Doctor Sivana
Encyclopedia
Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book
supervillain
. Created by Bill Parker
and C. C. Beck
, he first appeared opposite superhero
Captain Marvel
in Whiz Comics
#2 (February 1940) by Fawcett Comics
. Sivana was soon established as Captain Marvel's archenemy
and most frequent foe, a role that he continues to hold to this day in his appearances in DC Comics
, who eventually acquired the rights to those characters from Fawcett. In 2009, Doctor Sivana was ranked as IGN
's 82nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
court case finding that Captain Marvel was an illegal infringement of Superman
.
National Comics (today DC Comics
) acquired the rights to the Captain Marvel characters, relaunching them in a new title, Shazam! the following February. The characters' twenty-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 achknowledged as Rightful Ruler of the Universe.(Shazam #25 to #29). In Shazam #28 he was responsible for bringing Black Adam back using his reincarnation machine.
limited series in 1985. He was reintroduced by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake in the miniseries Shazam! 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 novel The 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 (a la Lex Luthor
of the Superman comics). The former CEO 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 in Power of Shazam! #27.
#13 -15 (August–October 2004), in which he reorganizes the supervillain group the Fearsome Five
, appointing himself leader. Sivana and his four associates Mammoth
, Psimon
, Jinx
, and Shimmer
(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 of Outsiders.
The evil scientist appears briefly in DC's Infinite Crisis
. Sivana also recently appeared along with Lex Luthor in the four-issue 2005 limited series
Superman/Shazam: First Thunder by Judd Winick
and Joshua Middleton
, which depicts the first meeting between Superman and Captain Marvel.
In the 2006-2007 limited series 52
, Sivana was abducted to Oolong Island, a tropical paradise run by Intergang
, where he and many other DC Universe "mad scientists" are allowed to live a hedonistic lifestyle while creating the inventions of their wildest dreams and pitting them against one another. They create the Four Horsemen of the Apokolips
and succeed in capturing Black Adam
, whom Sivana then tortures for weeks, until Adam is freed by heroes storming the island. Georgia and Thaddeus Jr. were reintroduced in 52
Week Twenty-Six (November 1, 2006), in which they appear alongside Beautia, Magnificus, and their mother Venus, who wants Sivana found and has a charity dinner with the Black Marvel family.
Dr. Sivana turned out to be indirectly responsible for the main conflict of 52: disruptions in the fictional time stream caused by a mutated Mr. Mind. Sivana had captured Mind, a worm
who happened to be another of Captain Marvel's villains, and the scientist had bombarded it with treatments of Sivana's own "Suspendium" time-travel compound. As a result, Mr. Mind mutated (Or, according to himself, matured - as he had apparently been in larval form all this time) into a "hyperfly", a (sometimes) planet-sized moth
-like figure with the ability to travel in time and across realities, posing a serious threat to the Multiverse
. He is finally thrown back in time to the day where Dr Sivana found him
On the cover of Justice League of America #13 (vol.2), it shows Doctor Sivana as a member of the new Injustice League
. Doctor Sivana is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run
.
, he is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra
. Dr. Sivana was with Libra when Calculator
was accused of sending computer codes that would help the resistance. Sivana joins with Lex Luthor
in betraying Libra, after being made to watch one of his own daughters succumb to the Anti-Life Equation
. Sivana creates a device to shut down the Justifiers
helmets, allowing Luthor to attack Libra.
Doctor Sivana later shows up as a member of Cheetah
's Secret Society of Super Villains.
with a penchant for developing unusual technologies, and who often plots to do away with Captain Marvel and his Marvel Family
, but is often 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.
