[marybatson]

Billy Batson Week 2026

It’s that time of the year again! 2026 marks the 86th Anniversary of Billy Batson as Captain Marvel debuting in Whiz Comics #2, the first official cover-dated issue released February 1940.*

A brief introduction

Billy Batson is a young orphan boy who transforms into a powerful champion named Captain Marvel at the drop of the word “SHAZAM!” He fights crime against notable villains together with a memorable cast of heroes he calls family.

Remember the name

SHAZAM! Each letter from Billy Batson's magical word represents a power likened to a famous mythological deity or hero. Interpret both the figure or the gift however you see fit.

Day 1 ☆ February 27, 2026 (Friday) SOLOMON | WISDOM

Day 2 ☆ February 28, 2026 (Saturday) HERCULES | STRENGTH

Day 3 ☆ March 1, 2026 (Sunday) ATLAS | STAMINA

Day 4 ☆ March 2, 2026 (Monday) ZEUS | POWER

Day 5 ☆ March 3, 2026 (Tuesday) ACHILLES | COURAGE

Day 6 ☆ March 4, 2026 (Wednesday) MERCURY | SPEED

Day 7 ☆ March 5, 2026 (Thursday) SPEAK MY NAME! | FREE DAY

How to participate On Tumblr (and elsewhere, if desired), use the hashtags #billybatsonweek and #bb86week simultaneously so that others might see and engage with your work. Late entries are always, always welcome. I’ll be sure to reblog all entries inside the tags for archival reasons, so please don’t hesitate to tag my blog!

The Archive of Our Own story collection is linked here.

On previous weeks Feel free to browse entries from previous years for inspiration, or reuse the old prompts altogether!

2022 Prompts Post / 2022 Entries

2023 Prompts Post / 2023 Entries

2024 Prompts Post / 2024 Entries

2025 Prompts Post / 2025 Entries / AO3 Collection

*Captain Marvel/Billy Batson’s genuine on-the-shelves debut was December of 1939. The cover date used in this character celebration week corresponds with the date DC Comics did for their 75th Anniversary year count.

[kingcatnine]

we need to instill a new storytelling rule of thumb into people called "show don't tweet" where we encourage them to put all pertinent canon information into the actual story and its official supplemental material instead of using reddit AMAs as lore dlcs

[hood-ex]

[katanahime]

Civilians in Superhero comics are Great, Actually, and Important, Actually and people who don't care as much about the relationships between heroes and civilians are Lame, Actually

[marybatson]

They’ll ship Jason Todd with a rubber band

[marybatson]

wish I could pin this in his tag LOLLLL

[karaspal]

the reason dc is pushing jon so hard — and have been since he was born — is pretty simple: it comes from that old, conservative belief that your son is nothing more than an extension of you, someone meant to continue your legacy. they’re not giving him exposure because he’s some bold, status-quo-breaking character. it’s the opposite. they’re pushing him because he’s superman’s son, who’s supposed to be the Superman™ someday. so get used to him.

clark telling jon he’ll have to use his powers one day was already established back in the second issue of superman (2016), and it gets reinforced again in superman: son of kal-el.

jon kent isn’t really a character. he’s the embodiment of that outdated idea that sons have to carry on their father’s work. “i’m the man of tomorrow... you’re for the days after.” is jon not allowed to do something until those days come? it seems so!

jon kent will be nothing until the day the man of tomorrow is gone and he has to step up and be “for the days after.” but since clark is such an iconic character, he’s never going anywhere. so that leaves jon stuck in a permanent statis he can’t escape.

every time it looks like jon will be breaking out of the limbo, he loops back to his centrist ways.

some writers will acknowledge his character is cooked and make commentary through their stories. others think it’s really cool that superman has a mini-me, so they try to make him work (and it doesn't land). but at the end of the day, jon kent is stuck in that ugly superman suit, with a mantle that isn't his and he never deserved, waiting for the day after tomorrow to come when he’ll finally be needed.

and that day is never coming.

and other superfamily characters will suffer because of it, because they’re actually their own unique characters but dc will always push clark first, and when they can’t, his replacement is supposed to do just fine.

[bat-bleed]

Hi

[marybatson]

I’ll be on ig and like a random reel abt how much a user likes nightwing not bc I overly relate or anything but bc it’s the only comic related thing I ever see in the wild and I’m not a killjoy. and then 10 incoming pro batfam reels clog my algorithm like they were waiting behind me in a dark alley im so scared

[toddsolondz]

the concept of an emotionally neglected undersupervised middle schooler holds so much more weight now than it did in 1989 because in current canon tim would have been born anywhere between like 2002-2005 scrolling the worst websites you can even imagine.

[toddsolondz]

tim drake (11 year old with undiagnosed ocd) who just spent hours scrolling right wing forums because he was bored and wanted to see how people’s minds worked and now he’s scared that it’s starting to infect his mind and make him evil: dad do you think i’m a bad person?

jack drake on facetime, only half listening because he’s checking his email mid-call: sure

[marybatson]

to be honest you know I’m on the heaviest comic hiatus of all time bc waid made the “captain marvel” title come back and it’s crickets from me

[marybatson]

to decide to be a tumblr gif / graphics / content maker post-2021 or something you had the odds stacked against you and you’re still here congrats. you hear tht im clapping for you we’re all clapping

[hak]

My favorite princess archetype of all time has to be “Princess who is banished/in an unstable political position but would do absolutely anything for the people of their kingdom regardless of the danger it puts themselves in.” Also always has the best pet companion ever for some reason.

[ungodlybliss]

duke thomas IS an isaiah rashad fan i decided it

[lakarrowin]

Blahaj would make him unreasonably happy

[rascak]

billy billy billy

[sweetstuff-arts]

Since I still can’t render or shade for my life, this is was I present 🤲🏽 I was going to do a resign of her hero form, but I didn’t feel like it, so I’ll do it later.

Might draw Leon Kennedy later after watching Jay 🤭

[bat-bleed]

Hi