History YMMV / SHAZAM

** ComicBook/PostCrisis: [[PuppeteerParasite Mister Mind]] is a two-inch long parasitic worm from Venus. As his race's advance scout on Earth, Mister Mind took control of Captain Marvel's cousin, Sinclair Batson, mutating him into a monster. When Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel foiled Mind's plans, the worm vowed revenge, and [[GrandTheftMe bodyjacking]] Sarge Steel of the Department of Metahuman Affairs, set in motion a plan for a [[NukeEm nuclear holocaust]]. Incubating his larvae in sores within Sinclair's body, Mind took mental control of his offspring after they were born and had them in turn infest nuclear technicians, army officers, and politicians, while he himself used Sarge Steel's authority to obliterate Fairfield, Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel's hometown. Defeated before he could [[KillAllHumans end humanity]], Mind broke out again during the events of ''52'', and after mutating into his adult form of the Hyperfly, tried to devour the totality of space/time, plotting to [[OmnicidalManiac end the multiverse]].

** Uncle Marvel/Dudley H. Dudley, a LovableRogue with a heart of gold in the original Fawcett stories and a kindly janitor SecretKeeper in [[Comicbook/ThePowerOfShazam Jerry Ordway's run]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The Captain Marvel comics from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks originated trends that were revolutionary back then, but became commonplace in modern comics, such as a female counterpart to the hero, an extended hero "family" outside of a hero and a sidekick, as well as continuity between issues (including continuous stories) and the hero's villains teaming up to fight him.
** While it's hard to imagine now, but in the 40s, Captain Marvel was ''the'' superhero, outselling every other superhero, including Superman. He even made his first live action appearance over half a decade before Big Blue.
** Today, disabled superheroes aren't anything new, however in the early 1940s, having a disabled hero like Freddy Freeman was considered revolutionary.

** Believe it or not, ''Black Adam'' started as one. He appeared exactly ''once'' in the original run, and died at the end, only to be brought back over 30 years later, popping up here and there as a villain. It wasn't until the mid-2000s that Adam became more of an anti-hero and gained massive popularity.

* CreepyAwesome: Mister Mind, [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending On The Writer And Artist]]. High points include his creation of ComicBook/TheMonsterSocietyOfEvil, his scheme to TakeOverTheWorld in ''ComicBook/ThePowerOfShazam'', and his plan to devour the multiverse in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo.''

* BrokenBase: While some fans have accepted DC's decision to rename both the brand and the title character to "Shazam", others refuse to acknowledge the change and continue to refer to the protagonist as "Captain Marvel", arguing that he deserves to keep his original title since he was created before Marvel's [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics eponymous superhero]]. A third camp doesn't mind his name being changed, but feels that "Captain Thunder" should have been used instead, since it wouldn't significantly change the dynamics of the Marvel Family while still being thematically fitting. In some newer comics, Billy rejects the name "Shazam", and instead calls himself "The Captain", which has made some fans very happy.
** The total reimagining the New 52 Marvel/Shazam family, going from Billy as Captain Marvel, Mary as Mary Marvel and Freddy as Captain Marvel, jr to a six-person team featuring Billy's foster siblings, where everyone is called Shazam and have a unique power sets has been controversial. While a lot of people like the concept, there are detractors who prefer the classic Marvel family, and want the Shazam family to revert to it's original concept.
** The recent costume changes have definitely been a hotly debated issue. From it's inception in the 1940s up until the 2010s, the Shazam outfit remained mostly the same. However after the New 52 reboot, the outfit was significantly redesigned, with a whitish glowing lightning bolt, a more metallic suit texture with lines all over it as well as a simplified cape with a white hood. While some really welcome the change, since the glowing logo and hood definitely fit with the magically themed powers, and since it further differentiates his look from that of Superman's, many others think it's trying too hard, and like the New 52 Superman suit, looks like armor on a character that doesn't need it.
** Black Adam becoming a more anti-heroic figure in recent decades. Some enjoy the change, given that his initial villain personality was fairly one-note, however others just aren't interested in Black Adam as a vigilante, and would prefer him to just stay a Shazam villain, instead of branching out into the general DC universe, and becoming a separate entity entirely.

* OlderThanTheyThink: A lot of elements that many people associate with ComicBook/{{Superman}} were done by Captain Marvel first, including a DistaffCounterpart, a MadScientist villain, an EvilCounterpart with the same powers, and a MuggleBestFriend wearing a bowtie and green jacket. Quite a few of these came from Otto Binder, who wrote both characters. Captain Marvel was also the first superhero to be adapted for film, in a popular serial and more important it was Billy Batson who first had the power of flight, while Superman was still stuck leaping tall buildings in a single bound. Captain Marvel sold more and was more popular than Superman during the war, which is almost inconceivable when one considers how he became totally forgotten since then.

