Multiversity Explores The Multiversity #5: The Day That Never Was

Hello and welcome back to Multiversity’s annotations of “The Multiversity,” our ongoing look at Morrison’s magnum opus/ode to the DCU. Just as we did last time, we’ll be going into the book pretty deep and seeing what we can find out. However, unlike last time, there will be a lot less theorizing; instead, we’ll be more trying to figure out where this issue fits into the bigger whole, and attempting to point out easter eggs and references. We’ll get back into the heavier stuff probably more towards the end, given the one-off nature of these releases.

So those of you who have their copies of “The Multiversity,” lets dig in. And, of course, spoilers are abundant not just for “The Multiversity” but for previous works of Morrison’s that “The Multiversity” references.

Previous annotations: #0, #1, #2, #3, #4

Part 1: The Earths We Knew

Just like we did with the first issue, we’re going to start by looking at all the Earths relevant to this issue. Of course, given that the first issue was a bookend it made a bit more sense to break it down and try and cipher information from it, but never the less we’ll keep it as a staple of this column to keep the Earths fresh in our mind as we begin our looks at the series.

Without further ado, here are is the Earth featured in this issue:

Page 1

This is a pretty easy to understand opening page, with not a lot of commentary necessary. It sets up the tone of the issue, harkening back to the 1940’s style Fawcett Comics that used to feature both Captain Marvel and zany concepts like all of reality being upended by the addition of a new day — hence the overall tone of the issue.

Anyway. Thanks, Wikipedia.

One thing that is perhaps interesting, at least to me, is that the Rock of Eternity is at the center of the universe, overlapping the Orerry of Worlds according to the Map of the Multiversity. This would certainly explain how Dr. Sivana’s plan works so easily within the confines of the issue’s internal logic, which we’ll elaborate more on later.

Pages 2-3

Here we see the Wizard’s hall inside the Rock of Eternity, where he guards the Seven Deadly Sins. What’s always interesting to see is that, when the Sins are illustrated by a modern artist, there is (usually, New 52 and Gary Frank aside) no attempt to “update” the otherwise goofy and cartoony statues originally designed by CC Beck. Though, whether intentional or not, I would imagine a reference point for Stewart here was likely Jeff Smith’s interpretation in “Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil” mini-series, which featured some slight variants on Beck’s designs that are present in Stewart’s as well (“Hatred” being the only one that Stewart ostensibly redesigned at all, in the arms). In fact, all things considered, I would find it hard to imagine that Smith’s series wasn’t a big influence on this book in some capacity.

In this opening sequence we see the Wizard who gave Shazam his powers. His dialogue is pretty meta (“Maybe you don’t remember me from before“), and it’s also definitely noteworthy that the Wizard refers to Shazam by the name “Captain Marvel,” considering DC does not feel they can do that anymore with the popularity of a certain character over at “Major” Comics. Also, I suppose it bears mentioning that the Wizard talks to the reader directly a bit in the beginning. This once again brings us in as direct participants in the story, though I would generally hyopthesize as to whether the Wizard has knowledge of the other world’s and how stories transfer between universes, given that the Rock is overlapped by the Orrery. Given that these comics are present in the other stories of this series, it’s plausible he’s not just talking to you and I.

But for the most part, the sequence here is just a basic appetizer for the main course. We’re re-introduced to the overall concept of Shazam in three pages, and the tone is set wonderfully for the over-the-top superheroics we’re about to get, even in the face of something as dire.

And what is that something dire?

Page 4

A Techno-Rock of Eternity. This is why everyone hates techno.

This is the first visual element of it, but a huge part of this issue is somewhat devoted to the debate of science vs. magic, of whether we need to explain things or just believe in them something. The premise of the issue revolves around Dr. Sivana invading the Rock of Eternity to collect its magic and homogenize it under his vision of what should or should not work, all springing out of his vain creation of “Sivanaday” as an ode to his magnificence — a day that he controls. And with Sivana being “science” and Captain Marvel being “magic,” the idea is very rawly captured by the sight of the two Rocks of Eternity coming into clash with one another with the aggressor being that of the man-made machine variety. While every issue of “The Multiversity” is about comics in general, this one seems to be directly coming after the idea that placing definition over wonder is a benefit in any way; it’s something made even more obvious with later visuals but this first one is pretty blatant.

Of course, one comment that Sivana makes here is pretty telling: “I…have now devised an alternative, scientific explanation which enables me to duplicate Captain Marvel’s magic powers.” Sivana says this as a triumph, but we as readers can already see that as the nod that he’ll be defeated. You can science all you want, Sivana, but all you’re doing is creating a lesser derivative of the first.

It’s also perhaps worth mentioning that this is not the first time Morrison has played with reality-altering powers of the Rock of Eternity or the idea of the World’s Greatest Hero’s arch-enemy being responsible for it all, having previously done so in the “JLA” arc ‘Rock of Ages’ (which later inspired a hit musical with Tom Cruise).

