comes to he is bound and gagged, and a man who tells Billy he is in a cave that leads of the tube of the Volcano, introduces himself as Mawks, and claims he is King of the Crater. On a map he shows a mountain chain from Alaska to the Panama Canal, below that it becomes the Andes in South America. Underneath it he has found a high pressure chain of fire from the Centre of the Earth. His men and he will build machinary to control that fire. They can start Volcanos anywhere in the Rockies, which they plan to. They'll sit on top of the fire and rule a strip of country where nobody will come, except by their permission. The permission will cost plenty. Mawks revels he captured Billy so he could broadcast his terms to the World. He removes Billy's gag, holds up a mike, and tells him to tell the listeners they have to do what he (Mawks) says. Billy tells the people a man calling hmmself Mawks, King of the Crater, is causing all the eruptions. He swears he will flood the mountain country with fire unless he's allowed to rule it, but Billy then says he's not going to succeed, and that Captain Marvel will beat him, infuriating Mawks. Mawks says he will be Boss, and does not believe in Captain Marvel. Billy starts saying 'Shazam,' but only gets to Sha before he is dazed with a blow from a henchman. Mawks tells the listeners what the smacking noise was, and calls himself 'Majesty Mawks' while signing off. He tells the thug to toss Billy down the shaft without any heat armour. Just before he hits the fire Billy says Shazam and transforms, enabling him to survive the fire. He sees the machinery Mawks talked about, run by men in heat armour, even the rock is red-hot. He sees the Pipe to the Centre of the Earth and says 'Mawks is the greatest heating engineer the world has ever produced.' The alarm goes off and two men recognise Marvel, and try to stab him in the heart with long shafts. Marvel knocks them out, so two more fire Red Hot lava and liquid air at him, which turns the lava cold and seals Marvel in solid rock. They are about to call 'King Mawks' when Marvel breaks out, and this time he is ready for the attack, allowing him to catch a ball of lava, which solidifies, and use it like a bowling ball on the machinery that pumps fire to the Volanos. He climbs up a ladder to see what Mawks is up to on the top floor. Mawks, unaware of what has happened, hears from his thug that people in the Valley are encouraged by the report of Cap and say Mawks will not last long against him, so Mawks decides to splash liquid fire all over this part of the World, and tells the thug to tell his men to put he machinery in high gear. Suddenly his men appear and tell him Marvel has smashed up the machinerey. Marvel appears and merely eats the bullets meach fires at him. he tears open the suit of Mawks and tells him to stop the eruption. Mawks says he cannot, as if Marvel smashed the machines, all the pressure is released. There'll be an eruption greater than anything he planned. He claims it is Marvel's doing not his, says 'GOODBYE!' then leaps down the tube, killing himself.
Cap knows he is responsible, so decides he will put a stop to the Volcano. Using his strength he closes the shaft, then seeing a big drill he makes a new exit for the fire to go. The Heat, Smoke, Steam, and Lava is sent into a Canyon, Marvel summons the lightining, and Billy reports the story, then says the only result of the rater King's huge plot is that a seldom visited spot in the Rockies where there used to be a Canyon is now a lake of hardened lava which will never threaten harm to anybody again.[9]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #88. There is a siren, but Billy announces it is a fake air raid. He does not have time to report about Zotan, the dictator who took over the mountain kingdom of Javania in one week. The fake air raid happens, however it is really Zotan's air fleet that is attacking, which the gunners do not realise. Bombs are dropped on the city, realising that they are real the Marvel Family transform, however a bomb hits the basement. The victims are unharmed, but then say 'Down with America! Down with democracy!' They attack the Marvels. Captain Marvel finds the bombs are soft plastic, and instead of explosives hold a drug-like gas that enslaves human minds. It is shown Zoan's weapons effect minds, possessing weapons like 'slavery shells,' and 'propaganda cannons.' The Marvel family smash 12 ships, but Zotan has over a hundred and orders one of his henchmen to move the Time Lever so the rest of his ships can be saved. They escape to a different century. The Marvels find only a few hundred citizens were mentally bombed, so they hold them for observation. The Marvels fly faster then light and get to the Rock of Eternity to ask Shazam about who attacked their century. He tells them it was Zotan, in One Million AD he was eposed as a brutal tyrant. He was exiled to 1953 and dropped in Javania. Using his advanced knowledge he made weapons of the future. Shazam explains all wars are fought over ideas, in the future all killing weapons were abandoned and only mental weapons were used. They go back to Earth, but find Zotan has taken over America. They are chased away, and find everywhere on Earth has been taken over by Zotan, meaning they leave Earth.
They cannot fight two billion people who are mental slaves, so return to the Rock of Eternity. Shazam explains Zotan wants to become King of Time, and shows them a chart showing the peaks of civilisation to caveman days. Other dictators invaded countries, Zotan wants to invade centuries, and eventually return to One Million AD and get revenge for deporting him. Shazam calls Zotan, but the dictator will not be persuaded and threatens to rule the past and future, and eventually conquer Shazam, to which Sazam angrily says he will never succeed. The Marvels are told Zotan will first strike at Egypt 3,000 BC. The Marvels cause a sandstorm to hide Egypt, not considering this will probably kill many citizens, so Zotan releases his slave gas, which starts to enslave Egypt. Zotan stands on a pyramid and escapes the Marvels with his time-belt that sends him a month into the future. They go back to Shazam who shows them other points, which each Marvel goes to. Mary tries using a shield to stop bombs striking Babylon, so guided missiles are used instead. Jr. tries to evacuate Athens underground, but Evilness rays penetrate the rock. Marvel causes a hurricane to wreck the fleet, but Hypno-Smoke is spread anyway over Rome. The Marvels go off to warn the future, but their scanner shows the fleet is not advancing. The Marvels realise it was a trick to leave the Rock unguarded, but Shazam has already been captured and chained up. Zotan brags he will cut the wizard's throat when he feels like it. Shazam obeys Zotan's order to get rid of the Marvels, as so it is written, and uses a thunderbolt of Zeus to apparently destroy the Marvels, however it only transforms them into the kids, and they cannot change back as Shazam is captured. 'No gags seal of their tongues. No bonds restrict them.' But they cannot change.
The fleet begins preparing the attack and the Marvels are chased by a soldier. Shazam has meanwhile been left on a savage world, manacled before what looks like a dinosaur. Billy gets the idea of going into the subway tunnel where they got their powers. Lighting the brazier saves the Wizard from death by transporting him to the cave, meaning the Marvels are able to transform. Zotan meanwhile is preparing his attack, as the future has been unarmed for thousands of years, while he has the killing weapons of the past. The Marvels fight the attacking phalanxes and seal up the ships. Zotan escapes, but the Marvels make freedom bombs, which were used earlier in the future to make peace and the plans are now stored in a museum. The Marvels drop them throughout time aided by future ships. The freedom bombs free the ages. When Zotan loses 1953 he tries to return to his ship, but Mary Marvel has destroyed it. Zotan uses his Time-belt to escape a month into the future, where Billy pretend to be his slave. He then removes the belt, transforms, and defeats Zotan, who is imprisoned.[44]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #109. A spaceship heads towards Earth for a sneak attack inhabitated the green scaley humanoids. It fires atomic flames that causes a mile-wide swath of destruction that moves towards the city. Billy gets the bulletin and turns into Captain Marvel. He smashes into the spaceship, and invulnerable to the ray-guns, knocks down the aliens, saying it should be an Interplanetary law, as well as an international law, for an aggressor world to launch a sneak attack on another. However the aliens say Earth attacked them first, surprising Cap, and when he denies it the aliens say the Earthlings are accomplished liars as well as ruthless aggressors. Cap says Earth has no rocket ships capable of reaching another world, and the aliens tell Cap to come to their world. They show their devastated world, the cities wrecked a week ago in an attack by Earth. They show their proof, a bomb fragment with the imprint of Earth on it. Cap wonders if a group on Earth did it. The alien says his family died in the attack, then a fleet with the Earth emblem moves towards the world, and via radio give an ultimatum of surrender. Cap flies towards the ships, saying he will not smash the ships as he cannot take human lives even if they did attack. He gets into the ship and decides to turn into Billy to use words to stop them. Thinking humans are there, he tells them to stop, but is knocked out by a large, fat, greenish-brown alien before he can transform. When he comes to, he is gagged and an alien says they are pretending to be from Earth to embroil both worlds in a space war, then they will take over both exhausted worlds. They will do this to other worlds, and the world Klozz will become master of the Universe. He says the fleet of that world is now flying to Earth. Billy is tied to a bomb and thrown out. However he inches to the propeller and his gag is cut off. He transforms and throws the bomb, destroying the fleet, except the leaders ship. He flies the leader through space. He flies in front of the alien's fleet and shows the leader, who admits what he did, meaning there is peace between the worlds.[46]
Knuckles is a henchman of Sivana. Beautia hides a tiny camera inside a locket she is wearing so she can film the Navy's new aerial torpedo. Knuckles then flies it of to an Island which Sivana has a base on. However, Billy has hidden on the plane. However, before he can move a burly guard drags him from the plane and overpowers him. He is brought to Sivana, who reveals he is making copies of the aerial torpedo, planning to wipe out the U.S Pacific fleet. Billy starts saying his magic word, but Sivana orders him overpowered before he can say his magic word. He holds Billy's arms and Billy only gets to Sha before a guard, probably the same one a before, gags him from behind. Billy is then chained hand and foot under a cauldron of molten steel. Sivana says in a few minutes it will cook him. The vat of molten iron begins to tip over towards Billy. Narrowly missing his face, a glob of white-hot metal severs his gag. Billy transforms. Captain Marvel bursts his bonds as 50 tons of molten death pour down from above. He withstands this and catches the torpedoes fired from Sivana's battleship. However, while saving Beautia from a dive bomber from the fleet that attacks her boat, Sivana gets away on one of the torpedoes. However the rest of his fleet is probably jailed.
A criminal who uses his special food to make swordfish attack other fishing boats. His repellent keeps them from attacking his ship and attrats them to his fishing grounds. He gets fish, and sells them at high prices, nobody else able to fish. Mary investigates, but is captured, bound, and gagged by his henchman. She is thrown overboard for the swordfish, but escapes by jerking her head back as a swordfish slashes at her face, removing her gag, and allowing her to change into Mary. She uses a broken swordfish nose to attack Krager and then arrest him. Only appearing in Wow comics #50.[47]
Only appearing in Mary Marvel Comics 1. Across the city people start growing in size. Mary transforms when a dog tries attacking a child, and realises as Mary Marvel she is not oversize. The Larch Bros, shopowners advertise their large lothing, furniture, and food, and start making money from the desperate citizens. Mary sees one of them stop another from drinking the water, and sees they have doped the city's water with H-G (Growth Hormone). They call their fourth brother Hertman, who has been given large quantities of growth hormone and is 20 feet tall, but Mary defeats him. She realizes Vinegar and Castor oil will reverse the effects, and tells her brother Billy Batson to broadcast this information over the city. She then transforms and takes the antidote.[48]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #89. Professor Edgewise says he is working on an exciting new discovery but will be home by supper. However he is not home then, and when Mary asks if he got lost the landlady Mrs Wagner says she has her address sewn in all his clothes. The Kids go outside and Mary says something might have happened to him, so Billy tells the Kids they will look for him and meet back there in an hour. They do not find him, and Mary does not return. When Billy finds neither is in his room he thinks it may be kidnapping, so he and Freddy say their magic words. They search the area and do not find either, but when they return they find from the sobbing Mrs Wagner, none of the others, Red O'Reilly, Leroy Marks, and Jim Bellows, have returned. They see two thugs dragging bags and think they are kidnappers so hit them, but the men say they are just Burglars. Cap drags them to the Police Station, while Jr. takes the loot and apoligises, saying he is sure they will let them of, with five years apiece. Cap says they wanted to report the kidnappings to the police anyway. The Police say no known big-time kidnappers are at large, so Cap says they will return to the boarding house, but they find Mrs Wagner is gone, though her knitting is still there. They realise Billy and Freddy are the only people not gone, so Jr. suggests an idea to Cap. He changes and Cap hides. While Freddy pretends to fall asleep, Cap watches and sees a figure outside the window. He gets him, but the man says he is the Professor, and when Freddy turns on the light this is confirmed. WEhen Cap asks who kidnapped him and held him prisoner, he says he just forgot where he lived. Freddy can blieve that of him, but not the others. He says they must have been kidnapped or killed or...But he does not finish as the others appear. Mary says a sort of amnesia spell on them, and Edgewise when Cap asks how they all got it at once says it was due to his new discovery of memory stimulator spray with which he was trying to improve his memory. But the jar broke in his room and the fumes spread through the house, and Cap says that it wipes out memory instead. Cap thinks it is odd Billy and Freddy were not effected, but says as everybody is safe Billy can rejoin them. Life returns to normal, and Jim goes on night duty, saying clever Jewel thieves are operating in the vicinity and he must be on guard. Later the Cop meets two thieves who try to shoot him, but the Kids have secretly followed, and Billy and Freddy transform. When they ask why Mary is not joining them, she sas there are only two crooks. After defeating them, they find they stole a diamond necklace from Mrs Van Arch, and Cap says Mary can return it while they help Jim jail the crooks. However the next evening they engage in a search of Mary's room, as Jim said that Van Arch did not get her necklace back, and the Kids, thinking Mary is not a Thief, think she may have forgotten to return it and that the amnesia stuff may still be working on her as she forgot to say 'Shazam'. Mary comes in and is angry at them snooping in her room, but is shocked at them finding the ncklace ina drawer. When Billy says they know the whole truth Mary knocks the two boys out with a vase (which she suddenly has) with which she strikes their heads. When they come to they are bound and gagged and Mary is wielding a knife, causing them to think she has lost her mind.
