CAPTAIN MARVEL & SQUADRON OF JUSTICE versus SEVEN DEADLY ENEMIES OF MAN

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (DC)
Where: Power of Shazam #11 When: January 1996
Why: Jerry Ordway How: Pete Krause

The Story So Far...
The Wizard Shazam has been taken captive and held in the depths of the Netherworld by his evil demon daughter Lady Blaze. Only a powerful magic can restore him to The Rock of Eternity -- but Blaze has other plans!

Her agent, Black Adam, failed to prevent the resurrection spell that summons Ibis the Invincible and his amazing Ibis-stick to the modern age, but her allies of darkness continue to plague Fawcett City, and threaten to consume the heroic spirit of Captain Marvel!

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man are on the loose! It's up to Mary Marvel and Ibis to put a stop to their terror and return them to the statues Shazam created to hold them!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Captain Marvel 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Captain Marvel 6 (Generator)
Agility: Bulletman 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Captain Marvel 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Ibis 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Captain Marvel 30 (Super)

It's good to have friends. People you can trust to pull you into line when the shadow of pride, or hatred, obscures your view. Captain Marvel can usually rely on the Marvel Family to have his back, but he's also got some other great friends in reserve, ready to lend a hand when the going gets tough!

The Squadron of Justice are: Ibis, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, Uncle Dudley, Tawky Tawny, and Bulletman.

Though not officially acting as The Squadron, these seven heroes are summoned for the expressed purpose of going man to man against adversaries that have plagued mankind throughout its history!

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man are: Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness, and Injustice.

More forthright incarnations include Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lust, but today we feature the above list. By any name or configuration, The Seven Sins are some of the most ancient evils to vex humanity -- bad news for our heroes!

Ibis the Invincible is the one calling in reinforcements, which speaks volumes about the insidious threat! We saw his magic Ibis-Stick effortlessly remove Black Adam from play earlier in Power of Shazam #11, but this time his magic seems unable to simply sweep the problem aside.

To join Mary Marvel and he in the fight he'll imbue Uncle Dudley with the powers of Shazam, Tawky Tawny with unlimited life, summon Captain Marvel Jr from hospital, and even pluck Bulletman from the distant past! One opponent for even enemy -- assuming the spirits don't turn them against one another!

We saw Psycho-Pirate's influence befuddled the Marvel Family during the chaos of Crisis on Infinite Earths #6, and the evil New Gods corrupt Mary Marvel against Wonder Woman and Supergirl during Final Crisis, but it was only a month before today's battle that Underworld Unleashed #3 showed us that Captain Marvel's spirit is good & true -- resilient against the corrupting darkness of Hell itself!

Cap defeated the corrupt Justice League and an Eclipsed Superman before that, and who could forget the Marvel Family's fan-favourite triumph over the Monster Society of Evil from Convergence Shazam? With their friends beside them, how could they possibly lose? Let's find out how it went!

The Tape: Squadron of Justice Ranking: Captain Marvel Jr (#50)

What Went Down...

Dudley, Mary Marvel, and Ibis race from the subway underground to the streets above where they find a stampeding mob.

The frightened masses flee from the darkened figure of Captain Marvel who shouts "SHAZAM! SHAZAM!" in vain! A vile voice from within taunts Captain Marvel with the absence of the wizard's lightning, but the hero refuses to yield!

Ibis attempts to return the dark spirits to their place in The Rock of Eternity, while Mary Marvel rushes to support her brother. The Ibis-stick's magic somehow fails and Mary is met with a backward swing from her brother's possessed fist!

Mary endures to warn that the wizard Shazam is unable to answer their cries.

With that, Captain Marvel abandons his gambit and focuses on resisting -- aided by Ibis the Invincible, who uses his Ibis-stick to purge the corrupting spirits from Marvel's body and give them physical form!

The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man float through the air -- revealed!

Captain Marvel posits their solid presence may now allow for physical ushering back to The Rock of Eternity. A plan Ibis agrees could work -- if they even the odds a little!