Here’s a fun tidbit for you: the reason we use the seven day system that we do is based on a lunar month, which you can trace back to Babylonian civilization. A moon’s cycle between waxing, full and waning comes in approximately seven day intervals, hence the system. Another possible source for this is the biblical story of creation, in which everything is created in seven days. However, there does exist an eigth day: in Theravada Buddhism, Wednesday is divided into two days; ancient Etruscans used an eight-day market week known as the nundinal cycle; in Irish, the term nómad is used to signify a nine night week, by way of the use of the Celtic calendar which tracks darkness (nighttime) over light (day time), giving us eight days. And there are even cultures with nine day weeks, or ten days! So aside from the mystical properties that Sivana will embue upon himself for Sivanaday, there is no real reason that an eighth day would upend reality.

Page 5

In the same way that Captain Marvel has his Marvel Family, so too does his rival (rivals plural, technical, as Black Adam has a family as well). Here we get a good look at Sivana’s kids: Magnificus, Georgia and Thaddeus Jr. Interestingly missing is Beautia, Sivana’s other daughter, or Venus or Portia, Savana’s wives (Venus being Magnificus and Beautia’s mother, Portia being Georgia and Thaddeus Jr.’s).

Their first lines of dialogue are pretty telling of who they are, though. Thaddeus Jr. is worried about how it will affect him, which plays towards the vanity he inherited from his father. Georgia wants to be beautiful, which is in line with the character’s historical jealousy of her half-sister Beautia (and her own vanity, I suppose). Magnificus doesn’t really care either way, because he’s already pretty great — and again, that’s pretty in-line with the character’s past appearances in things like “52”, also co-written by Morrison.

Actually, “52” is a pretty great place to start if you’re curious about the representation of the Sivana family here, as they had a good role to play in the events of that series specifically in their relation to Black Adam. Plus, Mr. Mind — another classic Shazam villain who does not appear anywhere in this book — is the Ultimate Big Bad of that series in a rather interesting twist.

So the Sivana children are given the opportunity to transform in the same way that the Marvel Family does, and they do so by saying Sivana’s name. What’s interesting to me is the lightning which strikes down upon them in order to transform them; it’s more obvious in the visual contrast later, perhaps, but the bolt of lightning that hits down upon them is not as nice and clean as the regular bolt of lightning that hits the Marvel Family. This one is a bit bulbuous and slightly rounded, with tendrils twisting off of it. It even appears to break apart a bit near the bottom, clearly showing us that this method isn’t as “pure” as that of the heroes. We’re definitely being conditioned to look at something as ugly, and despite the beautiful new appearances of the Sivana’s, that aspect remains.

And, again, Sivana is telegraphing his own downfall: when his children have transformed, his first reaction is “Marvelous.” I imagine to him it’s done in irony, but from a reader perspective it’s pretty obvious that Marvel’s magic will triumph over Sivana’s technology.

Page 6

Thanks to science invading magic, reality is distorted and time is displaced, bringing elements from the past and future into the present. I don’t imagine any of them are specific DC references (although one could argue the argue nods to Anthro and Apache Chief here), but we’ve got a Halo-esque soldier, a dinosaur, a paper reading “Men Walk on Moon” and a guy from Portland, Oregon riding a unicycle.

Of course, in the center of that is Billy Batson using modern tech in an interesting juxtaposition to the other visuals. Here Billy is a teen reporter for WHIZ Live, which is a nod both to Batson’s history as a radio and television correspondant but also to the way Morrison wrote Captain Marvel/Billy Batson in “Final Crisis: Superman Beyond,” where Billy was a reporter for WHIZ Media — with both references to Whiz being a reference to the comic in which Captain Marvel first appeared. But Billy has some pretty high-tech gadgets, including what looks to be a white headset inspired by Beats Headphones and an iPhone that allows him to stream his coverage of the catastrophe straight back to WHIZ HQ, where we see this universe’s version of Sterling Morris.

Another interesting thing to note about Billy here is how Cameron Stewart bounces between giving Billy full features (ie actual eyes) vs. little dots for eyes. It’s a very minor thing, but it’s a fascinating play on the cartoonish nature from which Captain Marvel/Shazam was illustrated both in the past (CC Beck, Jeff Smith) or even something more modern (Jerry Ordway, Gary Frank). Stewart flirts between the two frequently, and while normally I’d actually knock an issue down for having art that seemed otherwise lazy in their facial features, I would like to imagine that this particular eccentricity is on purpose.

And as a quick footnote, Other Billy refers here to Black Sivana, who we’ll see later in the issue. This is only of note, however, since the other big Captain Marvel villain is Black Adam, making the cross-section of Sivana and Adam here a bit more apparent. (I would sort of speculate as to if “Thunderworld” has a Black Adam at all? If only this was an ongoing series and we got to see more of it down the line.)