Mary tries to stab Billy, but he evades her and kicks the knife from her hand. Freddy is then able to cut his gag on it, and free Billy. Mary leaps from the window so Jr. catches her. As she is fighting Billy tells Jr. to tie her up, as he says Mary is insane. She is taken to a mental hospital by Jr, and Billy miserably thinks of how for years the three of them were the closest friends and goes on a walk alone. He checks at the hospital, but finds Mary escaped last night, ripping out of the straitjacket with the strength of a maniac. The police have been told but have not found her. Bily transforms but cannot find her and tells Freddy. At the dinner table Billy notices Freddy has not eaten and he claims to be upset. Billy notices Red is not eating which he finds odd, then realises none of the people have been eating much. He then sees Red's cigarette has burnt down ot his fingers and he is not feeling any pain. He tells Freddy something is going on so says they will pretend to go to the movies and sneak back. He sees that the people are all robots and are taking Fuel Oil. He tells Freddy the people are robot duplicates, then sees Freddy is standing there without a crutch. Realising he is a duplicate he tries to transform, but a blow to the head knocks him unconscious as the robot says Freddy took a walk but he came back instead. He carries Billt in and the robot Wagner tells him to bind and gag Billy. Billy is told by the robot Mary he will soon be one of them. Money is collected from O'Reilly's gas-station, Marks's sales business, Bellow's salary, Wagner's rent money and the rest, as the Mastert is waiting for the day's proceeds. Mary takes the money along, and Freddy carries Billy along. It might have been easier to take Billy and Freddy way earlier when they found Mary had the ncklace, also why did the robot Jim tell the Kids the necklace was not returned? Billy is taken to the old abandoned mill and find Edwise there. He thinks he is the villain, but then sees the Janitor from school, Lem Blucher. Edgewise, as he works on the Billy robot, reveals the invention he was working on at school after hours were lifelike robots, covered with flesh-like plastics and looking perfectly human. He says the real secret is the robot's metallic brain, which can absorb all memory from its human counterpart, meaning the robots can think and act like the people themselves arousing no suspicion. He was going to surprise the people with them and confided in the Janitor, his sad mistake. The Janitor saw a way to make the robots pay off, and tells Edgwise to attach the memory transfer caps onto each Billy. How was the Janitor able to make the Professor do all this, and why did the Professor not do something to the robots to stop them obeying Blucher? Blucher reveals he is planning to murder the originals and let the robots carry on. That is just a test. He will replace rich people with his robots, Malcom Saunders, Bank President, John T. Smythe, Factory owner, Andrew Todd, Oil King, and Anthony Crane, Railroad magnate. Then he will as good as own their businesses, as he will kidnap and kill them. He can get away ith murder, literally. The robot Billy says he will threaten t quit at Whiz unless Sterling Morris gives him a raise, but Blucher gives the robot an axe and says it's first action will be to kill Billy, who is not needed anymore. The robot then prepares to kill Billy.
Billy thinks only a miracle can save him, and the robot's arms suddenly tear off. Edgewise, winking at Billy, says he forgot ot tighten the robot's shoulder screws. He says he will repair the robot and Lem should help him as he cannot screw the robot's head on backwards. He leaves the axe behind, and Billy removes his gag on this and changes to Captain Marvel. The robot Billy attacks him with an axe and it smashes. Cap is about ot get Lem, but is shown through a periscope Lem's robot guarding Billy's friends, all bound and gagged, with a machine gun. He has orders to shoot them the moment Cap attacks Lem, he kept them alive for an emergency like this. Cap is told to leave or they will die. He turns back and creeps in, but is hit by his duplicate and when he comes to he is bound and gagged with the others. Lem also has a machine gun and with his robot he decides to wipe out the group. But the three youngsters attack, as luckily their legs are free. However they are still gagged and need to get out, so break down the old rotting door, but find it only leads to the old mill wheel and they are cornered. They leap off, making Lem think it will save them the trouble of killing them and they will be ground to bits, but the churning rips off their gags, enabling them to transform. They get back at the Robot-Master, Mary frees the bound and gagged prisoners, who now include Edgwise, and Cap destroys the robot Billy and the lab. Jr goes after Edgwise and finds one running away, and one getting into a car. He thinks Lem would not try to escape on foot, so the one on foot must be the robot. However when he smashes the one in the car apart he realises he was wrong, and the real Lem escapes in a helicopter he has somehow obtained, following the old road without rising into the clear air for them to spot him. The Marvels take their friends home and smash the robots up, Cap apologising for the Junk but Mrs Wagner saying she will be happy to clean up the mess later. Jr realises the robot Professor Edgeiwse is missing, and Mary says noto ne must be let loose. It is soon found, and Cap says it is more like Edgeiwse then Edgewise himself due to its abset-mindedness. The next night Lem trys to kidnap the Professor again with a wire grabber attached to a cable, hoping to force him to make other robots and carry on the schem in some other city, but finds it is the robot when it tries to eat oil. The Marvels appear, Cap smashing up the helicopter and saying they left the robot out as bait, Jr. smashing the Edgewise robot, and Mary catching Blucher and hitting him to make sure he is not a robot. Blucher says he is not a robot and asks to be put in jail, to which Jr says they will.
Only appearing in Wow Comics #38. An artist who finds a way to paint things that come to life using magic. He paints monsters, but they are defeated by Mary Marvel. He watches her using a screen, and sees her transform into Mary Batson. After watching her go home he paints another monster, himself, but with added powers, and tells it to go to Mary's house. Mary sees her brother Billy, who tells her that she does not need his help, as she can become Mary Marvel. He then leaves. Mary does not notice that the Artist has flown through the window. When she decides to read, the copy stops her form speaking with his hand. However Mary is able to escape, transform and defeat the Monster. The Mad Artist makes a copy of Billy that lures Mary to the Mad Artist's base. Her mouth is gagged from behind, and she is bound to a pillar. The Artist tells Mary that the fake Billy will stab her, then throw her body into a pit, and says it will be like her brother killing her. However Mary is able to kick the Billy away, meaning the knife only pins her gag to the pillar. The second blow sends Billy into the pit, and by pulling hard Mary is able to rip her gag, enabling her to transform. While this is happening the Mad Artist runs to his studio, hoping to hide. Mary goes to a labyrinth of tunnels, but hears the Artist painting. She stops his final attempt to defeat her, and he is defeated.
A who man gets a contract to build a highway through the mountains in Shire Country, but claims to be using an entirely new method, and sends a letter to Billy Batson about it. Billy goes there, and Lyarr says all the machines have built-in controls and are guided by remote control from the master machine. Suddenly two machines go berserk, Billy summons Captain Marvel who stops them and tells Lyarr to turn the master machine off. He tries to make adjustments, for which Billy admires him for trying a new method. The next day Billy gets a call saying the master machine went wild and the Marvel Family is needed. Captain Marvel alerts Jr. and Mary who help stop the berserk machines. The Marvels then decide to build the highway to stop Lyarr from losing his contract. When they leave, Lyarr laughs and calls them fools. The next day, at the dedication ceremony attended by the Highway Commissioner, all the Marvels are there as civilians. Billy checks the master machine and finds it empty, showing Lyarr is a fraud, but he is gagged from behind by Lyarr, tied up, and placed in the cement mixer. When the Commissioner pours the cement, Billy hooks his gag on the chute edge and transforms. He reveals Lyarr is a crook, Lyarr grabs his cheque and tries to escape down the highway in his car. The Marvel Family flies after him and stops him. Cap says he put timing devices into his machines so they would go wild, knowing the Marvel Family would help him. The cheque goes to charity, and the highway is named the Marvel Turnpike.
A giant of great strength 18 ft. tall, first appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #8. After some local officials are elected in the country village of Squankum, including Sheriff Binns and Mayor Strong, the Town Hall is wrecked, and the Mayor is knocked out by a blow from a club. Billy goes to Squankum and follows tracks to the woods, where he finds a huge glove, and is then seized by a giant. He is thrown through the air, but transforms into Captain Marvel with seconds to spare. Realising it is nearly 3 O'clock and he has one second to spare, he flies back to Squankum where Hiram Slugs, editor of the Squankum War Whoop, is about to broadcast instead of him. Cap transforms into Billy, and starts broadcasting 1 second after 3. He says the culprit is a criminal of monstrous size, but the case is being studied by Captain Marvel. Slugs tells Billy he can stay at his house--he is a bachelor and good cook. While he is cooking mulligan stew a huge hand stealthily pours something into it from the window. He tells Billy the Mayor and Sheriff won after a hot election, that he supported the reform ticket, and the crooked Ex-Mayor skipped town after the new Mayor had been elected, Binns was ready to arrest him. The poisoned food starts taking effect on Billy, who nearly dies, but transforms into Marvel, who deduces that the poison is arsenic. He suspects Sluggs, but realises their stew has been poisoned. Sluggs returns and then the arsenic seems to take effect. Leading citizens come in, who, as the Mayor has disappeared and is suspected to be probably dead, want Sluggs to take his place. Marvel gets him to a doctor, and the stomach pump is used in time. Cap goes to the woods and follows the tracks, saying 'I do not have to be hit over the head to know I'm near the end of my search,' but is then hit on the head by a club-wielding giant. He comes out of the hole in the ground, snaps the club, and takes down the giant. The Giant tells his story. He was born in Squankum but overgrown from babyhood, having a miserable time as his companions laughed at him. He finally joined a sideshow as Macro the Monster, but was visited one day by someone who told him how to get revenge. He was ordered to kill the Mayor and Sheriff but had not the heart, so he kept them tied up in a cave. Cap frees them and with them heads to a Doctor's office. Marvel reveals Sluggs ordered that giant to do his dirty work, knowing as the chief supporter of the Mayor's campaign he would become Mayor, after which he planned to steal from the citizens like the old Mayor. He tries to get away in his car, but Marvel smashes the car. He asks the Doctor to test Slugg's skin, and it is found out he was taking doses of arsenic to build up immunity. Sluggs confesses and is arrested. Strong wants to erect a statue of Cap, but Cap tells him to give Macro a chance to earn his living.[49]
A poet called Edgar Alvin Pfoe who tries to get revenge on Marmaduke Speareshake when he wins first prize, and Mary Batson, who wins second prize, while he only wins third prize. He always speaks in rhyme, like 'If I kill you and Speareshake, then first prize will I take.' He attempts to kill Speareshake with a knife at the concert, but Mary Marvel foils him. He tries to shoot him later at his house, but Mary stops him, but he escapes by blinding her with ink. She is told by Speareshake, who also speaks in rhyme, where to find Pfoe, on Cedar street 10. She turns into Mary so he does not run away as he lives up a lot of stairs. However, he recognises her, gags her while slamming the door, and ties her to a chair, planning to kill her after reading his poetry to her. She shakes her head like she thinks his poetry is terrible, he removes her gag to ask her, but she then transforms and defeats him. Only appears in Mary Marvel #2.[50]
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #79. The Mad Mummy, a denizen of the Nether World, wreaked havoc on ancient Egypt by indiscriminantly slaying men and women, cackling over his human carnage, and by attempting to overthrow the world of the living. The ancient Shazam imprisoned the Mummy in a pyramid tomb for the Mummy’s crimes. Shazam dropped the tomb to the bottom of the ocean. Thousands of years later… archeologists Professor Joplin and Professor Beatty discovered the Pyramid of Peril after they deciphered ancient parchments leading to its location. When a giant octopus attacked Beatty during a dive to discover the entrance of the tomb, the Mighty Marvels flew in to rescue the terrified diver. Cap, Mary, and Junior also raised the pyramid and delivered it to dry land. In exchange for opening the pyramid, the Marvels struck a deal with Joplin so that their alter egos could join in on the discovery. Inside the pyramid, Joplin and his team ignored repeated warnings not to let loose the Mad Mummy, ignoring a warning written by the ancient wizard Shazam! Joplin cavalierly opened the mummy’s sarcophagus and the loosed the still animated mummy on the modern world. The mummy quickly overcame both Joplin and his party and the Marvels in their human guises of Billy, Mary, and Freddy--trapping them all in a giant stone Sphinx. The mummy launched the Sphinx and his captives towards Fawcett City in an attempt to kill thousands. Billy was able to remove his gag in time to change to Captain Marvel and save the city. Cap quickly freed Freddy and Mary and the reunited Marvel Family took off to battle the Mad Mummy! The mummy used an ancient device named the Horn of Horror to release a plague of demons to slow the Marvels down but the Marvels quickly overcame the demons. After destroying the mummy’s pyramid, Billy, Mary, and Freddy paid a quick visit to Shazam, who told them of the grisly history of the mummy and charged them with stopping the mummy. In the meantime, the Mad Mummy has used his Horn of Horror to bring forth a horde of other mummies that captured the three kids. The muumy used his Sphinx Ray to silence the kids so that they could not say their magic words. He then tortured and forced the kids to build a new Pyramid of Peril. To escape the clutches of the mummy, Billy suggested that they play dead. Believing that the children had died, the Mad Mummy wrapped the children in mummy cloth and deposited them in open sarcophaguses in the new Pyramid of Peril. The kids then sneaked out of the tomb and up on the mummy--grabbing and destroying the mummy’s Sphinx Ray. Now able to speak, the kids changed to their Marvel forms and quickly defeated the mummy horde. The Marvel’s caused an earthquake, which swallowed up the mummy’s Horn of Horror. After quickly capturing the mummy, the Marvel’s delivered him to Shazam who sealed the mummy back in his sarcophagus. The Marvel’s dropped the new Pyramid of Peril in the deepest part of the ocean and the Mad Mummy has not been heard from since.[51] Reappeared in "Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam" #18.
