This is an in-universe article with out-of-universe material.
Trapped, am I? But I'm ready with my new Dwindle Wafers! It's a compound that compresses the atoms and reduces a person to small size! It works in split seconds! Heh-heh! 
- — Doctor Sivana, self-styled "Rightful Ruler of the Universe"
The Marvel Family #34 is an issue of the series The Marvel Family (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1949.
Synopsis for The Marvel Family: "The Marvel Family and Sivana's Miniature Menace"
Billy and Mary Batson and Freddy Freeman call SHAZAM and CAPTAIN MARVEL to become the Marvel Family for the Marvel Family Round Table, taking the entire episode to complain about Doctor Sivana is the worst. Afterward, they decide they should probably arrest the World’s Maddest Scientist, only for him to immediately walk into Station WHIZ and eats a Dwindle Wafer to make himself a few inches tall, disappearing from their way entirely. He immediately gives away his position to shout that he’s now very small and can still run as fast as a human can, managing to run into a mouse hole. The Marvel Family is bemused by how they could realistically stop him. At his secret laboratory, Sivana jumps around a typewriter to send a threatening letter to Mr. Anton Lorsh, a steel magnate, to just start making guns and weapons for him or he’ll kill him. Elsewhere, Paul Packer, a chemistry industry executive, gets a similar not demanding he make munitions for him, so they both get hold of the Marvel Family to deal with him. Finally, Mr. Morris himself gets a letter demanding he just start airing propaganda proclaiming Sivana as the Future King of the Earth, so they each head out to track him down with Mary Marvel going to see Anton Lorsh, Captain Marvel, Jr. going to see Paul Packer and Captain Marvel will watch Mr. Morris.
Meanwhile, Sivana takes off in his “Midget Rocket Ship” to fly off to show the Marvel Family and lands in Lorsh’s office through his open window. Mary Marvel hears him snickering and recognizes that it isn’t just an insect, catching him in a net. However, Sivana uses rocket blasts to burn his way out and zips away to point a very tiny gun at Lorsh’s neck and demands he do as he orders. Mary Marvel manages to call Junior before he can show up, so he prepares a powerful vacuum cleaner to catch him at the open window of Paul Packer’s office. The vacuum does prove to be strong enough to entirely suck up the Midget Rocket Ship, but Sivana abandons it with a Jet-Pack and points his tiny gun in Packer’s face, prompting him to have a similar breakdown. Back at Station WHIZ, Captain Marvel just seals the room shut so he can’t get in… until Captain Marvel goes in to tell him he’s perfectly safe, looking to his feet to make sure Sivana doesn’t dash in. Captain Marvel does so not knowing that Sivana is actually on his cape, then flies off to Mr. Morris. Captain Marvel releases a trained hawk to seize him, but Sivana proves his tiny gun is still strong enough to kill at least three people and one hawk since it has poisoned bullets. He threatens him with his poison gun and then melts a hole in the window to escape. However, this time Captain Marvel follows him out with a telescope to keep track of him, trailing him to an abandoned house where his secret laboratory like is. They start to wreck shop to find him, but can’t find him, since he’s hiding in the pocket of a plaid jacket in a closet. The Marvel Family, frustrated in the wreck of the house, decide to take the Dwindle Wafers, but find that they just don’t work on them whereof Sivana begins dancing and clicking his heels that he’s more powerful than the Marvel Family… only to find Billy, Mary and Freddy have been returned and taken the Dwindle Wafers to just thrash them on their own, demanding that he give them an antidote before they arrest him. He acquiesces and Billy later tells his sister and best friend that they did defeat Sivana, but it was the Marvel Family’s idea to do it!
Appearing in The Marvel Family: "The Marvel Family and Sivana's Miniature Menace"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Anton Lorsch, steel magnate
- Paul Packer, chemical industrialist
- A Trained Hawk (Dies)
Locations:
Items:
- Sivana's Dwindle Wafers, (his 2nd Shrinking Formula)
- and their antidote
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Cry of 'Coward!'"