Page 7

Here we’ve got the Sivana Family ready for their stand-off with Billy. I’m not sure if there’s anything particular to read into it, but I do like that Magnificus is going to throw a car at Billy; it’s not only kind of cliche for villains to kick-off by tossing automobiles around, but if we add in some historical context to this and note that Captain Marvel was at one point accused by DC lawyers of being a Superman rip-off, then it could be perhaps be a coy nod from Morrison and Stewart to the classic image of Superman on the cover of “Action Comics” #1, with Magnificus representing the exact opposite.

You can also take the lightning bolt that embues Billy with powers in contrast with the ones that gave the Sivana’s their power. It’s shorter, more to the point, more well-formed. It gives a greater sense of power; Sivana’s bolt was loose and not as well-defined, showing that there was something wrong with the “magic” of it, but Billy’s is so direct that it obviously brings forth this great big hero with no question. Which brings us to…

Page 8

One thing that’s huge for me on this page is that as Captain Marvel first appears, he’s smiling. I can’t emphasize that enough, but I think it’s tremendous. Not that “The Multiversity” hasn’t reveled in the positive and upbeat representation of superheroes (see: Captain Carrot in the first issue), but it’s almost a compeltely foreign concept at this point to see a major superhero of this nature show up to a rumble with a positive attitude:

I mean, look at his first words: “Billy’s safe. And don’t think I’m alone.” Not only is he already assuring us the safety of minors, but he’s immediately making a reference to his family, which is a core aspect of this character and something that seems forgotten at DC, let alone 90% of Marvel (I’d go higher, but James Robinson’s been doing a bang-up job with the Fantastic Four). But Captain Marvel arrives on the scene ready for a fight in a good mood and knowing that if he needs it his family will come with a whistle, and he feels no fear at the impending onslaught of three super-powered Sivana’s about to lay some hurt down on him.

It’s another example of the science vs. magic debate, albeit perhaps a more subtle one. If you look at the way that the Sivanas power-up, it’s done with this sense of self-import; their actions, their wants, their needs — all of these are incredibly selfish and revolve around what they can do for themselves and not others. And while they smile, it’s a smile for themselves, seeing how they cheated to get what they want. But Captain Marvel is the exact opposite: he’s here to help, to save the day, to be the hero, and there’s not much more to it than that. It’s simple for him, and it shows.

Page 9

Here’s Captain Marvel calling for his friends Mary Batson (apparently literally writing in a ledger of good dees she has done) and Freddie Freeman (picking up a Batman comic and the ‘Society of Super-Heroes’ issue of “The Multiversity” at a newsstand, which is something we can’t do anymore). They both represent Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., the two most noteworthy members of the Captain Marvel family who are imbued the same powers of Shazam as Captain Marvel, though originally Freddy got his powers by saying “Captain Marvel.” Freddy also would later go on to become Shazam later, but that’s not the case anymore.

Freddy being able to grab the “SOS” issue of “The Multiversity” also turns out to be pretty important, but it’s revealed more why later. I don’t see any major significance to the Batman comic.

The emphasis on the note in the first panel here is also a Morrison staple, as Superman previously used a whistle as a weapon of sorts in “Final Crisis” (something we talked about ad nauseum in the first set of annotations when discussing the shift ship that travels through the multiverse via musical notes). I imagine it’s nothing more than a high-pitched whistle, like the kind only dogs can hear but specifically attuned for the ears of the Marvel Family.

Of course, only two of the three Sivana kids seem really hurt by it, which probably is done to show their overall weakness. Meanwhile, Magnificus slams a car into Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel doesn’t seem to give much of a damn because he’s a total boss.

Page 10

Going away from the big, red action, we now get to see Sivana and understand his plan. It was apparently inspired by the aforementioned “SOS” issue of “The Multiversity,” in which the villains from one Earth invaded another. This has led Sivana to be inspired to reach out to alternate versions of himself, including Female Sivana, Heisenberg Sivana, Snake Sivana, Luchador Sivana, Vampire Sivana and more. I would hypothesize that these Sivanas do somewhat deliberately relate to other worlds in “The Multiversity,” seeing as we know that the “Red Rain” Batman storyline is on Earth-43, and Snake Sivana could be from Earth-26 as a menace to Captain Carrot.

With his counterparts he built a bridge between realities, and I do have to wonder if it’s possible that the Sivana’s teaming up to to build a bridge between universes helped inspire the events of “SOS” just as “SOS” inspired Sivana — or perhaps simply made the invasion between worlds possible. After all, in the first issue of the series Nix Uotan already had access to the second to last issue, and in ‘#earth-me’, Batman seemed to able to get access to all the stories at once, so there’s no inherent or specific order to the way events unfold.

I guess it depends on how you perceive time within the narrative of the series. “Pax Americana” makes a pretty good case for time not being an easy construct to comprehend or understand.

