When most people think Captain Marvel in 2026, they think of Marvel Comics and Carol Danvers. She’s the latest in a long line of Captains Marvel. However, the first hero to bear that name didn’t come from the House of Ideas, but the now defunct Fawcett Publications. Superman would have been the undisputed champion of the Golden Age if it wasn’t for Billy Batson, a young boy who was given the power of the Wizard Shazam, transforming into Captain Marvel every time he said the wizard’s name. Kids loved the character and even the Man of Steel couldn’t overcome the sales of his books. DC was able to successfully sue Fawcett, taking all of their characters and leading to the characters moving over to the publisher, where he would become a beloved part of the DC Multiverse, leading to what is easily the best series starring a character named Captain Marvel.
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Captain Marvel was always a junior Superman, but he was a favorite of older creators, including one Jerry Ordway. Ordway came to prominence working on DC’s Earth-Two books like All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc in the early ’80s. He became one of the publisher’s most beloved artists – he worked on Crisis and was the Earth-Two artist – and was eventually a writer on the Superman books. He’s the man who would push for a story featuring the death of the Man of Steel, leading to the blockbuster “Death of Superman”. In the ’90s, Ordway’s star was at its brightest and he was able to get DC to publish his passion project: The Power of Shazam!
The Power of Shazam! Didn’t Follow the Trends of the ’90s and Was Better for It
The ’90s are one of the most maligned decades in comic history and for good reason. Marvel and Image Comics spent the entire decade going for style over substance, using every gimmick you can imagine to sell comics and almost tanking the entire industry. The maturation of the ’80s was replaced by empty edginess, trying to make “mature” comics that were really just violent. While things were better at DC, where writers were valued and the Vertigo imprint was doing mature comics right, even they weren’t safe from the tropes of the decade.
Jerry Ordway was not the typical creator that you think of when you think of ’90s comics. He got his start on Bronze Age DC books and his classic art style didn’t match what was popular in the industry. He was the definition of an old school creator, and 1994’s The Power of Shazam! would play off of that. This book gave the new post-Crisis origin for Billy and Mary Batson, the brother/sister orphans who would form the nucleus of the Marvel family. It linked the death of their parents to the origin of Black Adam, creating Theo Adam, the descendant of the original Mighty Adam of the past, as well as the Big Red Cheese’s first battle against arch-foe Doctor Sivana. It was, in a lot of way, a Bronze Age comic in the ’90s.
Ordway established an all-new status quo for Billy, introducing Fawcett City, a retro-American city that matched the old school aesthetic of the book. The graphic novel was a hit with readers and led into a series in 1995. The series would bring the greater Captain Marvel mythos into the post-Crisis DC Universe, introducing Mary Marvel, Tawky Tawny, Captain Marvel Jr., Mister Mind, the Monster Society of Evil, and many more. It was even talked about glowingly in that refuge for all things edgy ’90s Wizard magazine.
The Power of Shazam! worked so well because it was unlike anything on the shelves over its 40-issue run. It was a slice of Silver Age (Ordway’s preferred style) fun in the decade of extreme and I think that’s one of the reasons it worked so well. DC was putting out brilliant superhero books in the last half of the ’90s, but none of them had the retro charm of The Power of Shazam! It was something of a breath of fresh air in the grim and gritty ’90s. Ordway’s solid art and outstanding writing, along with artists like Peter Krause and legends like Gil Kane, was able to make the past new again, making it one of the best books of an era of DC that was full of stellar comics.
The Power of Shazam! Is ’90s DC Best-Kept Secret
Over at Marvel, there are some truly outstanding Captain Marvel comics. The series starring Mar-Vell from the ’60s and ’70s is great, The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel is one of the greatest books in Marvel history, and modern series from writers like Peter David, starring Genis-Vell, and Kelly Sue DeConnick and Kelly Thompson on Carol have given readers some amazing books. However, all of them pale in comparison to The Power of Shazam! It really is that good of a comic.
Ordway has always been a treasure, a fan who grew up reading old school comics and brought those sensibilities to all of his work. There are few creators out there who have his talent at writing and art and he’s been able to stay relevant for decades. His work on The Power of Shazam! shows how truly talented he was. In an era when readers wanted blood and scantily-clad women who could never exist in the real world, he was giving readers old school superhero stories that gloried in their retro goodness. Most fans don’t even know about this amazing series and it’s time we sang its praises more.
What do you think about Jerry Ordway’s time on Captain Marvel? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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