Mary Marvel
| Mary Marvel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fawcett Comics (1942 - 1953) DC Comics (1972 - present) |
| First appearance | Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (December 1942) |
| Created by | Otto Binder Marc Swayze |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Mary Batson, adopted as Mary Bromfield |
| Team affiliations | Marvel Family Super Buddies |
| Notable aliases | Captain Marvel |
| Abilities | Magically bestowed aspects of various mythological figures which include super strength, invulnerability, super-speed, flight, fearlessness, and vast wisdom/enhanced mental perception. Can heal herself through magic lightning. |
Mary Marvel is a comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, Mary first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in December 1942. The character is a member of the Marvel Family of heroes associated with Captain Marvel.
She is the alter ego of teenager Mary Batson (adopted name Mary Bromfield), twin sister of Captain Marvel's alter-ego, Billy Batson. Like her brother, Mary has been granted the power of the wizard Shazam, and has but to speak the wizard's name to be transformed into the super-powered Mary Marvel.
Mary Marvel was one of the first female spin-offs of a major male superhero, and predates the introduction of Superman's female cousin Supergirl (also created by Otto Binder) by more than a decade.
Publication history
Fawcett Comics
Mary Marvel was introduced into Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family franchise a year after a young male counterpart, Captain Marvel, Jr., made his debut. Artist Marc Swayze states that Mary Marvel's design and personality were based upon American actress Judy Garland. [1] Mary was introduced in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 as Mary Bromfield, a girl who discovers she is the long lost sister of Captain Marvel's alter ego Billy Batson. As Billy's twin, Mary shared Billy's ability to transform into a superhero by speaking the name of the wizard Shazam. In her superpowered state, Mary Marvel originally wore a red short-sleeved blouse and red skirt, lined with gold trim, and including a lightning bolt insignia and cape.
Soon after her introduction, Mary Marvel became the headlining feature of Wow Comics, and by 1945 had her own Mary Marvel book. She also appeared in The Marvel Family book with Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. In her solo adventures, Mary soon gained sidekicks in her kindly Uncle Marvel, who was not actually her uncle nor a Marvel, and his similarly non-powered niece, Freckles Marvel. Uncle Marvel was eventually made the Marvel Family’s manager, and also served as Mary’s guardian.
Just before the Marvel Family's adventures ceased publication in 1953, Mary Marvel’s costume and appearance were altered: the neckline of her blouse was lowered slightly, her hair was shortened, and she now wore yellow slippers instead of the customary Marvel Family yellow boots. After Fawcett canceled their superhero comics line because of a copyright infringement lawsuit with National Comics (later DC Comics), Mary Marvel and her teammates went unseen for years.
DC Comics
1973-1985
In 1972, DC Comics licensed the rights to the Marvels, and revived them in a new comic series called Shazam!. Mary, Cap, and Junior appeared in both new stories and reprints of their classic stories. The comic book was canceled by 1978, and the Shazam! stories were relegated to the back pages of World's Finest Comics (from 1979 to 1982) and Adventure Comics (from 1982 to 1983). After the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, Captain Marvel’s origin was rebooted in the Shazam! The New Beginning miniseries. The Marvel Family was written out of the Shazam! mythos, and neither Mary Batson nor Mary Marvel appeared in DC Comics for several years.
1994-present
Mary Batson was re-introduced in The Power of Shazam! graphic novel by Jerry Ordway in 1994. An ongoing series followed in the next year, and Mary Marvel was introduced into the modern DC Universe with a new origin story in Power of Shazam! #4.
When calling upon her powers, Mary is transformed into an adult resembling her late mother (in the same way that Billy resembles his father when in Marvel form). Mary shares the title of Captain Marvel with her brother. Various characters in the series distinguish the two by gender when addressing them, addressing Mary as "the lady Captain Marvel".
At first Mary’s costume was the same as her original one. However, beginning with Power of Shazam! #28, Mary donned a white costume to distinguish herself from her brother. The color change was retained for most future uses of the character during the next decade.