According to The Origin of Dr. Sivana (Whiz Comics
#15, March 1941), he began with the best intentions and was one of Europe's best scientific minds, with progressive scientific ideas that could revolutionize industry but was 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 planet Venus
in a spaceship he had invented, where he stayed until his children were grown, and Earth not as 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. He initially plotted his revenge with a radio silencer that would disable all radio communications permanently, he tried to extort $50,000,000, only to be stopped by Captain Marvel in his first adventure. Cap broke through the window of the building, and defeated the guards. In a moment both of Sivana's terrified assistants were securely bound with tubing ripped from the radio-silencer. He was apparently killed in Whiz comics #3A when caught in the blast of his Atom-Smasher with which he planned to kill Captain Marvel, but he was delayed from escaping by his returning army which angrily asked why Captain Marvel had defeated them in their war against America despite their highly advanced weaponry while Cap leapt through the window and escaped, but returned next issue, although it is unexplained how he escaped. By then it is implied he had somehow learnt Captain Marvel's identity, using it to lure Captain Marvel to the planet Venus by sending a letter to Batson about the trip and disguising himself as a 'Professor Xerxes Smith'. In Whiz comics #4 he certainly knows Captain Marvel's secret identity, trying to take away his memory while Billy has been bound and gagged by Sivana's two henchmen, but when Billy accidentally says Shazam after he stumbles into the cave where Shazam gave him his power, his memory returns and the Memory Mangler is destroyed in an explosion set off by Sivana's rebellious henchmen. Sivana and Beautia were ironically saved by Cap as the henchmen had left them to die. This began his own long enmity with the Marvel Family while still nursing his megalomaniacal grudge against humanity so intensely that even his later winning of the Nobel Prize for Physics, due to Captain Marvel revealing his benevolent inventions he himself considered useless, was not enough to placate him. In fact, he was insulted by the prize and reiterated that only when he was crowned Ruler of the Universe would he consider himself properly honored.
The Golden Age Sivana was a twice-widowed father with four children: good-natured adult offspring Beautia (first appearance: Whiz Comics #3 (April 1940)) who when first seen is Empress of Venus and has bewitching beauty which affects men like a drug, which Sivana once used to try to make her win an election, and the Super-strong Magnificus (first appearance: Whiz Comics #15 (March 1941)), and evil teenagers Georgia (first appearance: Mary Marvel Comics 1
(January 1946)) and Thaddeus Sivana, Jr. (first appearance: Captain Marvel Adventures #52 (December 1945)). Georgia first went to Earth to finish Mary Marvel, after Sivana said he was going after Captain Marvel, and Jr going after Jr. Sivana Jr., and Georgia constituted the supervillain group Sivana Family, the evil counterpart to the Marvel Family (first group appearance: The Marvel Family #10 (April 1947), where they time travel to Ancient, Modern, and Future Atlantis after gaining access to the Rock of Eternity using faster then light spaceships, and attempt to steal materials to make a machine which can prevent the Marvels calling their lightining down by creating a barrier around Earth which deflects the lightining, and succeed in capturing, binding and gagging all the Marvels though releasing them to mock them, although the Marvels stop this when they break into the lab and turn off the machine, then capture the unsuspecting Sivanas). They both possess brilliant minds like their father. Magnificus and Beautia, however, were not enemies to the Marvels (although Magnificus fought Cap when he first appeared); in fact, Beautia has an unrequited crush on Captain Marvel (whom she does not realize is really an adolescent boy, Billy Batson although she later realises it).
Following the Crisis on Ininite Earths miniseries, Sivana was first reintroduced as Billy Batson's stepuncle 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 to Lex 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 dedicates 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.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
. Created by Bill Parker
Bill Parker
William "Bill" H. Parker, Jr. was an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known for creating Fawcett Comics' most popular character, Captain Marvel, in 1940, along with artist C. C. Beck....
and C. C. Beck
C. C. Beck
Charles Clarence Beck was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics....
, he first appeared opposite superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
in Whiz Comics
Whiz Comics
Whiz Comics was a monthly ongoing comic book anthology series, which was published by Fawcett Comics from February 1940 with issue #2 and stopping at issue #155 in June 1953, best known for introducing Captain Marvel. The first issue published of Whiz Comics was issue #2...
#2 (February 1940) by Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
. Sivana was soon established as Captain Marvel's archenemy
Archenemy
An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...
and most frequent foe, a role that he continues to hold to this day in his appearances in DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, who eventually acquired the rights to those characters from Fawcett. In 2009, Doctor Sivana was ranked as IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's 82nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
Fawcett Comics and pre-Crisis DC Comics
Infamously being evil, Doctor Sivana appeared in well over half of all of the Golden Age Captain Marvel comic stories, and 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 somehow held high status among the beings of the planet Venus. Along with the Marvel Family, Sivana entered publishing limbo in 1953, following a ruling in the National Comics Publications v. Fawcett PublicationsNational Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications
National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications, 191 F.2d 594 , was a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a twelve-year legal battle between National Comics and the Fawcett Comics division of Fawcett Publications, concerning Fawcett's Captain Marvel...
court case finding that Captain Marvel was an illegal infringement of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
.
