Frederick Freeman (Earth-S)

History

Origin

One of Captain Marvel’s punches sends the villain Captain Nazi careening into a lake. An elderly man, Jacob Freeman, and his grandson, Freddy, happened to be fishing in the lake near where Nazi has landed, and, not knowing who he is, lift the unconscious man into their boat to prevent him from drowning. Nazi immediately comes to, tosses Jacob into the lake, and knocks Freddy out of the boat with an oar. The old man immediately dies, but Captain Marvel is able to save an unconscious Freddy and bring him to a hospital.^[2]

Captain Marvel changes to his regular form of young Billy Batson, and is told by a nurse that Freddy is not expected to last the night. Billy then devises a better way to help the boy: he sneaks Freddy out of the hospital and takes him to the secret underground throne of the wizard Shazam, who first granted Billy the power to become Captain Marvel.

Billy asks the wizard to heal Freddy and save his life, but Shazam cannot, and instead tells Billy that he, as Captain Marvel, can pass along some of his powers to so that Freddy can live. Shazam disappears and Billy transforms back into Captain Marvel, just as Freddy awakens. Looking up, he exclaims “Why...it’s Captain Marvel,” and is instantly transformed into a super-powered version of himself. Captain Marvel tells him that he is now "Captain Marvel, Jr.". Unlike Billy, who as a youngster transforms into an adult Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. maintains his youth and resemblance to Freddy. Additionally, hear is clad in a yellow-on-blue costume with a red cape, rather than Marvel's yellow-on-red with a white cape.

Captain Marvel informs Junior that he cannot remain in his super-powered form at all times, but that he must allow his human form to heal as best it can. With that, Freddy once again said his mentor's name and returned to his hospital bed. Freddy remains permanently lame in his left leg and is forced to walk with a crutch (although Captain Marvel, Jr. bears no such impediment). As a result, Junior sought revenge against Captain Nazi, and the two repeatedly battled over the years.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Divine Empowerment - All of the powers granted collection of six by gods and figures of legend either directly or through Shazam.
  • Accelerated Healing
  • Clairvoyance: The ability to understand situations from many angles, including future and past consequences with superhuman clarity and accuracy.
  • Divine Grace: Innate luck and divine guidance that allows finesse in actions and dealings with others.
  • Eidetic Memory
  • Magic Resistance
  • Enhanced Intellect: Intellect and wisdom are heightened to superhuman levels. This also provides great or comprehensive knowledge in many areas, including:
    • Language
    • Tactics of War
    • Mathematics
  • Flight: The ability to hover or soar at high speed through an act of sheer will.
  • Healing: The ability to use the transformative lightning to heal others or ones self instantly.
  • Indomitable Will: An incredible amount of willpower that allows perseverance in overwhelming odds and seemingly unbeatable situations.
  • Invulnerability
  • Self-Sustenance: The ability to survive without sleep, food, water, or air.
  • Superhuman Speed:: The ability to run or fly at incredible rates of speed.
  • Superhuman Reflexes
  • Superhuman Agility:
  • Superhuman Stamina:
  • Superhuman Strength
  • Teleportation: The ability to access the Rock of Eternity.
  • Transformation: The ability to transform from a mortal to the entity empowered by the six.

Weaknesses

• Restricted Mobility: He lost the use of one of his legs and while in his human form must was with crutches.
  

Notes

• This version of Frederick Freeman (Earth-S), including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985-86 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. Even though versions of the character may have since appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
  

Trivia

• Captain Marvel Jr actually appeared before Mary Marvel and first started the idea of the Marvel Family.
  

Recommended Reading

• Whiz Comics #25+
• Master Comics #22+
• Captain Marvel Jr. #1+

Links and References

• 372 Appearances of Frederick Freeman (Earth-S)
• Minor Appearances of Frederick Freeman (Earth-S)
• Media Frederick Freeman (Earth-S) was Mentioned in
• 2 Images featuring Frederick Freeman (Earth-S)
• 2 Quotations by or about Frederick Freeman (Earth-S)
• Character Gallery: Frederick Freeman (Earth-S) 
• Frederick Freeman (Earth-S) on Wikipedia.org 
• The Blue Boy-a Captain Marvel, Jr. blog
• Digital Comic Museum: Rangerhouse Archive No. 1 (Captain Marvel, Jr. Origin)--Digital-only reprint compilation of stories from Master Comics #21-23, 34 & Whiz Comics #25

Footnotes

References

Marvel Family member This character is or was a member of the Marvel Family in any of its various incarnations, and an ally of Captain Marvel and the Wizard Shazam. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Marvel Family members."