Super Buddies and Infinite Crisis
After the Power of Shazam! series ended in 1999, Mary’s super-powered alter ego was officially re-christened "Mary Marvel." Since then, she has guest-starred in both Superman and Supergirl comics. In 2003, Mary became a member of an offshoot of the Justice League known as the Super Buddies in the Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries, which juxtaposed her Golden Age-era personality with the modern-day world for comic effect.
Mary Marvel appears briefly in several stories relating to DC's 2005-2006 Infinite Crisis crossover. Mary also appeared in DC's weekly limited series 52, with her most substantial appearance being in 52 #16 as the maid of honor at the wedding of Black Adam and Isis, two Shazam!-related characters.
In 2006, DC began a revamp of the Shazam! mythos with Judd Winick and Howard Porter's Trials of Shazam! limited series. The series began with a preview within the pages of Brave New World #1 in June 2006, in which Mary Batson loses her powers, suffers a three mile fall, and falls into a coma. Mary currently appears as one of the main characters in Countdown, a weekly DC series which serves as the successor to 52. One of Countdown's main story arcs centers around Mary, recently revived from her coma, gaining Black Adam's powers after she is unable to contact Captain Marvel or Captain Marvel, Jr. Promotional material for the series links her to Eclipso and the phrase "Seduction of the Innocent," a reference to Fredric Wertham's book of the same title.
Fictional character biography
Original Fawcett origin
Mary Marvel's first appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 also relayed her origin story.
As infants, twins Billy and Mary Batson were nursed by a woman named Sarah Primm. When the Batsons' parents die in a car accident, Primm was required to send both children to an orphanage. However, Primm is determined to at least give one of the children a home, and arranges for Mary to secretly take the place of another baby girl, who had suddenly died while under Primm's care. As a result, Billy is sent to an orphanage, while his sister is raised by the wealthy Ms. Bromfield.
Several years later, Billy Batson becomes a teenage radio announcer. While hosting an on-air quiz bowl, he receives an urgent letter from Sarah Primm, now on her death bed, requesting his presence. Billy goes to see her during a break, and Primm tells him the secret of his long-lost sister. To help him find Mary, Primm gives Billy a locket broken in half, and tells the boy with her last breaths that Mary wears the other half.
After the quiz bowl broadcast is over, Billy tells his best friend Freddy Freeman about his sister and the locket. Billy then recalls that one of the quiz bowl contestants, a rich girl named Mary Bromfield, wore a broken locket. He and Freddy trail Mary’s limousine in their super-powered forms of Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr., and find themselves called into service to save Mary from a gang of kidnappers.
Captain Marvel then learns that Mary's locket matches his own, and that she is indeed Billy’s sister. The Marvels reveal their secret identities to Mary, who wonders if, since she is Billy’s twin, she could become a Marvel by saying the magic word "Shazam". Billy, however, is assured that “Old Shaz—er—you know who—wouldn’t give his powers to a girl!”
Just then, the kidnappers awaken and gag Billy and Freddy, preventing them from saying their magic words. “Oh no,” exclaims Mary, “Billy can’t say ‘Shazam!’” Just after inadvertently saying the word, a magic lightning bolt strikes Mary Bromfield, and she is transformed into a super powered version of herself, later christened "Mary Marvel" by her brother. She then defeats the thugs by herself and frees Billy and Freddy.
Modified DC origin
Mary Marvel's current DC origin was presented within the pages of the Power of Shazam! graphic novel and ongoing series, written by Jerry Ordway.
Prominent archaeologists C. C. and Marilyn Batson are assigned by the Sivana expedition on an excursion to Egypt. They take along their young daughter Mary, but are forced to leave their son Billy in America with C. C.'s half-brother. The elder Batsons are killed by their associate Theo Adam, who then kidnaps Mary. Upon Theo Adam's return to the United States, Adam’s sister, a maid named Sarah Primm, takes Mary into her care. Primm arranges for her childless employers, Nick and Nora Bromfield, to illegally adopt Mary. As Mary Bromfield, the young girl grows up living an idyllic life in a wealthy family, but continuously has dreams of another family with a brother she has never seen.
