About 
Bleeding Cool has been running a few select spoilers ahead of tomorrow's Free Comic Book Day. Here's a place to put a few of them together.
Posted in: Comics, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: dan mora, mark waid, shazam
The Captain & Mary Marvel Get A New Trick in Shazam #5 (Spoilers)
In the Captain Marvel/Shazam comic books, lightning is used as part of the transformation process. But what else can it do?
Article Summary
- The lightning in Captain Marvel/Shazam comics sometimes has other uses.
- In the Legends series, the lightning killed macro-man during Billy Batson's transformation.
- Batson used his lightning power as a weapon against Superman and Batman in Kingdom Come.
- In Shazam #5, Zeus's lightning is used to transform someone else.
In the Captain Marvel/Shazam comic books, lightning is used as part of the transformation process. Saying the word brings down a force of lightning from Zeus that transforms the summoner into a Shazam being. But sometimes it can do something else. In the Legends series by John Ostrander, Len Wein and John Byrne, Billy Batson came quite a cropper in his transformation process.
When held by a giant, the lightning bolt sent by the gods to transform him, incinerated macro-man, killing him.
Something that would weigh heavily on Billy Batson preventing his transformation any more, until he had no choice. And in that moment, he realised that this wasn't how the magic lightning worked.
And it was all a deception planned by Darkseid. Apparently, his lightning transformation power doesn't work like that, his lightning wielding powers are different.
Except when it does. In Kingdom Come, in the far future, he used it as a weapon against Superman.
And soon he was using it as a weapon against Batman as well.
Repeatedly.
It can even transform someone else, if Zeus's aim is off. Although that only happened the once way back…
Other "versions" of Captain Marvel may do the damage thing as well.
Notably, the recent Shazam movies seemed to show that Captain Marvel's lightning could damage people when it was summoned, such as when fighting Shazam on the rooftops.
And in tomorrow's Shazam #5 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora, it is Mary Marvel who summons the lightning of Zeus, to save her brother who is in his untransformed state, and unable to transform himself into The Captain. And although Zeus's aim is spot on…
…she dodges it, and gives Billy Batson the full benefit of the lightning strike. Expect to see Billy Batson using that kind of assault against a kaiju in the upcoming Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs King Kong. Ans it's not like that's the only time he'll be standing up against the power of the gods and monsters…
Shazam #5 is published tomorrow from DC Comics.
SHAZAM #5 CVR A DAN MORA
(W) Mark Waid (A/CA) Dan Mora
The Captain's battle against the forces of the Moon Emperor may orbit the absurd…but it's full of action that will leave you…Apollo? (You can create your own moon pun for the end there, kids.) Mary Marvel joins the fray, the Shazam Family faces the Gods, and a devastating betrayal awaits you in this issue!
Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 11/07/2023
Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!
Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!