We also get a re-iteration of the idea that comics are the events of another universe being told via stories, which Sivana apparently picks up on right away. Why I find this interesting, though, is that there’s no really clear influence of the Gentry in this issue; previous issues marked the Gentry with either direct references, allusions to doors and someone knocking on them, but Sivana’s actions seem so self-absorbed that I struggle to find where someone is reaching out to him and influencing events.

One last thing that the scene makes me think of (admittedly more on the next page, but whatever) is that it’s possible the comic is positing a debate about the purpose of art, or the danger. Again, “The Multiversity” is a comic about comics, but here we have Sivana being inspired by a comic to do something that is evil even despite (or perhaps in spite) of the villains losing at the end (somewhat). The purpose of the “SOS” issue of “The Multiversity” certainly isn’t to say, hey, you should invade another universe, but that’s his take away — just as the music of the Beatles was not supposed to inspire someone like Charles Manson to do bad things as well. So what is the responsibility that the comic has, if any? If in this scenario it’s a true story from another universe sending a message, then what do we have to consider if the message it sends becomes warped?

Page 11

This page is the one that makes the science v. magic argument the issue puts forth really blunt, if it wasn’t already, as Sivana is literally turning the Rock of Eternity into a stereotypical office building complete with cubicles and a watercooler. It’s the commodification of magic, of something wonderous and unexplainable, into science, something rigid and defined, and it’s all done in order for Sivana to make himself better, to further his plans and achieve his goals.

There’s a lot of allusions we could make with this. For one, it’s clearly capitalism in action and a definite corporate take over of sorts. Not only that, but we could perhaps also see this as commentary on the upper class taking what they want from whomever they want; Sivana is assuredly rich enough to be in the 1%. Another possible allusion here is the consumption of another culture into something rather decidedly white, as Sivana asserts dominance over another way of life with what he determines as right and proper.And I know I speculated outloud earlier about where the Gentry influence comes from here, but this is pretty damn Gentry-esque, all things considered.

Page 12

Here we have further recapitulation of the theme of the issue, courtesy of the Wizard:

The irony of “SOS” is becoming fairly clear, as a signal for help is clearly becoming what the Wizard needs most.

We learn a little bit more about Sivana’s plan here. He’s only got access to extra time because he imports it from other universes, again emphasizing commodification of something ethereal and unattainable into something that can be bought and sold.

Page 13

It’s 100% not intentional, I can assure you, but Sivana claiming that he wants to find “the fountainhead” (ie the source) of the magical energy made me think of “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. In it, a young architect attempts to build a building featuring new and modern architecture despite others attempting to curtail his ambition, leading to a battle of individualism/objectivism against collectivism. I do not mean to endorse Rand or the book (Rand-ian beliefs are not agreeable to me personally, and “The Fountainhead” is a polarizing book to say the least), but there’s certainly a parallel we could make between this book and the actions/purpose of the Gentry, I’d say, let alone the fact that you can impose Rand quotes over supervillains like Sivana and be unable to tell the difference.

Page 14

Back in the action. Captain Marvel takes down Magnificus Sivana fairly easy, simply because Magnificus has no idea what he’s doing.

I love that, by the way, because as we saw earlier when the Sivana Family was first gaining their abilities, Magnificus questioned why he would even need it; he’s already so perfect. The vanity of supervillains being their downfall is a pretty classic idea, and I love seeing it in play here with Captain Marvel overpowering Magnificus within three panels of Magnificus dropping a car on Captain Marvel’s head. COMICS!

Page 15

Magnificus goes flying off into the city, crashing on train tracks and getting the idea to use this as a weapon. This is a pretty classic villain trope, going all the way back to the 1910s and the introduction of the damsel being tied to a railway trope; for wahtever reason, villains love using trains in one way or another.

Captain Marvel also has to contend with the other Sivana kids, who get into an argument about who gets to fight him next. There are a lot of little moments in this issue that so wonderfully display the personalities of the villains and their idiocy, this being perhaps one of the funniest.

Page 16

Here we have Mary and Freddy arriving on scene to help out. One thing that I’m not entirely sure, but one thing I think is unclear here is whether or not Mary has aged; traditionally Mary is like Billy, a young girl who becomes an adult superhero. Freddy was not the same since his magic power was derivative, so he always remained a teen, but Mary is supposed to grow older — and I honestly can’t if the way Stewart draws her here is supposed to be “older” than the one we saw a few pages ago. I would lean to no, but there’s a point worth discussing on this subject a bit later.

But, as I said earlier, I do love that they show up to a fight with big smiles on their faces, while the Sivanas just scowl. The visual illustration of archetypes here is pretty clear.

Captain Marvel’s line “don’t look away from the man with two strong arms” can be re-interpreted to be towards the arrival of Mary and Freddy as well.

Page 17

Now the battle is underway: the train problems are taken care of, and in the background we see Magnificus flying up at Captain Marvel while Thaddeus Jr. and Georgia are whirled away from the Marvelnado.

