The Shadow of Shazam #1

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Issue # 1: "When Evil Men..."
Writen by: R.J. Pare
Cover and interior art by: Dave Marshall
Edited by: Brian Burchette[/center]

Meanwhile, in the skies above Gotham, flying toward stately Wayne Manor, a powerful champion for truth and justice... pauses. There was a time, when the Wisdom of Solomon did not prevent him from rushing into situations like this. A time when his fellow heroes fought by his side... in the Justice Society... sadly, this was before the rest were chased into retirement by a paranoid government. Now, without any backup (should a danger be more than he can handle) Captain Marvel considers his actions, acutely aware, of the burden he bears. Should he fall, this world would be without a protector... then who would stop the cruel and twisted minds that strive so hard to harm this beautiful planet. If only they could see the endless bounty they have been blessed with... if only they could share the wisdom he’d been granted... then maybe they would change their ways. Instead, the Strength of Hercules is what they usually understand... and then not always right away. Sighing, the Captain observes silently and not for the first time... “I am getting too old for this...”

“Now what can Sivana want with the Waynes?” Captain Marvel muses. “It just seems so ordinary... so beneath him. Kidnapping... robbery... ransom...” The world’s mightiest mortal shakes his head. “His schemes are usually grander, more elaborate ploys to destroy me and take over the world!”

The Captain’s informant had been clear on this point though. Dr. Sivana had fled Fawcett City for Gotham and he had targeted Thomas and Martha Wayne as his latest victims in whatever twisted plan his deviant mind has now cooked up.


Straining his senses, Marvel could hear a woman sobbing in the mansion below.

“Very well Sivana,” he decides “it may be some sort of trap but I’m not going to let that stop me from putting you behind bars once and for all!!” With that, a red and yellow comet speeds, plummeting, towards Wayne Manor and whatever waited for him inside.

Dr. Thomas Wayne has seen enough. It would be catastrophic… the power of Captain Marvel… in the hands of these lunatics? The world would surely perish. He was a medic in the war, he is not afraid to die if it saves lives. In this case, not only, the life of his wife and unborn child, but as he now knows, the lives of millions are at stake. He waits for one chance… one chance to make a difference. He clutches at the iron fire poker and waits.

Mordru begins “very well Doctor, and Captain, watch now as I steal the power of the Gods!” Mordru starts a low chanting, ancient words that hiss and would tear at the minds of any who might try and understand them. This is the blackest magic, the kind that stains your soul to use it… not that Mordru hasn’t already crossed that bridge… centuries ago.

“Oh yes… Oh yes hee-hee...” Dr. Sivana chuckles pacing around, impatient to deliver the killing blow to his nemesis once Mordru is finished with him. “Go on, big man, call out for help. The gods themselves won=t penetrate my shield... and soon ... so soon… yer gonna be in my hands...” Sivana turns to look out the window “Oh the plans I will have for this world, a world without a costumed do-gooder interfering all the time!!”

“YOU SON OF A…” shouts a suddenly charging Dr. Thomas Wayne. He does not hesitate. The stakes are far too high. With the fire poker raised over his head he rapidly closes the distance between himself and the mad scientist.

“Eh? What’s this?” a startled Sivana manages to utter… before the fire poker comes crashing down.

“I hope this works” Thomas thinks as he aims for the box in Sivana’s left hand. He thought of hitting him over the head or trying to knock the gun out of his hands… but ultimately realized that neither of those options would directly lead to getting Captain Marvel back in the fight. Dr. Wayne thinks himself a brave man, but a realistic one. Two very dangerous men with powers and weapons well beyond his experience are about to wreak havoc upon his family and perhaps the rest of the world. He cannot dream of over powering them with a wrought iron poker from his fireplace. Not when they have already gotten the better of Captain Marvel. No, he decides, if that device is keeping the Captain from calling for help… then the best chance they all have is for that device to be removed from the equation.

The fire poker slashes downward with as much force as Thomas Wayne can muster. The panic, the small size of the target and the slender width of the poker should have combined for a startling but ineffectual swipe at the air… missing Sivana’s control box harmlessly. It really should have. Luck, chance, fate… whatever you call it… was with Mr. Wayne this day. “If only the old south side stick-ball kids could see me now” thinks Thomas, recalling days of youth long past. “This is what they’d call a smasher!”

The box in Dr. Sivana’s hand, nearly, explodes into broken bits flying every which way. The force of the blow is enough to shatter the bones in the mad doctor’s left hand. Sobbing in pain and anguish the old psycho falls to the floor nursing his unexpected injury. “Captain,” shouts Wayne, “hurry I broke his b-”

“SHAZAM!” thunders the voice of the champion of the Gods, interrupting Thomas Wayne.

