Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil

Overview

Jeff Smith's amazing Shazam miniseries continues! Billy and Mary have been captured by Sivana... so Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel may not be able to stop Mr. Mind's Monster Society from taking over the world.

Captain Marvel flies after his sister Mary now that she's recently gained powers of her own. The two giant creatures are still standing in the distance. Mary lands on top of one. She asks him if he knew that they are not alive. Captain Marvel doesn't understand what she's talking about. She says they're not moving. Marvel says that they were earlier when they almost squished him. She explains that they're not vibrating the way living things do. Captain Marvel is surprised that she must have the abiltity to sense lifeforce which is the gift of the Goddess Athena. He says he doesn't have that power and Mary says of course not since he's a boy. Mary thinks that they must be robots and that Mr. Mind must be in one of them. She calls him out but there is no reply. Marvel says he's probably waiting for the third one to appear. Mr. Mind said that once the third one appears, he was going to wipe out civilization.

Mary gets a spooky chill down her spine as a helicopter appears in front of them. They are from the Department of Heartland Security and order Captain Marvel to surrender. He tries saying he's on their side when they open fire on them. He shields Mary since he is not sure if she is bullet proof and flies off.

They arrive at Billy's place and revert back to their human forms. When he turns on the light, he is surprised that there aren't any cockroaches. They usually scatter whenever he turns them on. Mary turns on the tv only to find that the news is on. There is a report that talks about all the bugs in the city being gone. Billy thinks that it must be connected to all the ants he saw headed towards the park.

Mary hears someone at the door and opens it. Two agents stand there and grab them. Dr. Sivana is behind them and tells them to cover the kids' mouth so they can't say their magic words. Lagreen walks in and Sivana asks him to identify the kids. He says it's them. Sivana orders his men to tape their mouths and tie their hands. He gives Billy a pad of paper to answer his questions. He asks if he's plotting with the aliens to take over the country. Billy writes down that they're trying to stop them. Sivana then orders Billy to stop interacting with the creatures. Billy tries saying that Captain Marvel can help but Sivana tells him not to question his orders. When Mary tells him that they're robots, that makes Sivana even more happy. He says robots are tools for war and war is profitable.

Dr. Sivana takes Billy to the park with Lagreen and his buddy working for him. They are carrying sensitive equimpment for him. Looking at the robots, Sivana notices a little sensor pop out of the foot of one of them. He tells Lagreen and his buddy to charge towards it to see what happens. Proud to serve their country agains terrorists, they run towards the robot. They fall to the ground and begin to transform into weird creaturs. They turn around and head towards Sivana. He tries to order them to stop because he's the Attorney General of the United States. That doesn't stop them so Sivana tries to take off the tape on Billy's mouth. It won't come off so easily so he runs off, telling the creatures to eat Billy instead.

Billy manages to loosen his ropes just as the creatures are about to reach him. He gets the tape off just in time to yell, "Shazam!" He takes on the creatures and Sivana returns telling Captain Marvel to look at the changing ray. Captian Marvel races towards it and smashes it. Sivana yells at him that he shouldn't have broken it because it'd be worth millions.

The words are echoed as a bunch of other creatures surround him. They tell him that they are the Monster Society and were created by Mr. Mind. He has awakened their true selves. He is their enemy. They begin fighting. One of the creatures heads towards Sivana. As he cries out, some of his agents overhear the battle. They fire tear gas which allows the Monster Society to escape. They have taken Sivana with them. The army only sees Captain Marvel but he is able to escape also.

Later, Billy is sittin alone on the docks. Talky Tawny, in his human form, finds Billy. Billy is happy to see Talky. He tells him how Dr. Sivana took them and doesn't want them fighting the Monster Society because he wants to be able to sell their weapons. They try to think of what they can do to save Mary. Talky suggests going to the authorities but with Dr. Sivana in charge of things, no one will likely believe them. Billy decides they should tell the media. If they can expose Sivana on tv, the police and FBI will help them get Mary back.

Billy heads to the news station to try to talk to the owner, Sterling Morris. No one will take him seriously, not even the reporter, Helen Fidelity. He walks away and reappears as Captain Marvel. Helen checks him out and says she can see why they call him Captain Marvel. She is all over him but he says he will only give his information to the station owner.

Talky makes his way to the park as a regular housecat. The army is on edge and practically shoot him. In one of the robots, a door opens and two human-sized come out.

Captain Marvel speaks with Mr. Morris. Morris is willing to help search for the kidnapped girl but can't run a story exposing Dr. Sivana without any evidence. He suggests Captain Marvel capture him on film and hands him a small camera. As he flies off, Helen asks Morris why he trusts him. He says if he's right, he's doing the country a great favor and it will also make a great story. If he's wrong, the government will be able to track him with the camera.

Billy sneaks into the park and meets up with Talky, now in his tiger-guise. Outside the door on the robot, the two agentst that took Mary are standing guard. Billy is ready to charge in as he figures Sivana and Mary must be inside. Talky tells him they have to proceed with caution. He says that while Captain Marvel was talking to Mr. Morris, he was talking to Shazam. Shazam says Billy is in grave danger. He reminds him of the Shazam Paradox. You cannot perform magic at the Rock of Eternity because magic withing magic could make his powers go out of control. He says the monster may have come through the Rock of Eternity. Billy is impatient and doesn't understand what that has to do with anything. He storms off and says, "Shazam!" before Talky can finish his thought.