With a simple command the Ibis-stick inducts Uncle Dudley, and the stuffed Tawky Tawny toy he's carrying, into the burgeoning Marvel Family!

A misunderstood remark from Mary soon adds Freddy Freeman to the team -- teleported instantly from the hospital in a body cast. A predicament soon remedied when Freddy says the name "Captain Marvel" and bursts free from the cast as an uninjured Captain Marvel Jr!

Bulletman makes seven as Ibis reaches into the past to bring forth an old ally for a new fight. It's not a minute too soon as terrified citizens cry for help from the stalking Enemies of Man!

The heroes fly valiantly into battle! Captain Marvel puts Uncle Dudley's nerves at ease with some calm assurance, whilst targeting the personification of Hatred with a snappy uppercut from his good arm!

Mary beats back Envy, with everyone doing their part to repel the wicked creatures! Bulletman with a flying fist! Tawky Tawny a pouncing paw! Captain Marvel Jr riding the bucking back of evil! Even Uncle Dudley has a stiff left for the vile spirits that remind him so much of bugs infesting Miss Wormwood's school!

Mary Marvel locks one of the stunned wraiths around the throat and drags it through the air towards a magical doorway!

The other heroes follow her advice, finding the stairwell within that leads to a hidden interdimensional cave. They brave the forces of eternity within to emerge in a hall of shattered statues.

Mary notices the absence of their ace player, but Ibis the Invincible has already made his way to the Rock of Eternity through other means. He steps forward with the squirming dark figure of Sloth in the grip of his left hand.

In his right, Ibis wields the awesome Ibis-stick, with magic enough to return the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man to the bondage of the seven corresponding statues created by the wizard Shazam himself!

The dark shadows are pulled back into figures that once held them -- trapped again as they previously were by the missing wizard and his old allies!

The Hammer...
The powerful magic of Ibis the Invincible saves the day, resealing the Seven Deadly spirits back in their statue prisons.

Perhaps he could've done it all on his own, but it's nice that he didn't have to -- sharing the victory in even measure with Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and their four courageous comrades!

You might remember I mythologized this issue, and Ibis' involvement, a few years back, following up with a closer look at his rousing return against Black Adam.

I thusly set out to revisit the action-packed second half in conjunction with the impending theatrical release of Shazam: Fury of the Gods, but it seems this much-loved comic was again destined to find me in a time of need, as I struggle with the somewhat sudden loss of a loved one, now exactly two weeks ago.

The Power of Shazam! #11 hits with the right balance of action, adventure, and nostalgia, filtered through the then-new lens of a series that would define Captain Marvel and his crew for the nineteen-nineties, even as it occupied its own insular world -- a retro reality where magic encases Fawcett City in anachronisms.

This battle sees the return of a lot of "old fashioned" ideas that are received with enthusiasm. Tawky Tawny is restored to the side of angels after serving as a pawn for Lady Blaze, and being ripped in half by Black Adam when he was turned back into a helpless stuffed toy. Even better: Bulletman is plucked from the past!

I've gotta admit: If Ibis had me jazzed for the earlier parts of this issue, it was Bulletman that I was most excited to see in this back half. He doesn't particularly stand out when the group battles the Seven Deadly Enemies, but the silver-helmeted hero is nevertheless a thrillingly unique visual throughout. I quite enjoy it when he light heartedly hastens Ibis to the conclusion: "Uh-- Can we cut the chatter... I'm an old man, and I can't do this all day!"

It's interesting that the Seven Deadly Enemies go very much in a different direction. These incarnations take forms reminiscent of HR Giger's Xenomorph from the Alien film series. It feels like a decidedly modern intrusion upon the old fashioned heroes and their retro-tinged world -- even as the fanged shadow forms are seen terrorizing decidedly nineties Fawcett City citizenry.

You could mistake this for the present intruding upon the past, but I don't see the nostalgia of Power of Shazam as regressive. I see it as still moving forward, but without a broad discarding of things. Retaining a character like Bulletman to give the present something it doesn't otherwise have, but still moving it forward in a modern context. Even if that context is in part an interesting culture clash.

