Line #9 ComicBook/ThePowerOfShazam


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thepowerofshazam.jpg]]
2
3	''The Power of Shazam!'' is a 1995 comic book series published by Creator/DCComics.
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5	Serving as yet another retelling of the ComicBook/{{Shazam}} mythos, the series serves as a {{retcon}} for ''ComicBook/ShazamTheNewBeginning'' and reintroduces many of the characters to the DC Universe.
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7	It started out as a 1994 graphic novel by Creator/JerryOrdway, then became an ongoing series which ran from 1995 to 1999, and was given a single issue revival in January 2010, tying into DC's ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' event.
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9	Over 25 years after its debut, the graphic novel and series proper are finally being reprinted in collected format. Volume 1, covering the graphic novel and issues 1-12, was released on 14 April 2020. Volume 2, covering issues 13-23 plus one-off appearances in other DC series, had an scheduled release date of December 2021, before finally being released on 30 May 2023.
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12	!!Tropes:
13	* AdaptationalComicRelief: Inverted - this continuity's version of Mr. Mind is a far cry from the comedic character he was Pre-Crisis. Not only is he drawn more realistically, he is very much a KnightOfCerebus.
14	* AdaptationalNameChange: Billy Batson's deceased parents were called "Merrill" and "Jocelyn" in the Pre-Crisis days, but in this series, his father is named "Clarence Charles "C.C." Batson" (after Captain Marvel's creator, C.C. Beck) and his mother is named "Marilyn".
15	* AdaptationalOriginConnection:
16	** Black Adam (or rather, his reincarnation Theo Adam) is responsible for the death of Billy and Mary's parents. Pre-Crisis, they died in a car crash.
17	** Pre-Crisis, Ibis awoke from his mummification by himself. Here, it's revealed that Shazam's spells were the reason he was awakened.
18	* AdaptationalSpeciesChange: Tawky Tawny is a spirit being [[LivingToys animating a stuffed tiger doll]], rather than a real tiger given an AnthropomorphicTransformation.
19	* TheAlcoholic: Dudley, although not to an extent.
20	* AntagonisticOffspring: Blaze and Satanus serve as this to Shazam. Blaze completely despises him, while Satanus seems to have a small fondness for him.
21	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Billy confronts Ebenzer about throwing him out on the street and threatens to do the same to him, Mary asks if this is the way their parents raised them. This causes him to relent.
22	* BackFromTheDead: Mary and Dudley use one of Shazam's spells to awaken Ibis.
23	* BigDamnHeroes: Black Adam saves a woman and her son from her crazed ex-husband.
24	* BodyHorror:
25	** The fate of Sinclair Batson - badly burned and covered in numerous boils.
26	** After being exposed to a strange chemical, Patty Patty Bang Bang turn into liquid metal, and merge with each other.
27	* BreakThemByTalking: When Shazam confronts Sivana about the alterations he (or rather, his time-travelling future self) made to the timeline, Sivana gets him to back off by pointing out that Shazam could easily fix the timeline himself, but is reluctant to do so because if he does, Billy and Mary will once again lose their parents.
28	* BroughtDownToNormal: In issue 1, Shazam removes Billy's powers when he complains about having them. He restores them when Billy proves himself brave and resourceful even without them.
29	* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: After Mary Marvel saves some commuters from a mutated Patty Patty Bang Bang, one of them complains about his destroyed car and the fact that he's now late for work. He's rightfully called out by the others.
30	* TheCorrupter: Blaze took the form of a helpless female in order to get close to Adam and convince him that he should be Pharaoh.
31	* CultureEqualsCostume: Shazam's costume as the Champion consisted of a tunic marked with a lightning bolt, while Teth-Adam's consisted of a black loincloth, a gold headdress and a gold lightning bolt-shaped sash running diagonally down his chest, as opposed to the black bodysuit he wore Pre-Crisis.
32	* DangerTakesABackseat: Amber hides in the backseat of Freddy's new car to attack him and the Batsons.
33	* DealWithTheDevil:
34	** Blaze specialises in these. The people she's made these with include Ebenezer Batson (who wanted a son to carry on his legacy) and Theo Adam (who gains the ability to talk again).