This page also begins to emphasize the way superheroes and villains used to come in “pairs,” so to say. Look at how Mary’s reaction is to go after Georgia, the female Sivana villain that acts as her darker image, while Captain Marvel deals mainly with Magnificus, leaving Junior for Freddy. It’s a fairly classic trope for a hero to come with a “polar-opposite” villain of the same sex, and this issue is certainly mired with trying to revive the wonderment of Golden Age superhero adventure comics — but I bring this up as a point specifically because of how it becomes upended in an upcoming scene.

Page 18

Using an excavator to smack Junior off into the distance is such a ridiculous and comic book-y move.

Also, again: the dynamic of heroes is emphasized of who is supposed to fight whom.

Page 19

Okay, so this is what I was referring to in terms of gender dynamics, because now Georgia is using her sexuality as a weapon.

For one, it’s clearly influenced by the trope that the two female characters fight one another, but it’s interesting that the way Georgia chooses to fight back against Mary is by calling attention to her looks — as if we’re watching Mean Girls and not reading “Thunderworld Adventures.” There are story reasons we can see the internal logic of, particularly in that Georgia is not trained to fight and therefore probably wouldn’t think to throw a punch against Mary; that, and earlier in the issue we saw that her main concern over becoming powered was as to whether or not she’d be pretty.

However, that the dialogue is “who needs brains with a body like this is also telling of what Morrison and Stewart are inherently trying to accomplish here. The thing is, Georgia is inherently smart; she’s a Sivana, after all, and while she was illustrated to be a female mirror of her inherently ugly father, her being pretty shouldn’t make her dumb. I get that the scene is supposed to be facetious, but the way that Mary Marvel and Georgia interact here is strange — especially since we’ll turn the page and see that Magnificus and Shazam are still punching each other in the face.

I also feel like the scene talks down to the readers a bit. Not to hone in on this one scene and over-do the analysis, but in an issue that emphasizes how fun and silly superhero comics can be, the way that it features guys with tight shirts and big muscles smacking each other in the face, having this diversion that emphasizes the only two female characters in a battle not of fists but of sexuality is an odd diversion indeed.

And what makes it interesting to me is that, if you’ll recall, for a while Mary Marvel was considered a sexual icon of sorts when she became evil in “Countdown” — and it was really weird because Mary is underage. So as she donned a new tight leather costume that accentuated her body, it was a very odd decision for DC to run with. I would hope that this sequence is partially a reference to that, which I imagine it somehow has to be since Morrison wrote the evil Mary Marvel during “Final Crisis.”

So I get that the scene is supposed to be a little bit of off-color humor in the middle of the story, and certainly Cameron Stewart is great at drawing attractive female colors. Those who follow him via social media will see how often he does studies of models, and there’s his “Suicide Girls” book in which he illustrated the website’s models into a series of adventures. This is definitely Stewart playing up on something he’s talented on doing. Both within internal context and historical context, though, the inclusion of the scene is a bit.

The bigger question here is Freddy, though, which brings us to the next page.

Page 20

One thing that I think we can ask is: is Freddy truly struck by Georgia’s new appearance, or is he clever? Freddy is a teenage boy, it’s not outside of the realm of any kind of fiction — real or otherwise — for him to be seduced. We’ve all been teenagers, and some of you readers might still be; when you see someone attractive of the opposite sex it’s easy to become quickly enamored, and Hollywood will tell you this is true forever because that’s how they make teen movies (and shows).

Yet despite getting down on bended knee (probably as a sign of old-timey chivalry, as opposed to him proposing; keep in mind the era this book reflects and the assumptions of proper behavior dictated by gender), he plays up the role of suitor and gets her to reveal her name, thus changing her transformation and turning her back into the ugly version. I would question how Freddy would know that would work, only because in this instance he does not gain his power from saying “Captain Marvel” but rather “Shazam.” If the book had stayed true to Freddy’s origin, then yeah, I’d buy it in a second. But here he seems to just get lucky.

I guess this simply illustrates how under-prepared the Sivana Family was for actually taking on the Marvel Family. Though, if Magnificus is to be believed, they’re just a distraction for the monsters to come out.

What monsters, you ask?

Page 21

The Monster Society! Also known as the Monster Society of Evil, an organization that was aided by Hitler and Mussolini and is led by an evil space worm named Mister Mind. For this particular rumble Stewart has assembled (clockwise) a re-designed Mr. Atom, Oom, a mondo-version of either Crocodile Man or Sobek, and a giant bug who I’m not sure of. The inclusion of the Monster Society makes sense as they’re classic villains for Shazam, and is the second point in the issue where I assumed part of this whole story could be influenced by Jeff Smith’s “Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil” story.

I would also presume that the nefarious cloud in the background represents Mister Mind in this issue, as an omnipresent being influencing and watching over the actions of the Monster Society. After all, you can’t have the Monster Society without Mr. Mind, now can you? Unless the giant bug is supposed to be Mr. Mind post-metamorphosis, which is perhaps plausible.