A Spy Smasher foe and Nazi spy, named from the white full-face mask he wears. He captured Spy Smasher and using the hypno-chair brainwashed him to become a villain. However in this state he killed the Mask. From Whiz Comics 16-18 he battled Captain Marvel, planning to become a dictator, until he was able to capture Spy Smasher. He took him to the hypno-chair, which he destroyed, but he used his own hypnotic power to restore Spy Smasher's mind
A laboratory assistant who steals some rust from Mars from a professor and trys to use it to ransom entire cities. He is finally killed when the rust gets onto him. The Marvel Family meanwhile discovers how to destroy the rust before it destroys the city. Only appearing in Marvel Family #44.[52]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #81. Captain Inch Wade is a stubborn officer who is holding a section of Communist Korea's border for 18 months, not retreating one inch. His group is suddenly attacked by an eight-foot tall Asian, who Wade recognises as Mong the Giant. He is knocked out and captured by Mong. Billy reports he was about to be given the Silver Star for not retreating one inch from the Yongpyor setion. The Marvel Family transform and fly to Korea to rescue him and meet Mong the Giant. The Marvel Family hear he leads the attack every day, but see he has grown to 20 feet, as he grows larger each day. The Marvels knock down Mong, who runs away. The Marvels follow, but he has gone, leaving only a Communist soldier, who is questioned by Cap who speaks Korean fluently, and claims he did not see him. The next day Mong is larger than before, but the Marvels hit his foot and again chase him away, this time to the forest, but he is again gone. Ther Marvels foolishly change into the kids to sneak through enemy line and hide all the next day.
Mong returns after another raid, is hungry, and takes dwindling pills, making him the Red Runt, smallest of the Communist Korean forces, but a menace when he takes the dwindling pills. The Marvels are about to transform, but are knocked out by a guard, and when they come to they have been securely bound and gagged, and are in the same cell as Wade. The Red Runt reveals he slipped an enlarging pill down each of their throats while they were out cold. He then takes the rest of the enlarging pills which will make him a mile high giant for an all-out attack against the American forces. The Marvels start growing, meaning Wade will soon be crushed, but their bonds and gags snap, enabling them to transform. It is odd the enlarging pill makes clothes grow, yet the Marvels bonds and gags did not grow. The Marvels fly away with Wade while Mong is causing chaos. They put Wade down and tell him to run back to the American lines, however he picks up a discarded rifle and attacks Mong by stabbing him in the foot. The book calls him 'the world's bravest soldier.' The Marvels hit Mong with a mountain, which is odd since their own strength would have been enough. Mong falls onto the entire communist army following him. The Marvels then use dwindling pills to shrink him down, then take the Red Runt to a prison camp and destroy the pills, not thinking of possibly analyzing them for the Americans. Wade leads a counter-attack and is given the medal, but he tries giving it to the Marvels, who have to argue for an hour to get him to take it.[53]
An artificially intelligent nuclear-powered robot created by Dr. Charles Langley, although ending his life. Pre-crisis he was a member of the final Monster Society of Evil. In the Power of Shazam! series, Mister Atom (under the control of Mister Mind) destroys Fairfield (a town near Fawcett City where Mary Bromfield lived with her adoptive parents) with a nuclear explosion which killed thousands. He became a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains and attacked the Rock of Eternity, mentioned by Captain Marvel.
The most notorious classic-era Captain Marvel villain, the at-first unseen Mister Mind started and headed a supervillain team known as the Monster Society of Evil in a twenty-two chapter serial running in the Captain Marvel Adventures comic book during the mid-1940s, the longest serial in the Golden Age of Comics. During two years of masterminding tyranny with a team of hundreds of villains and criminals (including several previous Marvel Family adversaries like Captain Nazi, Dr. Sivana, and Ibac), Mister Mind was revealed to be a two-inch, myopic, mind-controlling worm from another planet. The evil worm was placed on trial, convicted of killing 186,744 people, and placed in the electric chair. Mind survived his execution as electric shock only puts his race into suspended animation and escaped. He would go on to battle the Marvel Family many other times, and forming new versions of the Monster Society (including foes like Mr. Atom, Oggar, King Kull, and Black Adam) until the Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the Power of Shazam! series of the mid-1990s, Mind was re-imagined as the leader of a race of millions of mind-controlling Venusian worms, who irregularly appear across the DC Universe attempting to control potential human hosts. Mr. Mind becomes a primary opponent late in DC's 52 series, where he metamorphoses into a giant "hyperfly" able to eat years of history from alternate dimensions, re-establishing DC's Multiverse in the process.
Only appearing in Wow Comics #52. A group of bandits led by Snake. They use an ancient Native American cliff-dwelling for a hideout. Mary Marvel goes to investigate them. She breaks down a door, and finds three Native Americans that were apparently killed by volcanic gas. She cannot see the crooks in the darkness, so uses the magic lightning to see them in the darkness. But before she can turn back, one of the crooks seizes her, covering her mouth with his hand. With her mouth gagged, bound hand and foot, Mary is carried to a cliff edge, where the crooks prepare to throw her off. However the bandits are attacked by the Native Americans. Mary realises that the volcanic gas must have just put the Natives into suspended animation for centuries, and when she broke down the door the fresh air revived them. As white people were their enemy centuries ago they naturally attacked the thugs. Mary knows the Natives will be killed by the bandits' guns, removes her gag on a rock, transforms, and knocks out the crooks. She tells the worried Natives she is not after them, and that these men were crooks, using their ancient cliff-dwelling for a hideout. Mary says all other white people will be their friends, and that there is no war between her people and theirs. When they ask how long they were asleep, she says for centuries, which worries them as they do not know what to do in this age, they have no job, no crops, no money, nothing. Mary says they can give guided tours through caves and charge admission. The bandits are probably jailed.
A young girl who is similar in appearance to Mary and part of a gang of juvenile delinquents. Mary Marvel arrests the gang and sends them to reform school. Only appearing in "Wow Comics" #49.[54]
In Finance Square is the secret Office of Carlton Clutch, a billionaire who wants to become the richest and most powerful man on Earth. He tries to buy Whiz Station for Propaganda Purposes, when Sterling Morris refuses he says that the new expensive television equipment he ordered will never reach Whiz, planning to send strong-arm boys to wreck the equipment. The Marvels hear of this and decide to protect the Noon Freight. They knock out Carlton's three thugs and save the equipment, but Morris reveals Clutch's headquarters are secret. Carlton threatens to wreck three more extremely valuable pieces of equipment, so the Marvels split to protect each piece, which are arriving by Boat, Plane, and Truck. The Neptune 2 is owned by C. CLUTCH LINES and the Captain refuses to release it, so Mary defeats the crew and takes the equipment. The plane is also owned by Clutch and has been ordered to drop the cargo in the sea, so Jr. saves that equipment. The Toll Bridge has been ordered not to let the Truck through, so Captain Marvel lifts the Truck over. Carlton tries to bribe the Marvels, and the next day he sends a Two-Way Television set and tries to bribe the Marvels, showing his vault. He lost count at $10 Billion and offers a bin crammed with $1000 bills if they join him, to which they refuse. His helicopter drops a million dollars onto the roof, and drops leaflets about this to the people below. He plans that when enough people are inside, the Station will collapse. However, the Marvel Family take the money to the street below, so he decides to destroy the Marvel Family and contacts his Inventor, who after a year's work has finished an Earthquake machine. The Marvels are lured by a note from Carlton Clutch saying he will meet them at a Fork Road for a conference. The scientist's machine sends out powerful vibrations causing an artificial earthquake, making the Marvels fall through a crack. He then drives away to receive a million dollars, but the Marvel Family break out of the Earth and follow him. Seeing they have followed the Inventor, he escapes through a chute to the subway station while Marvel knocks out the Inventor. He needs a nickel and asks an attendant to change a $1000 bill, which they cannot do, delaying him long enough for the Marvels to defeat him. At his office, they see he worshipped Mammon, the god of money and greed, but he discovered the power of good was greater. Jr. smashes the statue, while Mary rips down his MONEY IS POWER poster. As his money has gained through dishonest means, Billy reports it was returned to those he swindled. He is now in prison without a penny to his name.
A criminal who possesses masks that change faces. He helps criminal Dangerous Dan to escape from Mary Marvel by making him look like an older man. Her then gives him a mask to impersonate millionaire J. Vanderpool, after which Dan goes to their house and robs their safe. However, the real Vanderpool arrives, alerting Mary, who captures the criminal. The mask-maker disguises himself to escape her, while she attacks a bearded man before realising her mistake. Beest then uses a mask to help a girl win a beauty contest as her mother is ill, but it melts in the sunlight, although the girl still gets the prize. When Beest tries to take the prize money, Mary Marvel captures him. Only appearing in "Mary Marvel" #4.[55]
"Marvel Family" #90 (An unpublished, synopsis in Best of Alter Ego) Plastic Man-like powers and an earthquake gun, goes up against the Marvel Family.[56]
One of Captain Marvel's recurring villains from the early issues of Captain Marvel Adventures in the 1940s, first appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #8. Kurt Filpots worked as an agent for the Axis powers during World War II. Dressed as a stout man in a shaggy green suit and straw hat who carried around an old banjo with him, Filpots delivered secrets to the Japanese the form of musical notes. Someone in a military meeting would whistle musical notes which were a code, Banjo would play the music next to a house with an agent inside who would radio them to the Japanese. Although evil, Mr. Banjo would go up against Captain Marvel with nothing more than a banjo. In his first appearance he was apparently killed when thrown off a ship by Captain Marvel. In his next appearance, he kidnapped the President of the United States and replaced him with an imposter that gave orders for the Navy to leave the Pacific which would allow the Japanese fleet to advance, but was captured this time. He was a member of the Pre-crisis Monster Society of Evil.
Originally a lesser foe of the first Doctor Fate, Mr. Who was a crippled scientist who developed Solution Z, a chemical that would enable him to change his physical form. Instead of sharing his discovery with the world, he used it to commit crimes as a supervillain. He was a member of the original Monster Society of Evil.
In a park an alien lands causing the people to run away. The creature, a green scaley reptilian creature, is upset and sees a girl who only hid, but she faints. Billy hears the people running away and transforms. He sees the alien with the girl and thinks he killed her, but the alien reveals he was rubbing her wrists to revive her. After she leaves the alien feels sad that he is like a monster here, making Marvel realise he is inwardly kind and gentle. The alien shows his space-ship, saying he is Thoth from the faraway world of Brazzia, on a great and glorious mission. His name is Thoth. Thoth says there are thousands of other inhabitated worlds in the Universe. When they are able to travel between each other with space ships war might happen, leading to a war of worlds and plunging the whole known Universe into a gigantic holocaust, leading to the destruction of whole worlds and the death of billions. So Thoth is going to visit all worlds, signing them up as citizens of the Universe. As citizens of the Universe, pledged to eternal peace with each other, no scheming dictators or munitions makers could ever cause war. Cap decides to sign up, but a mob comes, thinking he is a spy from another world or an evil mastermind. Cap tries to stop them, but one of them says 'The Monster has come to conquer and enslave Earth! We can tell that just by looking at him!' Then two Policmen arrive and say they will lock him up for disturbing the peace, if nothing else, and let the court decide what to do with him. Cap 'cannot interfere because it is the law', and tries to tell them Thoth came to do good in a great peace movement.
But they do not believe this, and while Thoth is being taken to jail three humanoids arrive. They claim to be from a world near Thoth's world and say he is a well-known criminal, so they will take him away. Cap tells them Thoth is kind and good, but when one of them asks if the people believe him, the people say 'Yes, we believe you, Sir! Anybody can tell by one look that you people are honest and upright and good.' They take Thoth away, but Cap follows them and they reveal they are a small band of munitions makers, 'Our policy is to make all the worlds of space hate each other!' After starting a gigantic war of the worlds, they will sell their munitions and reap a vast fortune. Since Thoth is trying to cause peace, they followed him here, but before they can shoot him, Cap hits them.
Cap lets them escape purposely so he can follow them, as they do not know he can fly through space. He follows them to another world, as they want to report this to the rest of the munition makers, where a huge trapdoor opens for their ship. Cap knocks out the two guards, and hears them planning to capture and kill Thoth before he starts his citizens of the Universe movement. Then they can look forward to the great war of the worlds, where they will sell weapons to both sides. In the room are enough weapons to make them 'the biggest fortune in history!' Cap breaks through the door, and tells them he will set the munitions off, but is giving them five minutes to leave. 'Five minutes later the most gigantic explosion ever seen on any world occurs!' The munition makers plan to start the store on an other world, thinking Cap has died in the explosion. But the World's Mightiest Mortal emerges without a scratch and decides to give them to the Police of this world. He forces their ship down toward a city of the strange planet. The rest are peace loving, he is sure, only this group plotted war, so will be tried for treason against the Universe. He then goes to Earth and reveals what Thoth was doing, meaning all the people sign up as citizens of the Universe. After this Thoth leaves.
Only appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #139. Niatpac Levram was the creation of the devilish Wizzo the Wizard! The wizard created Levram as a mirror duplicate of Captain Marvel by casting a spell and animating Cap's image from a mirror. Wizzo used Niatpac Levram to wreak havoc on Captain Marvel's city for the sole purpose of graduating from the School of Black Magicians! Cap was able to defeat Wizzo and send Nia back to the mirror universe![57]
1948, "Mary Marvel" #24. Henry Stibbs is the cunning and ruthless Night Owl. As a man with his face bandaged up from a terrible burn accident, he takes a room under Mrs. Bromfield's roof from which he can plan his crimes. With huge oversized eyes, he can see perfectly in the dark but is almost completely blind during the day. He goes about the city pretending to be a blind begger, hiding his eyes with dark shades. When darkness falls, he commits daring robberies armed with his darkflash, a flashlight that casts blackness instead of light. His hair style, beakish nose and oversized eyes make him look the part of a human owl but no explanation as to where he got the extraordinary eyes or the darkflash. His crime spree is halted by Mary Marvel.[58] He later appears in Shazam #12. When Mary Marvel uses her lightning to see in the dark while the Night Owl is robbing a factory she turns back, but is knocked out before she can transform, then bound and gagged and placed under an automatic presser. But she removes her gag on a spike from the guard gate, escapes, and captures him.[59]
A master swordsman and spy for the Japanese. Member of the Monster Society of Evil. Nippo from Nagasaki was a Japanese agent who used blackmail to force Japanese Americans to help him. He first appeared when, after killing an air force officer, he tried to impersonate him with a rubber mask. A master swordsman and martial arts expert, it is unclear whether or not he survived the war. After his battle with the Marvel Family, he may have returned to his home city by the time the 2nd atomic bomb hit.
