Name: Captain Marvel
Universe: Earth-S
Alter Ego: William (Billy) Batson
Occupation: Television Newscaster
Marital Status: Single
Group Affiliation: Marvel Family
Base of Operations: Fawcett City
Known Relatives: Merrill and Jocelyn Batson (parents, deceased), Mary Batson (sister), Ebenezer Batson (uncle)
Height: 6 ft. 4 in.
Weight: 212 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
First Appearance: Whiz Comics (#1)

History:
Orphaned as an infant, Billy Batson and his twin sister, Mary, were watched over by nurse Sarah Primm. When a wealthy woman's infant daughter died unexpectedly, young Mary was left in her place, while young Billy was put into an orphanage. Later, Billy's uncle Ebenezer took the boy in, but once he had gained control of Billy's inheritance, Ebenezer threw the boy out to make his own way in the world.

To support himself, young Billy sold newspapers, spending his nights in the warmth of a local subway station.

One rainy night, a mysterious trenchcoated figure confronted Billy, and convinced the youngster to follow him into a deserted subway station where a strange vehicle arrived to carry them into the darkness. After a high-speed ride through twisting tunnels, the vehicle at last came to a halt within a weird subterranean cavern. Billy followed the mysterious figure through an ancient underground hall, past grotesque statues of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, to a large chamber where an incredibly old man with a long white beard sat on a marble throne beneath a massive block of granite held aloft by a single fraying thread.

The old man explained that he was Shazam, an ancient wizard who had used his powers to battle evil on Earth for more than 3000 years. His time on this world almost over, Shazam had picked Billy to be his successor, carrying on his fight against evil. At the wizard's command, Billy spoke the name "Shazam" and a blinding flash of mystic lightning appeared, transforming the boy into a super-powerful adult, clad in a gold-and-crimson costume. The wizard explained that Billy was now Captain Marvel, the world's mightiest mortal, possessed of the powers of the legendary Elders who had given Shazam his name.

From Solomon, Captain Marvel gained wisdom; from Hercules, super-strength; from Atlas, boundless stamina; from Zeus, awesome power; from Achilles, courage; and from Mercury, incredible speed.

The wizard explained to Captain Marvel that he had only to speak the name Shazam and these powers would be his whenever needed. Then the wizard sat back on his throne, and was instantly crushed to death by the falling granite block.

Using his newfound abilities, Billy procured a job at local radio station WHIZ, where he became the city's youngest and most popular newscaster.

For a number of year, Captain Marvel served the cause of justice, until he and many of his closest friends and companions were trapped in a globe of Suspendium by Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, the world's wickedest scientist, who also ended up a victim of his own invention.

At last, Captain Marvel and company were freed from their state of suspended animation, and returned to the lives and careers they had left behind decades before.

Powers:
When Billy Batson speaks the name of the ancient wizard Shazam, he is transformed by a bolt of enchanted lightning into a muscular adult possessed of the powers of the six legendary Elders from whom the wizard took his name. By speaking the wizard's name a second time, a second bolt of mystic lightning is summoned, which transforms Captain Marvel back into the teenaged Billy.

A superior athlete, Captain Marvel is also a master of hand-to-hand combat, although his magically endowed powers make most common fisticuffs unnecessary.