Shazam: The New Beginning#3(1987)

Captain Marvel flies Uncle Dudley back to San Francisco and admits he's been quiet due to failing to stop someone before. Captain Marvel feels lackluster that he cannot fight crime as well so much as break things as he snaps the handle off the rooftop door to the Beck Building. Captain Marvel returns to being Billy and finds that he can no longer carry Uncle Dudley's valise and they're soon ambushed by their former landlady, Mrs. Peebles. She offers them banana bread and they decline for just now. A tired Billy says that he probably needs to handle Black Adam first and eats some banana bread as they wonder who was exactly on Bigwig One. They soon discover on TV that it's packed with over 45 foreign dignitaries going to meet at the “Western White House” before he's interrupted on-air by Station Manager Emily Thickert, who says that Station K-WHZ has received an ultimatum saying not to say anything more than that the supposed hijacker has called them and said the hostages are alive and well in Northern California and anyone with further info should call them. Billy goes to do so, but Uncle Dudley convinces him that plenty of crazy people will already be flooding the lines and that they don't actually know where the hostages are. They decide to wait until morning and Billy swears to keep his secret identity secret for now. However, in the night, Billy leaves a note and sneaks out to call SHAZAM and fly to K-WHZ as Captain Marvel. He soon enters the station and finds that EA Thickert is upset that the man responsible for The Bompo Show is drunk yet again. Billy enters her office and tells “Dame” Thickert that he was an eyewitness and that US fighter jets were trying to respond but didn't arrive over the Diablo range fast enough and that he saw a man in black stopping the plane in flight. She says she'll take down the rest of his story in a little bit and Billy falls asleep on her coach, leading Thickert to steal his ID out of his wallet and call the Sivana Kids to pick him up. Mag admits he's been looking for “that brat” for days, though Beautia says that he's not being a brat and explains his situation. Thickert presumes that Billy was just making it all up. Billy calls SHAZAM before they can come back in and becomes Captain Marvel once more. He soon flies back to the subway tunnel to try to speak with Shazam. He tries to light the brazier near him and, in doing so, summons the spirit of the Wizard Shazam, who he says is now immortal. Shazam acquiesces to explain the story of Black Adam. Over 3,000 years ago, he was a great protector in Egypt and soon grew weary enough to lend his non-sorcerous powers to someone he thought worthy: Teth-Adam, he gained the Stamina of Shu, the Swiftness of Heru, the Strength of Amon, the Wisdom of Zehuti, the Power of Aton and the Courage of Mehen as “Mighty Adam!” He assigns that he must aid King Menes in united the Upper and Lower Kingdoms into a singular land for the sake of civilization. After the God-Birds had left Egypt, Shazam had trusted King Menes, but did not want his champion and the ruler of a united Egypt (Or “Khmet” the Black Land) and instructed Mighty Adam on how to assemble the first pyramid. Looking down upon Egypt holding the capstone, Mighty Adam found the people small and weak compared to him and decided to kill King Menes and declared himself as Pharaoh of the Two Kingdoms. Shazam returned and now calls him “Black Adam,” to reflect his evil ways and, though he cannot steal his powers back from him, he instead banishes him to another plane of existence, both as far as the farthest star, but nearer than a heartbeat. Captain Marvel soon understands this as Black Adam being a “defective prototype” that Shazam “had recalled” and that one of the few things he doesn't know is exactly who or how Black Adam was able to return from the other dimension he was exiled to. Captain Marvel says he knows now and Shazam says it's his destiny to fight Black Adam… but not necessarily to beat him, then disappears. He quickly realizes that it was Sivana's machines and flies into his mansion, finding him in his lab beating Beautia for not returning with Billy. Mag tries to brain Captain Marvel with a 50 lb machine, but it does nothing to him and he demands to know the truth about Black Adam. He mildly shoves Mag, knocking him out, which upsets Beautia. Dr. Sivana plays dumb about things until Black Adam arrives and ignores Dr. Sivana saying he should destroy Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel, realizing he doesn't have to hold back and there isn't a hostage around his neck right now, punches Black Adam into the sky to keep him from using Beautia as a human shield and punches him again, demanding to know where the hostages are… but finds that he's punched him so far he can't see him anymore. Black Adam soon returns quickly, smashing a power pole over Captain Marvel, knocking him through a water-tower. Captain Marvel points out that he's shielding Sivana and that's reason enough that one of them must die and they begin to battle at their full strength. Black Adam rages that his purpose and drive to rule is stronger than Captain Marvel's youthful exuberance and his grudges against Sivana, throwing him back into Sivana's lab, only for Sivana to blast Captain Marvel in the back with a ray-gun that knocks him out. Black Adam curses him, saying that he did intend to kill him by hand and recognizes that he can use this weapon against Black Adam. Black Adam orders him to send Captain Marvel to the dimension he was trapped in… so he can destroy his machine for good when he does…!