But, hey, why have only one classic Marvel team when you can have two?

Page 22

The Lieutenant Marvels! We’ve got Fat Billy, we’ve got Hill Billy, we’ve got Tall Billy, we’ve got Uncle Dudley, and you better believe we’ve got Tawky mother-flippin’ Tawny! If “Thunderworld” had come out without an appearance from Tawky Tawny, you can bet that most hardcore Captain Marvel fans would’ve torn up the issue and thrown it in the bin, let me tell you.

The Lieutenant Marvels are kind of silly, comprised of three other Billy Batsons from different parts of the US, and they are given the powers of Shazam mainly… because. I don’t think there ever was a reason other than they just happen to also be named Billy Batson. But they have the powers split between them, and decided to become Lieutenants to “regular” Billy’s Captain.

Meanwhile Uncle Dudley and Mister Tawky Tawney are a bit more known, perhaps even more classic Marvel Family characters, with Dudley being introduced mainly as comic relief and Tawky Tawney being introduced because who doesn’t want to have a best friend who is a talking tiger? RRAWWR!

Of course, we can note that the team here is in suits and on jetpacks, so it’s fairly implied none of them has powers. Though, it’s probably fair to say Tawky does because normally tigers don’t talk.

Page 23

So the big superhero battle is going on, with all the Marvels vs. the Monster Society (Magnificus is wrapped up but alludes that he’ll just break free, and Thaddeus Jr. is just… somewhere, floating around), and Shazam is off to to the Rock of Eternity. He mentions that to do so is to head to “the subway station where it all began,” which is a reference to the incredibly classic Captain Marvel origin story: Billy Batson, a young and, depending on the variation, homeless or oprhaned boy wanders into a subway tunnel after a strange man who leads him to a subwar car with no drive — which in turn transports him to the Wizard.

Pages 24-25

Here is a good representation of classic comic dialogue, as Shazam speaks to himself outloud as a quick reference to the events happening in the story at the time. It’s something that some books do away with now as a narrative device and a few maintain, but it’s pretty ordinary for Golden Age heroes to talk outloud to themselves and self-narrate what’s happening to them.

The dialogue of the people who see him is a bit odd, though. Not to be nit-picky, it’s clearly just add-on crowd reactions, but the characters illustrated certainly seem to have a sense of apathy not reflected by the dialogue. I’m reading into it in terms of seeing the parallel between art and text, but the line “don’t just leave us” coming from a guy that looks almost disinterested at a man flying by him struck me on my reads.

There is no inherent easter eggs that I can glean from “Phillips Street” and “First Ave,” though.

Pages 26-27

What an amazing splash page this is. The way Stewart places Captain Marvel at the direct center, with all the trains running alongside him and the Ben-Day dots all over the place make for such a glorious image.

I think it’s also debatable what the trains are doing. Initially there was one magical train, reserved for Billy Batson to take him to the Wizard; here we see a lot. Whether there’s a lot of trains providing magical opportunities for people over the world, whether this represents the multiverse or whether this is a result of Sivana’s doing (with the trains themselves perhaps now under his control, or transporting his goods and wares to his corporate takeover) is debatable. Captain Marvel is certainly mystified, and certainly he’s been through this before — albeit in a more isolated fashion.

Another possibility could be that this is the Golden Age “Bleed.” The Bleed is a DC concept present in “The Multiversity” that represents the space between universes; it’s what shift ships use to travel between and to other places. All things considered, this could be a Ben-Day Bleed.

Page 28

Back with the Sivanas (Baby Sivana! Heisenberg Sivana!), we’re introduced to someone I can only think to refer to as Lecter Sivana. He’s a weird one, for sure, but the point of him seems to be pretty obvious: Sivana as we know him, despite wanting to murder his opponent, is rather tame; for him this battle is a black and white matter. And all things considered, his motives and actions are cartoon-y — creating a new day that he controls to defeat his arch-enemy is goofy as heck.

And then there’s this guy straight out of Image’s “Nailbiter,” covered in blood and interested in torture, and he represents a Sivana that every other Sivana present finds repugnant. Yes, they’re all ostensibly evil, but this guy is more than evil; he’s warped, deluded, violent, sadistic. He’s the more modern villain archetype, someone who is more interested in literally taking apart his foe than just coming up with a scheme and taking the foe out nice and easy.

So this is past and present villainous archetypes staring each other in the face, and Sivana-Prime being uncomfortable with this is pretty rife with commentary about the way superhero stories have changed in and of itself. Morrison has said in the past that superheroes are the best idea we ever came up with and that it was a shame to try and bring them down to our level, and Lecter Sivana certainly seems to be emblematic of that.

We could also hypothesize that Lecter Sivana here is the agent of the Gentry hidden in the book. Certainly all my previous sentiments would establish why, and he sticks out like a sore thumb. I’d certainly buy it as an explanation.

