The twelve-issue limited series, written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Howard Porter and Mauro Cascioli, was later reprinted in three paperback collections.

[1] The story of the limited series follows plot elements introduced in Infinite Crisis (2005),[2] Day of Vengeance (2005), and the one-shot Brave New World (2006).

[3] Writer Judd Winick conceived the story to update the character, who was largely unchanged since his creation in the 1940s and was seen by many people as a low-quality copy of Superman; the updates included changing the character's focus from regular crimes to magical ones, removing some of the sillier elements and putting Captain Marvel Jr. in the leading role.

These troubles were compounded when he suffered a severe thumb injury on his drawing hand which required an orthopedic cast and permanently limited his feeling.

Each of the six gods who contributed their powers to the hero — Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury — present Freeman with a challenge.

At the same time, a dark organization known as the Council of Merlin is backing its own candidate, a Creole sorceress named Sabina.

When Sabina kills Atlas before completing his trial, Zareb convinces Apollo to take his place among the Shazam collective of gods.

The competition culminated in a large battle, with Freddy, Marvel, and the Justice League battling Sabina and an army of demons summoned by the sorcerer Merlin, with the goal of sacrificing a million souls (by turning them into demons) to force Zeus to grant Sabina his power.