| Doctor Sivana` | |
|---|---|
 Doctor Sivana as he appeared on theConvergence: SHAZAM! (2015). Art by Evan "Doc" Shaner. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fawcett Comics (1939–1953) DC Comics (1972–present) |
| First appearance | Thaddeus: Whiz Comics #2 (cover date Feb. 1940, release date Dec. 1939) Georgia: Mary Marvel #1 (December, 1945) |
| Created by | Thaddeus: Bill Parker C. C. Beck Georgia: Otto Binder |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Thaddeus Bodog Sivana Sr. Georgia Sivana |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Sivana Family Monster Society of Evil Thaddeus: Legion of Doom Injustice League Fearsome Five Secret Society of Super Villains Science Squad |
| Partnerships | Mister Mind Black Adam |
| Notable aliases | Thaddeus: World's Wickedest Scientist Georgia: Doctor G. World's Wickedest Girl |
| Abilities | Both versions of the character are skilled scientists, inventors, and criminal masterminds. |
Doctor Sivana is the name of two fictional, related characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The original Doctor Sivana's alter-ego isThaddeus Bodog Sivana, a recurring enemy of thesuperheroCaptain Marvel created byBill Parker andC. C. Beck and first appeared inWhiz Comics #2 (cover-dated February 1940) byFawcett Comics.[1] Amad scientist and inventor bent on world domination, the character was established as Captain Marvel's mainarchenemy during theGolden Age, appearing in over half of the FawcettCaptain Marvel stories published between 1939 and 1953.[2] Thaddeus has kept his role as one of the key archenemies of Captain Marvel (now Shazam) throughout the character's appearances in DC Comics, which eventually acquired the rights to Fawcett's superhero characters. In 2009, Doctor Sivana was ranked asIGN's 82nd-greatest comic book villain of all time.[3][4]
The second character known as Doctor Sivana isGeorgia Sivana, P.h.D, the daughter of Thaddeus who first appeared inMary Marvel #1, created by Otto Binder. Georgia was originally portrayed as anunderling of her father who takes after her father in appearance and skills, both possessing keen scientific minds although the character is instead an arch-nemesis forMary Marvel. Years following "The New 52" reboot and during the "Infinite Frontier" initiative, Georgia's character is revamped into an olderprofessor,archaeologist, and estranged daughter of Thaddeus whose reputation is tarnished due to her father's obsession with magic in the scientific community and seeks to improve it at any cost.[5]
Thaddeus Sivana has made his cinematic debut in theDC Extended Universe 2019 filmShazam!, portrayed byMark Strong, who reprised the role in a post-credits scene cameo in the 2023 sequelShazam! Fury of the Gods.
Infamously evil, Doctor Sivana appeared in well over half of all of the Golden Age Captain Marvel comic stories, and in all of the first four stories, after having deduced Captain Marvel's dual identity as boy radio broadcaster Billy Batson early on. Depicted as a brilliant, if evil, scientist, Sivana used all manner of unusual inventions and techniques against the Marvels. He was at first a good man who wanted to help humanity, but big business, bosses, and other concerns blocked and checked him and even called him mad, until, embittered, he turned against humanity and moved to Venus. He somehow held high status among the beings of the planet Venus.[6] He returned to Earth, establishing himself as a villain, and clashed with Capt. Marvel in the latter's first fight. Along with the Marvel Family, Sivana entered publishing limbo in 1953, following a ruling in theNational Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications court case finding that Captain Marvel was an illegal infringement of the existing copyrights onSuperman.
National Comics (todayDC Comics) acquired the rights to the Captain Marvel characters in 1972, relaunching them in a new title,Shazam! the following February. The characters' 20-year absence from publication was explained as the result of Doctor Sivana and the Sivana Family having trapped the Marvels, their friends, other superheroes, and, by accident, themselves in a sphere of Suspendium, due to Sivana Jr. distracting Doctor Sivana by slapping him on the back in congratulation and making him crash the spaceship into the Suspendium sphere, a compound that kept them in suspended animation from 1953 until 1973. They were released when the Suspendium sphere neared the sun, melting it enough that Captain Marvel was revived. He and the other Marvels then pushed it back to Earth. The Sivanas escaped in their spaceship but were captured by Captain Marvel in the same issue despite another attempt at world domination. He still makes many attempts at world domination, including a multi-issue storyline where he traveled across America, threatening to destroy entire cities unless he was acknowledged as Rightful Ruler of the Universe.[7] InShazam! #28 (1977) he was responsible for bringingBlack Adam back using his reincarnation machine.
Sivana continued to appear inShazam!-related stories through theCrisis on Infinite Earths limited series in 1985. He was reintroduced by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake in the miniseriesShazam!: The New Beginning in 1987. This Sivana was the same mad scientist that the previous one had been, except that he only had two children (Beautia and Magnificus), and was Billy Batson's step-uncle.