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I particularly like the angle here. We’re looking down at the Rock of Eternity and seeing the way that the design of the Techno-Rock of Eternity is up-close. It’s actually quite reminiscent of the Death Star when the Luke and Co. get up close and personal with it in A New Hope, in terms of its industrialization and convenient holes allowing entry.

Which is what the case is here, as Captain Marvel prepares to show-off. This page is one of my “Yeah! YEAH! THREE TIMES YEAH!” moments for this issue.

Page 30

Here we get more Lecter Sivana, as well as Normal Sivana — the one who isn’t technically a villain. Normal Sivana is pretty trope-y in his own regard, in terms of a character who is tricked by an alternate version of himself who is secretly evil. We’ve seen it on Star Trek, we saw it with the birth of the zombieverse from Mark Millar’s “Ultimate Fantastic Four” run, and we’ll probably see it again in other media and fiction soon. Of course, the joke here is that he’s not evil, so he would inherently be “our” Sivana, the one we would relate to or latch onto and root for as he attempts to better the multiverse only to be suckered into working with a group of monsters — hence my nickname for him, Normal Sivana.

The visual representation of him is of note as well, because he’s the only one who isn’t ugly. His teeth stick out a little, sure, but in contrast with all the other Sivanas he’s rather handsome. Villains tend to get drawn as grotesque with heroes drawn as sleek and attractive, and while this issue does feature Magnificus as handsome in both “regular villain” and “supervillain” outfits, the stereotypical way in which this is illustrated does stand out as rather on-point to the continued commentary permeating throughout the issue.

And Lecter Sivana continues to be super fucked up, so.

Page 31

So, I’ve failed to bring this up previously, but Sivana keeps talking about how this is “the day Captain Marvel dies.” It’s said quite a few times throughout the issue by Sivana and Billy Batson, and it’s repeated like a mantra in the issue. It strikes me as odd that Sivana feels the need to repeat it; perhaps it’s a nervous character tick. It’s certainly a nod to classic and archetpyical vilainous dialogue, but it seems like Sivana feels he has to keep saying, because if he doesn’t say it then perhaps it won’t happen. Certainly Sivana at this point has been defeated by Marvel on a few occasions, otherwise the intense dramatics as he ups the stakes in their rivalry wouldn’t be necessary — so is he saying it over and over again because that’s the only way he thinks it will actually work?

It’s debatable. Sivana is clearly vain and self-obsessed, as is evidenced by everything he’s done in the issue. This seeming lack of confidence seems almost out of character, though; it’s Sivanaday, the day he wins. Why would he need to remind himself of that?

We also have Captain Marvel coming through a doorway to the confronation, which keeps firm the repeated motif of doorways and confronation. (You could argue that him traveling through the subway was representative of that as well, but this being the final confrontation feels a bit more potent).

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Now Sivana has become Black Sivana, an even more ugly and grotesque version of Sivana born out of a grotesque and de-formed bolt of lightning.

This is also the only real inclusion of Captain Marvel’s other main nemesis, Black Adam. Black Adam was a predecessor to Captain Marvel, someone who had the Wizard’s power before and used it for evil, so it makes sense why Sivana would become an iteration of him when attempting to steal the Wizard’s power through his own corrupt lens. This does raise questions of whatever happened to Theo/Teth-Adam since the legacy of Black Adam seems known to Sivana, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

Now here’s the fun part: throughout the whole issue we’ve had science vs. magic via Sivana. Sivana sees them as two things that are so widely different that one has to consume and define the other. However, using the wisdom of Solomon (where the “S” comes from in “SHAZAM!”), Captain Marvel has decreed that science and magic are two sides of the same coin, and damn if he isn’t inherently correct. You can enjoy the rules and laws and logic that science dictates, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also have the wonder and amazement and curiosity that comes with magic. After all, magic is but science without an explanation; and perhaps it doesn’t need it.

If that doesn’t illustrate why Captain Marvel (or, at least, Grant Morrison writing Captain Marvel) isn’t the most perfect hero, then I don’t know what will.

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The fight escalates, with Sivana basically just reiterating his position. In fact, we’re reiterating a lot of positions the book takes: science v. magic, handsome v. ugly in relation to good v. evil, etc. Most of the book’s major themes are well encapsulated in the battle of Captain Marvel fighting Black Sivana, which to me sort of allows the necessity of not just having Black Adam.

And then Captain Marvel pulls out a neat little trick by using the same thing which gives him power as a weapon.

Page 34

So as Captain Marvel says “Shazam,” the force of the transformative lightning bolt hits him and acts as a strike against Black Sivana. I can’t comment towards whether this is a staple Captain Marvel move, but I do know it’s one that he has done in other comics before so it’s definitely in the repertoire. (I very specifically remember him using it in the Marvel vs. DC event of the 90s when Captain Marvel took on Thor — and why I picked that reference point instead of any other time he has done it is probably indicative of my younger days and my memory).