Captain Marvel had time to think of his limited options as Mordru chanted. He didn’t like the idea of the Wayne’s trying to fight these men. But, honestly, he could think of no other way in which they might be able to stop them before Mordru gained enough power to rule the world… power that would be taken from him. He watched Dr. Wayne take advantage of Sivana’s over confidence and felt admiration for the man. Thomas had no special powers… no gimmickry… no gadgets or advanced weapons… and yet he clubbed Sivana with a simple fire poker! The mad genius would be furious and want revenge, after his arm healed, of course. The Captain could feel the moment the force field dropped… but was still unsure what to do. In years past he would have found a way to summon aid from his compatriots in the JSA, but that time is gone. Who could he turn to on such short notice? Who could help them before Mordru succeeded? He realized, of course, that no one could reach them in time… and this made him smile. Captain Marvel would have to rely on himself… his real self… plain old C.C. Batson. All the power of the Gods would not help him win this battle if he was still stuck in this mystical trap! There was only one way he could think of to get free and that would be to relinquish his powers. By using the name of the ancient wizard who gave him these powers… C.C. could transform himself back into his real, human and frail self. Shouting the name would call down the magical lightning that transforms him. The name Shazam echoed throughout the Wayne manor as blinding lightning struck the pentacle trap and the champion within.

C.C. blinked and looked around for a weapon. Dr. Sivana’s gun lay a few feet ahead on the ground, so he dove for it. His middle aged hands seemed pudgy and weak when compared to the strength and vitality they possessed when he was Captain Marvel. That did not stop them from holding the gun firmly as he turned over… trying to bring it to bear on the macabre master of mysticism.

“Templum Fugio[/b]!” Mordru spit with bitter venom and vanished.

“Huh? I guess he wasn’t kidding the old geezer… if it hit the fan he wasn’t sticking around.” The Captain remarked, amused at Mordru’s cowardice. “You really need to find more trustworthy partners Sivana…. Ha … Ha…”

Sivana, lying face down, hands tied behind his back with Thomas Wayne’s trouser belt was livid with impotent rage.

“You… You… You meddlesome rotten… stinking” Sivana ranted…

“Yes, yes, get it out… it will make the trip back to prison less of annoyance if you get your ravings out of the way sooner rather than later.” C.C. Batson, lacking the humility that comes with Solomon’s wisdom, gloated.

“BIG RED CHEESE!” roared Sivana. Even the Wayne’s, shaken by their close call with death, had to laugh at the absurd madman.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Martha Wayne looks at her husband and then at C.C. and says “whatever are we to do now… err, Captain?”

“Well, not really at the moment,” C.C. winks at the good lady. “But I’m sure that’s fine for now… I’ll explain later.” He turns toward Thomas. “That was a very brave thing you did Mr. Wayne.”

“I… I just couldn’t stand by and let them destroy everything we fought for… we didn’t stand by and allow Hitler to conquer the world… we surely couldn’t let these nut-jobs either.” Thomas said with the confidence overcoming great evil can give a man.

“I know that I may not have much in common with a hero like your self, sir” Thomas continues “but it really did seem like the only choice I could make.”

“I think you and I might have more in common then you might think.” C.C. smiles at these folks who he is starting to really like. It is not often that he finds people he enjoys the company of. Not in this line of work. Not when lives are in danger. Usually, they fawn all over him like he is a celebrity or their anxiety makes them lash out wondering why he could not have reached them sooner. Rarely are they composed enough to just talk to him and treat him as a man trying to do a tough job.

“I do think Mrs. Wayne,” he says turning back towards her “that I should be escorting your uninvited house guest back to prison.”

“How… um ya know… can you manage that?” Martha asks nodding towards C.C. and his current non-powered status.

“Oh, that’s easily fixed,” C.C. chuckles.

“SHAZAM!”

Martha heard that. Where did it come from? “Bruce? Bruce! Come on honey tell mommy where you are. Are you okay?” Martha knows. She is a mother and she knows. She knows her son is anything but… OK.

By the time Thomas raced home Martha was frantic. “I checked in all his usual hidey holes Tom… I’m scared… what if someone has taken him?” By someone Tom knew exactly what she meant. Over the years C.C, had done his best to shield them from any reprisals Sivana might concoct… but let’s be honest… a madman with a grudge is a dangerous combination.

“Have you called C.C.?” he asks calmly.

“Of course… All I got was his machine… I left about a dozen messages… Oh honey, what if it is that old psycho and this is how he gets his revenge…. Oh…oh...oh.” Martha sobs in her husband’s arms.

“Let’s go take another look Martha” Thomas needs to approach this rationally… or he is afraid he might start shaking from the anxiety and mounting paranoia. “Maybe with both of us looking we’ll find something… it’s too much for one parent to think, worry and look… they won’t be able to process what they are seeing. Let’s work together.”

