Awesome Art: 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.
Audience-Alienating Era: Post Infinite Crisis 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 Spot Light Stealing Squad with the Marvel Family being heavily Out of Focus in the DCU.
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 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 New 52 reimagining of the Marvel/Shazam family has been controversial. The original lineup of Billy as Captain Marvel, Mary as Mary Marvel and Freddy as Captain Marvel Jr. has been replaced with a six-person team featuring Billy and his foster siblings. 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 the way it was before.
After the New 52 reboot, Shazam's 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. 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.
Pre-Crisis (includes Fawcett Comics): Captain Nazi, real name Albrecht Krieger, embodies all the villainy the Nazis had to offer the superheroes of America. Tasked by Adolf Hitler himself to sow chaos in America, Nazi introduced himself to his archenemies by derailing trains and tipping over Ferris wheels, then using a little boy as a hostage before trying to kill him anyway. So full of gleeful sadism as to murder an elderly man and cripple his grandson—who would later become Captain Marvel Jr.—after the duo had rescued him from drowning, Nazi would bomb air raid shelters, poison thousands of American troops, and even kill his fellow Nazis in his goals to wipe out entire American cities and kill millions. Nazi would even attempt to drown a group of children to prevent them from buying War Stamps, then try to burn other kids alive so they couldn't do volunteer work for the military. A ravenously cruel and vicious brute, Captain Nazi was perhaps Captain Marvel Jr.'s most personal enemy, and one of Marvel himself's most hated.
Post-Crisis: 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 bodyjackingSarge Steel of the Department of Metahuman Affairs, set in motion a plan for a 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 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 end the multiverse.
The Monster Society of Evil, by Jeff Smith: Mister Mind is just as evil as ever. Liberated due to Billy Batson's irresponsibility, Mister Mind proceeds to plot the extinction of humanity. Sending a special machine known as the Destroyer to Earth, Mister Mind calls all the insects to the world to help him. Mister Mind works with Dr. Sivanna, who kidnaps Mary Batson to force Billy Batson to come without his powers. When Billy tries to climb the Destroyer, Mister Mind orders the insects to cover him, intending to drown Billy to get rid of Captain Marvel, with the kid surviving only due to the kindness of the bugs. Once Mister Mind realizes that Sivanna is no longer useful, he asks him to "Kindly throw yourself off" before trying to force Billy to pilot the Destroyer.
Tawky Tawny. An anthropomorphic gentleman tiger who's equally badass when danger strikes. He even takes down Darkseid's son Kalibak, in Final Crisis. His return in the 2019 series, was widely praised.
Ethnic Scrappy: The early character of Steamboat, a bungling, subservient black "pickaninny"-type character with enormous red lips and a stereotypical pidgin dialect, was so offensive, even by the standards of the 1940's, that he was quickly dropped and never spoken of again after the Youth Builders, a multi-racial student organization based in New York and Philadelphia, began a letter-writing campaign to Fawcett. C.C. Beck later tried (very unconvincingly) to defend the notion behind his conception - namely, that it was a misunderstood attempt to reach out to a black audience - but even publisher Will Lieberson mentioned afterward that he didn't like Steamboat in the first place.
Evil Is Cool: Mister Mind, the telepathic leader of the Monster Society of Evil, who despite being a mere worm manages to be the greatest single threat in Shazam's rogues.
Fair for Its Day: Obviously the constant mentions of a "crippled" or "lame" Freddy Freeman feel a bit dated in present day, but Captain Marvel Jr was still the first major disabled superhero, not to mention that even in spite of his disability, Freddy Freeman was treated with the same respect as the others, and had a life and a job even as his disabled, non-powered self.
At one point, the rivalry between Billy Batson and Superman's fans was pretty intense, and was further exacerbated when DC sued Fawcett with the argument that Captain Marvel was a carbon copy of their own property. The animosity was notoriously parodied by MAD, with a spoof called Superduperman, where the title Captain Ersatz battles out Captain Marbles.
The acrimony between fans of DC's Captain Marvel and those of Marvel's Captain Marvel (specifically Carol Danvers) increased exponentially after the release of Captain Marvel (2019) and SHAZAM! (2019), though arguments usually boil down to which hero is more deserving of the name.
First Installment Wins: The CC Beck and Otto Binder era from the time that Captain Marvel was published by Fawcett Comics is still considered the high point, the most important and influential period of the character's history. It is critically heralded as such by a number of comics creators and writers.
Friendly Fandoms: With 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.
Harsher in Hindsight: In the last issue of the Shazam run, #35, King Kull builds a machine that starts turning time backwards. One of the signs that time is going backwards is that the Twin Towers in New York disappear.
Production of Captain Marvel comics was infamously halted after DC won a lawsuit against Fawcett Comics for copyright infringement, claiming Captain Marvel was a shameless knock-off of the Man of Steel, not to mention a better seller in his heyday. Come two decades later, and Captain Marvel became a DC character, often paired with (go figure) Superman himself.
Speaking of the lawsuit, for a while in the 1970s, DC published Shazam comics, but didn't own the actual rights to the characters, so what did they do when they wanted a fight between Superman and Captain Marvel? They made-up the near-identical hero Captain Thunder, who had the exact same power set, ability to transform between kid and adult, and a costume that's literally just Captain Marvel's with a different logo and belt.
It Was His Sled: Mister Mind being a worm was a major plot twist in the original Monster Society of Evil serial, but today it's one of the first things people know about him.