National Comics (today DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
) acquired the rights to the Captain Marvel characters, relaunching them in a new title, Shazam! the following February. The characters' twenty-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
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
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 achknowledged as Rightful Ruler of the Universe.(Shazam #25 to #29). In Shazam #28 he was responsible for bringing Black Adam back using his reincarnation machine.
Shazam! The New Beginning and The Power of Shazam!
Sivana continued to appear in Shazam!-related stories through the Crisis on Infinite EarthsCrisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
limited series in 1985. He was reintroduced by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake in the miniseries Shazam! 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
Jerry Ordway
Jeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths , his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and...
revised the character of Sivana for his 1994 graphic novel The Power of Shazam!
The Power of Shazam!
The Power of Shazam! is a 1994 hardcover graphic novel, written and painted by Jerry Ordway for DC Comics. The 96-page story, depicting the revamped origins of former Fawcett Comics superhero Captain Marvel, was followed by an ongoing series, also titled The Power of Shazam!, which ran from 1995 to...
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 (a la Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
of the Superman comics). The former CEO 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 in Power of Shazam! #27.
Later appearances
After The Power of Shazam! series ended in 1999, Sivana was rarely seen until OutsidersOutsiders (comics)
The Outsiders are a fictional DC Comics superhero team. As its name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who allegedly do not fit the norms of the mainstream superhero community, namely the Justice League....
#13 -15 (August–October 2004), in which he reorganizes the supervillain group the Fearsome Five
Fearsome Five
The Fearsome Five is a fictional group of comic book supervillains from DC Comics. They were created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman, and first appeared in The New Teen Titans #3 , going on to become recurring adversaries for that superhero group...
, appointing himself leader. Sivana and his four associates Mammoth
Mammoth (comics)
Mammoth , a fictional character that is a comic book supervillain from DC Comics. The character was created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman.-Fictional character biography:...
, Psimon
Psimon
Psimon is a fictional comic book supervillain from DC Comics created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman. He first appeared in New Teen Titans #3 as one of the founding members of the Fearsome Five, which became a frequent enemy of the Teen Titans, Superman, and the Outsiders.-Fictional character...
, Jinx
Jinx (DC Comics)
Jinx is a fictional character, a supervillainess appearing in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared in Tales of the Teen Titans #56 , and was created by Marv Wolfman and Chuck Patton.-Publication history:...
, and Shimmer
Shimmer (comics)
Shimmer is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe. She was created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman and first appeared in New Teen Titans #3 .-Fictional character biography:...
(a fifth, Gizmo
Gizmo (comics)
Gizmo is a fictional character, a supervillain from DC Comics. He was created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman, and he first appeared in The New Teen Titans #3 as a founding member of the Fearsome Five, a supervillain team that frequently fought the Teen Titans and the Outsiders.-Mikron...
, is killed by Sivana for challenging the scientist's position as resident genius) continued to appear at irregular intervals in the pages of Outsiders.
The evil scientist appears briefly in DC's Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
. Sivana also recently appeared along with Lex Luthor in the four-issue 2005 limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Superman/Shazam: First Thunder by Judd Winick
Judd Winick
Judd Winick is an American comic book, comic strip and television writer/artist and former reality television personality...
and Joshua Middleton
Joshua Middleton
Joshua Middleton is an artist and designer working in the animation, film, comics, and book industries...
, which depicts the first meeting between Superman and Captain Marvel.
In the 2006-2007 limited series 52
52 (comic book)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
, Sivana was abducted to Oolong Island, a tropical paradise run by Intergang
Intergang
Intergang is a fictional organized crime group in Superman and other DC comics. Armed with technology supplied by the villainous New Gods of the planet Apokolips, it is a potent foe who can seriously challenge the most powerful superheroes...
, where he and many other DC Universe "mad scientists" are allowed to live a hedonistic lifestyle while creating the inventions of their wildest dreams and pitting them against one another. They create the Four Horsemen of the Apokolips
Apokolips
In the DC Comics fictional shared Universe, Apokolips is the planet ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series. It is also integral to many DC Comics stories. The planet is considered the opposite of New Genesis....
and succeed in capturing Black Adam
Black Adam
Black Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
, whom Sivana then tortures for weeks, until Adam is freed by heroes storming the island. Georgia and Thaddeus Jr. were reintroduced in 52
52 (comic book)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
Week Twenty-Six (November 1, 2006), in which they appear alongside Beautia, Magnificus, and their mother Venus, who wants Sivana found and has a charity dinner with the Black Marvel family.
