Comic Book / Superman vs. Shazam!

Superman vs. Shazam! or Superman vs. Captain Marvel: "When Earths Collide!" was the first Superman/Shazam! crossover story published in All-New Collectors' Edition Vol 1 #C-58 (May, 1978). It was written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Rich Buckler.

Several eons ago, a White Martian called Karmang performed a scientific experiment to make himself immortal. He succeeded, but his machine killed one billion Martians whose souls somehow became bonded to him. Since they could not leave the physical world, the legions of murdered ghosts decided to haunt Karmang till he set them free.

One million years later, Karmang (whose resume now includes evil sorcery in addition to mad science) has finally figured out a way to release his victims. But he needs massive amounts of energy, and he is willing to blow two planets up to get it.

Karmang summons two old enemies of Superman and Captain Marvel — the Sand Superman and Black Adam, respectively — and coerces them into placing two devices on Earth-One and Earth-S to force them into an interdimensional collision, as well as tricking Superman and Captain Marvel into fighting each other so they are too busy to interfere.

Both villains succeed in their tasks, but Supergirl and Mary Marvel quickly realize someone is manipulating their relatives into a battle. As both female heroes investigate who is the puppeteer pulling the strings, Superman and Captain Marvel engage in a brutal battle across the planet.

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Tropes:

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Black Adam angrily attacks Karmang when the sorcerer informs him that he has been summoned to serve him. However, Adam quickly drops to his knee and begs for mercy when Karmang easily stops him with a simple spell.
• Aliens Speaking English: Nobody seems to have trouble communicating with Karmang.
• And I Must Scream: Karmang becomes trapped in a featureless pocket dimension where he will be haunted forever by one billion angry ghosts.
• Apocalypse How: Karmang's evil scheme involves two parallel Earths colliding with each other and blowing up.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: Captain Marvel is trying to stop the Brooklyn Bridge from falling when he sees Mary Marvel flying towards him. When he asks what she is doing there, Mary answers "Don't ask dumb questions, brother mine!"
• Badass Boast:
  • Karmang easily crushes Black Adam when the latter refuses to serve him:
    Karmang: Sad, deluded pup! It was I who returned your powers, for a purpose of my own, and should I so desire— I may also reverse the process— and reduce you to a helpless, quivering clown!
  • When Captain Marvel hurls a brickwall at Superman, the latter reminds him he can shrug nukes off.
    Superman: Throwing rubble? You've got to be joking! I can take the full impact of a nuclear blast— I've dived to the depths of a sun going nova— I've battled creatures big enough to devour whole planets! And you try to smack me with a brick mudball! What a laugh!
  • When Karmang warns Supergirl they will be dragged to the Limbo if she presses one button, Kara replies she will not be trapped because she is faster than light.
    Karmang: Not the black button! That one will send us all into Limbo!
    Supergirl: Maybe you, Karmang— But this woman can move at the speed of light— and by the time the doorway to Limbo opens— Mary and I will be long gone!
• Bald of Evil: Karmang is completely hairless.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Karmang's experiments succeeded in making him immortal, but in the process his machine killed one billion Martians and bonded their souls to him. Karmang has spent thousand millennia been tormented by legions of ghosts, knowing they will hound him literally forever unless he finds a way to set them free.
• Beware the Superman: When Superman and Captain Marvel start fighting as madmen across America, the army is deployed to deal with that "menace to national security".
• Big Bad: Karmang is a Mad Scientist and Evil Sorcerer who intends to destroy two parallel Earths to get power enough to set free the souls of one billion of Martians who were killed and stuck in a Limbo because of one of his crazy experiments.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Downplayed. Black Adam and the Sand Superman expose Superman and Captain Marvel to the "Judgment Ray", a device which distorts their judgment and causes them to attack each other irrationally.
• Bridal Carry: Supergirl holds Mary Marvel in her arms while she flies her out of Karmang's Castle.
• Build Like an Egyptian: Supergirl flies to the Valley of the Kings to find Black Adam robbing a pyramid.
• The Bus Came Back: The Sandman Superman is brought back seven years after his last appearance in Kryptonite Nevermore.
