The Magic of Shazam!
Now, whether or not I will ever be employed by DC Comics to write a series called The Magic of Shazam! depends on a large number of factors, one of which is the outcome of the upcoming miniseries Infinite Crisis. Four simultaneous miniseries are leading into Infinite Crisis, which has been promoted as laying the groundwork for the next ten to twenty years of comics in the DC Universe much as Crisis on Infinite Earths did in 1985-86. (I fear for the future.) At the conclusion of Day of Vengeance, one of the lead-in minis, the Wizard Shazam was dead, murdered by The Spectre; the Wizard's home, the Rock of Eternity, had exploded over Gotham City, killing thousands; and Billy Batson, who had been in the Rock of Eterntiy when it 'sploded, was falling to his death over that same Gotham City.

Now, clearly Shazam is not actually dead, since Black Adam is clearly visible in several preview pages for Infinite Crisis made available by DC Comics. Black Adam, Captain Marvel's opposite number, derives his powers from the Wizard, just like the Marvel Family (Cap, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Junior a.k.a. Kid Marvel in The Magic of Shazam!). Logic. Of course, Infinite Crisis is being written by Geoff Johns, who has misrepresented Black Adam's connection to Shazam in the pages of JSA; so, I wouldn't put it past those rat finks to kill the Wizard and simply retcon Black Adam's powers as being derived from some other source. Wankers. But I digress.

When all is said and done, I presume that somehow the Wizard will be alive again, or at least in some state of ghostly life whereby he can still bestow his powers on Billy Batson (Cap), Mary Batson (Mary), and Freddy Freeman (Cap Jr./Kid). The Magic of Shazam! is being developed under the assumption that everything will be as it was before the catastrophic events of Day of Vengeance No. 6.

The No. 50 Extravaganza
"The Red and the Black"
Nos. 45-50
Theo Adam wrests control of Black Adam (technically, Theo's own body) from the ancient Egyptian spirit of Teth-Adam. He assembles a new Monster Society of Evil to keep the Marvels occupied while he tries to destroy the Wizard Shazam. Theo has been essentially a prisoner in his own body since gaining the power of Shazam as Black Adam; he figures the only way to be truly free is to eliminate the Wizard, source of Black Adam's power. Captain Marvel and Black Adam battle in the heart of the Rock of Eternity while Mary Marvel and Kid Marvel battle Dr. Sivana and the Monster Society for control of Fawcett City.

"The Revenge of Theo Adam"
Nos. 51-52 (maybe 53)
Though Black Adam seemingly failed to kill the Wizard, Shazam and the Rock of Eternity have disappeared. Consequently, Theo Adam is free of Teth-Adam's influence and Billy, Mary, and Freddy have none of the powers of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Kid Marvel. Theo Adam, a thoroughly evil man, originally murdered Billy and Mary's parents C.C. and Marilyn Batson and now seeks to kill their foster parents, Nick and Nora Bromfield. Hardened criminal and experienced knife fighter Theo Adam versus Billy Batson, all 5'6" and 125 lbs. of him.

"From Here to the Rock of Eternity"*
Nos. 53-56 (maybe 54-57 or even 53-58)
Even without Black Adam, what's left of the Monster Society is more than a match for Fawcett City's remaining defenders, Bulletwoman, Robot Marvel, Mr. Tawny, and the municipal Constabulary. Sterling Morris, great friend of Captain Marvel and owner of radio station W.H.I.Z., sends an expedition in search of the missing Marvel Family: boy reporter Billy Batson, the leading expert on the World's Mightiest Mortal (Morris doesn't know Billy's secret); Billy's field producer Whitey Murphy; W.H.I.Z. public relations director Beautia Sivana; and "expert guide" Avi Ducret (Spy Smasher), brought along at Billy's insistence. The expedition scours the four corners of the earth for any sign of the Wizard while Mary and Freddy do what they can to keep Fawcett City from falling to the Monster Society of Evil.

*Maybe I do things ass-backwards, but I like to think up titles and then see what kind of stories I can come up with to fit them. A great example is "From Here to the Rock of Eternity"; it popped into my head as soon as I added From Here to Eternity to my Netflix cue several months ago and I loved it immediately, though originally as "From Here to (the Rock of) Eternity." But, I never had a good story for it. As I was thinking of a story suitable as an "event" for issue No. 50, a world-shattering battle between the two champions of Shazam, Captain Marvel and Black Adam, seemed perfect ("The Red and the Black," stolen from the novel, which I've never read). The aftermath of this conflict seemed like the perfect time to depower Captain Marvel, something I needed to have happen before "The Revenge of Theo Adam," one of the firts ideas I had for The Magic of Shazam! (the visual in my head is of Billy and Theo fighting on a steep rooftop in a snowstorm at night, Nick and Nora being in the Swiss Alps at the time). Once I connected those two disparate ideas, and if I do say so myself I think they dovetail quite nicely, it seemed natural that Billy would embark on a quest to find the Wizard and thus restore the powers of the Marvel Family. This story was included in the previous post as "We're Off to See the Wizard" or "The Yellow Brick Road." Just before I fell asleep, I connected the search for Shazam story with "From Here to the Rock of Eternity" and they seemed like a natural fit. Hooray for me.

Not to boast, but, man, The Magic of Shazam! would be so cool.