Jerry Ordway revised the character of Sivana for his 1994 graphic novelThe Power of Shazam! and the resulting ongoing series, and this revision has been retained in all following DC publications. The modern Sivana, in addition to being a mad scientist, was also a powerful and influential tycoon, similar toLex Luthor. The formerCEO of his own Sivana Industries, Sivana's corrupted dealings and crossing of Captain Marvel led to his own destruction and his intense hatred of the Marvel Family. Beautia and Magnificus Sivana are reintroduced again in this series; their mother, Sivana's ex-wife Venus, is briefly seen inThe Power of Shazam! #27.
AfterThe Power of Shazam! series ended in 1999, Sivana was rarely seen untilOutsiders vol. 3 #13–15 (August–October 2004), in which he reorganizes the supervillain group theFearsome Five, appointing himself leader. Sivana and his four associatesMammoth,Psimon,Jinx, andShimmer (a fifth,Gizmo, is killed by Sivana for challenging the scientist's position as resident genius) continued to appear at irregular intervals in the pages ofOutsiders.[8]
Sivana is a short, bald, self-describedmad scientist with a penchant for developing unusual technologies. He often plots to do away withCaptain Marvel and hisMarvel Family, but is usually thwarted in his plans. His trademark phrases are "Curses! Foiled again!" and his mocking laughter "Heh! Heh! Heh!" He also coined the insulting name Big Red Cheese to refer to Captain Marvel, a name that the Captain's friends have adopted with which to light-heartedly tease him.
Thaddeus Bodog Sivana,[9] born in 1892,[10] began with the best intentions and was one ofEurope's best scientific minds, with progressive scientific ideas that could revolutionize industry but were rejected by everyone he approached. Laughed out of society by people who called his inventions impractical and his science a fake, Sivana took his family to the planetVenus in a spaceship he had invented.[11] There he stayed until his children were grown, and Earth not so backward as when he left it. Since his children were adults by 1940, his departure from Earth would implicitly have been the late 1910s or early 1920s. During his years away, struggling to tame the Venusian jungle, Sivana turned bitter and planned his revenge against the world that had shunned him.[12]
He initially plotted his revenge with a radio silencer that would disable all radio communications permanently. He tried to extort $50 million, only to be stopped by Captain Marvel in his first adventure. Cap broke through the window of the building where Sivana was hiding and defeated the guards, binding them securely with tubing ripped from the radio-silencer.[13] Sivana planned to kill Captain Marvel with a blast from his Atom-Smasher, but Cap leaped back out the window and escaped. During the fight, Sivana's returning army angrily asked why Captain Marvel had defeated them in their war against America despite their highly advanced weaponry.[14] Sivana appeared to have been killed by the Atom-Smasher blast, but he returned a short time later, having somehow learned Captain Marvel's identity. He sent a letter to Billy Batson to lure him to the planet Venus, disguising himself as 'Professor Xerxes Smith'.[15] Sivana's henchmen bound and gagged Batson, and Sivana tried to take away his memory using a Memory Mangler. Billy regained his memory after stumbling into the cave of Shazam and accidentally saying the word "Shazam". Sivana's henchmen rebelled against him and set off an explosion that destroyed the Mangler. Ironically, Captain Marvel saved Sivana and his daughter Beautia Sivana, who the henchmen had left to die.[16] Sivana continued to nurse a megalomaniacal grudge against humanity and also a personal enmity with the Marvel Family. This persisted even after Cap revealed Sivana's former benevolent inventions (which Sivana considered useless), leading to his being awarded theNobel Prize in Physics. Far from being pleased, Sivana was insulted by the prize and stated that only when he was crowned Ruler of the Universe would he consider himself properly honored.[17]
The Golden Age Sivana was a twice-widowed father with four children: good-natured adult daughterBeautia Sivana[15] who, when first seen, was Empress of Venus. Beautia has bewitching beauty which affects men like a drug, which Sivana once used to try to make her win an election. Beautia's remaining siblings include the super-strongMagnificus Sivana,[18] and evil teenagersGeorgia Sivana[19] andThaddeus Sivana Jr.[20] As the Sivana Family,[21] Sivana, Georgia, and Sivana Jr. attempted to destroy Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr., respectively. They traveled through time via theRock of Eternity to various points in the history of Atlantis (ancient, modern, and future). There they attempted to steal technology to build a machine that would create a barrier around the Earth, thereby preventing the Marvels from calling down lightning. Georgia and Thaddeus Jr. possess brilliant minds like their father and share his enmity with the Marvel Family, but Magnificus and Beautia rarely fight the Marvels. In fact, Beautia has an unrequited crush on Captain Marvel, not realizing that he is really an adolescent boy.
Following theCrisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, Sivana was first reintroduced as Billy Batson's step-uncle in a 1987 miniseries,Shazam! The New Beginning. Magnificus and Beautia were depicted as his only children.
A second retcon in 1994 established Sivana as a wealthy tycoon with political influence, similar toLex Luthor, only to have the events surrounding an archaeological expedition to Egypt he sponsored lead to both the creation of Captain Marvel and the fall of Sivana's fortunes. Blaming Captain Marvel for his fall from grace, Sivana dedicated himself wholeheartedly to using his inventions and intellect against the Marvel Family. In current continuity, Sivana's ex-wife Venus is still alive, as are all four Sivana children. They resemble their Pre-Crisis counterparts.
