Red Kryptonite is a key part of the Superman mythos, but comic fans may not know that Shazam has his own version, called Sivanium. It made only one appearance, in 1953’s Captain Marvel Adventures #150, which was also the last issue of the character’s Fawcett-era adventures.
Red Kryptonite is a unique variant. Other varieties, such as Green or Gold, can kill Superman or take away his powers, but Red Kryptonite can affect him in different ways; sometimes it can turn him evil or reduce him to a child-like state. Many of Superman’s most outlandish Silver Age adventures came under the influence of Red Kryptonite. Most recently, Red Kryptonite was revealed to have psycho-active properties for not most species, Kryptonians in particular. While many heroes have a particular weakness, be it Green Kryptonite, or lead or fire, Red Kryptonite is special in how unpredictable it can be. Once, however, Doctor Sivana discovered a special metal that affected Shazam the same way Red Kryptonite affected Superman.
In the story, titled “Captain Marvel and the World of Too Many Sivanas,” by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, Sivana discovers a new mineral that he plans to harness for evil. He forces people nearby to toil in his mine, digging up the new metal. This attracts the attention of Shazam (then referred to as Captain Marvel). As he races to stop Sivana, he learns that Sivana has booby-trapped the mines, and if Shazam comes any closer, he will detonate them and kill the people he has enslaved. Undaunted, he reverts to Billy Batson, but finds that Sivana harnessed the new metal, dubbed Sivanium, and uses it as a molecular re-arranger. Shazam finds the former slaves of Sivana all now look like Sivana and are all evil. Shazam turns back into Billy Batson, and when he changes back later, the magical lighting is imbued with Sivanium—turning Shazam into an evil duplicate of Sivana, with all of Shazam’s powers. The evil Shazam/Sivana hybrid proves too much for the real Sivana, who must then strike a deal with the wizard to stop him.
Sivanium’s molecular rearranging properties put it in the same league as Red Kryptonite. On many occasions, the substance would mutate Superman into some grotesque form, be it a red devil or a caveman, and that is what happens to Shazam here. He becomes a duplicate of Sivana, and even exceeds the original. Part of the Silver Age Red Kryptonite stories was how Superman would get out of whatever predicament the substance put him in, and part of this story’s appeal is watching Sivana and the wizard work together to stop the evil Shazam.
Red Kryptonite affects Superman in wild and weird ways, and for one issue, Shazam had his own version, one that made him a greater threat than Sivana.