This scene also connects us to the earlier scene where we first met Billy Batson, kid reporter faced with himself from the future — and Stewart uses the same panel as earlier (the one I referred to earlier with the more cartoony faces) again in this scene to remind us of that.

It’s also fun to see what Future Billy was talking about in context. When we first receive the message, it plays off as so incredibly horrific and dire. Now we can see that Billy’s just building up to his eventual triumph, and it’s decidedly less dire. Still, as was noted earlier in the comic, it’ll make for good news.

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I don’t have anything to really say about this page other than that last panel is super fantastic:

Clever, indeed.

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So, the way that Captain Marvel wins here is pretty convenient: the Sivanas ultimately defeated Sivana. Captain Marvel literally didn’t have to do anything; Sivana is such a sneak and a cheat that his parallel universe version ended up cheating himself out of the deal he planned to cheat them out of — and in his own rage-fueled vanity, Sivana de-powered himself as well.

It’s an ending that’s basically wrapped up nicely with a bow, all things considered, and of course it is because all of these kind of comics were. If this book is playing off of a type, then it stands to reason that the book has to fall to the same faults of narrative that the classic ones do. That’s why Billy says he only has to be “clever enough.”

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Sivana’s comment here about “Sivana=MEC2″ is obviously both a play on the famous Albert Einstein theory of relativity and probably a play on #earth-ME from a few issues prior.

Also, look how conveniently the Wizard just breaks out of his cell behind Captain Marvel. Again, things are just wrapping up nicely.

What doesn’t wrap-up nicely is Lecter Sivana. “This isn’t over. Now I’ve seen her. I want that girl.” He’s most likely referring to Mary Marvel, but it does emphasize the dynamics between the two iterations of villains as Lecter Sivana feels the need to get in a last word of lingering doom before his screen shuts off, leaving nothing but a black mirror to the Sivana of this world. Whether Lecter Sivana shows up again or not will be interesting to see; I’d wager not, but I’d love to see him show up in “The Multiversity” finale.

Also, this is perhaps the strongest case for Lecter Sivana being somewhat related to the Gentry, I suppose.

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The Monster Society of Evil is defeated and all is well! Well, except for the fact that the Lieutenants aren’t letting Tawky Tawny be in the picture of their triumphant victory. That’s total bullshit. Uncle Dudley should take the picture; why does he get the victory stance over a magical talking tiger? For fucks sake!

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel is finally learning about the role of the “SOS” comic, thanks to Freddy, and my question about whether comics are dangerous or not is brought into the dialogue. Of note, the evil cursed “Ultra Comics” issue of “The Multiversity” never appears in this issue, whereas it appears and has a prominent role in every other issue of the series, so “SOS” being the issue that plays that role here is an interesting change of pace.

Also missing from this issue: the Atom. Every issue has had an Atom of prominence in some way except for this one. So, no “Ultra Comics,” no Atom, no obvious form of Gentry. Not that I’m complaining, but there are a lot of things ‘missing’ in “Thunderworld.” Is it because “Thunderworld” is that much more magical than any of the other issues, and perhaps the only one so far that has no inherent cynicism anywhere inside? Not to take a talking point from the next page and put it here, but when Captain Marvel sees the panel of Parallax saying “I’ll get out and destroy everything,” his response is to laugh and throw the comic in the trash, so.

The book has its ties to the overall “The Multiversity” storyline, but this issue more than the others really does feel like you could probably read it without any involvement in the bigger narrative. The relationship is there, but like the Techno-Rock of Eternity latching onto the real Rock, it’s only by a single chain.

Freddy also mentioning “DC and Major Books” in the Captain Marvel issue probably emphasizes why they didn’t want to mention Marvel Comics directly in the series, beyond perhaps the coy obvious reasons. He also mentions that “SOS” was cancelled, which perhaps gives a nod to the otherwise grave ending of that issue.

Mary also remarks about wanting to meet herself from another universe. Again, given Black Mary Marvel, I don’t think she does.

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And that’s “Thunderworld!” There may be an impending disaster of something getting out of a comic and destroying everything, but that sounds like tomorrow’s big adventure! And notice how Captain Marvel refers to it as an adventure, and not a battle or a challenge or anything of that sort; as he and Freddy and Mary fly off smiling into the clouds, we’re given this image of happy-go-lucky superbeings who come down to our world to protect us, and to have fun with it.

It’s inspired, and it’s everything missing from 99.999% of today’s superhero comics.

We also get two white doves flying in the final panel — perhaps just a nod towards the peace brought by the Marvel Family as they fly smiling into the distance, but also perhaps a nod to the doves from “Pax Americana” that were symbolically let loose as images of peace only to be shot down. A bit of compare/contrast, if you will.

That’s all for this month’s annotations. If there’s anything important that I missed, please do sound off in the comments below. Together, we can save the universe!