Mr. Tawky-Tawny

MR. TAWKY-TAWNY

Real Name: Tawky-Tawny

Class: Magical construct

Occupation: Detective

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: unnamed mother (deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Fawcett City

First Appearance: Power of Shazam II #2 (April, 1995)

Powers: Tawny possessed strength and speed slightly less than that of an average tiger, and was armed with fangs and claws. Unlike other tigers he possessed human intelligence and speech, had opposable thumbs, and could walk bipedially. Tawny was a capable detective.

History: (Power of Shazam II #11 (fb), 2, 3, 4) - Mr. Tawky-Tawny was a beloved stuffed tiger given to Billy and Mary Batson before their parents death. Lord Satanus, deciding to aid Shazam against the schemes Blaze had set for him, magically animated the toy Mr. Tawky-Tawny. Tawny wanted to be real more than anything else, so he agreed to lead the Marvel Family along the paths they were destined for as heroes. After the wizard Shazam made Billy his champion Captain Marvel Billy had a vision of his Tawny doll coming alive, and giving him advice about finding his sister Mary. Mary and Billy both loved the doll, so Tawny said to take him to her to jog her memory. Billy thought he was losing it, but agreed. When Billy ran afoul of criminals trying to kidnap Mary, Tawny again appeared to come to life, telling Mary to say the magic word Shazam, turning her into Mary Marvel.

(Power of Shazam II #5) - Mary was at home dealing with the upheaval in her life when Tawky-Tawny came to life. She guessed that Shazam was responsible, and that Tawky must have helped Billy when he started. Tawky wouldn't exactly confirm this, and told her she was smart, but shouldn't tell Shazam what she d figured out. He told her to go find her brother, and Mary Marvel went into action.

(Power of Shazam II #10) - With Captain Marvel fighting Neron during the Underworld saga, Mary took it upon herself to find Shazam. She hoped Mr. Tawky-Tawny could help, and when she returned home to retrieve him she heard her parents talking to the police, worried about nice, innocent Mary out all night. She understood the seriousness of the situation, but giggled when her dad suggested she was with her boyfriend Billy. Tawky came to life, and guided her to the subway that accessed the Rock of Eternity. Using the wisdom of Solomon she found the entrance, but Tawny couldn't enter the magical realm and turned back into a toy. Mary found Shazam's Rock a mess, and a spell book open to a spell of resurrection. Tawny was found by Billy s friend Uncle Dudley, and he sent him to help Mary. Dudley showed Mary an icon of an ibis, and told her it was what she was looking for. She smashed it, revealing a sarcophagus hidden inside.

(Power of Shazam II #11) - Black Adam followed Mary, Dudley and Tawny into the subway, and Ibis tomb. He ripped the Tawny doll to shreds, Blaze was under the impression that Tawny was helping them, but his good nature only let him aid the Marvel Family. Mary cast Shazam s resurrection spell, bringing Ibis the Invincible, a powerful magician under Shazam s protection, back to life. He banished Black Adam to Hades, and the heroes had to respond to an attack on Fawcett by the Seven Deadly Sins. Captain Marvel, newly returned from the Underworld Unleashed affair, lured the Sins into leaving the civilians alone, and taking residence in his powerful body. Ibis managed to free Captain Marvel of their influence, and make them solid, but he knew they d need help to drag the Sins back to the Rock of Eternity. He gave life back to Tawky-Tawny, gave Shazam powers to Uncle Dudley, and summoned Captain Marvel, Jr. and Bulletman to their side. After an intense battle they returned the Sins to their prisons, and Tawny was delighted to be alive, asking Ibis to make his condition permanent. The heroes asked for Ibis help in freeing Shazam from Blaze, but just then the Rock of Eternity shook, as Blaze was trying to free Shazam s old enemy the Three Faces of Evil.

Comments: Created by Otto Binder & C.C. Beck

Bizarro-Superman wrote and illustrated the “Captain Marvel and the Sham Shazam” and “Without You, I’m Nothing” comic books featuring Mr. Tawky-Tawny in Bizarro Comics #1.