Dr. Sivana turned out to be indirectly responsible for the main conflict of 52: disruptions in the fictional time stream caused by a mutated Mr. Mind. Sivana had captured Mind, a worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
who happened to be another of Captain Marvel's villains, and the scientist had bombarded it with treatments of Sivana's own "Suspendium" time-travel compound. As a result, Mr. Mind mutated (Or, according to himself, matured - as he had apparently been in larval form all this time) into a "hyperfly", a (sometimes) planet-sized moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
-like figure with the ability to travel in time and across realities, posing a serious threat to the Multiverse
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
. He is finally thrown back in time to the day where Dr Sivana found him
On the cover of Justice League of America #13 (vol.2), it shows Doctor Sivana as a member of the new Injustice League
Injustice League
The Injustice League is the name of two fictional teams of supervillains in the .-Original League :The original Injustice League was the brainchild of the interplanetary conqueror Agamemno. Bored of his dominion, he set out to conquer Earth and their champions, the Justice League...
. Doctor Sivana is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run
Salvation Run
Salvation Run is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie in to the company's major event series Final Crisis in 2008.-Premise:The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R...
.
Final Crisis
In Final CrisisFinal Crisis
Final Crisis is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones; artists Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy and...
, he is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra
Libra (DC Comics)
Libra is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America #111, published in June 1974, where he formed the first incarnation of the Injustice Gang...
. Dr. Sivana was with Libra when Calculator
Calculator (comics)
The Calculator is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Detective Comics #463 , and he was created by Bob Rozakis and Mike Grell.-Publication history:...
was accused of sending computer codes that would help the resistance. Sivana joins with Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
in betraying Libra, after being made to watch one of his own daughters succumb to the Anti-Life Equation
Anti-Life Equation
The Anti-Life Equation is the equation for total control over the free will of sentient beings, for which the DC Comics villain Darkseid is searching in the Jack Kirby's Fourth World setting. It is for this reason that he sends his forces to Earth, as he believes part of the equation exists in the...
. Sivana creates a device to shut down the Justifiers
Justifiers
The Justifiers are fictional foot soldiers in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Forever People #3, , and were created by Jack Kirby.-Fictional character biography:...
helmets, allowing Luthor to attack Libra.
Doctor Sivana later shows up as a member of Cheetah
Cheetah (comics)
The Cheetah is a fictional character, a super-villainess appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. Popularly regarded as the archenemy of Wonder Woman, the Cheetah first appeared in 1943 in Wonder Woman #6 , written by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston...
's Secret Society of Super Villains.
Fictional character biography
Sivana is a short, bald, self-described mad scientistMad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
with a penchant for developing unusual technologies, and who often plots to do away with Captain Marvel and his Marvel Family
Marvel Family
The Marvel Family is a group of fictional characters, a team of superheroes in the Fawcett Comics and DC Comics universes. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and Fawcett artists C. C...
, but is often 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
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
, a name that the Captain's friends have adopted with which to light-heartedly tease him.
According to The Origin of Dr. Sivana (Whiz Comics
Whiz Comics
Whiz Comics was a monthly ongoing comic book anthology series, which was published by Fawcett Comics from February 1940 with issue #2 and stopping at issue #155 in June 1953, best known for introducing Captain Marvel. The first issue published of Whiz Comics was issue #2...