The fight begins when Mary and Ibis convene with a semi-possessed Captain Marvel. His struggle, and attempts to call upon the wizard's lightning, directly reference his trip to Hell in Underworld Unleashed, which proposed the thesis that the good-natured Captain would be incorruptible -- or something close to it.

Released a month later: The Power of Shazam #11 honors this idea, even as it flirts with undermining it. Though the Seven Deadly Enemies briefly inhabit his body, they never quite gain control, and ultimately fall to a combination of Captain Marvel's will to resist, and the magic of the Ibis-stick.

Freddy Freeman's transformation into Captain Marvel Jr may momentarily seem like a lapse in attention as well, but his lightning presumably comes directly from Captain Marvel, and with a little help from the Ibis-stick. Remembering that his magic words are "Captain Marvel", unlike Billy & Mary's "SHAZAM".

The whole adventure is a happy time of good triumphing over evil. I figure we could all use a few more happy times like this. I know I sure could.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured more than 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 characters! Find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number -- or by following links throughout each entry to discover more from your favourite topics or tangents.

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Winners: The Squadron of Justice
#39 (+11) Captain Marvel Jr
#40 (+14) Captain Marvel
#77 (+63) Mary Marvel
#120 (+200) Ibis the Invincible
#121 (+213) Tawky Tawny
#138 (+252) Uncle Dudley
#357 (new) Bulletman
#991 (new) Pride
#992 (new) Envy
#993 (new) Greed
#994 (new) Hatred
#995 (new) Selfishness
#996 (new) Laziness
#997 (new) Injustice

MARVEL FAMILY versus EARTH-ONE HEROES

3 Earths! 3 Deaths! (DC)
Where: Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 When: September 1985 Why: Marv Wolfman How: George Perez

The Story So Far...
When Psycho-Pirate is imbued with enhanced powers by the Anti-Monitor, his emotion-manipulating influence can now span three entire worlds!

While Earth-X, Earth-Four, and Earth-S are besieged by a destructive wave of anti-matter -- the Psycho-Pirate turns heroes into agents of their world's own demise!

On Earth-S, the Marvel Family are stoked into a blind rage that convinces them the red skies of impending doom have been created by their former allies from Earth-One! It's up to Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and the Teen Titans to fend off this world's mightiest mortals long enough to save it!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Captain Marvel 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Captain Marvel 6 (Generator)
Agility: Black Canary 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Wonder Woman 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Supergirl 5 (Lasers)
Total: Captain Marvel 30 (Super)

The Marvel Family are: Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, and Uncle Dudley.

The Marvel Family are the magically powered heroes of Earth-S. Led by Captain Marvel, they draw their might from a pantheon of gods & legends by speaking a magic word that will summon the transformative lightning of Shazam!

We've seen the Marvel Family fight together against the dastardly Doctor Sivana in DC Comics Presents Annual #3, and again against his Monster Society of Evil in the modern-classic Earth-S flashback of Convergence Shazam #1.

The heroes of Earth-One are: Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Changeling, Kole Weathers, and Black Canary.

The impromptu gathering boasts members of the Justice League of America and Teen Titans, but they'll still have their work cut out for them against an assembly as powerful as The Marvel Family!

Wonder Woman can match the Marvels blow for blow, but her Fight Club record hasn't been flattering. She was part of the JLA halted by Captain Marvel's lightning while entering Hell in Underworld Unleashed #3, and defeated by Mary Marvel in a reprisal of today's encounter in Final Crisis #3. Lightning was also a feature of her defeat by Storm during the crossover of Marvel versus DC #3.

Supergirl shares most of the same powers of her famous cousin, but she had similar issues when fighting the dark Mary Marvel in Final Crisis #6. Their tie was only broken by the intervention of Captain Marvel Jr, who's fighting by his adopted sister's side this time!

Captain Marvel has had many run-ins with Supergirl's famous cousin, where the magic lightning has been revealed to be a potent weapon against Kryptonians, if dodged at super-human speed! The best example is Kingdom Come #4, which also reveals the potential to turn the transformational bolt against its caller!

