Comic Title: Shazam:The New Beginning #1
Publisher: DC
Cover Date: April 1987
On Sale Date: January 15, 1987 Newsstand Date January 15, 1987
Source: DC Releases, #35

Newsstand Date January 15, 1987
Source: Amazing Heroes, #108

Shipping Date December 23, 1986
Source: DC Releases, #35

Shipping Date December 23, 1986
Source: Amazing Heroes, #108

Shipping Date December 23, 1986
Source: Comics Journal, #112

Copyright Date December 23, 1986
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1986
DC publication dates beyond April 1981 listed by the LoC
represent shipping dates NOT newsstand sale dates

Cover Price: $0.75
Page Count: 32
Editor: Roy Thomas

Title: (No Title)
Pages: 24

Feature(s):
Captain Marvel (Post-Crisis)

Writer: Roy Thomas
Writer: Danette Thomas
Artist: Thomas Mandrake
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Colorist: Carl Gafford

Reprinted In:
Shazam:The New Beginning 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition HC (2018)

Feature Character(s)

• Captain Marvel (William Joseph Batson; earliest chronological appearance; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #2)

Supporting Character(s)

• Dudley Batson (first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #2)
• Shazam (first post-Crisis appearance; last appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #3; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #3)

Villain(s)

• Sivana (first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #2)
• Black Adam (first post-Crisis appearance; last appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #3; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #2)
• A gang of school bullies (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Beautia Sivana (first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #2)
• Magnificus Sivana (first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Shazam:The New Beginning #3)
• Donald and Marilyn Batson (Billy's parents; both die in this story; no further appearances)
• An unnamed judge and two lawyers (no further appearances)

Cameo Appearance(s)

• Captain Marvel (in Shazam's memory of the pre-Crisis universe)
• Captain Marvel, Jr. (in Shazam's memory of the pre-Crisis universe)
• Mary Marvel (in Shazam's memory of the pre-Crisis universe)

Comments:
This story reveals the post-Crisis origin of Captain Marvel. It is revealed that the wizard Shazam retains some memories of the pre-Crisis universe as he recalls the original Marvel Family.

This story continues in part in Shazam:The New Beginning #2.

Synopsis:
The parents of William "Billy" Batson are killed in a car crash. A custody battle ensues as his paternal Uncle Dudley and his mother's step-brother Thaddeus Sivana fight to keep Billy. The 15-year old Billy fears that Dudley will have to give up his dreams as a stage magician, so he petitions the court to stay with Sivana.

He quickly regrets the decision as Sivana places him in a store room and only wants Billy for his inheritance. When Billy is caught watching one of Sivana's experiments, he flees the house. He finds his way to an abandoned subway tunnel where he meets the wizard Shazam.

Shazam gives Billy the powers of the gods making him Captain Marvel. The wizard is the crushed by a stone block, but not before warning Billy about Black Adam. The villain was the first mortal to which Shazam granted power, thousands of years earlier. As Billy experiments with his new powers, Sivana finishes his own experiment which opens a portal that transports Black Adam into the present.