Meanwhile, Billy, eventually finding himself on the streets, is given the power to become Captain Marvel. He learns that Mary is still alive, but after four years of searching, neither he nor his benefactor, the wizard Shazam, can find the girl. The only thing Billy has to remember Mary by is her favorite toy, a "Tawky Tawny" doll, which was shipped to America with the Batsons’ possessions after their murders.
As a young teenager, Mary enters a regional spelling bee held in Fawcett City and emceed by Billy, who works as an on-air reporter for WHIZ radio. After saving Mary from kidnappers twice as Captain Marvel, Billy notices how much Mary Bromfield reminds him of Mary Batson, and has an undercover cop named “Muscles” McGinnis retrieve the girl’s forged adoption record. Learning that Mary is indeed his sister, Billy tries to figure out a way to let Mary know he is her brother. The old "Tawky Tawny" doll suddenly transforms into a full-sized tiger and comes to life, instructing Billy to take it to Mary. As Captain Marvel, Billy flies out to the Bromfields’ hometown of Fairfield to deliver the doll and the adoption papers to Mary.
Captain Marvel arrives at the Bromfield estate and changes back to Billy Batson to deliver the package, but is immediately kidnapped by the thugs who helped Primm forge Mary’s adoption records. Mary, not having seen Billy, takes the package and opens it, discovering the adoption records and the Tawky Tawny doll. Once again, the doll comes to life, and instructs the bewildered girl to say the magic word “Shazam” and save her brother. Mary complies, and is transformed by a bolt of magic lightning into a super-powered doppelganger of her deceased mother. She saves Billy, who transforms into Captain Marvel to help Mary defeat the thugs, but the two Marvels cannot save Sarah Primm, who is murdered by one of the thugs.
The Trials of Shazam! and Countdown
In the eleven-page preview to Judd Winick and Howard Porter's Trials of Shazam! limited series appearing in DC's Brave New World one-shot comic (June 2006), Mary loses her powers in mid-flight as an after-effect of the death of the wizard Shazam in Day of Vengeance #6, and falls from a height of 3 miles. Mary survives the fall, and Freddy Freeman, who lost the power to become Captain Marvel Jr., has her transported to a hospital in New York City where he can keep watch over her.
In Countdown #51, Mary is released from the hospital. She finds that she is still powerless, and a note left by Freddy Freeman with a nurse asks her not to look for him. Making her way to Gotham City (despite being warned by Madame Xanadu to avoid the place in Countdown #50),[2] Mary stumbles upon the former Kahndaqi embassy and encounters Black Adam, who angrily threatens her. Mary tells Adam how much she valued her powers, and how she desires to regain them. Adam, bitter over the loss of his wife Isis and brother-in-law Osiris during the events of 52, gives Mary his powers; he is transformed into the mortal Teth-Adam. Mary wears a black, form-fitting costume, and wields Adam's powers as a darker, angrier character.[3]
Powers and abilities
The Fawcett and pre-1985 version of Mary Marvel did not derive her “Shazam” from the male mythological figures who empower Billy, but from a set of female benefactors: Selena for grace, Hippolyta* for strength, Ariadne for skill, Zephyrus for fleetness (and flight), Aurora for beauty and Minerva for wisdom.
Although these deities were originally described and depicted as goddesses, Zephyrus is actually a male god. In addition, the list does not account for all of the superhuman traits shared by Billy and Mary, specifically Captain Marvel's powers of invulnerability, stamina, and courage. The original Mary Marvel remained a teenager when she transformed, rather than becoming a mature adult like Billy.