• Complexity Addiction: Karmang forces Black Adam and the Sandman Superman to trick Captain Marvel and Superman into fighting each other so they are too busy to learn about, find and dismantle his world-destroying devices... instead of simply instructing his minions to hide his machines stealthily in some inconspicuous place while avoiding both heroes at all costs, which they could easily do.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Sandman Superman reappears after fighting Superman in Kryptonite Nevermore.
  • The story remembers Linda Danvers was working as a student advisor in Florida during those years.
  • A footnote reminds readers Black Adam returned in Shazam! (Volume 1) #28 (1977).
  • The Ibistick is the Earth-One version of the wand that empowers Captain Marvel's fellow Earth-S hero Ibis the Invincible.
• Cross Counter: The titular heroes are punching each other in the face in the cover◊.
• Crossover: Superman and his Golden Age's greatest rival square off.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: When the USAF is deployed to stop Superman and Captain Marvel's crazy and destructive rampage through America, they predictably achieve nothing except for getting shot from the sky by both increasingly angry heroes.
• Deflector Shields: Karmang summons energy shields to protect himself when Mary Marvel deflects his fire spells back at him.
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Variant. When Supergirl declares she has figured out how to shut off Karmang's space-time engine, the villain shouts her to not press the black button because they would be sent into Limbo. Supergirl replies does not care because she has Super-Speed; then she presses the forbidden button, picks Mary Marvel and rushes out of the place as the villain is thrown into another dimension.
• Dramatic Irony: It never occurs to Karmang that if he had explained to the Superman and Marvel Families why he needed the energy of two exploding Earths (instead of tricking them into fighting each other while attempting to destroy their home worlds), it is certain that they would have helped him find a solution which did not entail the obliteration of inhabited planets.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Should Karmang fulfill his plans, Earth-One and Earth-S will collide with each other and will blow up.
  Karmang: I want you to place a device on each Earth which will cause those worlds to become magnetically attracted to each other— resulting in planetary collision— and the utter destruction of both planets!
• Eiffel Tower Effect:
  • Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel's first scene has them save New York City's Brooklyn Bridge.
  • Later, the Sandman Superman places Karmang's device in the World Trade Center for no particular reason.
  • When Karmang imagines the damage which his devices might cause, visions show a tidal wave engulfing the Big Ben, and a lightning storm hitting Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
  • Superman and Captain Marvel's brawl takes all the way to the Canadian border... concretely, the Niagara Falls.
• Evil Laugh: Black Adam laughs loudly after setting Karmang's planet-destroying device up.
• Evil Plan: Karmang plots to blow up two parallel Earths in order to gather power enough to release the souls of one billion of Martians who died and become bonded to him because of his immortality-seeking experiments. So Superman or Captain Marvel are unable to stop him, Karmang forces two of their enemies to manipulate them into a battle which will keep them too busy to discover his scheme.
• Evil Sorcerer: Karmang is a very old and very mad sorcerer who intends to destroy two parallel Earths. He is powerful enough to crush Black Adam easily, and his fire spells almost burn Supergirl and Mary Marvel to ashes.
• Expy Coexistence: Captain Marvel is based on Superman, and Supergirl is inspired by Otto Binder's older creation Mary Marvel. In this story, the Superman Family share an adventure with the Marvels for the first time.
• Fireballs: Karmang hurls balls of golden fire at Supergirl and Mary Marvel. Kara is taken out, but Mary manages to grab them and fling them back.
• Get Out!: Morgan Edge shouts Steve Lombard out of his building when it turns out Lombard has no pictures to show because he forgot to load his camera.
  Morgan Edge: Lombard, you are such an idiot— firing you would be like cruelty to a dumb animal! Get out of my building before I—
• Gratuitous Spanish: Captain Marvel uses one Spanish word completely randomly at the start of his duel against Superman:
  Captain Marvel: Looks like I've underestimated the Big Red S— But that's one mistake I'm going to correct pronto!
• Green and Mean: Karmang wears a light-green full bodysuit.
• Haunted Castle: Karmang Castle is a twisted, solitary castle, squatting on Mount Olympus (Mars' highest peak) and inhabited by an evil sorcerer and one billion of mad ghosts.
• Heel–Face Turn: The Quarrmer, who never wanted any part in Karmang's scheme, gives up and reveals his plans as soon as he is found by Mary Marvel.
