On a scientific expedition to Siam young Billy Batson is given the ability to change himself into the super-powered Captain Marvel by the wizard Shazam, who tells him his powers will last only as long as the Golden Scorpion idol is threatened. Finding the idol, the scientists realize it could be the most powerful weapon in the world and remove the lenses that energize it, distributing them among themselves so that no one would be able to use the idol by himself. Back in the US, Billy Batson, as Captain Marvel, wages a battle against an evil, hooded figure, the Scorpion, who hopes to accumulate all five lenses, thereby gaining control of the super-powerful weapon.
Written by Doug Sederberg <vornoff@sonic.net>
THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN CARTOONLAND BECOMES THE STRONGEST MAN ON THE SCREEN! All others pale in the light of this human fortress who finds no barrier too great in his amazing fight for justice.
The cast member under the Scorpion's hood, momentarily visible and identifiable when he is accidentally unmasked in one episode, is not the same actor who is eventually unmasked as the actual Scorpion in the final episode.
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Goofs
Plot holes:
While a prisoner of the Scorpion, Betty manages to grab a gun and fire a shot that creases the villain's hand. Informed of this, Billy manipulates the expedition's members into showing their hands, and only one man's hand shows an injury. However, subsequent events prove he is not the Scorpion. How the real villain had no injury is never hinted at, and there's precious little said about the wound that was found: After Billy escapes a death trap at the latter man's home, the two have a conversation that is joined in progress, with Batson admitting that he could believe the scientist's story (told completely off-screen) about the cause of his injury if he could explain other things that had happened. Perhaps that trap was originally intended to be a chapter-ending cliffhanger and the explanations were lost in re-editing to eliminate a chapter here.
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Quotes
[first lines]
[sound of a huge gong omninously echoes down the valley]
Billy Batson:
What's that, Mr. Howell? Howell [Ch. 1]:
I don't know, Billy - let's find out. What do you make of that cymbal, Malcolm? John Malcolm:
I don't know, Howell. Does it mean anything to you, Tal Chotali? Tal Chotali:
The men of the hills are gathering. The cymbal says that the white men are to be driven from the Valley of Tombs. See more »