About the Mary (Shazam! Family) Bishoujo Statue
Kotobukiya has introduced Mary Marvel from the Shazam! family adapted in the Bishoujo style!
The character of teenage superhero Mary Marvel was first introduced in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in 1942. In the original storyline, she is the sister of Billy Batson, who was the alter ego of Captain Marvel. She was one of the first female superhero spin-offs. Like her brother, when she says the name of the wizard Shazam she is transformed into a superhero named Mary Marvel.
In the original storyline introduced by Fawcett Comics, she is a teenage girl named Mary Bromfield who discovers she is the adopted sister of Billy Batson, the alter ego of superhero Captain Marvel.
She was born Mary Batson, but her parents were killed in a car accident. Her nurse, a woman named Sarah Primm arranges for Mary to take the place of a child who died in her care. As a result, her twin brother Billy is sent to an orphanage while Mary is raised as Mary Bromfield by her unknowingly adopted family.
When Billy is a teenager, a dying Sarah Primm tells him the truth about his sister and gives him half a locket and tells him his sister wears the other half. He then recalled seeing a girl as a contestant at a quiz bowl named Mary Bromfield who wears half a locket. Billy and his friend Freddy Freeman trail Mary in their superhero identities and are required to act to save Mary from kidnappers.
Billy discovers that Mary does indeed wear the other half of his locket and that she is his sister. When he reveals this to Mary she wonders if as his twin, she could also access the power of Shazam, though the boys believe the wizard wouldn’t give his power to a girl.
When the boys are prevented from saying the magic word, Mary inadvertently says Shazam! and is transformed into a superhero, which would later be called Mary Marvel. She then saves her brother and Freddy by herself. This marks the beginning of her career as a superhero.
This original version of Mary Marvel did not transform into an adult when she invoked the name Shazam! but instead stayed in the physical body of a teenager. Her powers were derived from female goddesses instead of male figures like her brother. When DC Comic licensed the character, this version of the character had a slightly different origin story and Mary gains her powers from the same benefactors as her brother and the power is finite and shared between Mary, Billy, and Freddy.
In this bishoujo representation of Mary Marvel, she is wearing her original red and gold costume with the lightning bolt across her chest, gold boots, and a white cape trimmed in gold. The cape’s pearly white paint is infused with sparkles that can be seen on the actual figure. The word SHAZAM! jumps out from the base. It has been sculpted in the bishoujo style and stands 8 1/2 inches tall.
This high-quality statue is made possible due to the skilled ability of illustrator Shunya Yamashita and sculptor James Marsano.
Release Date: December 2019