• Hypocritical Humor: When Supergirl flirts with Captain Marvel (in retaliation by Mary Marvel flirting with Superman), Mary Marvel instantly pushes both heroes apart, tells Kara off, and is in the process of berating her brother when Supergirl basically tells: "Go ahead, Mary. Tell him why he should not flirth with someone older than him." Mary turns red in embarrassment.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Karmang uses his powerful sorcery to forcer Black Adam and the Quarrmer into doing his bidding.
• Imagine Spot: As explaining his machines are set to disrupt the world's magnetic field if someone attempts to dismantle them, Karmang imagines the ensuing untold chaos, earthquakes, tsunamis... and smiles.
• Immortality Seeker: Karmang's plight stems from his quest to make himself immortal one million years ago.
• Inventional Wisdom: Karmang's space-warping machine, which was built to force two parallel Earths into collide with each other, has a large, eye-catching black button located prominently in the operating panel. It serves to send all people standing in Karmang's castle into Limbo for some unexplained reason.
• Jet Pack: A villain uses a jetpack to try to run away from Superman. It resembles a metallic cylinder with two handles, one rocket propeller and an exhaust port.
• Just in Time: When Black Adam (disguised as Captain Marvel) is bringing the Daily Planet down, Superman swiftly swoops in takes two co-workers who were about to be crushed by chunks of crumbling ceiling away.
• Kill It with Fire: When both heroines invade his stronghold, Karmang casts a fire spell to try to burn Supergirl and Mary to ashes.
• Kryptonite Factor: Since she is vulnerable to magic, Supergirl gets hurt by Karmang's fire spells.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Karmang forces Black Adam and the Sandman Superman to trick Superman and Captain Marvel into fighting each other so they are too busy to discover and ruin his master plan.
  Sandman Superman: If Captain Marvel and Superman were to discover these engines on their worlds, and join forces to destroy them, they might learn that one weakness— and it is for this reason that I and Black Adam have been sent to involve the heroes in battle! Fighting each other, the heroes will be too busy to uncover the true threat to their Earths... In this way, both Earth-One and Earth-S will be annihilated— and neither Superman nor Captain Marvel can do a thing to save them!
• Lovely Angels: While Kal-El and Billy Batson square off, Supergirl and Mary Marvel search for their impersonators, discover the real Big Bad and his plan, and set off to stop him.
• Luckily, My Powers Will Protect Me: As he is fighting the fake Captain Marvel, Superman ponders over his real identity and nature, as well as the origin of his powers, for the benefit of readers who have never picked a comic featuring Billy Batson.
• Luminescent Blush: Mary's cheeks turn red when Supergirl makes her realize how silly her drooling over Superman makes her look like.
• Mad Scientist: Karmang used his advanced science to make himself immortal, and later to set his haunting ghosts free by blowing two Earths up.
• Magical Incantation: Karmang chants an invoking spell which takes the form of a little rhyming poem to summon Black Adam and the Sandman Superman to his presence. Later, he chants a fire spell while hurling fireballs at Kara and Mary.
• The Man Behind the Man: Supergirl and Mary Marvel comb the world until finding their relatives' impersonators, and then they find out Black Adam and the Quarrmer acted at the behest of a third party who looks to destroy both Earths.
• Master of Illusion: Karmang uses illusion spells to disguise Black Adam and the Sandman Superman as Captain Marvel and Superman, respectively.
• Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: After being attacked by a fake Captain Marvel, Superman is eager to beat him up when he meets (the real) Marvel again. Nonetheless, Supergirl wants to give the Marvels the benefit of the doubt, so she approaches Mary Marvel and asks why Mary's brother attacked her cousin. After comparing notes, both women conclude someone is manipulating their relatives into a fight.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Subverted. When Superman is attacked by "Captain Marvel", he notices Marvel's eyes are giving off an odd intense glow, and he assumes someone is controlling him. Shortly after, it is revealed the glowing eyes were part of the glamour spell disguising Black Adam.
• Monumental Damage: In the beginning, the Brooklyn Bridge gets shattered, and Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel must stop it from crumbling down. Later, Karmang's visions include a tsunami sweeping over the Big Ben and a lightning storm battering Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Superman whispers the line verbatim when he sees Captain Marvel lying alarmingly still on the ground after he has delivered a brutal knockout blow.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits:
  • As they are working together, Supergirl grows quickly tired of hearing Mary Marvel gush over her cousin.