The self styled "World's Mightiest Immortal", he was a major recurring enemy of the Marvels in the DC Comics stories published before the continuity-resetting Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries in 1985. Oggar was a pupil of Shazam, and under the wizard's tutelage attained godhood and for a time joined the six gods and heroes who would empower Captain Marvel, but turned against Shazam after teaming up with Circe and giving her immortality, who cast him out and cursed him with horns, and cloven hooves instead of feet. He has divine strength and durability equal to Captain Marvel's and magic that enabled him to do nearly anything, like turning Captain Marvel back with lightning, or muting people, although each spell could only be used once. However, Oggar's power cannot be directly cast against a female target, as Circe cursed him. Thus Mary Marvel was usually called upon to deal with him. He creates the Cult of the Curse, and uses his hooves to bind men to it, if they leave his service they are driven mad, however if already mad they are cured. Unfortunately, he only gets 4 men to join him, all lunatics thinking they are: Samson, Nero, Napoleon, and Julius Caesar, and throughout the series they all leave. He joins the last pre-crisis Monster Society of Evil for an assault on the Rock of Eternity and helps Black Adam raise an evil army in Egypt.
Oom was a statue of a monster who came to life. He was a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #81. A flying carpet flies over the city. On it is a man speaking in an unknown tongue, who lassos people onto the carpet. The Marvels are rowing, and when the man tries to kidnap Mary, they transform into the Marvel Family. They fly towards the carpet but it flies away. Jr. wonders if it is the magic carpet of Arabian stories, and Captain Marvel says they should keep guard. That night the carpet appears again, and Cap grabs the pilot. Possessed of the Wisdom of Solomon, Cap speaks Ancient Arabian to the man, who introduces himself as 'Pasha Plunda...Emir of Bagdad....Caliph of Araby...Lord of the Palace...Defender of Islam...Scourge of the Infidels...Mogul of Mecca...Exalted Prince of...' Cap stops him and asks what he is doing here, why he grabs people, and where he takes them. Plunda says that is his secret. He opens a magic bottle, releasing black smoke that becomes a powerful genie that he orders to keep the Marvels busy while he escapes. The genie uproots a factory chimmney and blows soot at the Marvels. Mary flies down it to get to his face, but the genie moves the funnel so she flies into a wall. She gets the smokestack, telling the other Marvels to keep after the Genie. The giant picks up cars and piles them on each other. Jr. uses an emergency ramp to get the cars down. Cap finds the genie is smoke and he has trouble fighting it, so he disperses the genie by making a tempest, however Pasha Plunda got away. Next day people are being taken though the carpet is not seen. The Marvels find Plunda is hiding above the clouds. Seeing them, he rubs his magic lamp, and wishes for the city below to spin like a top, faster and faster. The ground under the city starts turning--the Marvels unable to stop anything without wrecking it. It spins faster and faster. At least one man wonders whether the Marvel Family has deserted them, but they have got to a factory. Cap tells them to grab tools and materials for work, though Mary is getting dizzy. Cap tells her to fight it so they can finish a giant brake. They press the rim where the ground spins under the city, stopping the spinning. Then they start travelling from Earth for a new mission. Cap thinks Plunda takes his captives back to the past, so they go to the Rock of Eternity and travel to 1000 AD when Bagdad was at its height. When getting to the Queen City of Old Arabia they find it deserted. They find a sign saying 'Beware the Black Plague! Flee if you can!' and Mary thinks a dreadful epidemic has struck here. However Cap then hears American English, and the Marvels see the kidnapped English from their own time. They are told the Menfolk have to work in the palace as slaves. Quite lucky the Marvels arrived at exactly the right point in time. Meanwhile the men are being forced to work, and when one is whipped, he says he's a free American citizen and will not take this from the Pasha or anybody else. The Marvels then burst in and attack the Pasha, who reveals that his former people rebelled against him, calling him a tyrant. Even his guards did so, so he used his lamp to kill them all with the Black Plague. But he was then King of an empty city, and so raided the Future for slaves for his Kingdom. His lamp can give him Jewels, Riches, Palaces, but not people. When Cap says they will stop this, he uses the lamp to summon Demons, who will attack the people unless the Marvels chase them down. Mary sends one into the fire by pulling the carpet from under him, Jr. decapitates one with a scimitar, and Cap uses his strength to knock down many. Another creature, a huge pterodactyl-like creature, attacks so the Marvels use a minaret as a weapon and impale the Monster's chest. Cap says while the Pasha has the lamp they cannot get near him, and Mary says they need the carpet and lamp to get the people back to their own time. Cap says they should transform into the kids to get the lamp, and they so do. At night they sneak into the palace. They hear the Pasha is asleep, so Billy says they will get the Carpet, Lamp, and Bottle. But his magic mirror warns him as it never sleeps, so he uses a ball and chain to knock the kids out. When they come to they are his helpless prisoners, bound with their mouths gagged, and being locked in a cell. From his bottle he calls a fire genie, that touches the Iron bars of the dungeon, making them glow red hot and radiating heat at the trio. The cell becomes hotter, cooking the Marvels. Suddenly they see a boy at the bars of the neighbouring cell, who is speaking Arabic which they cannot understand. Billy then realises the boy wants a ring and uses his feet to give it to him, causing him to cool the bars, making them icey. But the genie burns its way through, however the Marvels stretch forward and let their gags burn away first, allowing them to become the Marvel Family, who blows the genie out. Cap frees the boy, who claims he is Aladdin, rightful owner of the magic lamp and carpet. After the Pasha stole them he placed the boy in there. Cap asks if Aladdin can create a smoke or fog through the palace with his ring, so Aladdin fills the palace with fog. The Marvels take the magic from the Pasha, who is left with only his magic mirror, with which he finds out that the Marvels have taken the other magic items. He uses an axe to smash the mirror, causing the city to crumble like the mirror. The Marvels place the people on the magic carpet. The people claim in all the past or future there will never be anybody like the Marvels. When everybody is safe Cap says they will get the Pasha, but Jr. says it is too late, as the whole city collapses, meaning the Pasha caused his own downfall and death. Aladdin uses the lamp to return the people to their own time. He then goes back to restore the damage done by the Pasha. Jr. wishes Aladdin had stayed long enough to see the wonders of their time, but Cap tells him he will be more happy back in Ancient Times where his good magic is really needed.[53]
Two crooks who try to get money from rich lady Bromfield, Mary Marvel's adoptive mother. Prof. Dripp is the more intelligent one, while Slug is a fat, stupider, thug. Slug tries to break in from the roof to get the money, and though Mary hits him he escapes. Bromfield telephones to say she is sending Mary over with the check. Slug wants to get rid of her as she is suspicious, but Dripp has a better idea. When she gives him the check, he tells her to step in to give her a receipt, but Slugg then seizes her and stops her from speaking. She is securely tied to a chair and gagged. Dripp hopes to use her as a hostage, if her Mother stops payment, she will stop breathing. Mary realizes she was right about the two, but is in no position to do anything about it. They'll get away with the stolen money. When they get back, Slug says with all the money they will be living on Easy Street when they hit Mexico, before realising his mistake. Dripp calls him a 'Dumb Fat-head,' as now Mary could tell the cops they are heading for Mexico. Slug says he will make it all right using his large sharp knife. Dripp was not planning on this, but it is their only chance for a clean getaway. Dripp tells Slug to get it over with then they will clear out. Not forgetting what 'her pal' did to his head on the roof, Slug claims it will be a pleasure and advances on Mary, seizing her hair to keep her still. Mary realises she has a chance, and jerks her head so the knife cuts the gag instead of her throat. She transforms, breaks her bonds, 'slugs' Slug, and defeats her foes.[60]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #124. Captain Marvel is acting as a translator for Station Whiz, when suddenly he hears a language he cannot understand, but it sounds like an appeal for help. The operator says it seems to be coming from Europe, so Marvel flies there. He thinks it must be a small nation hidden in the mountains, and finally in a remote valley he finds a town with strange houses and strangly clothed people, where the streets are paved with solid gold. The people ask him for help but he cannot understand a word. They point towards the mountains, so he flies there and finds a cabin on a big glacier. There he meets language expert Professor Grabbe, who claims to have stumbled on the hidden valley a year ago and stayed to study the language. But he still cannot understand it, and says he is ready to leave, as he advises Cap to do. But Cap decides to learn the language, although Grabbe says they have no written records. First Marvel learns the word for gold, Pokko. He keeps learning using his brilliant mind, but suddenly a knife is thrown at an inhabitant. Though Cap stops it, learning Jek is knife, the culprit esapes. Soon after a bomb is thrown over a house, but Cap smothers it. Soon he learns the people are survivors of the Ice Age, and their language is 25000 years old. Only their valley escaped destruction in that age. They have been cut off from the outside world, except for a radio from ancient times, which is made of gold. It must be thousands of years old. Cap realises why Grabbe has all the digging equipment, and when a native tries to tell him of the doom, Cap says he can figure it out. He zooms into Grabbe's chalet, finds a tunnel Grabbe was digging ever since he came there, and very luckily stops him just before he sets off a charge to loosen the whole glacier, which would have plunged into the valley and ground the people to atoms. After the ice melted, he would have claimed all the gold for himself, and since nobody knew of these people the massacre would be undiscovered. Worst of all (according to Cap) the people were helpless to get outside aid as nobody could understand their language until he came along. He hits Grabbe, then as Billy reports, apparently to the hidden valley as well, Grabbe is in jail and Cap is writing up a dictionary of the language. They will soon be invited to join the United Nations.[17]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #11. A kidnapper who went exploring in the Ajak mountains a year before he appears. He then starts kidnapping poor children. Mary, while bringing a food basket to a poor family as she does daily, sees the 11th kidnapping and chases him to his base, where he has all the children bound and gagged and has just finished binding and gagging his last victim. She knocks him out, then transforms to call the police, but he gags her from behind, revealing he only pretended to be knocked out. Mary is bound hand and foot, then with his 12 victims Gorling gets into the plane and flies to the Ajak mountains, where a giant appears. It is revealed a race of unintelligent giants lives there and let him go in exchange for his promising to bring back more 'little talking dolls' like himself, and promised him a sack of gold for each one. Mary is sold to a giant's family like all the other children and played around with by the two children, nearly being killed by their beatings on her. Finally, the girl removes her gag, allowing her to transform and rescue the other children, who are also being used as toys by the children. She takes them back to the plane while Gorling is talking to a giant, and a junior pilot starts flying it away. However the giant Gorling is talking to about bringing more children observes this and seizes the plane, but Mary pulls his hair until he lets them go, telling Gorling he will remain as a plaything of the giants for the rest of his life.[61]
Only appearing in Mary Marvel #9. An archeologist who plans to rob a museum as he has gotten barely anything from his work. He donates a Trojan horse model to the museum which he plans to use for a robbery. Two thugs try to rob the Van Dyke jewels, worth millions from the museum, but Mary Marvel and Pinkey happen to be there and try to stop them, however they are delayed when the crooks push a statue over. They are told by some people they ran into the Trojan Horse room, but cannot find them, despite searching the museum. They wait in the museum and find the crooks later committing another robbery. They once again disappear in the Trojan Horse room, but Mary then remembers the story of warriors hiding in the Trojan Horse and finds a trapdoor in their belly. She gets through and defeats one, while Pinkey defeats the one who jumps out. They change into their civilian forms, but realise they cannot find the loot. They discover a second door from inside the chest leading to the horse's neck, but are both knocked out when they open it. When they come to they are bound and gagged and Professor Logan reveals his plot. His thugs then push the Horse from the museum to kill the two while they rob the museum. However Pinkey kicks of Mary's gag, she transforms, stops the Horse, then with Pinkey she stops the criminals.[62]
Only appearing twice (his first appearance in The Marvel Family #50 and final in Shazam! #16), Gilbert Thorne is a brilliant scientist known for his Speech Scrambler Machine, which made communication nearly impossible,[63] and the Injustice statue, which compelled a judge to make poor judgments, and even led to Captain Marvel being jailed for 50 years for flying through a traffic light. However he threw his hammer from the rockpile, smashing the statue.[64]
A scientist who creates Silicon Man, an artifical being with superpowers. He sends a fake message which is claimed is from the planet Dorth, which is overrun with crime, and needs Captain Marvel to help. Cap says he can't leave Earth, then Professor Zynn shows him Silicon Man, and asks Captain Marvel to train him so he can go to Dorth. Finally Captain Marvel has trained Silicon Man, even bringing him along ot help stop a robbery, and as Billy Batson calls Zynn. Billy tells Zynn Silicon Man will be the champion for Dorth. He doesn't notice Zynn is holding a cloth behind his back. He tells Billy 'Don't be silly,' and then says 'First I'll stop you yelling for help.' He gags Billy with the cloth and ties him up. He then reveals his plan, thinking Silicon Man can now defeat Captain Marvel. He orders him to kill Billy Batson, who thinks he is about to mangle him. However Silicon Man ungags Billy, saying 'Crime is evil.' Billy realises his time with Captain Marvel made him good. Billy is freed and Silicon Man goes after Zynn. However Zynn throws an acid at Silicon Man's face, removing his memory. He tries to rob a bank, but Billy has summoned Captain Marvel. Silicon Man is again clumsy, and Captain Marvel destroys him with a single blow. Zynn is then jailed.[65]
Only appearing in Whiz Comics #98. A man who can see vision of the Future. In they year 1898 the Prophet goes into a periodic trance. He sees the Future, and then something which he thinks will make him and his two men the Richest men in the world. A super atomic-grenade worth Ten thousand cannon is invented in 1948, and the Prophet says with it rule the world. He says he had a vision where a great scientist of the Future invented pills that enabled him to travel in time and he remembers the formula. He says they will go 50 yrs int othe Future and steal it. They swallow the pills and their bodies fade away to be chemically reassembled in the Future. In 1948 Billy is interviewing Professor Bander, who says his principle came up from Louis Zweistein who was too old to do the work. Meanwhile the three men have appeared and are 50 yrs older. They knock over a test tube, alering Bander and Billy, who summons Captain Marvel. The villains are easily defeated, a gun fired at Cap does not hurt him, causing the man to think this is what men in the Future are like. When Cap asks who they are, one of the men says they are too weak to talk, and will first take a pill to restore their strength. They also throw a pill into Bander's mouth, causing them all to be transported 50 years back. Cap wonders if they have gone to get the secret from Zweistein and flies off. But 'at this moment' (?) in the year 1898 the Time Kidnappers find out Bander has become a baby, having become 50 yrs younger. Oddly enough his clothes have gone. The Prophet says if he had not been over 50 he would have ceased to exist, and says they should go to Dr. Zwenstein to get the secret of the Atomic Grenade from him. While Cap gets there the Time Kidnappers are moving toward the house. They see Captain Marvel and try to escape, though one drops a Time Pill, and after they have gone Cap takes it. As he was created by the magic of Shazam he cannot grow older or younger. He chases the two men, the last thug not appearing for the rest of the story. The Prophet goes into a trance and sees the Earth burning, the sun coming closer, the end of the world. The shock of this kills the Prophet. The thug says he knew this would happen, and wonders what he saw that killed him. Cap says he can lead him to Bander, and then use the last of their Time pills to get back to their time. Bander thanks cap for stopping him living his whole life over again, and Cap thinks he will never forget this adventure because of the Prophet's last, terrifying vision.
