It goes without saying that a comic book about a Kid Hero in the body of an adult will have its funny moments.
Film
Comics
Golden Age
- How did the terrifying Black Adam, AKA the series' Knight of Cerebus, get defeated in his first appearance? Uncle Marvel willingly mispronounced Shazam's name, prompting the villain to correct him by pronouncing it himself, triggering the lightning bolt that reverted him back to his human form.Dudley: Stop, kids! He's so strong, let's make him a member of the Marvel Family! After all, he got his powers from old Mazham! I mean...Hamshaz! No, I mean Shamhaz! ..Er...uh...
Black Adam: You sputtering old fool! You mean Shazam! Ulps! No, I didn't mean to say that word! I was tricked! I take it back— Gulp! Too late!- In a later story, Dr. Sivana revives Black Adam, and Black Adam immediately makes a beeline for Dudley, intent on revenge. However, Dudley feigns absent-mindedness on who Adam is and how he beat him, until Adam loses his temper to tell him, "You tricked me into saying "SHAZAM!"" One bolt of lightning later, Adam is human, who cries, "He did it to me again!"
- One story has Sivana organizing a team up between Ibac and Aunt Minerva. Played for Laughs as Aunt Minerva becomes smitten with Ibac, who desperately tries to get away from her:
- Ibac begins his rampage in the city in the hope of attracting Captain Marvel, who at this point is busy handling various requests from civilians. Uncle Dudley tries to confront him, hoping his Uncle Marvel suit will be enough to intimidate Ibac. Needless to say, this doesn't work... until Aunt Minerva happens to show up behind Uncle Marvel, prompting Ibac to run away screaming and Dudley to believe he was the one who scared him away.
- Later on, Ibac, desperate to escape Aunt Minerva, begs Uncle Dudley (who also was the subject of her interest at one point) for help. Dudley agrees to help without hesitation, even summoning the ghost of Solomon for advice, because he believes even someone as evil as Ibac doesn't deserve to get married with her.
- Dudley's counsel with Solomon has a few gems, too.Dudley: "Well, you had 700 wives! I figured, who would know better?"
Solomon: "If I knew better, I wouldn't have had 700 wives!"
"Still, I did write something memorable in the Book of Proverbs: 'Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing'!"
Dudley: "Ah, yes—and as Cervantes so sagely observed, 'Can we ever have too much of a good thing?'"
Solomon: "Cervantes didn't have 700 wives!"
- Dudley's counsel with Solomon has a few gems, too.
- While trying to hide from Aunt Minerva, Ibac finds a barrel near Niagara Falls, filled with bombs Dr Sivana intended to use to destroy the Falls. Desperate, he remove said bombs so he can hide in the barrel. Later, when Dr Sivana understandably is confused about why the Falls didn't blow up, Ibac reveals he moved the bombs in the one place where he thought they'd be safe.... in Sivana's lab. Cue said lab exploding, along with most of Sivana's inventions and equipment.
Post-Crisis
- Billy's earlier moments of figuring out how to properly use his powers. As he begins understanding how they function, he accidentally de-transforms by pronouncing "Shazam" mid-flight, causing him to land on Sivana's blimp. Which he then accidentally burns by transforming again, causing lightning to strike it.
52
- After foiling robbers looking for antiques, the team has a small argument about who's in charge.Random policeman: "I'm starving. Let's just say Superman did it."