#15, March 1941), he began with the best intentions and was one of Europe's best scientific minds, with progressive scientific ideas that could revolutionize industry but was 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 planet Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
in a spaceship he had invented, where he stayed until his children were grown, and Earth not as 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. He initially plotted his revenge with a radio silencer that would disable all radio communications permanently, he tried to extort $50,000,000, only to be stopped by Captain Marvel in his first adventure. Cap broke through the window of the building, and defeated the guards. In a moment both of Sivana's terrified assistants were securely bound with tubing ripped from the radio-silencer. He was apparently killed in Whiz comics #3A when caught in the blast of his Atom-Smasher with which he planned to kill Captain Marvel, but he was delayed from escaping by his returning army which angrily asked why Captain Marvel had defeated them in their war against America despite their highly advanced weaponry while Cap leapt through the window and escaped, but returned next issue, although it is unexplained how he escaped. By then it is implied he had somehow learnt Captain Marvel's identity, using it to lure Captain Marvel to the planet Venus by sending a letter to Batson about the trip and disguising himself as a 'Professor Xerxes Smith'. In Whiz comics #4 he certainly knows Captain Marvel's secret identity, trying to take away his memory while Billy has been bound and gagged by Sivana's two henchmen, but when Billy accidentally says Shazam after he stumbles into the cave where Shazam gave him his power, his memory returns and the Memory Mangler is destroyed in an explosion set off by Sivana's rebellious henchmen. Sivana and Beautia were ironically saved by Cap as the henchmen had left them to die. This began his own long enmity with the Marvel Family while still nursing his megalomaniacal grudge against humanity so intensely that even his later winning of the Nobel Prize for Physics, due to Captain Marvel revealing his benevolent inventions he himself considered useless, was not enough to placate him. In fact, he was insulted by the prize and reiterated that only when he was crowned Ruler of the Universe would he consider himself properly honored.
The Golden Age Sivana was a twice-widowed father with four children: good-natured adult offspring Beautia (first appearance: Whiz Comics #3 (April 1940)) who when first seen is Empress of Venus and has bewitching beauty which affects men like a drug, which Sivana once used to try to make her win an election, and the Super-strong Magnificus (first appearance: Whiz Comics #15 (March 1941)), and evil teenagers Georgia (first appearance: Mary Marvel Comics 1
Mary Marvel Comics 1
Mary Marvel #1 is the first issue of the comic series Mary Marvel. It was published in January 1946. The cover shows Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel saying, "Hope you like her." It features the first appearance of Georgia Sivana and features four stories.-Mary Marvel meets Sivana:Sivana, knowing...
(January 1946)) and Thaddeus Sivana, Jr. (first appearance: Captain Marvel Adventures #52 (December 1945)). Georgia first went to Earth to finish Mary Marvel, after Sivana said he was going after Captain Marvel, and Jr going after Jr. Sivana Jr., and Georgia constituted the supervillain group Sivana Family, the evil counterpart to the Marvel Family (first group appearance: The Marvel Family #10 (April 1947), where they time travel to Ancient, Modern, and Future Atlantis after gaining access to the Rock of Eternity using faster then light spaceships, and attempt to steal materials to make a machine which can prevent the Marvels calling their lightining down by creating a barrier around Earth which deflects the lightining, and succeed in capturing, binding and gagging all the Marvels though releasing them to mock them, although the Marvels stop this when they break into the lab and turn off the machine, then capture the unsuspecting Sivanas). They both possess brilliant minds like their father. Magnificus and Beautia, however, were not enemies to the Marvels (although Magnificus fought Cap when he first appeared); in fact, Beautia has an unrequited crush on Captain Marvel (whom she does not realize is really an adolescent boy, Billy Batson although she later realises it).
Following the Crisis on Ininite Earths miniseries, Sivana was first reintroduced as Billy Batson's stepuncle 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 to Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
, 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 dedicates 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.
Other versions
- In Superman: Red SonSuperman: Red SonSuperman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in April 2003...
, Dr. Sivana briefly appears as a United States defector to Superman's Russia. - In Jeff SmithJeff SmithJeff Smith may refer to:*Jeff Smith , coach in the Minnesota Twins' organization*Jeff Smith , councillor in Manchester*Jeff Smith , creator of the comic book Bone...
's 2007 limited series Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, Sivana is introduced in issue #2, as the new Attorney General of the United States. While ostensibly dedicated to stomping out terrorist threats, Sivana is more interested however in gaining technology from the invading alien Mr. Mind to develop into weapons, and to use the fear caused by the Mind's Monster Society to start a new war he can profit from. He is eventually caught on live TV throwing Mary MarvelMary MarvelMary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
from the top of one of Mr Mind's war machines, and is arrested. - Dr. Sivana made a cross-company cameo in Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' The Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
#335, in which he fights Captain AmericaCaptain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
at a staged charity battle. - In Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
this character was named "Dr. Silvana". - Dr. Emil Gargunza, a major antagonist in MiraclemanMiraclemanMarvelman, also known as Miracleman for trademark reasons in his American reprints and story continuation, is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1954 by writer-artist Mick Anglo for publisher L. Miller & Son. Originally intended as a United Kingdom home-grown substitute for the American...