Black Canary and her ear-piercing canary cry will be an X-factor in the battle, as will the animal-based metamorphosis of Changeling, (aka; Beast Boy), and the crystal-generating powers of Kole Weathers.

Kole predominantly offers strong defensive capabilities, while Changeling can add a degree of muscle to Wonder Woman & Supergirl via large animal transformations. With the addition of Black Canary's targeted audio disorienting, the group could seize an upset against their magic match-up! Let's see...

The Tape: Earth-One Heroes Ranking: Wonder Woman (#16)

What Went Down...
Black Canary only has seconds to react as a giant green elephant announces its impending arrival through the brick wall at her back! The animal is Changeling: shape-shifting Teen Titan who's been hurled violently by an unseen assailant!

Supergirl hovers over the young hero as he reverts to human form, skidding through the city rubble that litters the street. She checks on his well being, but is quickly set upon by the powerhouse responsible for attacking: Captain Marvel!

Earth's mightiest mortal blazes a trail across the battlefield like a human missile, mistakenly under the impression Supergirl and her Earth-One comrades have taken to evil! He charges her -- only to be caught with an aerial uppercut!

Fearing for her life, the young heroine attempts to reason with the rampaging Marvel. She appeals to his better nature, insisting his mind has been influenced by an unseen force. Squatting amongst the wreckage of the city -- Captain Marvel rejects her pleas as unacceptable lies!

Firmly believing Supergirl has unleashed the anti-matter cloud consuming his world, Captain Marvel ignores her shared experience and desire for help -- clenching both fists to pound the ground with the strength of Hercules!

The shockwave of Captain Marvel's blows topples a nearby building over Supergirl's head, but she doesn't join the bird-shaped Changeling in flying retreat. Instead, the girl of steel redoubles her efforts to fly through the building and collide with Captain Marvel to end his uncontrolled rage!

On the ground below, Black Canary theorizes the emotional manipulations of Psycho-Pirate must be responsible for Captain Marvel's uncharacteristic rage.

Before she can act on her theory, the street-level hero is struck by the awesome vision of a giant crystal barrier! Kole Weathers wields it to prevent the city's denizens from rushing into the anti-matter field. As she does, the mysterious Harbinger appears at her side to enact a ritual she cannot comprehend.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman attempts to tame a befuddled Mary Marvel by holding her in the lasso of truth. Mary resists, tugging at the golden rope while taken by the same emotion-warping madness as Captain Marvel!

The rage is shared by Captain Marvel Jr, who rockets through the air to catch Wonder Woman by surprise and rescue his sister!

Fate turns once more as Black Canary suddenly sends a sonic shriek emanating through Mary and Marvel Jr's ears!

The Marvels clutch their ears in agony, begging for a reprieve as the focused canary cry rattles them to their very core!

With Uncle Dudley caught in the coiled snake form of Changeling, Wonder Woman declares the Marvel Family "on ice". The victory pales in significance as Harbinger communes with the universe in an event of cosmic significance.

The Hammer...
It was a close call, but Black Canary comes through with the sonic cry that allows Supergirl, Changeling, and Wonder Woman to wrap the Marvel Family up! A hard fought win with great significance!

Supergirl and Captain Marvel stare in awe as the cloud of Psycho-Pirate's influence lifts, and the anti-matter void threatening Earth-S disappears! Against overwhelming odds -- the world is saved!

This was the moment that effectively assured the Marvel Family would continue their adventures into the new, composite DC Universe that would emerge from the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Not that it was an entirely smooth transition!

The wholesome qualities that defined classic Captain Marvel made him one of the first targets for harsher modern sensibilities, and the evil New Gods who represented their darkest extremes in-story.

In Legends #1: Captain Marvel was tricked into believing he'd used his magic lightning to kill a villain called Macro-Man. Now more tied to his youthful alter-ego, Captain Marvel was effectively retired by Billy Batson's loss of faith in himself, and his mighty magical powers.

Of course, Billy naturally gets wise before the end of the DCU defining mini-series, becoming a founding member of the new Justice League alongside Black Canary. With any luck, we'll get the chance to look further at the battles found in Legends, and the subsequent series that led to Justice League International.

