Did you know that Shazam is a father? No, no, not that Shazam. Not the superhero who's actually a child who transforms into an adult—that would be weird and kinda icky. I'm talking about the Wizard Shazam A.K.A. Jebediah of Canaan A.K.A. the magical man behind Billy Batson and the rest of the Shazamily getting their powers. He’s actually a father, and in a shocking turn of events, his daughter is a sexy demon known as Blaze who has been causing chaos in the pages of DC comics since 1990. So, seeing as Father's Day is this weekend, let's revisit this most unexpected daddy daughter relationship.
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While some may claim that Blaze first appeared in Action Comics #655, that’s only where we first enter her earthly abode: a satanic nightclub in an abandoned church named Blaze's where Jimmy Olsen attempts to take Lucy Lane on an ill-fated date. (Yeah, we’re not sure what he was thinking either.) Fortunately, the young Lane sibling can sense something is off and leaves Jimmy and his pal Jerry White alone to pursue their potentially demonic shenanigans.
We first get to meet Blaze herself under her alter ego of Angelica Blaze in Adventures of Superman #469. Jimmy and Jerry get entangled in a drug deal gone wrong after Blaze psychically switches the money for cockroaches, leading to Jerry and Jimmy getting shot multiple times by a biker gang.
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So, why the confusion over Blaze’s first appearance? In 1990, the Superman office was in the midst of what would become one of its most famous periods—the Triangle Era. (It was the same era that gave us the Death of Superman arc.) During the Triangle Era, the stories cycled throughout Action Comics, Superman and Adventures of Superman, with the letters pages reminding readers which issues to pick up next and editor's notes prodding people to catch up on anything they missed. Following her first appearance, Blaze next appeared in Action Comics #656, where Superman had to team up with the Black Racer and eventually go to hell in order to save Jimmy and Jerry. That's where he encountered Blaze in her true form, as a sick demon who wanted nothing more than to trap Superman in her fiery domain.
Blaze was then added to the rotation of recurring Superman villains, often pulling strings from behind the scenes and causing all manner of mayhem. An encounter with Blaze and Silver Banshee even directly preceded one of the more infamous moments in Superman's history.
After Silver Banshee ambushes Clark in Action Comics #662, she drags him to the now condemned Blaze's. Intending to finally kill the Man of Steel, Banshee sports a familial weapon enchanted by Blaze herself and very nearly sinks the deadly blade into a wounded Superman. He manages to survive, of course, and rushes home to finally reveal to Lois Lane that Clark Kent and Superman are indeed one and the same.
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For years after that, Blaze was just a random demon who loved to steal souls from a cool nightclub, but in 1996, Jerry Ordway revealed that she actually had a more vital connection to one of the most powerful families in the DC Universe. During the Power of Shazam series, Ordway drew a line between Blaze and the Wizard Shazam. He revealed that she was, in Shazam's words, his "evil daughter" who had been plaguing him throughout history and trying to mess up his plans. Not only that, but it was Blaze who freed the Seven Deadly Sins and corrupted Black Adam!
Honestly, the Wizard Shazam doesn't seem like he was that great of a dad, just leaving his daughter in hell and all. But what do I know?
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Since then, Blaze has shown up in series like Reign in Hell, Secret Six and more recently, Nightwing, where she was challenging the ruler of hell, Neron, for his demonic throne. Throughout her 34-year history, Blaze has been an unsung villain—and successful female business owner—of the DC Universe, lost to some of the weirder Superman comics of all time. She also has one of the most fraught father-daughter relationships in all of comics and it’s tied to a character who has a history with myth and the underworld. In other words, it really feels like it’s only a matter of time until Shazam’s demon daughter returns to the DCU for some fiery fun.
So, this Father's Day, let's all raise a glass to the Wizard Shazam and his delightfully evil offspring! And if your own relationship with your father isn’t that great, at least he didn't sleep with a hellhound, sire you, then abandon you to hell while becoming the father figure to a family of random children!
Rosie Knight is an award-winning journalist and author who loves Swamp Thing, the DC Cosmic and writing the monthly gossip column here at DC.com. You can also listen to her waxing lyrical about comics, movies and more each week as she co-hosts Crooked Media's pop-culture podcast, X-Ray Vision.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Rosie Knight and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.