Justice League Unlimited Shazam Family 4-Pack: "SHAZAM!" Review

I have a soft spot for Captain Marvel. Now while Superman will still be number one in my book, the Big Red Cheese isn't that far behind in popularity. Actually at one point when he has first created back in the 1940s, Captain Marvel became even more popular than Superman. Why? Because the notion that a young child could become a adult superhero in an instant just fueled the imagination. It was the proverbial genie in a bottle syndrome as young Billy Batson received a magical wish (in this case a magical word) and transformed himself into the World's Mightiest Mortal. Now, the good captain has finally made his Justice League Unlimited toy appearance thanks to MattyCollector.com in the "Shazam" Family 4-Pack, all part of a new "Fan Collection" series along with Mary Batson, Black Adam and the Wizard.

Young Billy Batson was orphaned and homeless when he met the old Wizard in the subway. By speaking the Wizard's name "SHAZAM," Billy was transformed into Captain Marvel, the World's Mightiest Mortal. Shazam is an acronym for the six deities that empower him with their special attributes:

S is for the wisdom of Solomon;
H is for the strength of Hercules;
A is for the stamina of Atlas;
Z is for the power of Zeus;
A is for the courage of Achilles;
M is for the speed of Mercury.

Out of the four characters, only Captain Marvel has made an appearance on the Justice League Unlimited animated series for one episode. This action figure is a great representation of the Big Red Cheese and quite ornate in detail especially around the cape area. His costume colours are typically red and yellow but all the yellow is replaced with gold (as Alex Ross first depicted in Kingdom Come). On paper it looks great and makes sense but it doesn't translate well on this action figure. The gold seems to dull the entire appearance. While yellow is bright, it works well with the Captain's sunny disposition and I think it would have worked a lot better.

A big disappointment is the size of the figure. Captain Marvel, when standing beside Superman, is considerably smaller. These two should be the same size and height and yet the good Captain looks like a teenager compared to the Man of Steel. That also means Black Adam is smaller than Superman since he shares the same body type as Captain Marvel.

Limited articulation is to be expected from these figures but I don't mind as much as I used to in the past. I can see that Mattel is trying to cut down on the cost by using existing bold moulds and replicating as many different types of characters from it.

Interestingly, Captain Marvel is labeled as "SHAZAM!" on the packaging due to licensing. Marvel Comics trademarked the name Captain Marvel so DC Comics cannot promote Captain Marvel under that name. Instead, he's been promoted under the trademark Shazam! and people often mistaken that for his name.

Just like the Gotham Villains Four-Pack, the Shazam Family is sold in the same fashion. Even though it's sold as a set of four, they are all individually packaged instead on coming together in one big boxed set. The cost for this set of four is $30.00 and they are only sold this way on MattyCollector.com. The only way to get individual figures is through secondary market.

It's been a long time for Captain Marvel "SHAZAM!" to get his due in the spotlight and I'm glad that he isn't overlooked anymore. Even though he and Superman share similar powers and attributes, they are distinctly different in many other years. More than anything, it's Captain Marvel's youthful exuberance that is the most infectious character trait that he possesses. What kid wouldn't love to be all grown up in two seconds complete with superpowers?