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #147. Delura, the communist Queen of Spies, plagued Captain Marvel briefly while Billy Batson was on a trip to Istanbul to meet with Ming of Tibet. Ming had contacted Station WHIZ about a fantastic device he was willing to give America, and Sterling Morris charged Billy with retrieving the device. During Billy's train ride to Istanbul, the Queen of Spies tried to kill the young lad with a dagger. Luckily, Billy was able to transform into Captain Marvel before the blade struck the young lad! Later Delura's henchman, Ghunga, bound and gagged Billy and threw him in a river to drown. Ghunga then captured Ming per Delura's orders! Delura used torture to discover Ming's secret and then fed him a paralyzing potion so he could not speak or write to reveal his secret. A freed Captain Marvel found Ming but not before Delura escaped. Ming was able to use telepathy to communicate with Cap and reveal the location of his secret. Delura beat Captain Marvel to the location of Ming's secret but Cap was able to track the Queen of Spies to her lair because of her distinctive perfume. Captain Marvel captured Delura and she has not been heard from since![66]
Only appears in "Marvel Family" #22. Prisoner 887432 is given the chance to get off execution in exchange for being a test subject for a medical experiment. He is given radioactive salt to build up immunity to radioation poisoning, like arsenic immunity. Finally he is so radioactive his clothes burn away and he wears a lead suit, finally his chains melt away. He kills the two scientists with a charge of deadly rays. He takes the remaining radioactive capsules as he needs to take one every few hours to keep his powers. At a police athletic meet at the stadium he tries to make the cops leave as he hates cops, they recognize him as an escaped killer, but their bullets melt before they hit him, he then starts burning the cops. Billy Batson is there and turns into Captain Marvel, who is immune to the radioactive rays. Radioactive Man takes another capsule, then starts fires in the stands to slow down Captain Marvel (who stamps out the flames) enough to allow him to escape. He then starts hunting cops and burning them to death. Billy reports on this, then transforms into Captain Marvel and disguises himself as a cop and waits in the neighborhood Radioactive Man has been operating in. When he tries burning him, Marvel reveals himself and puts him in jail. He takes the capsules without which his powers will die out and takes them to a hospital. But Radioactive Man had one capsule concealed in his mouth, he regains his powers and melts the bars. Police arrive at airport that day with radium for Center hospital, Radioactive Man needs more radioactive salt, but Captain Marvel stops the rays from burning the guards and captures Radioactive Man with a lead cable. Billy then says his powers wore off without a new dose, he is once again prisoner 887432, and his death sentence has been changed to life imprisonment.[67]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #20. A flaming meteor comes down from space, causing even buildings to shake. Billy goes to observe the meteor, but finds some observers who say it have disappeared. He hears sounds in a cave, and goes in to find a short green frog-like creature hanging from the ceiling, and calls himself "Thoad". He tries to test his radium gun on Billy, who transforms, and pulls the creature off, seeing it has suction cups on its feet. It tries to capture him with its hand suction cups, so Cap pretends to be captive. He is led to a cave where there are other Thoads, led by High Commander Grollo. He shows Cap their spaceship from which they came from Thoad-Thule. Their world was dying, they studied Earth with telescopes and decided to go there as it was the nearest planet, and they realise Earth has a big war every 20 years or so. They did not care that this war is a just war against the forces of evil. Marvel then reveals himself and easily defeats the Thoads. The leader drives the spaceship at Marvel, squashing him against the war. Not wanting to set off the radium torpedo, he turns back into Billy, but after going outside he is knocked out by a Thoad. The Thoads start attacking as Billy has got amnesia. However a storm occurs and lightining strikes him, transforming him to Captain Marvel who drives the Thoads back. As their spaceship leaves Earth, he throws the radium torpedo at it, destroying the Thoads.[68]
Six females with one power each based on Captain Marvel's six powers, composed of Virago, Dauntless, Sibyl, Gibralta, Celeritas, and Dynamoll. Mister Mind in the robot human of Mr Wonderful, with the six-armed alien Handyman gave them their powers with a machine. Captain Marvel is creeped out by their love attempts on him during a restaurant robbery, running away as he feels he cannot attack girls. Dynamoll projects atomic energy at him, but it fails. Minute Man attempts to help him after getting advice from Achilles. Mr Wonderful is angry at Dynamoll, who thought atomic energy would be better to project at Cap instead of lightning like Wonderful said. She asks if it will destroy him, to which he replies it will not, but she would not believe him if he said what it would do. He then says that rest assured she can capture Captain Marvel, providing she bind and gag him securley before he can speak. Dynamoll turns Captain Marvel back by projecting lightning, Billy is shocked, but just as he says he did not even say Shazam, Dynamoll gags and binds him, bringing him to Mister Wonderful who places him on a chair and prepares to drop a 5 ton weight onto him. But Minute Man removes his gag just as the weight is dropped, allowing him to transform, though he is still unable to attack Females, so Minute Man does, but is defeated, causing Mr Wonderful to laugh in a recognisable way. Cap realises Mr Mind is inside Mr Wonderful and then defeats the girls. He then reveals the identity of Mr Wonderful by smashing the robot apart, revealing Mr Mind, who finally reveals how he survived the electric chair. He then escapes by slipping through Marvel's fingers and under the floorboards when Cap is distracted, but the Squad is presumably sent to jail.
1952, "Captain Marvel Adventures" #139. North Korean yellow menace monster-man and foe of Captain Marvel. The Red Crusher is one of North Korea's devilish champions who fought Captain Marvel. In his first appearence he attacked UN forces with huge spiked balls, and suceeded in capturing Billy Batson. Billy was gagged nd tied to one of the balls, but was able to remove his gag and transform. The Crusher was captured, but escaped later.[57] On one occasion he kidnapped Major Baldwin, who had devised a fog machine. He tried to use his fog to stop American troops, but Capfoiled his plots. He saw a sign at an army camp saying if he was seen Major Baldwin would die, so he transformed back. However as he went through a window he was hit on the head with the butt of a gun and knocked out. When he came to his hands were tied to a pole and he was gagged, while Baldwin was next to him with his hands bound. The Crusher said he would kill Billy if Baldwin did not reveal how to make the fog. However Billy shook his head, causing Baldwin to refuse. The Crusher tried to kill Billy with amber fog that became solid around him. However it became so heavy it pulled Billy's gag away, enabling him to transform. He broke free of the amber fog and freed soldiers caught by it. He also rescued Baldwin, though the Crusher escaped.
The Red Vulture was North Korea's mightiest warrior against the Allied Forces during the Korean War. The Red Vulture's secret weapon was a mighty space station, in the shape of a colossal red star, that could rain giant fireballs down on the U.S. troops and her allies. The Mighty Marvel Family came to the aid of the Allied Forces and battled and defeated the Red Vulture and destroyed the Vulture's mighty space station. The Marvel Family turned The Red Vulture over to the U.S. troops in Korea and he has never been been heard from since. Only appearing in "The Marvel Family" #78 (Dec 1952).[69]
Note: The Red Vulture was created in a time when racism was more overt in society and popular culture both consciously and unconsciously. The Red Vulture is included here for historical purposes.
Rodney Stark is a sportsman explorer who discovers a race of prehistoric men who have been frozen for thousands of years at the North Pole. They are apparently strong enough to survive a bazooka shell, super-intelligent as "the intense cold has sharpened their intelligence almost to perfection," and explorer Rodney Stark has devised a method of bringing them back to life, using a machine that slowly defrosts them in two hours, planning to use them to build an airforce, copies of stolen U.S planes, allowing him to take over the world. He first throws Billy of his ship when Billy wants to come along. However, Billy goes to the North Pole when he hears that six planes were stolen and their pilots killed. Fisherman Dirk Svenson tells him of primitive men killing the pilots, before trying to kill him with a bomb on the plane, but Billy transforms and is saved. He falls into a crevice and is captured by the primitive men, who take him to Stark, who explains his plan, plotting to attack as within the week he will have 1000 of these men. Billy is thrown into an icy dungeon, but escapes by transforming. The men are all destroyed in an explosion along with Stark when Captain Marvel makes their planes crash.
Thief who commits crimes, then escapes by throwing newspapers at car windows, and while Captain Marvel Jr. stops the car he gets away. He steals a formula which makes paper tough as steel from a scientist whose house he hides in, makes a suit out of newspaper, and tries to commit robberies with it, using other paper weapons. Captain Marvel Jr. is repelled by an electrical charge in it similar to the Shazam lightening, but keeps hitting Riggs, tricking him into putting so much formula on the suit that it becomes heavy and he sinks into the ground. He is then jailed. It is revealed the paper would burn anyway.
Rowdy was one of the many funny villains introduced before 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths that Captain Marvel would fight regularly. Rowdy considers himself "The Toughest Guy in the World" after he read a copy of "How to Do Everything." His cousin, Sunny Sparkle, is a polar opposite of him. Rowdy Sparkle appeared only once, in Shazam! #5 in 1973, and loses his powers when Captain Marvel destroys the handbook.[70]
Like Ibac, Sabbac is another magical being powered by the forces of demons. Sabbac gets his powers from six demons (Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus and Craeteis), who give him powers proportional to those of the Marvels. The original Sabbac, the alter ego of Freddy Freeman/Captain Marvel Jr.'s foster brother Timothy Karnes, first appeared in 1943 as a humanoid figure.
In the early 2000s The Outsiders comic book, Karnes was murdered and his Sabbac powers stolen by a Russian mobster named Ishamel Gregor. When Gregor becomes Sabbac, he transforms into a hulking demon with red skin, horns, fire breath, and a scent of brimstone. He later becomes several storys high.
First appearing in "Marvel Family" #90 (unpublished, synopsis in Best of Alter Ego), Satyr is an evil incarnation of the god Pan that was banished from Earth 2000 years ago by Shazam. He faces the Marvel Family and attempts to replace Captain Marvel.[56]
Another Satyr appears in "Marvel Family" #21 along with a two-headed Hydra and many eyed Argus, as a Trio of Terror summoned from the Netherworld by three carnival brothers using a stolen spell book, who have to return in 24 hours unless three replacements are sent. The Marvel Family are able to send them back although they are nearly sent themselves. This Satyr has superhuman strength, durability, and can control minds with his pipes, although Captain Marvel is able to break free of the music.[2]
The Satyr Archibald was a member of the Monster Society of Evil, and graduated from Monster School with Mr. Mind (as he had briefly lost their memory and wanted a course to make them evil again) after capturing Billy Batson by accident by falling on him after he was knocked into the air, after an echo made Captain Marvel turn back, so as to graduate as the student needed to commit an evil deed. Billy was gagged, and his hands and feet are tied before he is taken of by Archibald. However while Archibald was beating him up before a class with a spiked knuckle-duster, Billy removed his gag, and summoned Captain Marvel who defeated Archibald. Only appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #44.[71]
Seven powerful demons, based upon the seven deadly sins enumerated in Christianity, who can take control of both humans and superheroes. The Sins were captured by the wizard Shazam many years ago, and encased in seven mockingly cartoon-like stone statues. The seven statues housing each demon are on display in Shazam's underground lair in the subway in the original comics, and in the Rock of Eternity in the modern comics. The demons have escaped their prisons several times to cause havoc, usually freed by another villain. In one story King Kull releases them, planning to make Sin bombs which cause people to commit sins by affecting their minds and destroy the world. Cap follows King Kull to his Evil Olympus and turns to Billy Batson to get through the alarm systems. As he runs out to transform and capture the Sins, his feet catches on a loose bomb, causing him to fall and hit his head on the floor. A Sin seizes him to stop him speaking, and Kull says he will use the ray that restored the Sins to turn Billy to stone, but Billy kicks the gun away and bites the Sin's hand so it releases his mouth, enabling him to summon Captain Marvel. Kull is defeated and the Sins again imprisoned in stone. In the original Fawcett stories and most other versions, the Seven Sins were "censored" to an extent in keeping with 1940s standards, identified as the "Seven Deadly Enemies of Man" and including Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Laziness, Selfishness, and Injustice among their ranks.