35	** Dudley is approached by a demon named Mr. Finish, who informs him that he will die in a week unless he can think of seven people who could die in his place. Despite knowing that he could never take the deal, Dudley can't help thinking about who he wants to die, so he has to recruit the Marvels to help him save the victims.
36	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Shazam's first act as the Champion was to crush the bandits who had murdered his tribe with a boulder, an exaggeration of the then-common stoning punishment.
37	* EarlyBirdCameo: Tala first made a one-panel appearance in the graphic novel, before showing up in the later half of the series.
38	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Theo Adam is Sarah Pimm's brother, and is not happy to learn that his sister has been condemned to Hell.
39	* ForcedToWatch: Sarah Pimm's punishment in Hell is to be forced to watch all the suffering.
40	* GenerationXerox: Both Blaze and her mother seduced the holder of the Shazam powers.
41	* HalfHumanHybrid: Blaze and Satanus are the child of a female demon and the human Shazam.
42	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Adam tears Tawny's doll form in half.
43	* HeelFaceTurn: Black Adam makes one.
44	* HeroicSacrifice:
45	** C.C. Batson travels back in time to stop Sivana from altering the past, despite being fully aware that if he succeeds, both he and his wife will die in the corrected timeline.
46	** Upon seeing that Ibis has essentially become a living mummy due to the radiation he absorbed, Tawny offers to give up the energy used to make him real so that Ibis can heal himself with it. Ibis appreciates the offer, but explains that it would not solve his problem.
47	* HumanPopsicle: Captain Nazi was frozen near the end of the war so that he could be thawed out many years later.
48	* KickTheDog: Black Adam kicks over a pot of rice one of the inhabitants of Hell has been forced to fill.
49	* LaserGuidedAmnesia:
50	** Shazam was once attacked by a mugger and lost all memory of his identity and powers until he met C.C. Batson.
51	** In 1942, Abin Sur helped Starman and Bulletman defeat a Venusian worm, then erased their memories of the event.
52	* LateForSchool: Billy is late several times, due to having to work at night in order to make his rent, until he gets his job at the radio station.
53	* LegacyCharacter:
54	** In the annual, Billy's future successor is a girl named [[MeaningfulName Cecebeck from the planet Binderaan]], who can transform into the hero Thunder.
55	** The original Mr. Scarlet has long retired, and his former sidekick Pinky has taken over the role.
56	* LimitedWardrobe: Billy always wears his signature red sweater. Lampshaded when he remarks that he once bought seven of them in a Salvation Army thrift shop.
57	* LineOfSightName: While posing as Billy's grandfather, Shazam goes by the name "Jebediah O'Keenan", a corruption of his original name, Jebediah of Canaan.
58	* LiteralSplitPersonality: Thanks to being struck with the Shazam lightning, Chain Lightning is split into her four different personalities.
59	* MamaBear: Marilyn Batson attacks Sivana for revealing her husband's secret identity and putting her children at risk from anyone with a grudge against the Marvels.
60	* MinorLivingAlone: Billy uses his OlderAlterEgo to rent an apartment for himself to live in, and lives by himself until first Shazam briefly moves in with him, then he gets adopted by the Bromfields.
61	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Amy is guilt-stricken after Amber (one of her personalities) attacks the Batson twins and Freddy.
62	* MySisterIsOffLimits: Marvel does not take kindly to Junior flirting with Mary, getting into a fistfight with him. He eventually backs off.
63	* MythologyGag:
64	** Fawcett City is named after the original Fawcett comics.
65	** When Billy suggests that Mary change her superhero moniker, she suggests "Lieutenant Marvel" as an alternative. In the alternate timeline, Billy and Mary use the same codenames when they are attempting to bluff the attacking Ibac.
66	** Sivana's ex-wife is named Venus. Pre-Venera, Sivana and his family lived on Venus.
67	* NotWhatItLooksLike: While passing through an alleyway on his way to school, Dudley comes across a half-empty bottle of alcohol. Knowing that children sometimes use the alleyway to get to school, he tries to dispose of it, only to be startled by a rat and fall over, spilling it all over himself. Miss Wormwood comes across him and thinks that he's been drinking, reprimanding him severely.
