Silver Surfer and The Marvel Family

 

For the conclusion of this Five-Part Tale, The Surfer has finally come to his senses and granted the Power Cosmic to some more worthy recipients than Black Adam.  Time to clean up the mess that he left behind and put Galactus in his place!

Captain Marvel previously faced off against the World Devourer with Superman at his side in STF #2969...

Mary Marvel and Spider-Man

 

I used to like how in Marvel Team-Up, Spider-Man would often be put off and unnerved by some of his more dark co-stars, like Ghost Rider.  I think the opposite would be true with someone like Mary Marvel.  Something tells me that Spidey would appreciate her wholesomeness and treat her like a super powered kid sister.

Hawkeye and Mary Marvel

 

Another odd pairing here, but I liked how the poses fit together and think that this scenario would make for an interesting tale.  And hey, it's not like we haven't seen Hawkeye mentoring young brunettes in archery before.

Mary Marvel and Werewolf by Night

 

Mr. Mind was teased in the first Shazam! movie, but I see no signs of him actually showing up in the sequel.   We got a reference to Mr. Tawky Tawny, but I am not holding my breath waiting for him either.  I  miss the whimsy of the early Captain Marvel stories.  I suppose we could get some in a third sequel, but given the continued delays of Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Warner Bros. change in direction, and the rapidly aging cast, I have my doubts as to whether that will ever come to be.

The Marvel Family and Eternity

 

With all of the recent movie delay announcements, it was nice to learn that at least Shazam! Fury of the Gods will actually be coming out a little sooner than previously expected. I've liked the brief glimpses that have been shown of the film so far.  The costumes look to be a big improvement over the first installment and I can't wait to see Helen Mirren in a comic book movie.

Godzilla and Mr. Mind

 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods looks to be a jam-packed film.  Its got a whole extended Shazam Family to deal with, with promises of DC character Cameos, Sivana's return and presumably some Gods are going to be furious.  Still, I hope there's plenty of room left for the antagonist teased at the end of the first film - Mr. Mind!  He is one of my all-time favorite villains and I love that he is finally getting a big budget movie treatment.

Mary Marvel and Captain America

 

The Shazam! sequel should start production soon and, like most comic book movies these days, it looks to be a jam packed affair.  Besides Billy, there is now a whole family of super-powered heroes to deal with and there has been talk of more villains in addition to the Sivana/Mr. Mind team.  Rumors persist of Superman making a proper appearance this time around as well.  With all of that going on, will there be room for The Shazam character that I really want to show up - Mr. Tawky Tawny?

Mary Marvel and Invisible Girl

I liked this redesign of Susan Storm's outfit by Paul Ryan.  Some other costume changes she has had over the years did not really work for the character, but this one was a nice update that I would have liked to have seen hang around longer.  Mary Marvel's change to a white version of her costume was OK, but I have to say that nothing beats her classic look.

The Marvel Family and The Watcher

As far as I know, The Don Newton-illustrated tales of the Shazam Family that were featured in World's Finest when it was an over-sized Dollar Comic have never been collected.  That's a real shame, because I think is would be a big seller.  The stories are a ton of fun and Newton's artwork was absolutely gorgeous.  There have been many attempts to modernize the look of the world of Shazam over the years, and I feel that those stories were the most successful at that.

Hercules and Mary Marvel

Shazam! has finished filming and now the movie is in the visual effects stage, so hopefully there will be enough completed to show us some footage soon.  The film promises to finally have some lighter fare in contrast to the heavy goings-on that we have seen in the DCEU thus far, so I have hope that it will mark a turning point and strike a positive chord with audiences.

The Hulk Vs. The Marvel Family

I wasn't sure about the casting of Zachary Levy as Captain Marvel for the upcoming Shazam! film, but I am really on board now.  He definitely has the looks facially, and recent pictures that I have seen have shown that he is indeed bulking up for the role.  Christopher Reeve went through a similar transformation in preparing for the first Superman movie, and that turned out OK.  Acting-wise, I think Levy has the chops to portray a kid in an adult's body with the wisdom of Solomon.  I have seen Asher Angel act before, and he will make a fine Billy Batson (although maybe a year or two too old if they want to do a bunch of sequels - but first things first).

Thor and The Marvel Family

It seems that Shazam! will be one of the next DC movies to go into production, and it has been announced that there will not be an appearance by The Rock as Black Adam after all.  The obvious choice for an villain would be Doctor Sivana, but I hope that there's room for at least one other antagonist as well.  There are plenty of good ones to choose from, but my choice would definitely be Mr. Mind!  