The current version of Mary Marvel, originating in The Power of Shazam!, has the same powers, from the same benefactors, as her brother (Solomon, Hercules*, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.) A power-sharing element was added to the mythos in the Power of Shazam! series - one finite source of power was shared between Mary, Captain Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. It should be noted that this power-sharing element has not been honored by all later appearances of the Marvels.
In Countdown, Black Adam gives Mary his powers.[4] Since Adam was not sharing his powers with anyone else when he granted them to Mary,[5] and had also been carrying the powers of his dead wife Isis,[6] who had granted them to him with her death, Mary is now more powerful than she's ever been. Mary's current patron deities are now seven Egyptian gods, Shu, Heru, Amon, Zetuhi, Aton, Mehen and the "most powerful"[7] Egyptian deity, Isis.
In Countdown #31, Mary turns several guards in to stone, and then remarks that she had never done anything like that before.
Alternate versions
Earth 5
In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, consisting of 52 identical realities; Earth-5 is depicted as home to the Marvel family characters. As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this universe, it takes on aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-S. Although the characters are not named in the panel in which they appear, a character looking like Mary Marvel is shown.[8] 52 co-author Grant Morrison has made clear that this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-S.[9]
Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil
In the 2007 limited series Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, Mary Batson is depicted as a prepubescent child who does not age when she transforms into Mary Marvel.
Mary meets her lost brother in the circus that is attacked by Alligator Men and is rescued by Captain Marvel. With the help of Talky Tawny, a trickster spirit who change into various forms, but prefers being a tiger when convenient, the siblings learn they are related. When Billy transforms into Captain Marvel, Mary stands too close to her brother and is struck by the fringe of the magic lightning. As a result, Mary gains her Marvel form (which is still at her actual age) that is apparently based on the aspects of various goddesses, including superior flying speed to her brother, and powers stemming by a female set of benefactors. (For example, Athena's wisdom is different from Solomon's, allowing Mary to perceive "life vibrations" and distinguish between living and non-living beings.)
Although she is kidnapped in her regular form by Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind, Billy rescues her as Captain Marvel. When Billy accidentally loses his Marvel powers, Mary restores them to him by calling down the lighting and touching him as it strikes.
Amalgam Comics
In Amalgam Comics, MaryMarvel is combined with Jean Grey to form Mary Marvel Girl.
Appearances in other media
Along with the rest of the Marvel Family, Mary Marvel appeared in the 1981 Shazam! Saturday morning cartoon, aired as one-half of The Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!, voiced by Dawn Jeffory. Although she has not appeared in any other television programs or films, Mary Marvel is featured in issue 20 of the Justice League Unlimited comic book, in which she appears in the art style of the Justice League Unlimited television show.
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References
- ^ Hamerlinck, Paul (ed.) (2001). Fawcett Companion: The Best of FCA. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing.
- ^ Coundown's issue numbering runs backwards; that is, the series begins with #51 and ends at #0).
- ^ Countdown #41
- ^ Countdown #47
- ^ 52, Week #52
- ^ Countdown #46
- ^ 52, no. 12, p. 15/1 (August 28, 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ 52, no. 52, p. 12/5 (May 2, 2007). DC Comics.
- ^ Brady, Matt (2007-05-08). ""The 52 Exit Interviews: Grant Morrison"". Newsarama. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
External links
- Mary Marvel's "Who's Who" file at The Marvel Family Web.
- Mary Marvel at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
- Counting Down to Countdown V: Mary Marvel, Trickster, Pied Piper - article from Newsarama on Countdown.
- Captain Marvel Culture.com, the history of the many Captain Marvels
- American comics characters
- Captain Marvel/Marvel Family
- Characters introduced in 1942
- Child superheroes
- DC Comics characters who can fly
- DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
- DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
- DC Comics superheroes
- Fawcett Comics titles
- Fictional characters with accelerated healing
- Fictional characters with precognition
- Fictional orphans
- Fictional twins
- Golden Age superheroes
- Magic users in comics
- Mythology in comics
- Spin-off comic book superheroes