    Mary Marvel: But Superman is just so gorgeous... I hope he doesn't get hurt.
    Supergirl: (acidly) Let me worry about cousin Kal... Okay, Mary?
  • Eventually, Supergirl loses patience with Mary fawning all over Superman, so she decides to give her a taste of her own medicine by giving Mary's brother a hug and an eyelash-batting. Suddenly, sweet-as-pie Mary blows off.
    Mary Marvel: That's my brother you've got your hands all over, Supergirl! Why don't you pick on someone your own age?
    Captain Marvel: Actually, Mary, I thought it—
    Mary Marvel: I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THOUGHT!
• Noodle Incident: Lois Lane sees Superman and Captain Marvel flying away together shortly after their battle across America and wonders whether she will ever find out why they were attempting to kill each other earlier.
• No-Sell: At the beginning of their battle, Captain Marvel throws a chunk of wall at Superman, prompting the latter to ask the former if he is serious while letting the brickwall shatter upon his chest. Likewise, Superman's eye-beams don't seem to effect Marvel.
  Superman: Throwing rubble? You've got to be joking! I can take the full impact of a nuclear blast— I've dived to the depths of a sun going nova— I've battled creatures big enough to devour whole planets! And you try to smack me with a brick mudball! What a laugh!
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Karmang wants to blow up two planets because he needs a lot of energy to free one billion of ghosts; but he never explains why he specifically needs to blow up two inhabited worlds, and he does not seem bothered about it either.
• Offscreen Inertia: At the end, Karmang becomes stuck in a Limbo-style pocket dimension. Was Karmang able to escape from Limbo? Or did he remain trapped there until his existence was erased by the Crisis on Infinite Earths and the subsequent universal reset? Nobody knows.
• Oh, Crap!: In the beginning, a super-crook pales when he realizes he has not gotten away from Superman after all.
  Unnamed Villain: I never should've come to this crummy burg! But the Batman protects Gotham City, the Flash speeds around Central City, Hawkman wings it in Midway City! It's getting so crooks are running out of cities to rob! I thought Superman at least would be too busy with guys like Luthor and Terra-Man— I figured, maybe he'd leave me alone! But no— My first job, and what happens? I almost get nabbed by that overgrown hunk of— Huh? OH, no!
  Superman: Oh, yes!!
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Supergirl meets her cousin raving about killing Captain Marvel as a maddened lunatic, Supergirl gets scared. Similarly, when Mary Marvel listens to her sweet, would-never-hurt-a-fly brother Billy shouting he is going to Earth-One to kill Superman, she gets worried and takes off after him.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Supergirl, after blowing a magic scepter out of Black Adam's grasp.
  Black Adam: A terrible wind— yanking the Ibistick from my grasp—! No! I must not lose it now!
  Supergirl: The sceptre isn't all you're going to lose, Black Adam!
• Punched Across the Room:
  • Superman punches the first supervillain whom he meets across Metropolis's sky.
  • Later, Captain Marvel punches Superman so hard than he flies over several states.
    With all the power of Zeus, the World's Mightiest Mortal crashes full-out into the Man of Steel— and the sheer force of that blow carries them Northwest, toward the green hills of upstate New York!
• Put on a Bus: The Sand Superman makes his final appearance in this story.
• Race Against the Clock: The heroes have two hours to find and dismantle the devices (without triggering the safeties) before they activate and smash both Earths together.
• Ramming Always Works: In the beginning, Superman disables a flying saucer vehicle by ramming through it.
• Rhyming Wizardry: Karmang chants an invoking spell which takes the form of a little rhyming poem to summon Black Adam and the Sand Superman to his presence.
• Riding into the Sunset: Once they have defeated Karmang and saved both Earths, the four heroes walk towards the setting sun, Supergirl wrapping an arm around Mary's shoulders.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Karmang is a White Martian whose skin is completely chalk-white and hairless.
• Rule of Perception: When Superman contacts Supergirl via his super-ventriloquism, large blue letters flash above Kara's head so readers know what she is hearing.