Under a horse chestnut tree, a blacksmith makes horseshoes. His son, however, is a wastrel who only enjoys racing charts, prompting his father to throw an anvil at him, only for him to casually toss it back to him. The Blacksmith begins to violently threatens his son and says he could be the best blacksmith in the world, something he doesn’t care for, since he’s going to make it at the races! The Blacksmith figures only one person can stop his son… but it’s not him! That afternoon, Don Reed of MBS reports on a big race, only for the Blacksmith to run in, shove him in the face and shouts loudly for Captain Marvel, Jr. to show up at the Blacksmith Shop Race Track. Meanwhile, Freddy hears about it on the radio from a client, Mr. Connolly. He calls CAPTAIN MARVEL to become Captain Marvel, Junior, stunning Mr. Connolly. The Blacksmith tells him his son doesn’t want to be a blacksmith and wants to gamble, which he only learned because the Blacksmith works for the race track and offers that Junior just beat his son so he’ll stop being insolent. The Blacksmith’s Son walks up and punches Junior into a tree and then challenges the World’s Mightiest Boy to a fight. When Junior refuses, the Blacksmith’s Son tells him he’s a coward who refused to fight him and goes to punch his father in the face for trying to hire someone to beat him. Junior flies in to take the hit, upsetting the Blacksmith’s Son into violently attacking him. Junior gives him a single punch to the solar plexus and an uppercut before the Blacksmith runs in to stop him, promising his son, named Bigger. Bigger is confused as he thought Junior was afraid, but he admits that he didn’t want to hit him, he wanted him to not hit his father. Bigger is touched by his father’s concern enough to change his life and begin following his father’s lifestyle, happy to enjoy his work now!
Appearing in Captain Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and The Cry of 'Coward!'"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- "Pop" Smith, a blacksmith
- Bigger Smith, a blacksmith's ne'er-do-well son
Other Characters:
- Don Reed, Station MBS racing announcer
- Mr. Connolly
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- Blacksmith Shop Race Track
- New York City
Items:
- An Anvil
- Racing Charts
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Mary Marvel: "Mary Marvel and The Crime Bubbles"
The villainous Hen is revealed to have faked drowning since her last appearance and goes to retrieve some dry clothes nearby. The Hen tries to gather some goons together, but they openly state that she did kill everyone in her last gang herself specifically not to split loot with them. The Hen next tries to just claw their eyes out, prompting them to throw her out. Thus, she instead decides to join up with a female villain and somehow gets hold of Georgia Sivana, who takes a liking to her similar hatred of Mary Marvel and her aspiration to the World’s Wealthiest Woman. Georgia admits she is “soon” to be Princess of Earth and together they’ll likely manage it. The Hen reveals she’s concocted a new sleeping gas and Georgia says she just invented a gun that can spray it! The next day, Mary is out at the "Tallest Building" in New York City and sees Georgia flying around in a rocket ship and calls SHAZAM to become Mary Marvel. We soon find Georgia and the Hen breaks into the JB Sparkles, Inc. Diamond Importers, using bubbles fired from Georgia’s gun to knock out everyone through the open window of a room where a showing is being held, put on gas masks and start pocketing jewels in an egg basket. Mary Marvel flies in and smacks the basket of diamonds out of the Hen’s hand, stunned to find out she’s still alive.
They figure that Mary Marvel probably won’t get knocked out by the gas, so they instead spray their Crime Bubbles to make people pass out in the middle of oncoming traffic as well as the people driving it. Mary Marvel flies out to save civilians and the evil duo escape. Georgia decides to pull the Secret Identity card claiming that she figured out Mary Marvel’s “long ago.” The next day, Mary just sees a large bubble and goes to retrieve it for a child because the Hen was doing a childish voice. However, despite taking her back to their hideout, they leave her unattended on a couch nearby with a bowl full of valuables in front of her then immediately decide to start bickering over who contributed more to catching her, coming to blows even before Mary Batson wakes up, calls SHAZAM as Mary Marvel punches them both out. The two villains are arrested and angrily threaten each other from facing cells in jail and Mary Marvel notes no one is going to sleep in their cell block that night!
Appearing in Mary Marvel: "Mary Marvel and The Crime Bubbles"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Georgia Sivana
- The Hen (Final appearance)
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- The Tallest Building
- JB Sparkles, Inc. Diamond Importers
- New York City
Items:
- The Hen's Sleep Gas Formula
- Georgia's Gas Bubble Bun
- Diamonds
Vehicles:
- Georgia's Rocketship
Synopsis for Headline Harry: "Behind the Eight Ball!"
Harry tries to scam his editor with a picture of a man eating a hot dog, is sent to report on a billiards exhibition, immediately rips a hole in a table with a cute stick, and seriously injures both the man who owns the Acme Billiard Hall, Mr. Poole, and their champion player, Willie Skippe. They manage to lock him in and give him two black eyes, all he has to show to his Editor!
Appearing in Headline Harry: "Behind the Eight Ball!"