Most post-2000 appearances of the Seven Deadly Sins identify them by their traditional theological versions (Pride, Envy, Greed, Anger, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lust). When the Spectre destroyed the Rock of Eternity and killed Shazam the Sins were released. When the Rock was rebuilt the Sins were again captured, although they try to torment Marvel, and they are implied to have caused trouble at a full moon. It is claimed that Pride is the most rude and dangerous.
An opera singer only appearing in "Mary Marvel" #3, who hates the swing movement. He disguises himself as a night watchman and places choking gas capsules inside a microphone, which causes crooners to lose their singing voice for 24 hours. While Mary is watching he is able to gas her and tie her up, but she held her breath meaning that her voice comes back quickly, she transforms into Mary Marvel, captures him and learns why he placed the gas there, then takes him off to a quiet resort.[14]
Composed of Dr. Sivana, his wife Venus, and their children Beautia, Magnificus, Sivana Jr., and Georgia. When the patriarch of the family went missing, Venus sought the Black Marvel Family for help, offering $2,000,000. The younger Sivanas are shown discovering their Father's suspendium orb. Pre-Crisis, Beautia and Magnificus were the product of one union between an unknown woman and Sivana and later Sivana had Sivana Jr. and Georgia with another unnamed woman. The elder siblings would assist their father before inevitably becoming allies to the Marvel Family. The younger siblings, however, remained loyal to their father and assisted him in his schemes. They both resseambled Sivana, physically and mentallym and possessed scientific minds like him. They first all appeared in Marvel Family #10, planning to prevent the Marvels calling their lightining down, but Sivana realises it has so much power it would take power even greater then the atomic bomb to stop it. Jr. remembers in a record of Atlantis they mentioned an element even more powerful then Plutonium and Neptunium. Sivana sees they had an element called Protium. In 10,000 yrs it becomes Neutrium and in another 10,000 yrs, to Electrium. Sivana says Georgia will go to the past, Jr to the Future, and he will stay in the Present. The Sivanas gain access to the Rock of Eternity using faster then light spaceships, then time travel to Ancient, Modern, and Future Atlantis. However Shazam tells the Marvels the Sivanas are at the Rock when they summon him to ask him where the Sivanas are, and they pursue them. Georgia travels to Atlantis in about 8000 BC and meets a scientist called Chal-Patzun, who made the record. Georgia can decipher the Ancient Atlantean language and meets a man who calls Chal-Patzun a crackpot as he thinks Atlantis wll sink. Georgia meets him, telling him she believes Atlantis will sink. He says it is due to a big earth fault under the Island. He has Protium in a vault and plans for his ancestors to pass the secret down and finally raise Atlantis. Georgia knocks out the scientist with a club blow to the head from behind, but Mary defeats her. She ties her to a chair and asks why she is doing this, but Georgia refuses to reveal it. Mary tries to transform the material with her lightining, but is unable to. Georgia is freed when the Earthquake happens, she gags Mary from behind, ties her hands and feet, steals one vial of the material, and escapes with her. Doctor Sivana in the present tries to find Patzun's descendant, but cannot find Patzun in a Dictionary of Scientists, but says names change and the closest name is Patterson. He kidnaps the young Dr. Charles Patterson to find the location, but Patterson leaves Atlantis, Coast 35 on the wall, allowing Captain Marvel to find the location by flying to the Atlantic Coast at 35 degrees latitude. Cap defeats Sivana, who retreats while Cap is delayed saving Patterson from an octopus. Cap and Patterson go in, only Paterson's family know the combination. They find a skeleton in the vault, and they see one vial is missing, making Cap realise Mary failed. But Sivana returns and turns Captain Marvel back with a giant electric eel. Billy Batson is taken in by Patterson, but Sivana gets in before he can close the door, and when he tries to stop Sivana taking the Neutrium, Sivana shoots thrice, killing him. He steals another vial, then takes Billy Batson back to his base. In 12000 AD Chass Passon goes to the valt, and though two vials are missing, the eight vials of Electrium are able to raise Atlantis. Sivana Jr. gets to Atlantis just as it is rising. He knocks out Passon with a metal piece, but is stopped by Jr., though throws seaweed in his face to delay him. Passon places a vial in a disintegrator gun to clear the ruins so a new city can be built. When Captain Marvel Jr tells Passon his name and turns back, Jr. knocks him out by throwing a stone at him. He then pushes stones onto the other person, knocking out or killing them. He wonders whether he should disintegrate Freddy, but decides not to. He returns to the present with Freddy. The Sivana children return to their base. First Georgia forces Mary to walk in before her. Then Jr. carries Freddy in. But Sivana shows Billy is the bound and gagged Billy is a prisoner also. The three kids are left at the wall of a room while the Sivanas turn on the machine. Sivana then moves towards the kids with a knife, causing them to think he is going to slit their throats. To their surprise he says 'You poor kids. You're all tied up and gagged,' and cuts them all free. He reveals it is to mock them, as they cannot transform. He tells them the energy has formed a shell of electrons around the Earth, which repels the lightining. The kids are marched at gunpoint into the ship, then taken to the remote palace of the Sivanas, and released to be hunted. The Marvels break into the lab by stealing the Sivana's ship, turn of the machine, transfor and wreck the machine, then capture the unsuspecting Sivanas. They get them tied up on their thrones. After that the group are imprisoned.
Two crooks who Mary meets during the 24 hrs every 1000 years when Shazam loses his powers, therefore Mary does too. Slyke is a smaller, more intelligent crook, while Hugo is larger and stronger. She fails to stop them robbing a jewelry store, but at home Shazam tells her what has happened. She then makes a Mary Marvel costume to go after Slippery Slyke and Hugo. By bluffing she prevents them robbing another jewelry store. When she does not fly after them, Slyke suspects she is a fake. She uses silverware in her house to bait a trap, leaving the back door open, making them come into her house. By firing bricks in the darkness from a machine, she stuns them, but Slyke sees the brick that hit him, and realises she is a fake, He seizes her, ties her to the chair and preparing to shoot her. However, the 24 hrs finish as she calls Shazam repeatedly, allowing her to transform just before he shoots, and capture the two. Only appearing in "Mary Marvel" #4.[55]
A former convict who becomes the coach for the Marvel College team. Eustice Doke, of the class of 1900, promises the college $10,000,000 if they win. Billly Batson is told to investigate by enrolling, which he does with help from Captain Marvel. Billy s able to get into the team as a waterboy, but notices Slug is calling the team a pushover, which a good coach never does, according to him. When the star fullback falls ill Captain Marvel tries to enroll, but he is thrown out for doing so well. Billy later hears Slug is getting 100 grand for making the college lose and there are 50:1 odds. He sees Slug drugging the water, but replaces it. However, Slug's henchmen take out the players during the game, but finally Captain Marvel appears and plays for the whole team, winning it 9-6. When last heard off, Slug Samson has resigned.
Only appearing in "Shazam" #19. A criminal who hid a bomb in the Whiz radio building. While Uncle Dudley was preparing for his show he stopped him yelling with his hand and told him to help him or he would set the bomb off. Dudley was able to convince him to let him appear on his show, during which he emphasised different words and syllables to send a message to Mary. As Mary Marvel she flew with such superspeed she became invisible. The villain told Uncle Marvel to rob a painting of 'The Smiling Swordsman,' Mary got it while making Uncle appear to fly. She then follows the thief underneath the car to his mansion, but turns back so he will not set the bomb off if his servants will not see her. But she is then knocked out by a hammer and when she comes to she is gagged and tied to a chair. The Smiling Swordsman is now dressed as the character in the painting and decides to finish her off with his sword. But she moves her head so the sword slashes her off her gag, and then turns into Mary Marvel. She allows him to use up his sword on her invulnerable body, before knocking him out. Next day Uncle retells the story, but edits it to build up his own part.[72]
Only appearing in Marvel Family #14. A master criminal who the Marvel Family stop the Jewel robbery of. Dr Cardiff then tells Captain Marvel he wants him to undergo a physical examination to make sure he is the World's Healthiest Man. However he tells Mary and Jr that Captain Marvel is a very sick man due to his heart and blood pressure and any exitement could cause his death. They refrain from telling him in case of the shock, and Marvel thinks they are being jealous in stopping him exerting his powers by saving a girl from a runaway horse. Mary and Jr. stop Marvel going out to search for Snake Samson and make him sit down, and Mary goes to the Samson Athletic Club, really Snake's crime headquarters, but transforms to Mary Batson so as to not frighten him away. While planning a bank robbery with tear gas bombs, one of his henchmen realise someone is outside, he opens the door causing Mary to fall in, and hand gags the girl, Samson says she shall be their 'guest' until they pull the bank job. Jr. is worried she is taking so long and goes to the Club, but to avoid suspician transforms to Freddy. However he is knocked out. A henchman prepares to finish the two bound and gagged children who are tied together on chairs with one bullet through both their heads. Marvel arrives just in time, and ungags them, allowing them to transform. They then defeat the criminals themselves, and take Marvel to Cardiff's as they think he has over-exerted himself. Both Mary and Jr. volunteer for a blood transusion, but Cardiff then finds out he made a mistake as all three show the same heart action and blood pressure as Marvel. They cannot all be invalids, therefore they must all have the strongest hearts he has ever seen, which is why they reacted differently to the normal heart. Therefore they are chosen as the World's healthiest family.[73]
Only appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures Issue #117. While walking through the park Billy is caught in Quicksand. He transforms and saves other people from the Quicksand. He hears a chugging sound from below. There is a machine pumping Quicksand oil concentrate in one of the huge city sewer pipes. The villain manning it and wearing protective clothing says it will make all dirt and oil soften into Quicksand. He has enough to turn the whole city into a bed of Quicksand. Cap smashes the machine, but the man escapes through one of the many pipes. Cap's blind guess about which of the many pipes he took does not work, though he leaves the sewer. He sees the Whiz building sinking, so moves it out to the country. Realising the entire city could sink without a trace into a bed of Quicksand he decides to check with the city council. At an emergency meeting someone says their only hope is with the quicksand fighter corporation. Cap flies him there, it is the only one of its kind, run by Snodgrass. He says it will cost a million dollars, which the man agrees to. He says cement poured into quicksand will harden it, but when he describes it Cap realises it will take too long and says he will do it himself. In a cement mixer Cap mixes enough cement to stop the quicksand. With the danger over Snodgrass says he will deduct 50% for Cap's free labout, but he is still owed half a million for the fee. As the man signs it, Cap finds a protective clothing suit that the billain in the sewer was wearing and knocks him out with a single blow. Cities seldom have quicksand beds, so he created his own one. Cap takes him to jail, then realises Whiz is still out in the country.
Only appearing "Marvel Family" #80. The telepathic Space Ghoul came to Earth with one goal: exhume the bodies of dead humans and feast on the decaying flesh! Due to its humanoid features, the Ghoul was able to trick the Marvel Family into thinking it was benevelent. The Space Ghoul also convinced the Marvel Family that its pursuer a ghastly looking creature named Klarz was in fact the ghoul. The Marvel Family eventually figured out their error captured the Space Ghoul and apologized to Klarz!
The Spider Men: April–July 1941, "Captain Marvel Adventures" #2.
Invading Earth from Mars, the Spider Men look like large 4 limbed beetles only about 12 feet tall, and are first found out about by an astronomer. They are easily able to defeat Earth forces. As Captain Marvel fights this invading force, he discovers they are not truly alive but mechanical robots. So, he travels to Mars to fight the human looking ruler there, who first thinks Billy is a fifth columnist and sentences him to execution. But Billy turns into Captain Marvel, exacting a promise never to invade again. He then returns to Earth to wipe out the remaining robots.[3]
Not to be confused with Spider-Man from Marvel comics. Only appearing in Whiz Comics #89. Two pilots are about to fly a shipment of gold bullion worth a million dollars to Fort knox with Billy Batson. Round the corner they run into a big sticky spider-web. Spider Man wraps up and gags them with a web gun, revealing he has rosin on his hands and shoes so he does not stick himself. He says his invention shoots out liquid plastic which hardens and forms a sticky thread when it hits the air. He learned this by watching spiders at web and says he weaves his webs of crime everywhere. Two henchmen disguised as pilots then get onto the plane to drop the gold off elsewhere. However they do not know about Billy, who wanted to report on how gold was delivered for station WHIZ. He sees they are going in the opposite direction, but is knocked out. The plane lands on a deserted patch of seashore where Spider Man is waiting. Billy revives and transforms, invulnerable to the bullets he defeats the two thugs. Spider Man warns he has the cunning of a spider and fires sticky plastic in Marvel's face, blinding him long enough for Spider Man to escape. Marvel carries the gold to Fort Knox. Spider-Man starts a crime spree in the city, he spins webs in any dark corner of the street, forming them with incredible speed. Then he robs his victims and is gone like a ghost. Marvel searches for him and finally finds him committing another robbery. He frees the guard, but while he is checking they are o.k, Spider Man shoots a plastic rope to the high window of a building and climbs up. He is able to esapr as there are many rooms in the building and Marvel decides he cannot search them all. Spider Man menawhile feels he must find a way to stop Captain Marvel. However he then hears two kids playing at being Captain Marvel and realises Marvel's secret. That evening as Billy is going home from Whiz for a bite to eat before searching for Spider Man when he runs into something in the dark and realises it is one of Spider Man's webs. He is then gagged by Spider Man's plastic thread and wrapped up like a birthday present with web, to which he jokes 'A birthday present to me!' He takes Billy to his hideout, where he wraps him up in a web and releases his pet tarantula, which is poisonous, one bite and Billy dies. Actually venomous is when it is bitten, poisonous is the other kind. Billy remembers the plastic strand across his mouth is sticky, if he presses it against another strand, which is also sticky, they should glue together. He then jerks his head back, freeing his mouth, and allowing him to transform. He kills the tarantula by stamping on it, and hits Spider Man. He then wraps up and gags him with the web, saying 'Now who's wrapped up like a birthday present? And for the police?' Billy later reports Spider Man is in jail.[74]
Captain of a circus steamboat. When some convicts break out he disguises the convicts as minstrel clowns so they can escape on his boats. Mary attends the circus performance and thinks some of the clowns look familiar. She says she is going out for a drink of water. She goes to the steamboat and see they are robbing Colonel Blossom's warehouse. Before she can say Shazam one of the Clowns seizes her, preventing her speaking. Mary is gagged and bound by the clown, who asks the Captain what he should do with her. He tells him to fix her with 'paddling'. Mary is placed in a room below, which has water in it. It is not high enough to drown her, and it is not known if it is filling with water. She then says Captain Marvel taught her a trick. She is tied with thin strips of leather and leather expands in water. She tries to get them loose enough. There are tense minutes, then she is able to free herself. Mary removes her gag and trasnforms. She defeats the Clowns and reveals to the police tat a robbery would be committed, then powerful engines would get the boat away. She throws water over the clowns, revealing they were the escaped convicts, who ae jailed again. The Captain is probably jailed also.