* AwesomeArt: C.C Beck's artwork is universally beloved. Instead of aiming for realism, Beck went in the opposite direction, preferring to use bright colors and intentionally cartoony with rosy cheeks, lots of big smiles and black dots for eyes. It's commonly described as a cross between superhero artwork and old children's comic art.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''{{Franchise/Superman}}'', following DC's acquisition of the ''Captain Marvel'' property. Given that the two series have such similar philosophies and styles, this is unsurprising, though the way how Billy often idolizes the Man of Steel and intentionally follows his example helps.

* HilariousInHindsight: One of Billy's earliest enemies was named [[Franchise/SpiderMan Spider Man]] (sans the hyphen).

** The story (''Superman/Shazam: First Thunder'' by Judd Winick) where Billy's best friend is killed taking a bullet meant for him. At first Captain Marvel goes into TranquilFury while interrogating the killers and tracking down who hired them. When he's done he just sits down and cries his eyes out, very much like a ten-year-old boy who just lost his best friend...

* BrokenBase: While some fans have accepted DC's decision to rename both the brand and the title character to "Shazam", others refuse to acknowledge the change and continue to refer to the protagonist as "Captain Marvel", arguing that he deserves to keep his original title since he was created before Marvel's [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics eponymous superhero]]. A third camp doesn't mind his name being changed, but feels that "Captain Thunder" should have been used instead, since it wouldn't significantly change the dynamics of the Marvel Family while still being thematically fitting.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The Captain Marvel comics from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks originated trends that were revolutionary back then, but became commonplace in modern comics, such as a female counterpart to the hero, continuity between issues (including continuous stories) and the hero's villains teaming up to fight him.

** A number of the Fawcett comics are infected by the racism of the time, with gross caricatures of African-Americans and Japanese people specifically. The character of Steamboat stands out for having been retired for being seen as incredibly racist ''in 1945.'' The landmark serial story "The Monster Society of Evil" (considered the first of its kind in superhero comics) has never been reprinted in full by DC for that reason, although it is available in the public domain. tHE

** A number of the Fawcett comics are infected by the racism of the time, with gross caricatures of African-Americans and Japanese people specifically. The character of Steamboat stands out for having been retired for being seen as incredibly racist ''in 1945.'' The landmark serial story "The Monster Society of Evil" (considered the first of its kind in superhero comics) has never been reprinted in full by DC for that reason, although it is available in the public domain.

** A number of the Fawcett comics are infected by the racism of the time, with gross caricatures of African-Americans and Japanese people specifically. The landmark serial story "The Monster Society of Evil" (considered the first of its kind in superhero comics) has never been reprinted in full by DC for that reason, although it is available in the public domain.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The 2019 Series brings back Tawky Tawny to his classic appearance, instead of the Battle-Cat-esque version seen in ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' and the origin story from the Justice League backups. [[FurryConfusion Presumably, the sentient Tawny might still meet the non-sentient one sometime down the line...]]

* DorkAge:
** Post ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis with the Rock of Eternity destroyed and the Wizard dead, the Marvel Family is generally agreed to have hit this. The characters received unpopular retools ( Billy becoming the Wizard and going by Marvel, Mary going evil ''twice'', Freddy being generally ineffective as Shazam) and Black Adam became a major SpotLightStealingSquad with the Marvel Family being heavily OutOfFocus in the DCU.

%%ZCE* CreepyAwesome: Mister Mind, [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending On The Writer And Artist]].

* TheScrappy: Osiris was deliberately built up as this in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' to build up to an AlasPoorScrappy moment. Fans were still annoyed when the series' Blackest Night tie-in, which was billed as being about Billy and Mary having to fend off a zombified Osiris without their powers, wound up being about Osiris bumbling around confused. Things were not eased when Osiris was used in Eric Wallace's run on ''Titans'', where he basically devolved into the Marvel Family's version of Superboy-Prime.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The New 52 version of the Marvel family is nothing ''but'' this trope. Whether it's Captain Marvel's name being changed permanently to kill IAmNotShazam for good, or Billy Batson's personality being changed to an edgy emo kid, almost every new development causes fans to hate it even more.
** With the (long delayed) ongoing title now out during Rebirth, things have greatly stabilized on both sides. Billy is written to be a much nicer person, the new Shazam Family has been well received by the fans. The only lasting issue is, as mentioned, the loss of the Marvel name for the characters.