In the mean time, we can technically close the book on a year of featured fights for Season 2019! Today's battle was inspired by the upcoming television version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which will feature a cavalcade of live-action cameos and callbacks across episodes of Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, and Arrow.

You can dive deeper into the original Crisis on Infinite Earths by following the tag link, or by exploring the Secret Archive for a full index of entries in order of publisher, series, and issue number!

Hold the fate of the multiverse in the palm of your hand by checking out collected editions of Crisis on Infinite Earths! By using the Amazon purchase links provided you can get yourself, or a loved one, the perfect holiday gift -- and support the site at no extra cost to you!

Stay tuned for more fabulous fisticuffs and the chance to vote for the best featured fights of 2019! Thanks to everyone who's finding Secret Wars on Infinite Earths and helping spread the word by liking & sharing daily links via Twitter and Facebook!

Winners: Black Canary, Supergirl, Changeling & Wonder Woman
#15 (+1) Wonder Woman
#38 (+16) Black Canary
#70 (+41) Supergirl
#330 (new) Changeling (Garfield Logan)
#567 (new) Kole [+1 assist]
#46 (-3) Captain Marvel Jr
#49 (-2) Captain Marvel
#125 (-13) Mary Marvel
#353 (-27) Uncle Dudley

MARVEL FAMILY versus MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL

Return of the Thunder (DC)
Where: Convergence Shazam #1 When: June 2015
Why: Jeff Parker How: Evan "Doc" Shaner

The Story So Far...
The coming of Telos pits entire worlds against one another as they converge in the ultimate battle of inter-dimensional survival! Encased in crystalline domes devised by his master Brainiac: each chosen capital awaits its fate as the crisis consumes the multiverse!

In Fawcett City, forces of evil work to capitalize on the predicament of their encasement! While the dome denies the Marvel Family their power-giving lightning -- other heroes, such as the soaring Bulletman & Bulletwoman, work to keep the city safe in their absence!

A powerless Billy Batson broadcasts the call for hope as he and his friends investigate strange goings on in the subterranean traffic ways beneath the city. It turns out Doctor Sivana has discovered Captain Marvel's secret identity and assembled a new Monster Society of Evil to take full advantage!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Captain Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Dr. Sivana 6 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Mr. Atom 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mary Marvel 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Captain Marvel 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Dr. Sivana 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Captain Marvel 30 (Super)

The Marvel Family are: Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, Mary Marvel, Tawky Tawny, Uncle Dudley, and Sterling Morris.

Captain Marvel is the magically charged powerhouse of the Marvel Family, who's summoned to action when Billy Batson speaks the name of the wizard Shazam! His enchanted pantheon of powers have been displayed battling the likes of: Black Adam [Hawkman #24], Macro-Man [Legends #1], Thor [Marvel versus DC #2], and Superman in a series of contests found in Action Comics Annual #4, Superman #216, Superman/Batman #4, and Kingdom Come #4!

Captain Marvel shares his powers and name with friends and sibling Captain Marvel Jr and Mary Marvel, whose strength comes at a minor cost to the hero. Fortunately, the extra muscle of the Marvel Family is worth every bit!

We've seen Cap Junior battle Iron Goblins in DCU: Brave New World #1, and withstand Marvel's unstoppable Juggernaut in Unlimited Access #3! Mary's no slouch either, having braved Black Adam [Power of Shazam #11], and bested Wonder Woman and Supergirl while corrupted during Final Crisis #3 and #6!

These three alone present a formidable line-up, but they can also count on the courage of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths newcomer: Tawky Tawny! He's a talking man-tiger whose dignified claws are always ready to fight the good fight!

Uncle Dudley and broadcast boss Sterling Morris probably aren't going to make the difference in battle, but against such formidable foes, their extra eyes and ears may come in handy -- as long as they can stay out of danger!

The Monster Society of Evil are: Doctor Sivana, Mister Atom, Ibac, and King Kull.

