Did you know that in Whiz Comics #87 (published May 9, 1947) both the wizard Shazam and Captain Marvel had to end a quarrel among the gods?
It turns out that Mars, the god of war, had sneaked into Mount Olympia and was giving some of the gods (Zeus and Mercury) his nectar of evil! This caused them to quarrel and fight among themselves. Mars' malicious plot is uncovered and Shazam banishes him to the nether realms!
The wizard Shazam gives Billy Batson the powers/abilities of six gods. Billy gains them by uttering the magically mystic word, "Shazam!" which transforms him into Captain Marvel - the World's Mightiest Mortal!
I want to examine Captain Marvel's speed, which he gets from Mercury, in this article. Who was Mercury? When has Captain Marvel displayed this speed? I will answer those questions below!
Mercury is a character from Roman mythology. Because of his winged sandals, he could fly faster than the other gods. In Whiz #29 we are told that Mercury is faster than thought, and according to Shazam! #20 (1975) it is Mercury who led Billy Batson to his first meeting with Shazam! Captain Marvel gets his ability to fly and immeasurable speed from Mercury. And remember, speed is also a necessary component for power - with no speed, you have limited power.
While there are many examples of Captain Marvel's speed given to us in the pages of his comics, I'll give just a few.
Captain Marvel Adventures #2 provides us with our first example of Cap's blazing speed. In this story Captain Marvel launches himself into the atmosphere on a trip to Mars - reaching it in about 5 minutes! That is amazing especially considering it would take a man-made rocket about 6 months to travel from earth to Mars. What would take mere mortals 6 months, the world's mightiest mortal can do in 5 minutes. Captain Marvel travels faster "than the swiftest rays of light."
There is one other example to share that captures Cap's speed, and it comes to us in the pages of Captain Marvel Adventures #79. In this adventure, the Big Red Cheese must travel back in time to clear Shazam's name of an ancient crime he did not commit. We learn that Captain Marvel is able to fly faster than the speed of light - that is over 186,000 miles per second!
Finally, in Captain Marvel Adventures #144 we are clearly told that Mercury gives Captain Marvel not only his great speed, but also the ability to fly!
The sixth power Shazam gives Captain Marvel is the speed of Mercury and we see Cap display this speed throughout his adventures. Captain Marvel's speed allows him to travel to Mars in about 5 minutes, and his speed allows him to fly faster than the speed of light - giving him the ability to time travel. Captain Marvel's speed truly makes him the World's Mightiest Mortal!
Scientific Note: The distance from Earth to Mars is not a constant due to both planets orbiting the sun. When Earth and Mars are at their closest point, they are 34,796,787 miles apart and at times can be as far as 62.6 million miles apart. If Captain Marvel flew at the speed of light to the planet Mars at its closest point to earth, it would take him approximately 3 minutes!
Did you know that according to E. Nelson Bridwell, the mystery messenger that brought Billy Batson to the wizard Shazam in Shazam! #1 was Mercury!
E. Nelslon Bridwell was the Associate Editor for the Bronze Age Shazam! comics. In Shazam! #20 (June 24, 1975) in the Shazamail! section (where fans could write and have their letters printed and questions answered) a reader asked "who was the messenger of Shazam who brought Billy Batson to the Egyptian magician for the first time?" Bridwell's response was, "...I have an answer. Who was the MESSENGER of the gods? None other than MERCURY - who just happens also to be one of the SHAZAM gods!"
So there you have it - according to the Bronze Age Captain Marvel comics editor, Mercury was the mystery messenger who led Billy Batson to his fateful meeting with the wizard Shazam.
Did you know that Captain Marvel can time travel? That's exactly what he does in Captain Marvel Adventures #79. (Note: I've also read other editions where Cap does this but I failed to get the edition number - I'll update this once I find them!)
Captain Marvel exceeds the speed of light to escape the known universe and arrive at the Rock of Eternity (Note: He thus proves Einstein's theory!!). Upon reaching the Rock, Cap uses his 'amazing abilities' to follow the time-line into the past and accurately reach the exact point in time he was looking for! The World's Mightiest Mortal doesn't need a time machine or high-tech DeLorean to time travel!
Did you know Captain Marvel can time travel? I didn't until I read this edition of Captain Marvel Adventures!