With that, the Waynes went out searching their back property. They went deeper than they usually go… deeper than Bruce had any business going… if he wasn’t so darned fearless that is. Thomas wonders… isn’t there a…

“Oh god no!” he realizes.

“What?” Martha jumps. “What is it?”

“Do you remember the survey of this back lot?” He asks his wife. “The old boarded up dry-well?”

“My god…. Hurry Tom….” and off Martha raced.

Within moments they located the old well. It only took a single glance to know that Bruce has fallen through the obviously rotted cover. A parent never wants to experience this kind of numbing fear. The knowledge, that your child could be dead, can paralyze. Thomas Wayne leaned over the opening of the well and peered into its murky depths.

“Thomas, be careful” Martha warns him… she cannot imagine how she could help them if they both fell in. “Do you see Bruce?” her voice almost a whisper, unsure if she wants the truth.

“No dammit, it’s too dark in there, we’re gonna need some rope and flashlights sweetie. You stay here and call for him… I’ll run back to the work shed and get some equipment.” Thomas Wayne, the doctor, the army medic, the bane of mad scientists was over the initial shock. He was in the groove now… triage time… crisis management these were things he was trained in and damned if he wasn’t going to use them to try and find his son.

“Shouldn’t we call the fire department or something?” Martha asks as Tom is starting to speed away.

He stops. “We can’t be sure he’s even in there hon.” Tom adds, “let’s see what’s what and decide from there okay?” He doesn’t add that it still might be Sivana behind the disappearance… he doesn’t want to get her going again on that… but such unspoken fears are always mutually understood when two people have survived a crisis together. He races towards the shed.

Martha walks over to the edge of the well. She’s not sure what would be worse… thinking some lunatic had her child… or thinking he fell to the bottom of this god awful well. How deep was it? Was there water in the bottom? Oh hell, none of those matters right now… focus!

Martha leans over the edge and cups her hands around her mouth.

“Bruce! Can you hear me, Bruce? Are you down there?” She shouts into the darkness.

“Bruce!”

Thomas and Martha could hear a horrible rushing sound coming from deep in the well. Then, suddenly, a black cloud of screaming bats burst forth from the well forcing them to back away and take cover. The Waynes knew their son must be terrified of these ugly disease ridden creatures. “God, I hope they’re not rabid” thinks Thomas.

“Hey folks, I think I just might be of some assistance. What’s going on?” The cheerful booming voice of Captain Marvel could be heard as the bats begin to scatter and disperse.

“Oh thank God C.C. you got the message” blurts Martha… oblivious to the usage of his secret identity.

“Well, yes… ahem” Captain Marvel points at his uniform.

“Oops sorry Captain, I’m just frazzled. First we couldn’t find Bruce and then we discover he’s fallen into this old well! Please could you get him?” Martha pleads, unnecessarily.

“Of course Martha… Tom… I am just glad that I can help. Tom you take care of her, while I scoot down and get yer boy alright?” The Captain says hoping that Bruce hasn’t suffered any serious injury. “I’ll be back in a flash!”

“Hah,” he thinks “if Jay were still in the biz he’d rake me over the coals for using one of his catch-phrases….”

Captain Marvel floats down toward the bottom of the old well looking for Bruce.

Bruce can hear again. He doesn’t think anything could ever be okay again though. He is traumatised and begins to withdraw into himself. Inside, inside… nothing will be able to reach him or hurt him… inside.

The Captain descends. He can see Bruce clearly now. The boy is in shock.

“Bruce, it’s alright. You’re safe now. We can go home.” He says as warm and soothing as he can.

The boy looks up. It is a vision. Like an Angel from heaven… his hero, Captain Marvel is bathed in light and comes to save him. Bruce uses his stubbornness, his strength of will, to win the first of what will be many battles with his body. He forces himself to shake off the numbing effects of shock and rises to his feet. He can see his hero land just a few feet away and rushes into his arms.

Marvel starts to fly up and out of the well to safety and Bruce looks at him with a question burning in his child’s mind. “Yes, Bruce, what is it?” he asks.

“Why? Why are there monsters in the dark?” Bruce simple heart wrenching honesty almost starts Marvel crying. The boy has been through too much. Still, Marvel knows, he needs an answer.

“They aren’t really monsters… they are animals… they wouldn’t try to hurt you unless they felt threatened.” He tells Bruce.

“But they are scary” the boy argues. “I mean really scary!”

“Yes,” says the boy’s godfather, “bats can be very scary… in fact I’d say they possess the ability to strike fear into the hearts of men.”

“Now let’s get you home and safe, okay?”

“Okay, uncle C.C.” the boy smiles and lays his head on Marvel’s chest. He shakes his head, more amused than anything really. He realizes he’s gonna have to start working a lot harder on the whole secret identity thing. Captain Marvel looks up as he flies away from the darkness.

“I am getting too old for this…”