Thor and Captain Marvel  clashed in STF #990 and they first crossed paths in STF #120... Thor met the whole Marvel Family in STF #1518...

The Marvel Family Vs. The Avengers

We've seen The Avengers battling world-conquering megalomaniacs, alien invasions and even each other on the big screen.  While it will be fun seeing them all together against Thanos, I hope for some future installments we can see them square off against another team of super-characters.  The Masters of Evil would be great, or even a dimension-spanning story featuring the Squadron Supreme.

Mary Marvel and Marvelman

Marvelman is a character and series that I always wanted to get into, but never got the chance.  The series was not available around where I lived when it was originally in print, and then legal battles prevented new editions once I had plenty of comic shops to choose from. Finally, the chance has come around again to discover these stories, and I look forward to seeing what all the fuss was about.

X-Men and The Marvel Family

Shazam finally seems to be coming to the movies, after more than a decade of rumors, in Nikki Finke's leaked list of upcoming DC Comics films is to be believed.  I think that if handled correctly, it could be a ton of fun.  Hopefully it will be a contrast from all of the grim superhero films we have seen and include a sense of whimsy along with the heroics,  just as the best Marvel Family comics used to have.

Mary Marvel Vs. Ms. Marvel

Now that DC has finally given in and stopped calling Billy Batson's alter ego Captain Marvel - giving him the name of the Wizard, Shazam - I wonder what that will mean for his partners when their super powered selves are brought into the New 52 DCU.  Shazam Jr.?  She-Zam?  Those don't really work for me so I hope they can come up with something better!

Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel

This cover comes at an interesting time.  After years of not being able to use his own name on the cover of the comics he appears in, the original Captain Marvel is finally giving up the title once and for all and will officially go by the name Shazam!  Of course. now he won't be able to say his name without transforming back to Billy Batson, so that's gonna be an issue.  I think a better solution perhaps would have been to rename him Captain Thunder.  This change leaves the Captain Marvel name free to use and now we find out the Ms. Marvel will be taking it on as her official superhero moniker (seemingly closing the door on a return of the Mar-Vell Captain Marvel).  To further confuse things, she will be sporting a costume very close to that worn by Marvelman, the character who started as a knockoff of the original Captain Marvel, whose rights were just bought by Marvel Comics.  I've been reading comics for decades and it makes my head spin, I can only imagine what this name and identity shuffling looks like to those outside of the hobby!

The Thing and The Marvel Family

Hmmmm... it looks as though DC's previews for the upcoming rebooted universe titles are just about complete, and yet there is no sign of The Marvel Family. I'm hoping they are part of one of the few titles left to announce, but if that is not the case I wonder how long it will be before we see them in action once again? After years of darkening Mary Marvel, depowering Billy Batson, and turning Freddie Freeman into Shazam, it feels like forever since we have seen a straightforward tale of the Marvel Family. It's too bad, because I think they have a lot to offer in their more traditional forms. The wish fulfillment aspect of a young boy who can transform into an adult hero is still unique in comics and DC should be capitalizing on that... especially if they want to spin Captain Marvel off into the world of film. Hopefully DC has something up their sleeve that we just haven't seen yet.

The Thing and Mary Marvel

Well it looks like we are going to have to remain patient for the return of Mary Marvel and the rest of the Marvel Family in the DCU. I hear that there will be something called S!H!A!Z!A!M! as part of the upcoming Flashpoint event, but I don't know how much that will have to do with them or how much it will affect them once the continuity bending event is over. Whenever the characters do return, I hope they return to the more classic mold and look that made them so popular in the first place.

Batman and Mary Marvel

A pretty simple one this time out, but I love both of the images so much that I didn't want to mess with this cover too much. I believe they are both originally from covers to Amazing Heroes, one of the earlier comic-themed magazines.

Mary Marvel, along with the rest of the Marvel Family has seen better days. For some reason DC seems intent on corrupting her and frankly that is a plot element that I am quite tired of. Currently, Shazam has taken away Mary and Billy's powers and the characters are getting a bit of a rest. When they do return, I hope it will be in their more traditional appearances and personalities.

Mary in this cover was illustrated by the late, great Don Newton - a stellar artist taken far too young. I loved his work on the Shazam characters in World's Finest. He was also known for his rendition of Batman.