Archive for April, 2011

If you read these columns, you must know by now that I adore the Marvel Family. I’ve previously brought you the origins of both Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., but today the core of the Family gets completed. I’ve always liked Mary, even more than Supergirl, she is the definition of wholesome. While modern writers have both literally and figuratively corrupted her, when I think of Mary Marvel, I think of that header image to the side. She’s bursting with healthy beauty, but more than prepared to hold her own with the boys.  Let’s get on with the show, and the Secret Origin of… Mary Marvel!

As our tale of whimsy and wonderment begins, we find young Billy Batson having a meet and greet with the contestants of a radio quiz show he’ll be hosting. First off is a stuck up young gentleman named Percy Pill. He is “the smartest kid in the state” so the board of education themselves has sent him to participate. He’s so unimportant to the story that he’s completely forgotten after he answers his first quiz question. The next contestant is Mary Bromfield. Billy takes an instant liking to her, which could be construed as kind of a crush, but we wont go there because it’s icky. Anyway, she was sent to compete on behalf of all of the girls. Billy finally gets to the third contestant, Freddy Freeman, who as you should know is really Captain Marvel Jr. Who does he represent? Well, let’s just say that in the 40′s people weren’t exactly sensitive.

Poor Freddy, that is pretty cold.

The quiz show starts, and it seems all three children are pretty intelligent. Billy is still fixated on Mary though, noticing her odd, broken locket. The show goes on, and during an advertising break, Billy gets a message from one Sarah Primm, pleading for Billy to see her, as she is dying and this is “most urgent”. Billy, being the Mensch that he is, is right one the case, but not before Mr. Morris, the manager of station WHIZ asks him why is he abandoning his post. A valid question, but Billy assure Mr. Morris that he’ll be back in five minutes. Billy then says his magic word and shoots off to see Mrs. Primm as Captain Marvel! This could be seen as a blatant misuse of the powers of Shazam, but come on! The lady is dying, after all.

Captain Marvel reaches his destination, and turns back into Billy, seeing as he doesn’t want to give a woman on her deathbed a heart attack. As he reaches her, she immediately tells Billy she has a story to relate about his parents! Billy is all like, “What are you gonna tell me? I already know they’re dead.” Sarah says, yes, yes they are but his sister is not! Billy is pretty shocked, as you may reason, but the story he’s about to hear is even more shocking. So shocking that it could be the plot of a movie on Lifetime.

So, apparently both Mother and Father died in childbirth? I suspect foul play.

You can probably guess how this turns out, but that doesn’t make Sarah Primm any less of a ghoul. She steals the female baby away and passes it off as the dead child. It’s such a foolproof plan that no one even questions why there is only one Batson child now. Maybe hospital regulations were just really, really loose in those days. Billy obviously wants to know who raised his sister and where might she be. Sarah says he’ll know her by a broken locket, and she gives Billy the other half. Great, she’s not only a kidnapper, but she’s also a jewelry thief. She is about to tell Billy what his sister’s last name is, but she suddenly dies, but to be honest I think she faked her death so she wouldn’t have to face charges. Just then, Billy realizes his five minutes are about up, so he changes to Cap, flies back to the studio, rushes by Mr. Morris, who is impatiently tapping his foot. Billy tries to explain himself, but he is utterly flabbergasted.

Seriously, how can you not love this kid?

Billy finishes the quiz show, which apparently only consisted of four questions, one for each contestant then a tie-breaker. Mary Bromfield wins the quiz, although there doesn’t seem to be a prize. After the show, Billy is saying his goodbyes to Mary and Freddy (I told you Percy was unimportant!). As Mary is chauffeured away, Billy ponders to himself that it’d be great if a swell gal like Mary Bromfield was his sister. Freddy overhears him, and Billy tells the story, ending on the locket. Then, mind like a steel trap, Billy learns to add two and two when he remembers Mary did indeed have a broken locket. Quicker than you can say Shazam/Captain Marvel, Billy and Freddy change into their alter egos. the speed of Mercury may not be what it used to be though, because Mary is being kidnapped! Thankfully, this trait doesn’t become an essential part of her character. The two Captains Marvel trail the bad guys to their hideout, which is nice and subtle, but once they arrive, they pretty much say “screw subtlety” by their actions.

Honestly, if I had super powers, I'd act pretty much exactly like this all the time.

The two heroes literally take down Mary’s assailants in one panel. After the fracas, Mary fawns over Cap Sr. at which point he just straight up asks her if she has the other half of the broken locket. It’s not like she just went through a traumatic experience or anything. The halves of course fit, and I’m guessing one of Captain Marvel’s lesser known powers is DNA Test Vision, as he instantly know that it means that Mary is really Mary Batson! Mary believes him, because the erstwhile Mrs. Primm told her that the locket would one day change her life, so there you go.  Mary is a smart cookie though. She asks Captain Marvel where is Billy, anyway? Then the two Caps reveal who they really are. Mary gives her newfound brother a heartfelt peck on the cheek. It’s really quite sweet, but then Billy has to go and ruin the moment.

Misogyny starts at a young age in Fawcett City...

As the trio argue like well, siblings, the thugs turn out not to be as dispatched as we were led to believe. Being bad guys from a Captain Marvel story, they have no idea when the two Captains Marvel went, but are still prescient enough to gag both Billy and Freddy before they can say their respective magic words. Mary plays the role of mistress of the obvious, as she just repeats what just happened, but since she literally says “Billy can’t say Shazam!” Well, something pretty wonderous happens.

"Okay, Billy. I'm going to beat up these crooks, then serve you a big bowl of crow."

Everyone is pretty taken aback at this turn of events, Mary included. In fact, at first, she is completely oblivious to the baddies attempting grievous bodily harm, more enamored with the fact that she has what is an admittedly awesome costume. She quickly acclimates herself though, and it’s not like she can be harmed, so she gets a pass. After she gets shot at a few time, she really gets into the physical aspects of being a super heroine. and makes quick (and more thorough) work than her brother or Freddy did.

I think Billy is bi-polar, what with his emotions flip-flopping about Mary's powers.

And so, the day is saved, thanks to Mary. The story isn’t quite over yet though. There is still the question of why and how does Mary have powers in the first place. Billy says that she can’t possibly have the same gifts he does, since Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury were all dudes, and she is “just a girl”. At this point if I were Mary, long-lost brother or not, I’d slap Billy silly. The trio decide to visit the old wizard himself to see what the heck is going on. They fly to the famous subway tunnel, are once again greeted by the statues of the “Seven Deadly Enemies of Man”, and before you know it, they have their audience with Shazam…

He knows all things except that, outside of Algebra, you can't add letters like that.

Shazam never actually explains where Mary got her powers, although it’s implied he did it. Who knows when though? Mary certainly doesn’t remember it.  And Shazam is so riddled with age, that he probably couldn’t remember if he tried. Nevertheless, everyone is satisfied with this explanation, and they take their leave of Shazam’s abode. Once everyone leaves the subway, they say their goodbyes and give a little tease to the future…

"There's no way my secret identity will be compromised with a name like that!"

Captain Marvel was true to his word. Mary not only got her own headlines in Wow Comics, she got her own self-titled book a few years after her debut. Mary was truly a pioneer. Heck, her stories actually stopped being published before Supergirl even debuted. She had her own line of fashion accessories/clothing for young girls. Truly she is one of the great characters in comic fiction. I just hope that one day a writer will come along and de-tartify her current incarnation.

This story was originally published in Captain Marvel Adventures #18, December 1942. It was reprinted in Shazam Family Annual #1 and the Shazam Family Archives #1