Mary Marvel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mary Marvel | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
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.
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 the creation of her brother, Captain Marvel, resulted in a legal action due to 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.
Mary is a member of the Marvel Family team of superheroes. In her initial appearances, she did not age when she transformed; however, the current version of the character ages from a teenage girl to an adult.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 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 inadvertently 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's super-powered self, christened "Mary Marvel" by her brother, wears a red short-sleeved blouse and red skirt, lined with gold trim, and including a lightning bolt insignia and cape. 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
Although these deities were originally described as goddesses, Zephyrus is a male god. (In addition, the list does not account for all of the superhuman traits shared by Billy and Mary.) She remains her current age when she transforms (instead of becoming an adult like Billy), and shares Captain Marvel’s powers of invulnerability, stamina, and courage.
[edit] Fawcett years
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 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.
[edit] 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 in the Shazam! The New Beginning miniseries, in which neither Mary Batson nor Mary Marvel appears.
[edit] 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) takes Mary into her care. Primm arranges for Mary to be 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, and instructs 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; she is murdered by one of the thugs.
In the Power of Shazam! series, Mary is called "Captain Marvel" like her brother, as Jerry Ordway, who wrote the series, felt "Mary Marvel" was illogical. 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 divided three ways if 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.
[edit] 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 appears in several stories relating to DC Comics' 2005-2006 Infinite Crisis crossover. She plays a small role in The OMAC Project, and makes brief appearances in the main Infinite Crisis title.
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 is in a coma in New York City; Freddy spends all of his money to get her there. (Trials of Shazam! # 2)
Mary appears alternately with either her red or white costumes in DC's 52, which takes place after the events depicted in Day of Vengeance but before Trials of Shazam!.
Paul Dini recently stated in an article at Wizard Universe that Mary will play a big role in the upcoming Countdown series.
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
- Mary Marvel's "Who's Who" file at The Marvel Family Web.
- Mary Marvel at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Categories: Captain Marvel/Marvel Family | Fawcett Comics titles | Fictional Americans in DC Comics | Fictional twins | Fictional characters with precognition | DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds | DC Comics characters who can fly | DC Comics characters with superhuman strength | Spin-off comic book superheroes | Magic users in comics | Golden Age superheroes | Fictional orphans
