The subway car leads Billy to the realm of the Wizard Shazam, who assigns the boy as his successor. One night, Billy meets a dark-clothed stranger outside of a subway tunnel, and follows the stranger onto a magic subway car. As in the Fawcett Comics origin story from Whiz Comics #2 (1940), Billy is abandoned by his cruel uncle Ebenezer, and becomes a paperboy to earn a living. Billy had been left behind at home in Fawcett City because of poor school grades. Murdering the elder Batsons, Adam also kidnaps their young daughter Mary and steals a scarab necklace once attached to one of the sarcophagi in the tomb.

History The graphic novel Īfter a previous retcon by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake in 1987 with the Shazam!: The New Beginning miniseries, Captain Marvel was again given a revised origin in the 1994 graphic novel The Power of Shazam!.Ĭaptain Marvel's origin would also be retold in Jeff Smith's Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil limited series in 2007, though this origin takes place outside of DC continuity.Īs The Power of Shazam! graphic novel opens, ten-year-old Billy Batson's parents, both archeologists, are working in Egypt, excavating the tomb of Ramses II with their associate Theo Adam. The 96-page story, depicting the revamped origins of former Fawcett Comics superhero Captain Marvel, was followed by an ongoing series, also titled The Power of Shazam!, which ran from 1995 to 1999. The Power of Shazam! is a 1994 hardcover graphic novel, written and painted by Jerry Ordway for DC Comics. The Power of Shazam! original hardcover graphic novel, cover art by Jerry Ordway.

The Power of Shazam! by Jerry Ordway