• Sanity Slippage: It is said Karmang was a good person before his quest for immortality, but spending one million of years tortured by legions of ghosts has eroded both his goodness and his sanity.
• Saying Too Much: Supergirl cannot figure out how Karmang's machines work, but she notices two large buttons sticking out like a sore thumb, and deciding to use a bit of basic psychology, she leans over them as shouting she at last knows how to shut off the machine. Karmang turns around right away and shouts her to not push the black button:
  Supergirl: (thinking) And it'll all be in vain unless I figure out these controls... But it's hopeless! I don't even understand the principles involved— still, these two buttons are the largest and most centrally-located! Maybe some psychology will tell me which to choose! (loudly) "Okay, Karmang! I've found the button to shut off your space-time engine! It's over, friend— you've lost!
  Karmang: Not the black button! That one will send us all into Limbo!
• Shooting Superman: Since Superman and Captain Marvel have gotten apparently mad, the USAF is deployed to shoot them down. One pilots reflects on the futility of shooting at both invulnerable heroes before firing his missiles with predictable results.
  Officer: If they don't cease their fighting, you'll have to try to shoot them down!!
  Pilot: Try is right! Superman shrugs off bullets like they were snowflakes—
• Shout-Out: "It comes like the sound the giant must have made after falling from his towering beanstalk!"
• Slasher Smile: Karmang grins wickedly while visualizing the kind of planet-wide destruction which will happen if someone tries to dismantle his engines before they activate.
• Spanner in the Works: Karmang's plan fails because he did not count on Mary Marvel following her brother and comparing notes with Supergirl, which leads both heroines to the conclusion that their relatives are being manipulated.
• Speed Blitz: Karmang warns Supergirl all of them will be thrown into Limbo if she presses the black button on his time-space machine. Kara replies she is faster than light, presses the button, grabs Mary and flies out of the place before Karmang has got time to turn around and scream "N—!"
• Spotting the Thread: Supergirl and Mary Marvel deduce who has been impersonating their relatives through an elimination process. Mary correctly guesses Black Adam is the only who can replicate her brother's powers, whereas Supergirl eliminates possible candidates (Bizarro is not articulate enough, all Phantom Zoners have been accounted for, and they would have already heard if a Kandorian had left the Bottle City), until she remembers the Quarrmer.
• Storming the Castle: Supergirl and Mary Marvel exploit Karmang's being distracted with their relatives' battle to attack his castle.
• Stunned Silence: Both Black Adam and the Sandman Superman are rendered speechless when Karmang reveals he plans to destroy two parallel Earths simultaneously.
  Black Adam: What about those worlds, wizard?
  Karmang: I want you to place a device on each Earth which will cause those worlds to become magnetically attracted to each other— resulting in planetary collision— and the utter destruction of both planets!
  Narration: And in the castle of Karmang, on the red planet Mars, there is a total stunned silence!
• Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Karmang's devices let him track Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel as they fly between dimensions, and watch the battle between Superman and Captain Marvel from his Martian castle. Since Karmang is both a mad scientist and a sorcerer, his machines' nature (technology, magic or Magitek?) is left to anybody's guess.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Afraid of heroes like Batman, Flash and Hawkman, a super-villain decides to set up shop in Metropolis, figuring out Superman will be too busy dealing with his usual rogues to take care of him. He is caught during his first heist.
    Unnamed Villain: I never should've come to this crummy burg! But the Batman protects Gotham City, the Flash speeds around Central City, Hawkman wings it in Midway City! It's getting so crooks are running out of cities to rob! I thought Superman at least would be too busy with guys like Luthor and Terra-Man— I figured, maybe he'd leave me alone! But no— My first job, and what happens? I almost get nabbed by that overgrown hunk of— Huh? OH, NO!
  • As watching Captain Marvel, Karmang notices Mary Marvel following her brother, but he dismisses her presence. After all, he wonders, what can she do to ruin his plan? The answer is: telling Supergirl her cousin has attacked Captain Marvel, which leads both women to realize someone is manipulating both heroes.
    Karmang: Eh? What's this—? Mary Marvel following Captain Marvel on his voyage across the dimensional gulf—? Apparently, she is suspicious... But no matter! What can one mere girl do to endanger my master plan?