Sivana's possibly the best example of a Mad Scientist, though few specifically remember him now as a major part of the trope's genesis in modern pop culture. Even his catchphrase qualifies — "Curses, foiled again!"
In /co/, changing Billy's transformation so that instead of Captain Marvel, he turns into... Marvel's Captain Marvel. Probably not safe for work...
Moral Event Horizon: Mister Mind famously crossed it in "Power Of Shazam" when he blew up Fairfield.
Narm Charm: Fueled by this. If you think a man shouting "SHAZAM" at the top of his lungs fighting a talking, two-foot caterpillar with mind powers can't be awesome, you're wrong.
The older comics are essentially this incarnate, with some choice picks being the "Salad Men", anthropomorphic giant vegetables, the lieutenant Marvels, three boys also named Billy Batson that Captain Marvel shares his powers with, Uncle Marvel, a pudgy old man who isn't even a Marvel, but who just wears a costume under his clothes and Sivana infiltrating the Marvel family dressed as an elderly woman and almost getting away with it.
Older Than They Think: A lot of elements that many people associate with Superman were done by Captain Marvel first, including a Distaff Counterpart, a Mad Scientist villain, an Evil Counterpart with the same powers, and a Muggle Best Friend 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 almost totally forgotten since then.
Once Original, Now Common: The Captain Marvel comics from The Golden Age of Comic Books 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.
Popular with Furries: Tawky Tawny, a well-dressed and well-mannered bipedal tiger. Especially noticeable in Rebirth series, where he is introduced as living in a city of anthropomorphic animals and forcibly stripped down by them due to their prejudice against tigers, allowing the artist multiple scenes showing he is also very muscular.
Shipping: Many fans want to see Billy hook back up with Stargirl, even badgering the new writers of the book about it. It ain't happening, since they're now handled by two different editorial teams.
Signature Series Arc: The Monster Society of Evil which is notable for being considered the first Story Arcever in superhero comics. It was a long-running serial story running in the Captain Marvel comics (Golden Age comics were published in magazine form with multiple short comics rather than a single 20-30 pg. issue) that was highly serialized with continuity carrying forward in each succeeding issue, which was the first of its kind. It was also the first supervillain team (the ancestor to the Injustice Gang, the Legion of Doom, the Sinister Six, the Masters of Evil) and it introduced the popular villain Mister Mind.
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 Tranquil Fury 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... Superman, who had just flown up to read him the riot act for his Roaring Rampage of Revenge that very nearly killed Sivana, stops at the tears, and then Billy explains and transforms back, saying, "I'm Billy Batson. But maybe it isn't safe to be Billy Batson anymore." Superman's face, frozen in shock, then his simple question "Who did this to you?", before delivering a furious dressing down to the Wizard is both Heartwarming and Awesome in that Billy's got the superhero in his corner... but it also underlines the sheer tragedy of what has happened, the sad flipside of Billy gaining his powers.
Almost everything in the plotline of the 2018 series of Billy's father returning into his life.
At first, Billy is happy as his dad confesses he's been a criminal who spent years in jail but now back and wants to make up for things. They bond to the point of Billy letting his dad share some power to become part of the Marvel Family. But then, in a fight, Billy realizes Mr. Mind is controlling his father as part of a scheme.
How can it get worse? When Billy snaps to let his dad go, Mr. Mind laughs that he didn't just start controlling C.C....he's been in control this entire time. And to add to the pain, he relates that C.C. is no "reformed" crook but was still pulling his scams and thefts when Mr. Mind found him and if not for Mind, the man would never have come to see Billy.
Billy doesn't want to believe it as he fights off Mr. Mind. With his power gone, C.C. forgets everything that's happened (including Billy being Shazam). When pressed by this "hero," C.C. relates that "the kid's better off without me and I'm better off without him." He walks off and Billy is able to hold back his tears until he's gone as he realizes he's wasted years wishing for a reunion with a selfish jerk who never cared for anyone but himself.
It does become heartwarming in the end as the rest of the family and Tawny, hug Billy to show where his true family is. Even Black Adam just gives a nod as if understanding the younger man better.
Ugly Cute: The version of Mister Mind that appeared in The Black Ring: he looks like he escaped from an anime. Or a stuffed animal collection.
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.
There was also a lesser-known comic where Sivana dresses up as a "Chinese man", speaks in "ancient proverbs" and literally says "me so solly", while all of his text bubbles are typed in a stereotypical "Asian" font with mock Chinese characters underneath.
The origin story of the classic Captain Marvel is not seen very highly these days, mostly because of the premise: a mysterious man talks with a young boy in the middle of the street at night to follow him, and grant him superpowers. That doesn't sound like kidnapping at all! Every new incarnation of the character origin is written with more self-awareness by default.
In the Golden Age comics, Billy Batson and Freddy Freeman, both orphaned pre-teens, have steady jobs and never attend school. Nowadays, two orphaned kids, one of them disabled, living independently and working full-time for a living instead of going to school would be seen as a tragedy.
In older comics, Freddy in his normal disabled form is often referred to as "lame" or a "cripple", which at the time were generally considered neutral terms, but are viewed as insensitive today.
A lighter example, in the first appearance of Mary Marvel, Billy scoffs at the idea that Mary could possess the same powers as him, since "she's a girl. Definitely not something that would be said seriously today, though given that Billy and Mary are young siblings, something that could probably be said during some childish bickering.
looks like he escaped from an anime. Or a stuffed animal collection.