Batman Gambit/Comic Books: Difference between revisions

* Back in [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]], [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]]’s mentor [[The Archmage|Shazam]] pulled an excellent one. In one story, the evil [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Silvanus]] had a plan to [[Take Over the World]] that involved three [[Applied Phlebotinum|diabolical inventions]]: One, an [[Unobtainium| incredibly strong metallic alloy]]; two, [[Me's a Crowd|android duplicates of himself]] that were ''made'' of said alloy; and three, [[Intangible Man|a device that made him intangible]], able to phase through walls like a ghost and become untouchable. He easily subdued Shazam using these devices, and when the hero showed up, he was [[No Sell| unable to even touch Silvanus]], much less punch him. He ''was'' able to wreck the duplicates with ease, but Silvanus got a good idea: he would [[I Have Got Your Wife| use Shazam as a bargaining chip to extort the hero]], and order him to build the androids, keeping him occupied so he could work his machinations unmolested, all while the androids were being built. At first, Marvel refused, but Shazam - still able to communicate with him via limited telepathy, insisted his protege concede and submit to the villain. Reluctantly the hero did so, and eventually, through building the androids, got an idea of his own: he used the technology to build an android duplicate of ''himself'', who could continue the villain’s task [[Decoy Getaway| (and throw off suspicion when Silvanus checked on him)]] while Marvel himself did his own research. Doing so, he discovered a superior, stronger version of the alloy, one which Silvanus would be unable to phase through even while intangible. So, he constructed [[Tailor-Made Prison| a jail out of this superior metal]], lured Silvanus to it, and trapped him, saving the day. But why did Shazam tell him to obey the villain in the first place? Because had he not done so, he’d have never discovered the new alloy and would have wasted time trying to fight Silvanus directly; by conceding, Marvel had discovered a way to apprehend him, ''just as he planned!''