Black Adam & Shazam’s First Fight Is Hilariously Dark by Modern Standards

DC Comics’ Black Adam and Shazam are a classic example of the superhero/supervillain arch-nemesis combo. They have similar powers and similar outfits, with the only concrete difference being that one is good, and the other is bad. Throughout history, the two have clashed again and again, with varying degrees of intensity, but their first fight, although seemingly lighthearted, will seem weirdly dark to modern readers.

Before they were DC characters, Black Adam and Captain Marvel belonged to a publisher called Fawcett Comics, one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books. At the time, Shazam (then ‘Captain Marvel’) was the most popular superhero, but Fawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel stories in 1953 after DC sued the publisher, claiming that the character was a blatant copy of Superman. DC eventually acquired the rights to Captain Marvel and all associated characters, and rebranded him as Shazam due to trademark issues with Marvel Comics’ own Captain Marvel.

Black Adam first appears in The Marvel Family #1 when he returns to Earth from his exile in space to take over the planet. He is told off by a police officer for blocking traffic, and in response Adam strikes him, leading the officer to immediately open fire. Captain Marvel Jr. sees this and retaliates against Adam, and the two engage in battle. Captain Marvel (Shazam) notices his ally in a fight, and steps in to help. Preparing a punch, he says, “If he survives this, he’s really good!” Adam obviously takes the hit, to which Marvel exclaims, “Holy moley! He did survive!” The heroes eventually beat Black Adam by tricking him into saying “Shazam!” and he reverts back to his mortal form, which is so old that he withers away into nothing, right on the spot.

Although zany and whimsical like most comics at the time, the fact that Black Adam collapses and dies in front of a group of young heroes is truly bleak. It gets darker when one realizes that Captain Marvel was willing to put his all into killing a stranger, never even trying to calm down the situation. Black Adam was there with evil intentions, but Shazam resolves to kill him based solely on the fact he’s fighting Captain Marvel Jr.

Black Adam and Shazam have come a long way and made many changes since their days as Fawcett characters. Shazam now chooses to subdue his opponents rather than outright kill them, and Black Adam is something of a misunderstood antihero. However, in their very first battle, Shazam was outrageously eager to kill Black Adam, and his family ultimately succeeded in doing so, reverting him to an old man who withered away in front of them.

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