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #5. The wicked stepfather of poor girl Ella who beats her for thinking of going to a party by her friend Linda instead of working. Mary Marvel stops this and gives Ella one of her dresses so she can go. The stepfather follows her to rob the party on the back of a car, gagging and tying to a chair the girl in the kitchen so he can steal silverware. Mary transforms and stops him, but Ella begs Mary to let him go as he is still her stepfather. He hooks another ride on a car back to follow Mary home. While she is sleeping, he gags her and ties her to her bed, before robbing her house and setting the bed on fire. However, Mary breathes in enough smoke to cough and loosen her gag. She then transforms and goes after the stepfather, who sees her coming and leaves his house. At the next party, Mr. Van Dykeman recognizes a tiny shoe Ella had around her neck as that of his daughter kidnapped years ago, he has the other one. Mary stops the stepfather from committing another robbery by pickpocketing the distracted crows and he reveals kidnappers gave Ella to him to be his drudge. He is then jailed.[75]
Only appearing in World’s Finest Comics #259, Dr. Weldon Ambrose uses the serum that evolved Mr. Tawky Tawny from a tiger to a man-tiger to evolve himself, taking the name the Superior.
A fairground midget who grows tired of working in the Circuis as 'World's Ugliest dwarf'. He disguises himself as a doll and his accomplice, pretending to be a delivery man, delivers him to Mary's house, where he steals her mother's jewels, which she sees, but is finally convinced it is a nightmare. Mary suspects the doll and follows the truck to a museum, where it delivers a small mummy. That night, the mummy steals the Siva ruby, worth thousands. Mary suspects it to be a robot and again follows the truck, finding the loot was hidden in a secret compartment. She defeats the delivery-man and discovers the identity of the doll, before jailing them both.
Only appearing in "Marvel Family" #21. Three monsters summoned from the Netherworld by the three Dingling brothers, after they cannot hire the Marvels to help their failing carnival business, but steal a book of magic instead. They draw a circle, and summon a Satyr, a Hydra, and Argus, planning to exhibit them and placing them in a cage. What they do not realise is that the monsters have to return in 24 hours unless three replacements are sent. The monsters use their strength to break out of the cage, and are able to fight their way past the Marvels who have come to investigate the spellbook's robbery, planning to send the brothers instead of themselves. However, the Marvels are able to defeat them in the second battle, then take them back to the circle. They transform into their civilian forms to meet the brothers and get the book back, but when returning to the circle, the Monsters seize them to prevent them speaking, gag them, tie them up, and place them in the circle, hoping to send them back to the Netherworld. However, when lightning comes down to transport them as the Satyr reads the spell, it instead transforms them into the Marvel Family, who send the monsters back. The brothers then reveal they took footage of the fight and can use it to make money, which they do.[2]
A trio of criminals who attempt to commit crimes on Thanksgiving Day. During the parade when everybody is distracted, they try to get into a Furs Shop which is closed for Thanksgiving. Tricks, a scientist type figure who seems to be the leader, uses a device that unlocks the door and disconnects the alarm, proving himself to Sneak. He orders them to only take the most expensive furs so they are not overloaded by cheap furs. Bruiser, a large strong thug, worries about Mary, who is in the parade only a block from here, to which Tricks says she's only a girl. However Mary is waiting for them when they get to their car, saying she spotted the crime from her high perch at the front float. She has taken the wheels from their car. Bruiser is ordered to stop her and hits Mary with a heavy no parking sign, but Sneak reveals she's still standing there smiling. Sneak wants to give up as he thinks bullets will bounce of her, but Tricks Trick-Gun does not fire bullets, but smoke. While she is blinded they climb into the giant Mary Marvel balloon's basket, and Tricks uses his tricky extension shears to cut through the cables. However as the ystart to escape the smoke clears, and Mary climbs after them, to the astonishment of Tricks. Thie bullets bounce of her like Sneak said they would, and the bouncing bullets go through the balloon. Mary saves the crooks though and takes the basket to the Police Station. Later at the parade a clown says it's a shame the balloon was destroyed to which another says 'Who cares? We have the real Mary Marvel instead!' Mary wishes Billy and Freddy could have seen her, but says they will get together at Christmas, at Mr Morris's party.[76]
Only appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #82. A witch who planned to marry Captain Marvel, making him get a job and do all her work. Although an old witch she can make herself look like a young woman. But Captain Marvel was able to realise her plot and not marry her.[77]
Only appearing in Whiz Comics #119. A dictator who rules the world in the 30th Century as a tyrant. A group of settlers build a time-ship and travel to the 20th Century, where they start to make a home for themselves with help from Captain Marvel, making a desert habitable. However the Dictator has another time-ship built and attacks the settlement, dropping a bomb towards it. Captain Marvel stops the bomb, and defeats the Tyrant, after which he forces him to sign away his power. The settlers then return to the 30th Century with the former Dictator their prisoner, and Captain Marvel says as the Desert is now habitable they did each other a good turn.[78]
Only appearing in Wow Comics #22. Spies working for Adolf Hitler to steal Allied Secrets with a device called the Thought Stealer, a device that picks up thoughts and reads them out. Mary Marvel battles them, one of their number is called Svengolly. When he meets her he pretends not to be frightened, but the Thought-Stealer reveal him a coward at heart. Mary finds out the plan and fights the thugs, bullets bouncing off her. One of the two crooks asks who she is, and where she came from. She says it is a secret, but he tells her to listen to the Thought-Stealer, which is still turned on. It reveals she is Mary Bromfield, who says a magic word to transform. She is shocked and says that they know about 'Shazam,' causing her to transform unintentionally. Before she can turn back the two criminals grab her mouth, preventing her from transforming. The crooks then gag her mouth, and she is securley bound hand and foot. The criminals are delighted, and one of them says that the Underworld has wanted Mary dead for a long time. The other one says they can get the Underworld to pay them a $1,000,000 for killing Mary Marvel. While that one is gone Mary thinks she's sunk, as she cannot yell the word due to the gag, and that in a few minutes they will be burrying her. The other criminal agrees with her, saying the Thought-Stealer reads out her thoughts. This gives Mary an idea, and she thinks the word, causing the machine to read the word, and allowing her to transform, and defeat the criminals.
Offspring of the wizard Shazam, the Three Faces of Evil (Terror, Sin, and Wickedness) were the reason for constructing the Rock of Eternity (using large stones, one from Heaven and the other Hell) in order to imprison them. Further, the gods decreed Shazam must remain in the Rock of Eternity for all time as their jailer. They first appeared in Marvel Family #7 where they break free and steal Pandora's box. Here they are referred to as Evil, who can split himself into three forms. They fly away to atatck worlds. Captain Marvel follows Sin, who tries to destroy him in a star but is captured. Another part tries to destroy Jr. by making hi mcrash into an asteroid, but Jr. withstands it and captures his quarry. Mary confrants the last one on a dead world. He releases a hornet from the box that makes her say Shazam, transforming her back. He uses his hand to prevent her speaking, then binds and gags her, telling her he will infect Earth. However the hornet stings him causing trouble for him, his foot pulls Mary's ropes off. She removes her gag and transforms, then takes her foe back. Shazam makes them merge into one being again, then the Marvel Family imprison them under the Rock once more. Shazam tells them it will take thousands of years for them to work up the strength to break free, and by then he will have other means of imprisoning them.
Only appearing in Wow Comics #11. A group of criminals keep tabs on agencies that send fancy help to rich homes. They grab somebody and send one of their gang. Mary meets the gang, and one of the criminals accidentally reveals their plan. The Boss seizes Mary to prevent her speaking and tell the other crook they will have to get rid of her now. They gag Mary, tie her hands, and place her on a chair. A man called Jives comes along, and because of his accent the crooks think he is English Harry, described as De Slickest Crook in De rackets, who was not supposed to arrive till the next day. His 'arrumph' makes it clearer to the reader who he is. They tell him their plan, and show a bound and gagged prisoner in the adjoining room, a guy supposed to report as Butler to the Van Devan Home, saying he will take his credentials and go instead. Then he will tip them off to the layout of the joint, and they go and clean it out. He sees Mary, and the crooks say the will get rid of her tonight. Joves feels if he tells the Police the thugs might escape,and before they do they will kill Mary and the Butler to keep their identity secret. He decides to arrange for them to walk into a trap, and rescue Mary himself. He telephones the thugs to say the Family is leaving tonight, after which they leave. One Guard stays behind, and Mary apparnatly faints, causing him to get water. However when he loosens her gag she transforms and knocks him out. She hears someone coming, and thinks it is the bandis, but it is Jives coming to help her. The criminals then turn up, having escaped the Police, but Mary defeats them.
Tong is the self-proclaimed greatest Asiatic overlord since Genghis Khan. He created the Great Red Brain in "Marvel Family" #80, and apparently died when it fell from its casing onto him.[31] But he returned in "Marvel Family" #82, having devised a way to grow animals to enormous size. He first uses a battalion of giant rats then giant pythons and kidnaps the soldier Hank, but the Marvels use the dog Yank to track Hank while disguised as peasants. They get to Tong's base, an old house, where they are knocked out from behind by a guard whose attention is aroused by the barking of Yank, chained by their thumbs, and gagged. They are nearly eaten by a giant lizard, but while Yank distracts it, Freddy removes Billy's gag with his leg brace, allowing him to free the others as Captain Marvel, although the lizard apparently kills Yank with a deadly bite. They defeat Tong's lizard battalion which is being dropped by parachute and discover Yank is still alive, allowing him to be saved.[41]
A criminal who hears from jailed criminal 'Smooth' Felt that he has hidden the plans for a Jewellry infirmary in three banana hats, which he attempts to steal with another criminals aid. Mary trys to lure them out by wearing one of the hats. Seeing Mary has one of the hats, they steal the hat and cosh her. They bind and gag her, and trap her inside a safe to suffocate. Using a hairpin she opens the safe from inside and removes her gag on a chair. She then defeats the criminals as tey try to rob the infirmary. Only appeared in "Wow Comics" #32.
Only appearing in Whiz Comics #128. Like the United Nations, the United Criminals is organised. It is a band of international crooks called together by 'Mastermins Mike', Kingpin of the Underworld. He wants to promote the biggest crime wave ever known. His first plan is to steal a battleship and sell it for scrap metal worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most of the crooks agree, but one vetos it, which according to the rules can throw the whole plan out. He will not change his mind despite the assistance of Mike and a nearby crook and is going to walk out, but an eyepatch wearing crook coshes him from behind,and holds up his hand so he 'votes' yes. The motion is carried. Later Billy Batson reports the small maritime nation of Libania has reported one of its battleships was stolen at port while most of the crew were on shore leave. Some criminals overpowered the few guards and steamed away. Billy thinks it is the most amazing robbery in history and summons Captain Marvel, who fles to Libania to pick up the trail. He is told the direction the crooks went off in, search planes were sent but found nothing. He thinks they could easily change direction into the ocean. As sharks follow a shi due to its garbage, Cap soon tracks down the ship, which is sailing under a new flag. Mike works out a fortune will be made from this. When another thug reports Cap is approaching, a broadside is aimed at him. He is impervious to it, and knocks out some crooks, causing Mike to retreat with other crooks in their Jet helicopter. Cap loses them due to fog, so tows the ship back even though there is no crew. Cap takes the four criminals to jail, and questions them. All remain quiet, except for the one who tried to veto the decision, was slugged, and forced into it. He tells Cap about Mike and the United Criminals, saying they are lined up to rob transoceanic planes, raid a Maharajah's Jewel cave, counterfeit all currency on Earth, 'all big stuff like that!' Cap asks if next they will rob the planes, and his Informant says they will, like Jesse James robbed trains in the old days. Cap realises he forgot to ask him where Mike's secret headquarters are, but before he can his Informer is shot dead by the crook to the left of him, who had a small gun hidden up his sleeve, and cheers for the U.C. Cap hits the murderer, and decides to patrol the oceans. The next day a huge transoceanic airliner drones on its scheduled route between continents, with 80 passengers plus a freight of Jewelry. A 'mechanical vulture' (the helicopter) lands on the airliner with blades spinning so it will not overburden the airliner. Reminiscent of train robberies of a bygone era, the aerial bandits get to work. Mike tells the pilots to keep on the job while his men relive the passengers of any excess baggage, and okes they are contributing to the welfare fund for needy criminals. however Cap sees this and hits some criminals. He meets Mike and is impervious to his bullets, so Mike tosses a million dollars of jewelry out of the window. Cap cannot let a fortune in jewels sink forever to the bottom of the ocean, as too many people would be bankrupt by that. He gets it, but the crooks escape in the Jet helicopter, and thick clouds overhead means no sign of the crooks plane. He looks for their hideiout and flies towards a tropical isalnd, then towards an iceberg which is not melting in the tropical climate. Cap finds it is not ice, but plastic, an artificial iceberg. He cannot find the concealed entrance, and he claims if he smashes his way in, they may drown. He changes to Billy, thinking they would not open for Captain Marvel, but maybe will for a shipwrecked boy, and calls for help. A crook looking through the periscope thinks a kid got shipwrecked and swam to the 'Iceberg,' so Mick pulls the main doorway lever so he does not attract passing ships. A big concealed doorway opens up, and Billy is coshed by a thug. When he comes to he is in the meeting place, bound hand and foot to a chair and gagged. Mike has recognised him as Billy Batson, who has been carrying a broadcasting crusade against crime. He asks the verdict of the U.C against the prisoner, and is told treason against crime, with the verdict death. He removes Billy's gag as he poins a gun at his head, and asks if her has any last words before he dies. Billy transforms to Captain Marvel, and pulls the U.C banner onto the criminals, saying he will put them on ice, then asks 'Or should I say—on plastic?' as he hits Mike. He starts towing the Iceberg (why did he not do that before?) and says 'When they get to jail the U.C will have another meaning---the United Convicts!'[79]
Only appearing in "Captain Marvel Adventures" #147. He arrived in Fawcett City in order to find and eat the Goody Goody Bars. In order to obtain the Goody Goody Bars, Vampire Burglar ended up robbing the Goody Goody Bars from children and raiding the warehouse where it was stored. The Vampire Burglar was eventually apprehended by Captain Marvel and revealed that the candy bars contained Malakiza (a substance also found in human blood) which satiated a vampire's hunger. With the blessing of the President of the Goody Goody candy bar company, the Vampire Burglar returned to Transylvania to become the local salesman of the candy bars but at a price where he gains free candy bars!