Featured Characters:
- Headline Harry
Supporting Characters:
- The Editor
Antagonists:
- Mr. Poole
Other Characters:
- Willie Skippe
Locations:
- The Gazebo Gazette Offices
- The Acme Billiard Hall
Items:
- Picture of a Man Eating a Frankfurter
- A Cue Stick
- Several Billiard Balls
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Duel of Inventions"
Billy is at the US Patent Office to hope an interesting story will show up, finding two inventors are there opening packages, revealing they’ve both bit a “Midget Atom Splitter” and the two men are the pointy-noised Joel Janz and the round-faced Roger Plumb. They almost immediately come to blows over this until Billy calls SHAZAM to summon Captain Marvel to separate them, pointing out in their fury, they both destroyed their own inventions. Janz declares he’s going to make another one and Plumb should stay out of it. Captain Marvel decides that Billy should keep an eye on them (since he’s smaller and harder to notice) and calls SHAZAM to return him, heading to go find Janz. At his lab, Janz doesn’t make another genius invention and instead decides to challenge him to a fencing duel at the City Dump, which Plumb immediately accepts, not knowing that Janz is secretly a former college fencer. Billy soon arrives at Janz’s office and finds that he’s gone to an illegal duel, only for Captain Marvel to jump between them, shattering both foils, and throws a washtub of water on them. They tell him to basically get lost and that this is personal, but Captain Marvel points out that it’s illegal to duel someone and that he’ll let them off this time with just a warning.
An hour later, Plumb shows up at Janz’s lab and demands they finish their duel as Janz offers pistols and ten paces in his own laboratory. Captain Marvel, literally next door to them, flies in to block the bullets from both ends and has them both arrested. In jail, they both just manage to pick the locks of their cells, run into each other around a corner and then decide to have a new duel… with inventions! They both conspire to meet each other at Black Mountain, just outside town. Later, Billy gets news of the two escaping from jail and calls SHAZAM to have Captain Marvel sort them out, but he soon finds that Janz’s lab is still in disrepair and that he’s left with plenty of equipment. Plumb’s lab, when explored, is in a very similar state. Captain Marvel’s keen senses can literally see radioactivity on a shelf and uses a Geiger counter to track the Plumb Midget Atom Splitter to Black Mountain where the two begins unleashing their most destructive weaponry: Joel Janz unleashes his Million-Watt Lightning Bolt and Roger plumbs attacks with a Gas Rocket. Captain Marvel rushes over to Janz and breaks his machines, but he complains that Plumb will probably kill him now as Captain Marvel throws a boulder on to crush Plumb’s inventions himself. Captain Marvel asks what’s he have to do to stop their mad dueling, but the two tell him they just won’t. The World’s Mightiest Mortal charges up some Wisdom of Solomon and whispers to them something that they both agree to and a few days later, they are moving back and forth cheerily. Nearby, Captain Marvel notes that he offered that instead of fighting for the strongest invention, they should instead fight for quantity of inventions, turning their physical duel into a mental one. Billy signs off saying they’re both currently tied at 74 patents each and the lesson they’ve learned is that competition is the spice of life, even if the “Duel of Inventions” is still ongoing… at least they won’t kill each other.
Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel and the Duel of Inventions"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Joel Janz
- Roger Plumb
Other Characters:
- An Unnamed Janitor
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- WHIZ Radio
- U.S. Patent Office
- City Dump
- Black Mountain, outside the city
- New York City
Items:
- A Pair of Foils
- A Pair of Pistols
- A Geiger Counter
- Midget Atom Splitter, two competing versions
- Janz's Million-Watt Lightning Bolt
- Plumb's Gas Rocket
Vehicles:
Notes
- Sivana's Miniature Menace
- The effects of Sivana's "Dwindle Wafers" are just about identical to those of Darrel Dane, the "Doll Man's" (unnamed) shrinking formula, with one salient difference: Sivana's clothing shrinks along with him, and so do Billy's, Freddie's, and Mary's.
- Dwindle Wafers have no effect on any of the Marvels.
- The Cry of 'Coward!': All of the captions are in verse.
- The Crime Bubbles: Georgia Sivana already knows Mary Batson's secret identity, and in this story she tells it to the Hen.
- This is the final appearance of the Hen
- The "Tallest Building" in New York City on Earth-S is either named that or the Empire State Building has a very different spire on Earth-S.
- Also appearing in this issue of Marvel Family were:
- Lazy Lee: "Needs a Lift"
- Judge Smudge: "Advice", by Howard Boughner
- Boxcar Benny: "Clean Sheet"
- "Protection" (text story), by Larry Steinfeldt
See Also