(né Marvelman), is based on Dr. Sivana. In Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's retcon, Gargunza is a super-genius who elevated himself from childhood poverty through crime, then became a scientist. He created the Miracleman family at the behest of the British government with alien technology recovered from a crashed vessel. All of their Golden AgeGolden Age of Comic BooksThe Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
fights (including ones against Gargunza) were hallucinations induced by him to program their minds. Miracleman eventually acknowledges Gargunza as his "father", then kills him. - Dr. Sivana will appear in Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! was an all-ages comic book series published by DC Comics as a part of its Johnny DC imprint. The series debuted in September 2008, and was originally written and drawn by Mike Kunkel.-Overview:...
. Mike Kunkle's design differs greatly from other versions: He's actually taller than Billy and Mary Batson. - Lex Luthor refers to Sivana in Kingdom ComeKingdom Come (comics)Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
as the source of the mind altering worms used to induce schizophreniaSchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
on Captain Marvel.
Television
- Doctor Sivana first appeared outside of comics in live-action, as a villain in Legends of the SuperheroesLegends of the SuperheroesLegends of the Superheroes is an umbrella title for two one-hour and live-action Hanna–Barbera TV specials based on the Super Friends cartoon show that aired on NBC in January 1979...
(1979), played by Howard MorrisHoward MorrisHoward Morris was an American comic actor and director who was best known for his role as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show.- Life and career :...
.
- He later appeared as a regular villain (occasionally with Sivana Jr. and Georgia) in the 1981 Shazam! part of The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! voiced by Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
.
- Dr. Sivana appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
episode "The Power of Shazam!" voiced by Jim PiddockJim PiddockJames Anthony "Jim" Piddock is an English actor, writer, and producer who began his career on the stage in England, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1981.-Life and career:...
. He, along with his children Thaddeus Sivana Jr. (voiced by Jim PiddockJim PiddockJames Anthony "Jim" Piddock is an English actor, writer, and producer who began his career on the stage in England, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1981.-Life and career:...
) and Georgia (voiced by Tara StrongTara StrongTara Lyn Strong is a Canadian actress, voice-over artist, singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons.-Early life and career:...
) teamed up with Black AdamBlack AdamBlack Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
to steal Shazam's power from Captain Marvel. Sivana later betrays Adam and steals the power of the champion from him. Batman defeats him by tricking Sivana into saying "Shazam" to lose his powers allowing Captain Marvel to defeat him with a simple flick. Dr. Sivana returns in "The Malicious Mr. Mind!". He is seen as a member of the Monster Society of Evil and he leads the team until Mister Mind takes over.
Video Games
- Doctor Sivana is referenced in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The VideogameBatman: The Brave and the Bold – The VideogameBatman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame is a video game based on the comic book character Batman and the television cartoon series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. It was developed by WayForward Technologies and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment...
when BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Hawkman are talking about BrainwaveBrainwave (comics)Brainwave is a name shared by two characters in the DC Comics Universe, who are father and son.-Henry King, Sr.:The Brain Wave was Henry King, a super-villain who used his psionic powers to battle the Justice Society of America in the 1940s, first appearing in All-Star Comics #15...
and how similar the two villains look. - Doctor Sivana appears in the DC Universe OnlineDC Universe OnlineDC Universe Online or DCUO is an MMORPG by Sony Online Entertainment – Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nuñez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez...
video game, voiced by Matt Hislope.
Miscellaneous
- In the Superman cartoonSuperman (1940s cartoons)The Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman....
"The Magnetic TelescopeThe Magnetic TelescopeThe Magnetic Telescope is the sixth of the seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character of Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This animated short was created by the Fleischer Studios. The story runs about eight minutes and covers...
" by Fleischer StudiosFleischer StudiosFleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
, the astronomer (voiced by Bud CollyerBud CollyerBud Collyer was an American radio actor/announcer who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars...
) who built the titular device and as a result threatened the city strongly resembled Dr. Sivana. - Although Sivana never appeared in Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
, he does appears as a villain in issue 15 of the Justice League Unlimited comic book, when he tried to rebuild Mister AtomMister AtomMister Atom is a fictional comic book supervillain, a radioactive robot who is regularly seen as an enemy of Captain Marvel. He first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #78 in November 1947.- Golden Age and pre-Crisis version :...
.
External links
- Doctor Sivana's "Who's Who" file at The Marvel Family Web