Mary Marvel
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Mary Marvel is a fictional character, a superhero derived from the DC Comics (formerly Fawcett Comics) character Captain Marvel. Her alter ego is 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. A member of the Marvel Family team of superheroes, Mary originally became a Marvel version of herself at the same age when she transformed; the current version becomes an adult copy of her mother the same way her brother becomes a version of his father.
Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, and first appearing in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in December 1942, Mary Marvel was one of the first female spin-offs of a major male superhero. Although her brother Captain Marvel brought about legal action because of his similarities to Superman, Mary Marvel predates the introduction of Superman's female cousin Supergirl (also created by Otto Binder) by more than a decade.
History
Fawcett origin: Captain Marvel Adventures #18
Mary Batson and her twin brother Billy were both nursed by a woman named Sarah Primm. When the Batson twins are orphaned after their parents die in a car accident, Primm substitutes Mary for the baby girl of another family she nursed for, who had suddenly died, and sends Billy to an orphanage.
Over a decade after his parents’ death, Billy is an on-air reporter for station WHIZ, hosting a quiz bowl with three young contestants. During a commercial break, Billy receives an urgent letter from Sarah Primm requesting his presence. He immediately goes to see the dying woman, who tells Billy about his twin sister, and gives him a locket broken in half. Mary, Primm tells Billy before dying, wears the other half of the locket.
After the quiz bowl broadcast is over, Billy recalled that one of the contestants, Mary Bromfield, wore a broken locket, and he and his best friend Freddy Freeman trail Mary’s limousine in their super-powered forms of Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr.. Before making it home, Mary is kidnapped for ransom, prompting the two Marvels to intervene, save her, and knock out the 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 inadvertedly saying the word, a magic lightning bolt strikes Mary Bromfield, and she is transformed into a super powered version of herself. She then defeats the thugs by herself and frees Freddy and her brother.
Mary super-powered self, christened "Mary Marvel" by her brother, wears a a red short-sleeved blouse and red skirt, lined with gold trim, and including a lightning bolt insignia and "a cape—just like Captain Marvel’s!” According to the wizard Shazam, Mary can transform into a Marvel because her “Shazam” powers are not derived from the male mythological figures who empower Billy, but from a set of female benefactors:
- S for Selena for grace
- H for Hippolyta for strength
- A for Ariadne for skill
- Z for Zephyrus for fleetness (and flight)
- A for Aurora for beauty
- M for Minerva for wisdom
Fawcett years
Soon after her introduction, Mary Marvel became the headlining feature of Wow Comics, and by 1945 had her own Mary Marvel book and 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 cancelled 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.
1970s Shazam! revival
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 cancelled 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 from scratch in the Shazam! The New Beginning miniseries, in which neither Mary Batson nor Mary Marvel appears.Current origin: The Power of Shazam!
Mary Batson was re-introduced in The Power of Shazam! graphic novel by Jerry Ordway, who also revised the origin of her super-powered alter-ego in issues 3, 4, and 16 of the Power of Shazam ongoing series that followed the graphic novel. Several of the details remain the same, while others are noticeably altered.
Mary and Billy’s parents are archaeologists, and Mary accompanies her parents on an expedition to Egypt while Billy remains at home. Mary’s parents are killed by their associate Theo Adam, who then kidnaps the young girl. Upon Theo Adam's return to the United States, Adam’s sister, a maid named Sarah Primm, learns what Theo has done, and takes Mary into her care. Primm has Mary illegally adopted by Primm’s childless employers, Nick and Nora Bromfield (based on Nick and Nora Charles). As Mary Bromfield, the young girl grows up living an idyllic life in a wealthy family, but continuously 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. 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 a la Hobbes (animated by Lord Satanus, the son of Shazam), and instructs Billy to take the doll to Mary. As Captain Marvel, Billy flies out to the Bromfields’ hometown of Fairfield to deliver the doll and the adoption papers to Mary.
Arriving at the Bromfield estate, Billy delivers the package, but is immediately kidnapped by the thugs who helped Primm forge Mary’s adoption records. Mary 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 out, but the two Marvels cannot save Sarah Primm, who is murdered by one of the thugs.
In the Power of Shazam! series, Mary's super-powered self is called "Captain Marvel" like her brother, as Jerry Ordway, who wrote the series, felt "Mary Marvel" was an illogical moniker. The female Captain Marvel has the same powers, from the same benefactors, as the male Captain Marvel. In fact, they both draw their power from one finite percentage of Shazam’s power: when they both use it, each of them is only half as strong, half as fast, and half as invulnerable. After the Captains share their power with crippled friend Freddy Freeman so that he can become Captain Marvel, Jr./CM3, the power is split three ways when all three Marvels are active.
Captain (Mary) Marvel’s costume was originally exactly the same as her original Mary Marvel Fawcett costume. Beginning with Power of Shazam! #28, she began wearing a white costume to distinguish herself from her brother.
Super Buddies and beyond
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 has appeared in several stories relating to DC Comics' 2005-2006 Infinite Crisis crossover, including a small role in The OMAC Project, and brief appearances in the Infinite Crisis miniseries proper. She will appear in Judd Winick and Howard Porter's Trials of Shazam! miniseries, beginning in July 2006. An eleven-page prequel to the limited series was printed in DC's Brave New World one-shot comic book, which was published on June 28, 2006, and features Mary losing her Shazam powers as an after-effect of the death of the wizard Shazam in Day of Vengeance #6.
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!. 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.External links
- [Mary Marvel's "Who's Who" file] at The Marvel Family Web.
- [Mary Marvel] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
- [The Captains Marvel]
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