Captain Marvel in “Disassembled” by Matt Duarte
Note from the author: I totally blew my deadline on this one, so I am backlogging it into the time it was supposed to be up. Sorry for the delay.
Panel 1
Description: Captain Marvel is grabbing Dr. Sivana by the neck, holding him above the ground. Sivana is defeated, almost unconscious, but the Captain is not looking at him. Instead, he is looking down at his navel.
CAPTION: It's funny, it didn't start with lighting and thunder, just with a small rumble, barely audible.
CAPTAIN MARVEL: I'm... hungry?
Panel 2
Description: Captain Marvel is facing a really big version of Mr. Mind. There is actually fear in the face of the big red cheese, it looks out of place and abnormal.
CAPTION: It spread far too soon, and the next thing to fall was my self-confidence.
CAPTAIN MARVEL: You will not win this time, Mr. Mind! I will not let you succeed!
CAPTAIN MARVEL (in smaller font): I hope...
Panel 3
Description: Captain Marvel is in the rock of eternity, talking to the Wizard Shazam. Both of them look worried as they walk side by side.
CAPTION: At first I thought this all-too sudden influx of very human emotions and feelings was related to my alter-ego as Billy.
SHAZAM: I think what happening is very clear. If you can't see it yourself, it means that not only has the stamina of Atlas and the courage of Achilles, but the Wisdom of Solomon has left you as well.
Panel 4
Description: A close up of Shazam, talking direly to Captain Marvel, who is shocked by the revelation.
CAPTION: It turned out to be much worse.
SHAZAM: The powers are abandoning you because these men of legend and gods are being reborn into Earth.
SHAZAM: We must find them before someone else does. Time is of the essence!
Next: Billy Batson: Agent of S.H.A.Z.A.M.
What would follow after this is a story where Billy Batson/Captain Marvel can only access one set of powers at once, and at a much lower level than his normal state. It would ideally be a spy-like tale with magic elements of him globe trotting finding these legendary beings being reborn into Earth rescuing them from organizations that are trying to use them for their own advantage. Completely different tone from the usual Captain Marvel story? Sure, but I think it would be fun to see regardless.
I like the premise, Matt. It's an intriguing reinterpretation of the character that manages to stay true to the origin material at the same time. If this was the new Captain Marvel series, I would happily pick it up every month.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of one and only idea for an ongoing Superman plot in which Clark wakes up one morning to discover that all his different powers have been shared out between different people across the earth and he has to get them back one by one. It's a way of dealing with the fact that these guys are just too damned powerful to be truly interesting characters. I loved your version though, that the individual gods were coming back and so Marvel's powers were returning to them - lots of potential for big fight scenes!
ReplyDeleteMatt - great concept, not sure the page sells me on it. Well, it does sell me on it but the page doesn't stand tall on it's own. Does that make sense?
ReplyDelete@Ryan: I'll happily admit that while I loved the concept behind my idea for this week, I also struggled like hell to condense it into one single page. I don't think it's my best effort, but I just forced myself to write it (as I ran super late as it was).
ReplyDelete