We've reached a point where the Shazam books are a bit of a minefield in terms of panel selection on account of a new supporting cast character called Steamboat who is an outrageously racist caricature. Thankfully, for our purposes, it's also about this time that Captain Marvel reacts to World War II by joining America's armed forces. But wait, that's not an American uniform! No, in this story, he protects the throne of an invented European country called Thulia. The NEXT issue actually comes out on the same month (the kids can't get enough of the Big Red Cheese), and in THAT one...
...he DOES enlist. Do the Allies win the war more quickly? No, because before Private M.R. Vell can even finish boot camp, his commanding officer - actually the resurrected wizard Shazam, thought dead since the origin story - orders him back to civilian life. Well, I guess superheroes can't be allowed to break the world.
Meanwhile, in Cap's berth, Whiz Comics, it's a Sivana story, even if Cap's reference to worms would seem to predict Mr. Mind. I guess it's all back to normal with wacky threats here at home while the real-life heroes fight Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, eh?
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