''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!'' is an all-ages

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

as a part of its

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imprint. The series debuted in September 2008, and was originally written and drawn by Mike Kunkel.Mike Kunkel interview
Westfield Comics, May 2008

Overview

In style and tone, ''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!'' is a follow-up to Jeff Smith's 2007 miniseries '' Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil'', as both draw upon the light, whimsical feel of the Captain Marvel comics of the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

for inspiration. In ''Magic of Shazam!'', Billy Batson is a young boy who must juggle his superheroic life as Captain Marvel with looking after his rambunctious little sister

Mary Marvel Mary Marvel (also known as Lady Shazam and Mary Shazam) is a fictional character and superheroine originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in ''Captain Marvel (DC ...

. Unlike Billy, who transforms into an adult when he speaks the magic word " Shazam", Mary possesses only a fraction of his power, although she is faster, and remains a child in her superhero form. Tawky Tawny, a shapeshifting servant of the wizard Shazam, assists them and comes to live with them at their insistence when his form is later fixed as a humanoid tiger. Other

Marvel Family The Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family (also 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 M ...

characters are similarly re-imagined, such as

Black Adam Black Adam (Teth-Adam) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, and first appeared in the debut issue of Fawcett Comics' '' The Marvel Family'' comic book ...

who is presented as bratty exchange student Theo Adam, a classmate of Billy. In their clashes, a boy, Freddy Freeman, is accidentally seriously injured and paralysed and blamed the Marvels for it. Black Adam exploited that hate to recruit him with his power as Black Adam Jr. until the boy realizes the villain's evil and reconciled with the Marvels, which led to Captain Marvel bestowing him a portion of his power to become Captain Marvel Jr.

Collected editions

* Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! (collects #1–6) * Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!: Mr. Mind Over Matter (collects #7–12)

Notes

References

* *

External links

Official blog for ''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!'' by Mike Kunkel

Reviews

''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!'' #1 review

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''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!'' #1 review

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

''Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!'' #1 review

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2008 comics debuts Captain Marvel (DC Comics) {{DC-Comics-stub