The mad genius of Doctor Sivana was part of The Society think tank that brought about the demise of Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis: Requiem. Giant self-aware robot Mister Atom was also part of the villainous Society, lending his nuclear-powered strength to an attack on Powergirl during Infinite Crisis #2.

These wicked minds are joined by: Ibac - a crook whose magic word was bestowed by Lucifer to endow him with the power of history's greatest villains! He wields the terror of Ivan the Terrible, cunning of Borgia, fierceness of Attila the Hun, and cruelty of Caligula - names spelling IBAC!

Another of history's great evils is King Kull - a pre-historic menace who ruled a race of Submen who were hunted to extinction in a war with humanity. Despite his ancient status, Kull is a technological genius, who survived into the modern era by being suspended in animation.

The Tape: Marvel Family Ranking: Captain Marvel Jr (#69)

What Went Down...
While following Sterling Morris and their Uncle Dudley, Billy & Mary Batson convene with Freddy Freeman only to find themselves suddenly basked in the atomic light of Mister Atom! The menacing machine takes them underground where "Uncle Dudley" reveals himself to be a magically disguised Doctor Sivana!

The Doctor's illusion also reveals "Morris" to be Ibac, assembled with King Kull as the newest incarnation of The Monster Society of Evil! Sivana has discovered the Marvel Family's true identity and worked to infiltrate their ranks, but the same impenetrable dome that denies the Marvels their magic lightning has also trapped he and his co-conspirator Ibac in their unremarkable forms!

Just as the villains prepare to muzzle and restrain their prisoners -- another enters the underground cavern: The Marvel's old friend Tawky Tawny!

The fabulous feline leaps clear of a deadly ray gun blasted by Doctor Sivana!

Fast thinking Mary kicks the gun clear, while Tawny contends with a headlock from Ibac. Fortunately, the magical menace merely possesses the strength of Mr. Morris, allowing Tawny to effortlessly upend him into the stone wall!

Tawny frees the young Marvels while Billy holds the villains at bay with one of their own weapons -- until Mister Atom obliterates it with a powerful blast! He's accompanied by the techno-savvy savage King Kull, who also assaults Tawny's ears with a deafening sonic weapon!

Kull brings news of a change to the dome over Fawcett City. Ibac wastes no time testing his magical word, transforming back to mortal Stanley Printwhistle.

One magic word deserves another -- Billy Batson leads the charge: SHAZAM!

Captain Marvel flies across the cavern to confront Mister Atom with the strength of Hercules -- while two more lightning bolts transform his junior allies!

Alas, a puff of smoke and Sulphur signals the transformation of Printwhistle back to the vile Ibac! He takes great pleasure in cutting Captain Marvel Jr off with a devastating right hook to the cheek!

Mister Atom recovers from the Captain's mighty fists and blinds Mary Marvel with an intense nuclear light! At the same time: King Kull clobbers Captain Marvel with a primitive club, and Dr. Sivana zaps Tawny with electric gauntlets!

Sivana is so caught up in the glee of doing harm on The Monster Society's "home court" he doesn't even notice the rattle of chains behind him! The very bonds that held them hostage for months become instruments of justice in the hands of Sterling Morris and Uncle Dudley as they garrote the mad scientist!

Meanwhile, Ibac narrowly avoids saying his own name as he fumes over the blood spilled from his own nose. He takes it out on Captain Marvel Jr by swinging him by the cape through nearby walls!

Mister Atom encourages Ibac and Kull to press their advantage -- towering as he fires concussive blasts at Captain Marvel and a leaping Mary Marvel! The destructive energy does as much to erode the structural surroundings as it does the erstwhile heroes, encouraging Tawny, Sterling, and Dudley to take leave.

The super-powered Marvels begin to turn the tables on the Monster Society as dust and debris fills the confined lair! Cap Junior buries his fists into Ibac's gut at speed, while Captain Marvel rips one of Atom's mighty mechanical arms off and kayos King Kull in one foul swoop!

The action beneath the subway is finally too much! Sivana cries out as the wrenching of stone announces the collapse of the building! The very home court that provided the Monster Society their advantage now buries them!