The evil scientist appears briefly in the "Infinite Crisis" storyline. Sivana also appeared along with Lex Luthor in the four-issue 2005limited seriesSuperman/Shazam: First Thunder byJudd Winick andJoshua Middleton, which depicts the first meeting between Superman and Captain Marvel.
In the 2006–2007 limited series52, Sivana was abducted to Oolong Island, a tropical paradise run byIntergang, where he and many other DC Universe "mad scientists" are allowed to live a hedonistic lifestyle while creating the inventions of their wildest dreams as members of theScience Squad and pitting them against one another. They create the Four Horsemen of theApokolips and succeed in capturingBlack Adam, whom Sivana then tortures for weeks, until Adam is freed by heroes storming the island.[4] Georgia and Thaddeus Jr. were reintroduced in52 Week Twenty-Six (November 1, 2006), in which they appear alongside Beautia, Magnificus, and Beautia and Magnificus' mother Venus, who wants Sivana found and has a charity dinner with the Black Marvel family.
Sivana later captures Mind and mutates him into a "hyperfly", a colossalmoth-like figure with the ability to travel across time and realities.[4]
On the cover ofJustice League of America #13 vol. 2, Sivana appears as a member of the newInjustice League.
In the 2008 miniseriesFinal Crisis, he is placed on the new Society's inner circle byLibra.[22] Sivana was with Libra whenCalculator was accused of sending computer codes that would help the resistance.[23] Sivana joins withLex Luthor in betraying Libra, after being made to watch one of his own daughters succumb to theAnti-Life Equation. Sivana creates a device to shut down the Justifiers' helmets, allowing Luthor to attack Libra.[24]
Sivana later appears as a member ofCheetah's Secret Society of Super Villains.[25]
In September 2011,The New 52 reboots DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Doctor Sivana first appears inJustice League vol. 2 #7, depicted as a respected scientist desperate to save his family from an unknown plight. With science having failed him, he turns to magic (specifically the legend ofBlack Adam).[26] Sivana's team finds what he believes to be Adam's tomb; while attempting to open it, he is partially blinded by magical lightning and gains the ability to perceive magic.[27]
After Doctor Sivana's alliance with Black Adam fails, he attempts to directly access the Rock of Eternity, but is stopped by a magical shield and encounters Mister Mind.[28] Introduced as a well-built man of average height, the corruption that results from using his magic-seeing eye causes the doctor to slowly wither to a form resembling his stooped, traditional Fawcett appearance.[28]
In the fifth installment of theMultiversity series,Thunderworld (December 2014), Thaddeus Sivana of Earth-5 (a world populated by traditional interpretations ofShazam! characters) coordinates with his doppelgangers from many of the 52 worlds of the Multiverse to defeat the Marvel Family of Earth-5 and, eventually, conquer the remainingDC Multiverse. He has his three offspring Thaddeus Jr, Georgia, and Magnificus storm the Rock of Eternity and seize control of it, pitting themselves against their opponents, but soon finds he has been betrayed by the Legion of Sivanas and is defeated.[29] The Legion continues to feature heavily in later chapters ofThe Multiversity. They invade Earth-42 and cull many of its heroes inGuidebook, and sell weapons sourced from alternate worlds to the Freedom Fighters of Earth-10 inMastermen.[30]
InDoomsday Clock, Doctor Sivana is among the villains who attend the underground meeting held byRiddler to discuss the Superman Theory.[31]
Sivana later works with Mister Mind to free the Monster Society of Evil from the Monsterlands.[32] They also encounter and freeSuperboy-Prime before being defeated by the Shazam Family.[33]
Georgia Sivana is the daughter of Thaddeus Sivana, the brother of Thaddeus Sivana, and the half-sister of Magnificus Sivana and Beautia Sivana. She would be an opponent forMary Marvel.[34]
In "52", Georgia Sivana's family connection remains intact with her stepmother being Venus Sivana.[35]
In "Infinite Frontier", Georgia was first indirectly mentioned in regards to Doctor Sivana's family, with Thaddeus being depicted as a respected scientist whom was desperate to save his family from an unknown plight and turns to magic, leading up discovering Black Adam's tomb and freeing him.[26][27] The character would not make an appearance until The New Champion of Shazam! #2, introduced first asDoctor G. before being latered revealed asDr. Georgia Sivana, P.h.D (also known as Doctor Sivana). In this new reality, Georgia was a respected professor ofarchaeology atHarvard University whose reputation is tainted due to her father's obsession with magic, which subjected her to ridicule and termination as a professor in Harvard. Seeking to elevate herself further, she began experimenting with merging magic and science in order to create magi-tech, turning to criminal methods to acquire test subjects. This placed her at odds with the superhero Mary Marvel, whom she learns is one of her prospective students she sought as ateaching assistant.[5]
Georgia later worked with Mister Mind in Beck Geist's body where they formed the latest incarnation of the Monster Society of Evil.[36]
Doctor Sivana'sintelligence is so great that it borders on a superhuman level. He has mastered all scientific and technological disciplines, as well as knowledge of various ancient myths, legends, and cultures.[37] Sivana once discovered a mathematical formula which, when recited, allows him to become intangible.[38]
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