Hiss-Men

The Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family (or "Shazamily"), are a group of superheroes who originally appeared in books published by Fawcett Comics and were later acquired by DC Comics. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and artist Marc Swayze, the team was created as an extension of Fawcett's Captain Marvel franchise, and included Marvel's sister Mary Marvel, their friend Captain Marvel Jr., and, at various times, a number of other characters as well.

Because Marvel Comics trademarked their own Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the demise of the Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel comics in 1953 and DC's revival in 1972, DC Comics is today unable to promote and market Captain Marvel under that name. Since 1972, DC has instead used the trademark ''Shazam!'' for their comic book titles with the Marvel Family characters, and the name under which they market and promote the characters. When referring to the Marvel Family on comic book covers or various merchandise, they are by this legal necessity called the "Shazam Family".

In 2012, DC officially changed Captain Marvel's name to ''Shazam'', making ''Shazam Family'' the name of the superhero's associates. In current continuity, the Shazam Family comprises the superpowered alter egos of Billy Batson (teenaged alter-ego of Shazam/Captain Marvel) and his foster siblings: Mary Bromfield (formerly Mary Marvel), Freddy Freeman (formerly Captain Marvel Jr.), Darla Dudley, Pedro Peña, and Eugene Choi.

The Shazam Family made their cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe film ''Shazam!'', released in 2019 by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros., and they are set to return for a sequel film, ''Shazam! Fury of the Gods'', in 2023.

Publication history

The Marvel Family was established in 1942 after the introductions of Captain Marvel's partners, the Lieutenant Marvels (''Whiz Comics'' #21, September 1941), Captain Marvel Jr. (''Whiz Comics'' #25, December 1941) and Mary Marvel (''Captain Marvel Adventures'' #18, December 1942). With Junior and Mary's additions to his adventures, Captain Marvel became the first superhero to have a team of sidekicks who share his powers, abilities, and appearance; a concept later adapted for heroes such as Superman and Aquaman, among others.

The members of the Marvel Family appeared both separately and together in many of Fawcett's comic book series, including ''Whiz Comics'', ''Wow Comics'', ''Master Comics'', ''Captain Marvel Adventures'', ''Captain Marvel Jr.'', ''Mary Marvel'', and ''The Marvel Family''. By the late 1940s, Marvel Family comics were among the most popular in the industry, and the Marvel Family had expanded to include both non-superpowered characters (Uncle Marvel and Freckles Marvel) and even talking animals (Hoppy the Marvel Bunny). By 1953, all of these books had ceased publication, due to Superman publisher DC Comics' lawsuit against Fawcett.

In 1972, DC licensed the rights to the Marvel Family characters, and began publishing them in a comic series titled '' Shazam!''. Fawcett sold DC the rights to the characters in 1980, by which time ''Shazam!'' had been cancelled, and the Marvels had been relegated the back-up feature of ''World's Finest Comics'', and, later, ''Adventure Comics''. DC retconned Captain Marvel in 1986 with their ''Legends'' miniseries, establishing him as a solo hero without a team. Writer/artist Jerry Ordway resurrected the Marvel Family in 1995 with his ''Power of Shazam!'' series, establishing the team as being made up solely of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. Following several attempts at relaunching the ''Shazam!'' franchise during the mid-2000s, the Marvel Family was temporarily dissolved by writers Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway in ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #25, with only Captain Marvel Jr., now known as ''Shazam'', retaining his powers, but from another source. In the interim, Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel continued to appear in ''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! line which ran from 2008 to 2010. Captain Marvel Jr. joined the pair towards the end of the run of ''Magic of Shazam!'', following a brief period serving as the sidekick of the Marvels' enemy under the name Black Adam Jr.

The Shazam Family was reintroduced during DC Comics' continuity-altering '' Flashpoint'' miniseries in 2011, as six kids who all spoke "Shazam!" in unison to become one superhero, Captain Thunder. In the later company-wide "New 52" reboot that followed ''Flashpoint'', the Captain Marvel character was renamed "Shazam" and starred in a backup segment of the ''Justice League'' series (second volume) from 2012 to 2013. These backups, by writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank, introduced Billy Batson/Shazam and his new Shazam Family, consisting of Billy and his five foster siblings, with whom he shares his powers.

In 2022, DC published a facsimile edition of ''Marvel Family Comics'' No. 1 as a tie-in with the release of the film ''Black Adam''.