68	* OlderAlterEgo: Billy, of course, but Mary's Mary Marvel form also qualifies.
69	* PapaWolf: Jim Barr does ''not'' take kindly to Amber attacking his daughter.
70	* PottyEmergency: Shazam has to run to the bathroom after Billy feeds him spicy chilli.
71	* PrecociousCrush: Billy develops one on Deanna Barr, and starts dating her as Captain Marvel.
72	* PretendingToBeOnesOwnRelative: Billy uses his OlderAlterEgo to pose as his uncle.
73	* PsychicAssistedSuicide: After possessing Ebenezer Batson, Mr. Mind forces the hospital workers who witnessed the act to kill themselves.
74	* {{Reincarnation}}: Theo Adam is the reincarnation of Teth-Adam.
75	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Two of these are added to Mary's backstory. She was still taken by Sarah Primm and raised by the Bromsfields, but Nora Bromsfield is now a cousin of Marilyn Batson. In addition, Sarah Primm was the sister of Theo Adam, ComicBook/BlackAdam's present-day descendant and host body. In the Fawcett comics, Adam didn't need a host body and had no known connection to Primm. Combined with making Theo responsible for the Batsons' death, her backstory goes from "Nurse randomly gives orphaned baby to rich lady rather than tell her her child died" to "Nanny is worried about what her brother might do to orphan, so takes her to live with relatives". (And she'd have done the same for Billy if he hadn't dropped off the grid by then.)
76	* RetiredBadass: Adam Armstrong (Spy Smasher), Jack Weston (Minute Man) and Jim Barr (Bulletman) don't let being old stop them from kicking ass.
77	* RichesToRags: Sivana goes from being a wealthy businessman to a criminal pauper, thanks to Billy.
78	* SealedEvilInACan: The Three Faces of Evil were imprisoned in the Rock of Eternity long ago. Blaze shares their fate until Black Adam frees her.
79	* SecretKeeper: Dudley becomes one to the Marvels. He also becomes one regarding Billy living alone.
80	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: After finding himself on the Rock of Eternity, Sivana takes advantage of it being outside the normal flow of time and space to travel back in time and warn his younger self of the events that will lead to the loss of "their" fortune. C.C later travels back in time to stop him.
81	* ShoutOut:
82	** In issue 27, C.C. Batson is shown strange alternate versions of Captain Marvel that might exist if history changed. These include Captain Thunder (DC's former CaptainErsatz Marvel), a Captain whose limbs and head detach from his body (M.F. Enterprises' Captain Marvel), a Billy Batson who transforms into Captain Marvel by striking a pair of wristbands together (Rick Jones and ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel\|MarvelComics}}), and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny.
83	** Billy and Mary's adoptive parents are named [[Film/TheThinMan Nick and Nora]].
84	** Billy's principal is named [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Miss Wormwood]], and Tawny initially being a stuffed doll who becomes a living tiger depending on who's looking at him comes from the same strip.
85	** The men who rescue the Batson twins and Freddy in issue 43 are named [[ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon Mort and Phil]].
86	* SiblingYinYang: [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Bibbo Bibbowski]]'s brother appears in the series, and is an educated professor who despises violence, in contrast to his StreetSmart bar-owning brawler of a brother.
87	* SoleSurvivor: Shazam was the only person in his tribe to survive an attack by murderous bandits.
88	* SplitPersonality: Chain Lightning (A.K.A Amy) has four.
89	* VegetarianCarnivore: Mr. Tawny, which makes his shilling a barbecue sauce awkward.
90	* TheVoiceless: Theo Adam becomes this when Shazam uses a spell to remove his voice. He gets better after making a deal with Blaze.
91	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Edouard Laslo, a German Nazi sympathizer, possesses the unique ability to mimic the appearance of others.
92	* WhamShot: The ending of issue 24, where Billy and Mary are greeted by their deceased father.
93	* WouldHurtAChild: Ibac is perfectly willing to attack Billy and Mary when he confronts them in the altered timeline.

Context ComicBook / ThePowerOfShazam