Marvel Family #1

MARVEL FAMILY #1 (1945)
by Bill Parker & C.C. Beck

Modern readers are probably under the assumption that Black Adam is the nemesis of Captain Marvel. They might be surprised to know he has exactly ONE appearance in the Golden Age.

We begin with Billy Batson, Captain Marvel’s secret identity, doing a story on something approaching Earth at the speed of light.

We then get a recap of his origin, which includes a minor retcon (although it’s possible the retcon is earlier than this story), because in his first story the wizard was crushed AFTER explained to Billy how to transform into Captain Marvel.

Since this is a new series dedicated to the Marvel Family we are also reintroduced to the origin of Captain Marvel Jr.

Captain Marvel Jr is interesting for many reasons.
He’s one of the earliest heroes with a disability (he’s lame in his secret identity), he can’t even say his own name because instead of “Shazam” his magic words are “Captain Marvel”… and although it’s ultimately unproven, it’s thought that Elvis Presley might have partially based his stage look on Captain Marvel Jr.
(we’ll probably never know for sure: Elvis did read Captain Marvel Jr. comics, but everything else is pure speculation)

But there’s no time to dwell on that, because the “mysterious object” reaching Earth turns out to be Black Adam.

Notice that he was given powers by the wizard 5,000 years ago… when in his first appearance the wizard told us he was 3,000 years old. Well at THAT age we can excuse his forgetfulness.

So it’s a fight between the two Captains and Black Adam!

See, this is why Superman has x-ray vision.

They summon the wizard’s ghost, who reveals that the first person he gave powers was… Black Adam.

Sorry, “Mighty Adam”.

He immediately went full Sinestro. They kind of look alike… it’s the hair, isn’t it?

For some reason the wizard couldn’t take away his powers (???), so he just banished him in outer space… for 5,000 years. That’s rough.

Apparently the wizard didn’t pick another champion for 5,000 years (not sure if that’s contradicted or not in other Captain Marvel stories), and also Black Adam can’t fly faster than light.
Okay I’m DEFINITELY sure Captain Marvel was shown to be WAY faster than that!

While I’m no expert on Golden Age Captain Marvel, I’ve read a fair share of his comics. And let me tell you, virtually no story goes by without a villain gagging him.

But this is Marvel Family, and we need a quick re-introduction to the final two members.
First there’s Mary Marvel, who is actually Billy’s twin sister and was granted the same powers by saying the same word.

And then there’s *groan* Uncle Marvel who is a waste of space who thinks he’s funny.
Sorry Captain Marvel fans, I know he’s important to the mythos but I just can’t stand the guy.

While the action is… well even calling it underwhelming is an improvement… it’s clear that Black Adam is way more powerful than the Marvels.

Uncle Marvel defeats him but no, that’s not enough to make me like the character.

Turning back into his mortal form means that he’s over 5,000 years old, which means he dies.

The end! It’s pretty late for the Golden Age, but even in 1945 they are VERY efficient stories.

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Historical significance: 4/10
Despite Black Adam’s newfound popularity (more on that in a bit), this story is not essential for either him or Captain Marvel.

Silver Age-ness: 4/10
The way Black Adam is defeated is very naïve and he’s rather innocuous, but he’s not even faster than light!

Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
This is pretty by-the-numbers and rather barebones. From a modern perspective it’s more like a summary of a story than an actual one.

How close is this to the classic character? 3/10
The look is there, but other than “evil Captain Marvel”… this is nearly unrecognizable.

So, how DID a villain with exactly ONE Golden Age appearance get as famous as Captain Marvel, perhaps even more?

In the comics he won’t be resurrected until 1977 (!!!), after Captain Marvel was purchased by DC Comics, in a story by E. Nelson Bridwell.

Bridwell, always with a keen eye for minutiae, fixed a minor mistake in Black Adam’s origin.
He gets his powers by shouting “Shazam” as an acronym… which includes S for Solomon, H for Hercules and A for Achilles, all of which would not have been born in Ancient Egypt.
So Bridwell changed the meaning of the acronym: in Black Adam’s case, the initials gave him the powers of Egyptian gods: Shu (stamina), Hershef (strenght), Amon (power), Zehuti (wisdom), Anpu (speed) and Menthu (courage).

There’s precedent for that: Mary Marvel gets her powers from different beings by saying Shazam.
Notice it’s all goddesses except Zephyrus, who was a wind god.

He was promptly re-introduced in the post-Crisis universe in the “Power of Shazam!” series, pretty much in his previous role.

It wasn’t until the end of that series that Black Adam enjoyed a weird rise in popularity, changing into a sort of anti-hero on the pages of JSA.

His backstory was also altered: instead of being Egyptian, he used to be the ruler of the fictional kingdom of Kahndaq.
And now that he has reformed, his main motivation is the protection of a modern version of Kahndaq.

So… hold on a minute. A flying superstrong king of an ancient kingdom who can be a villain, a hero or an anti-hero depending on the day of the week?
That’s the secret of Black Adam’s popularity: they turned him into Namor!!!

 

That was also used as an excuse to introduce into modern continuity Isis as his wife.
She used to be another magically powered hero with roots in Captain Marvel’s universe (although she was technically introduced in her own Filmation live action series… long story).

 

I never really got Black Adam’s popularity.
He’s fine, but as a villain he’s one of the least interesting ones with a Captain Marvel connection. As a hero he’s even ridiculously tryhard or he’s a poor man’s Namor, and as a morally questionable adventurer leader of a fictional sovereign nation he can’t hold a candle to Doctor Doom.

But I have to admit: he can be freaking cool.