The Marvel Family is returning to the DCEU, and the Fandome behind-the-scenes teaser for Shazam: Fury of the Gods should spur you to take a second look at the Marvel Family’s key issues.

After 2019’s Shazam! established Billy Batson’s family as superheroes, the cast of the Marvel Family is poised to make its mark on the DCEU. While other collectors are gunning for those Bronze Age Captain Marvel/Shazam key issues, it will be worth your time to pony up for a couple of Golden Age firsts with huge upsides.

CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES #18

Make no mistake; this is not a cheap comic. Why would it be? After all, it’s the Golden Age first appearance of Mary Marvel, who could be a breakout character in Fury of the Gods. That is automatically a recipe for a pricey book. However, this particular first appearance may not be as expensive as you might guess.

Granted, the higher grades will easily cost five figures, and the mid-grade copies are in the upper four figures themselves. Set your sights on the lower grades, where you will find that a 2.0 is still selling for less than $2k. If you don’t mind a comic that is rough around the edges, the last time a 1.8 sold online, it went for $870. While those prices may sound high compared to other eras, that is a steal for a Golden Age key. If Mary Marvel gets elevated to a starring role in the Shazam! franchise, that could be a well-placed investment.

MASTER COMICS #22

This is a Golden Age key that has been flying well under the radar. While most collectors with a large budget may aim for Freddy Freeman’s first appearance in Whiz Comics #25, Captain Marvel, Jr.’s second appearance and first cover art in Master Comics #22 is a better value. Like Mary Marvel, there is the potential for Freddy to play a larger role in the movie franchise. Cover collectors will be particularly interested in this issue.

There have been only a handful of graded sales this year.  The silver lining is that could leave prices on the lower end. A 2.5 brought under $1k in February; the most recent sale was a 7.0 that sold as part of the Promise Collection for $5,280 last month.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #21 (2013)

A much cheaper alternative to those Golden Age Marvel Family keys is the New 52’s Justice League #21. Here you have the debut of the modern Marvel Family along with an amazing Gary Frank cover of Black Adam and Captain Marvel. Odds are, this will be the basis for the DCEU Marvel Family, which was renamed the Shazam Family in the 2013 issue. That could make this a minor key, especially if the movie is a hit.

Prices are on the way up. After the 9.8 averaged $39 last year, another copy brought $150 on September 12.

A MARVELOUS FUTURE

With WarnerMedia churning out the HBO Max series left and right, it would not be surprising to see the Shazam Family star in their own streaming show. In fact, Fury of the Gods could be the testing grounds to see if audiences would be interested in just that. If DC can replicate the success of the original Shazam! movie, there could be plenty more Mary Marvel and Freddy Freeman in the future.

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