In secrecy a meeting of the international diamond merchants of America is being held. They decide Captain Marvel is the only man on Earth for a certain job. Vanderhoof meets Billy Batson, who summons Captain Marvel. He tells him he wants him to go to South Africa, to the Kimberley mines, and bring back a diamond. Cap asks why they cannot send a ship, but Vanderhoff says it is a special diamond and no information must leak out because all the crooks on Earth would be after it. Yanderhoff begs the reluctant Marvel, and when he gives in, he tells him to go to the Kimberley mines and ask for Peter Quentin, who will turn the diamond over to him. He'll cable him that he is coming. Cap gets to the mines, where there is a storehouse surrounded by guards. He is let in, and meets an armed man sitting on a large stone. He asks if the man is Peter Quentin and is told he is. When Cap asks where the diamond is, Quentin says it is the stone he was sitting on, which is uncut so it does not shine. It is the biggest diamond ever mined, with a value of 485 billion dollars. According to Quentin if crooks got it they could ut it up into a million small stones and flood the market. All the diamond merchants on Earth would be ruined. They're sure no information leaked out, but the Manager of the mines wants the diamond, and has the tough mine workers with him. They start shooting down the guards, then the Mines Manager throws a bomb to open the vault.
Quentin realises who the robber is as he gets in, so Cap punches him back. Cap goes out to get the others, but Quentin tells him the diamond is rolling away. Cap does not hear though and defeats the criminal gang. However he then hears what happened from Quentin, and there are big rocks which are the diamond's shape all over the area. One of Van Hoek's henchman spots it, and with Van Hoek he carries it to their plane. Cap sees this and goes after the plane, finally smashing in. Hoek drops the diamond to the city below, planning to follow it by parachute. Cap lets Van Hoek go to get the diamond. People think it's a meteor, but the Jeweller outside whose shop it conveniently landed realises it is a huge uncut diamond worth billions. He claims to collect meteors and takes it inside his shop. When Cap turns up he hears what happened to the stone. Cap goes out through the bak door, but is tod the man was tending his rock garden, not noticing the blackp aint he drops from behind his back behind a bush. Cap thinks the man in the street has given him 'a bum steer', but when he goes to notify the Police Van Hoek sees black paint on his suit, and tries to hold up the Shopkeeper, realising he painted the stone black. However the Shopkeeper says they can split on the deal, he will help him cut the diamond into small stones they can sell for a huge fortune. Van Hoek agrees to this, not noticing Cap flying up behind him. He hits their heads together, having noticed the black paint on his suit. Cap calls the Police and tries to take the diamond to America, but as he flies over the sea the wet paint makes it so slippery it slips out of his hands. He is able to catch it and the paint has washed off, though he feels he will be glad to turn it over to Vanderhoff.
He shows it to Vanderhoff who checks it, and then tells Cap to destroy the diamond. They do not want it cut into 10 million diamonds, as it would flood the diamond market with cheap small stones and ruin them all. Cap decides he knows what he is doing and hurls the diamond into space, with such speed the atmosphere sets fire to it and it flashes across the sky like a blazing comet, the most expensive firework the Earth ever saw.
A crooked oil baron whose crimes seemed to have been influended by the Four Horsemen (see above). Mary Marvel investigates an attempt to burn some oil wells, and hears where Verndt is from the hotel clerk, so goes to room 7 to question him and transforms to her civilian form so as not to cause trouble, but hears two men talking about her. They say the oil wells dried up six months ago, but nobody knows it. They hope to claim $10,000,000 in fire insurance if Mary Marvel does not find out the fires are being fed by special chemicals. Mary is about to transform, but is hit on the head from behind with a cosh by another crook. She is bound hand and foot and gagged, and the criminals decide she knows too much to live. Verndt says it's time they replenished the oil wells with some more chemicals, and they sneak Mary down the emergency exit. They fly over the blazing oil fields in a plane and dump the chemicals, which create a special type of chemical fire that no known chemicals can extinguish. Verndt orders the men to throw Mary overboard. She tries to fight the two thugs off, but Verndt, who is piloting the plane, uses his gun butt to knock her out, she is then thrown out by another crook to face death by fire. However Captain Marvel rescues her, and the crooks are defeated, after which the Horsemen are beaten.[26]
A Bulletman foe, but in Mary Marvel #8 teamed up with doctor Riddle, another Bulletman foe, and battled Mary Marvel and Bulletgirl before being jailed. He weeps over the sadness of his crimes, and trys to make others sad. He was part of King Kull's gang of villains that attacked the three worlds during the capture of the Elders, and attacked Earth-S with the Earth-Two Joker, transforming people into jewels while robbing jewels.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #46. Freddy Freeman reads that all whales have vanished and are thought to be extinct, as in the past week not one whale has been sighted. Freddy meets Cap'n Gregg, the Whaler and friend of his, whose whaling ship just came in. He claims he has been at sea for months, and no whales have been sighted. All Whalers are going bankrupt. Gregg says the vanishing started a tear ago, with catches getting smaller month by month. Freddy thinks the Whales were not all caught and killed as there are not that many Whaleboats operating. He transforms into Captain Marvel Jr. and searches the seas for Whales, even searching underwater, but no Whales are found. However in the Pacific he finds a Whale and thinks it is the last one on Earth. A whaling ship and its crew (what?) also spot the Whale, and Jr. says they are happy even if they only sack one Whale. He seems more concerned about the threat to the Whaling business then about the Whales themselves. However another Whaler then appears from a submarine and says the Whale is his. Jr. says the other ship sighted it first so they get him. But the Man calls himself the Whale Master and says all Whales are his. Jr. asks why he claims so, since when, and why does he call himself the Whale Master? The Whale Master tries to push him off, but Jr. socks him and asks for an explanation for his talk. However he recovers quickly and decides to harpoon the other ship before they can harpoon the Whale. It has a bomb atached to it but Jr. atops it. However the Whale Master then rams the ship, the harpoon being a diversion, and while Jr. repairs the ship he escapes. Gregg appears to be on the ship, but how did he get to the Pacific so fast? Jr. cannot see the Whale and wonders if it was harpooned and dragged away, but sees a big wake left by the Whale, so he decides to follow. He sees the Whale Master luring the Whale away with a school of artificial fish, as schools of small fish are a Whale's best food. Jr. wonders if the Whales have vanished in the past year due to the Whale Master luring them away alive. Hours later they reach a Pacific atoll, which the 'last Whale on Earth' is led into, revealing all the Whales on Earth are in there, lured by the Whale Master. How was he able to lure every single Whale on Earth there? Why did Jr. not spot this before? Jr. wants to know his plan, but does not see his Sub, so thinks the Whale Master has submerged due to seeing him. He decides to lure him up by transforming, then while on a Whale he attracts his attention. The Whale Master wants nobody to stay alive and know his secret, so moves his Sub towards Freddy. Technically what he is doing is not illegal, the only illegal thing he has done so far was against the Whaling ship. Freddy slides down the wrong way, hits his head on the deck, and knocks himself out. The Whale Master decides to tie him up and gag him, even though there is nobody else around. The Whale Master decides to brag to him about his achievement, by capturing all Whales on Earth he's cornered the Market on Whales. Already the price of Whale Oil has become high, and the Whale Master thinks ambergris, used in the perfume industry, will be worth its weight on gold. He will be the only one on Earth selling these. He throws Freddy into a hungry Whale's mouth, hoping it will grind him up into mincemeat. Freddy thinks though the Whale cannot swallow him whole he will be torn to shreds on its gigantic teeth. But he hooks his gag on a tooth, transforms, and knocks out the Whale Master from behind while he is looking for Jr. He knocks him onto a Whale spout, and while the Whale Master is on there he opens the gates. The Whales start swimming out, and Jr. tells the Whale Master the Whaling Industry will go on as before, and the only monopoly the Whale Master will get is a jail cell, all his very own.[80]
1949, "Master Comics" #99. 300 years ago, Ebenezer Brewster captured a witch and put her to death, but not before she swore that her daughter would gain vengeance on his descendents. Sure enough, a young woman attempts to do so through her poisonous witch's brew. She is stopped by Captain Marvel Jr. but falls into a lake and apparently drowns.
A caveman Sivana took from the past. Sivana transports the Washington Capitol 100 million years into the past, hoping to ransom them for being proclaimed Rightful Ruler of the Universe. Captain Marvel, after hearing advice from Hercules, realises what Sivana has done and travels to the past using the Rock of Eternity. He thinks that the people inside the building will not survive the Ultra-Light speed travel and turns back to Billy Batson to look around. However while looking around he is seized by Yorgull, who holds his hand over Billy's mouth to prevent his speaking. However Billy bites the Caveman's finger, causing him to be released and enabling him to transform. He then forces Sivana to restore Yorgull to his proper time period and send the Washington Capitol back.
Only appearing in Marvel Family #57. Leader of a bandit gang that is raiding the tiny island kingdom of Etan. In desperation, the king of Etan, Khan Lamma, sends a letter to the Marvel Family. Billy Batson opens all mail for the Marvel Family, and after reading it calls Mary and Freddy. They transform into the Marvel Family and fly to Etna, which they see is half fertile land and half mountains. They plan to inquire at a small native village, but find the bandits there are planning on looting the treasury. The Marvels easily defeat them, but Zakka fires an incendiary bullet at a thatched roof, catching it on fire. While working as a fire brigade using the well Zakka escapes into the mountains. The Marvels feel it will take too long trying to find him, so go to Khan Lamma and reveal their problem. Lamma says this is always a problem, half his land is flat, and half is mountainous. For years Zakka Jorl has raided his land and escaped into the mountains. Marvel finds they have looted another village and flies after them. A villager tells him the gang is heading for the Poison Sea, which Cap knows is between them and the mountains. However he cannot find them and realises they must have had a boat waiting, and due to the thick overhanging sea mist they escape to the foot of the mountains, Cap unable to see them. He sits on a rock and tries to think of a different way, and when Jr. and Mary Marvel find him he is laughing.
He asks Lamma if the Poison Sea is of any use, and is told its waters are poisonous and useless. Lamma would not mind if the mountains were gone, as only the bandits live there and his crowded people would have more room to live in. Cap then proposes they move the mountains into the Poison Sea. The Marvel Family first placed the biggest mountain into the sea, and Jr. says he will spread out the water and irrigate the surrounding desert sands. Chemical treatment can easily destroy the Poison and make the sand fertile according to him. The bandits are forced to flee deeper into the mountains, but soon the last mountain is uprooted. For some reason, the Marvels seemed more preoccupied with moving the last mountains then capturing the bandits who are in clear sight. Soon the whole of Etan is flat land.
Jr. finds a gold vein that will make the people wealthy. They go after the galloping horses, but find the bandits left their horses. They think the gold will soon attract the bandits and turn back to the Kids. They watch for the bandits on all sides, but attack comes from above, with the bandits leaping from the trees and knocking the Kids out. The moving of the mountains revealed hot underground springs, and Zakka orders his men to toss the Kids, who have been bound hand and foot and had their mouths gagged, in. If the heat does not kill them, they will drown, but Billy twists and removes his gag on a jagged rock, enabling him to transform. He removes the gags of the other two and flys them out of the waters, enabling them to transform. They catch the bandits, who did not get far carrying those heavy bags of gold, and take them to Khan Lamma's prison. Khan Lamama knows they do not accept gold or pay, so there is only one way he can show gratitude, by naming the new land Marvel Province.[13]
An imp from another dimension, Zazzo invented a helmet which stole Captain Marvel's lightning with a rod on top, and gained his powers though with a reversed colours costume like the Reverse-Flash, taking the name Zazzo-Plus. He tricks Cap into turning back, then puts a muffle mask on him to stop him transforming. Billy, with the help of Freddy, turns Zazzo back, becomes Captain Marvel using the helmet, and spanks Zazoo, before Zazzo the Elder takes Zazzo the younger back to his own dimension.
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