The Hammer...
The building may've collapsed, but the Marvel Family are still standing - emerging from the debris relatively unscathed!

You can thank Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr for the lion's share of the victory, but everyone involved did their part to ensure The Monster Society of Evil was defeated!

I got a special kick out of finally getting Tawky Tawny on the record. The snappy dressing man-tiger was a stand-out of Final Crisis, and I've been hoping to get around to him ever since. His unapologetic inclusion in Convergence: Shazam was one of the simple pleasures of an issue that's pretty light on story.

The issue drops readers right into the middle of a crisis situation for Captain Marvel and Fawcett City. The overarching background premise was similar to Marvel's 2015 Secret Wars -- pitting different incarnations of DC characters against one another in an inter-dimensional battle for survival. Crisis-lite.

Convergence was extra heavy on nostalgia, using specific periods in publishing history, as well as well known alternate realities. Convergence Shazam #1 has the benefit of acting as a stand-alone introduction to Earth-S, and DC's modern-classic take on the Marvel Family. The second (and final) issue pits Earth-S against the world of popular Elseworlds story Batman: Gotham By Gaslight.

The whole first issue would be an unbridled joy -- if it wasn't such a perfect proof-of-concept for the type of comic book DC Entertainment has largely refused to publish throughout the 2010s. A bittersweet moment of clarity.

The heavy hitters are all here, with original iconic names and design mostly in tact, and beautifully rendered by colorist Jordie Bellaire and penciler Doc Shaner. Sadly, this is novelty enough to sell an issue in 2015 -- or a couple of years later, when I picked it up on the cheap.

In my estimation, Shaner is one of the stand-out artists working for DC in this decade. You probably couldn't ask for a better creative team to take a classically infused Captain Marvel forward. Alas, that just doesn't seem to be an option.

DC are still periodically dangling the carrot of a more iconic, classic style of comic, but Convergence was merely one of a string of hollow teasers following the New 52 hard reboot. Ultimately, Convergence was conceived as a publishing holding pattern for the months DC was shutting down their traditional home in New York City, and making the move to Burbank. It was a temporary reprieve and last hurrah for a continuum many probably understood to be missed.

What makes this type of comic so special? The devil's in the details: from the simple rendering of Captain Marvel's costume and sash, to the wholesome under current of young kids bravely defying to do good, and thwart evil! Their best friend is a talking tiger wearing tweed and a tie, and their arch-nemesis is a kooky mad scientist. It's fun, fun, fun -- and distinct, as well. Too rare!

This is the type of comic that could hold on to its retro charms and identity, while embracing qualities that feel entirely contemporary! Instead of chasing Superman's tail, or trying to fit in with the Justice League, this is a property that could lead the way with its own distinct flavor, tackling a market that's about to lose family entertainment brands like Steven Universe and Adventure Time.

This runs counter to the Hollywood version of "Shazam" hitting the big screen in April. Mirroring a current revival in comics: this New 52 version of the big red cheese plays more like a mean-spirited pitch of Superman meets Big. It's playing more to the power fantasies of a child in a superhero's body, while eschewing the retro aesthetic that makes the whole thing flavourful.

With the big screen home to so many formulaic mediocrities, Shazam still feels like a change of pace, but like Billy Batson gazing up to find hope in Bulletman & Bulletwoman's heroics, I'll be holding on to the shining example of Convergence Shazam #1, hoping the magic lightning of Shazam will hit DC Comics.

Wanna dig deeper into the DC Comics back catalogue? Discover more treasure by following links throughout this post, and by diving into the Secret Archive! There you'll find all featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. You can also subscribe to Secret Wars  on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook for daily fights inspired by the topics of the day! A like, share, or retweet would sure be appreciated!

Winners: Marvel Family
#42 (+27) Captain Marvel Jr
#70 (+49) Captain Marvel
#110 (+217) Mary Marvel
#319 (new) Tawky Tawny
#320 (new) Uncle Marvel
#321 (new) Sterling Morris
#557 (-53) Doctor Sivana
#873 (new) King Kull
#874 (new) Ibac
#888 (-202) Mister Atom