• There Was a Door:
  • When Supergirl finds the pyramid where Black Adam is crawling, she smashes her way through several dozens of meters of rock until bursting into the pharaoh's chamber.
  • Later, Supergirl and Mary Marvel burst into Karmang's castle through a wall.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: During an argument Steve Lombard's boss reminds him he is supposed to call him "Mr. Edge":
  Steve Lombard: And boy, was I great, Morgan. Such pictures I got, you wouldn't believe!
  Morgan Edge: Try me, Lombard. And call me Mr. Edge— Not Morgan!
• Time Abyss: Karmang is way older than the Earth's first air-breathing, four-legged animals.
• Trash Talk: Kal-El and Billy engage in exchanging insults and taunts before their brawl, another clear sign that something has made them deranged.
  Superman: Captain Marvel! This time I won't give you the chance to harm innocent bystanders! This time you're fighting me alone— and I'm going to smash you like the insect you are!
  Captain Marvel: Superman! You wanted a fight, mister— and now you've got it! But if there's any smashing to be done, I'm the guy who'll do it— starting right now!
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Karmang believes Mary Marvel's interference cannot possibly ruin his master plan. Yet still, she does exactly that.
  • At the start of their battle, Marvel hits Superman with a brickwall which shatters upon impact. As he is being blown off by a single gust of Super-Breath, Marvel admits he has underestimated Superman even though he knew beforehand the Man of Steel is his equal.
    Captain Marvel: He's blowing me off the rooftop— with a blast of super-breath! Looks like I've underestimated the Big Red S— But that's one mistake I'm going to correct pronto!
• Unwitting Pawn: Invoked by name by Shazam when he explains both heroes how and why they have been fooled into fighting each other.
  Wizard Shazam: Only by engaging in mortal combat could you regain your sanity... For you have been unwitting pawns in a vicious plan!
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: In the beginning, a super-villain tries to fly away as Superman is busy tearing his mecha apart. He believes he has gotten away until he notices something is tugging at his jetpack.
• Villains Want Mercy: When Supergirl snatches the Ibistick (a magic wand) away from Black Adam, he begs her to not use it on him. Kara ignores him, uses the Ibistick to revert him back to his powerless form, and demands answers... or else.
• We Need a Distraction: Supergirl and Mary Marvel are deliberating how to attack Karmang's castle, when Supergirl's X-Ray Vision tells her Karmang has become so engrossed in the furious battle between Superman and Captain Marvel he has overlooked her and Mary as they tracked his agents down and headed towards his lair. Quickly, Mary Marvel asks the Wizard Shazam to tell Billy to prolong his battle with Superman as she and Kara storm Karmang's castle by surprise.
  Supergirl: I'll use my combined X-Ray and telescopic vision to see what [Karmang]'s up to on Mount Olympus! Great Krypton! He's watching Superman and Captain Marvel as they battle— and he seems almost hypnotized! If he stays that way, Mary and I can launch a surprise attack—!
• We Used to Be Friends: When Captain Marvel is assailed by the Sandman Superman posing as the real Superman, Billy believes he must consider their friendship broken.
  Captain Marvel: Sorry about this, Superman! We were friends once— but not any more!
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The Sand Superman is dropped from the story as soon as he reveals Karmang's scheme to Mary Marvel.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: After becoming immortal, Karmang has spent one thousand millennia tortured by one billion of mad ghosts.
• Women Are Wiser: While the male heroes are too mad to be talked out of fighting with each other, Kara reaches Mary out. Then, both women analyze the situation and come to the conclusion that their relatives are being manipulated and they must figure out who the culprit is.
• The Worf Effect: Karmang quickly establishes how powerful he is by crushing Black Adam with one mere spell on the first pages of the story.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: At the start of their fight, Marvel throws a brickwall at Super, who asks him if he is serious.
  Superman: Throwing rubble? You've got to be joking! I can take the full impact of a nuclear blast— I've dived to the depths of a sun going nova— I've battled creatures big enough to devour whole planets! And you try to smack me with a brick mudball!
• Your Magic's No Good Here: As they fight on, Captain Marvel grows progressively tired. The old wizard explains his magic becomes weaker out of his universe.
  Wizard Shazam: Just as you lose your powers under a red sun, so Captain Marvel becomes weaker in your universe!

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