Ibac is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

featured in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

published by

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Primarily, versions of the character serve as parallels to Captain Marvel/Shazam and

Black Adam Black Adam (Teth-Adam) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, and first appeared in the debut issue of Fawcett Comics' '' The Marvel Family'' comic book ...

, sharing significant histories with these characters and similar powers. The first version of the character is Stanley Printwhistle, a petty criminal who gains extraordinary abilities and transforms into "Ibac". In the original Fawcett Comics version, Ibac is empowered by Lucifer. However, following the events of ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...

'', the character's powers are implied to be attributed to Blaze. After ''Flashpoint'', Ibac the First is revised as a warlord and slaver from Kahndaq who posed a significant threat to Black Adam during his time as a hero. Following his demise, the character's spirit is resurrected by the Circle of Crows, a group of witches and sorcerers who act as adversaries to both Adam and the wizard Shazam, representing contrasting forces. Empowered by the Circle of Crows, Ibac's abilities are derived from notorious tyrants. Eventually, the character's spirit is placed into Hamid Stanli, a young man of British descent.

Publication history

Created by writer

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

and artist C. C. Beck, Ibac first appeared in ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' #8 (March 6, 1942).

Fictional character biography

Stanley Printwhistle

Fawcett Comics / Earth-S

Stanley "Stinky" Printwhistle, a crook who attempts to blow up a bridge, but is caught in the explosion and thrown off due to Captain Marvel. He is saved by Lucifer, who offers Printwhistle the chance to become a champion of evil and defeat Captain Marvel in exchange for his mortal soul. Printwhistle accepts, Lucifer summons up four historical villains, and Printwhistle is told to speak the magic word "IBAC". By doing so, the frail, grey-haired criminal transforms into Ibac, a brutal muscleman with a buzz cut. Saying "IBAC" again transforms Ibac back into Printwhistle. When he first appears he is defeated when Captain Marvel hits him so hard he seems to knock the evil power from him, in the form of leaving Printwhistle and the four other villains in front of him, the four fade away quietly, but Ibac later returns when the evil spirits contact him. Captain Marvel whirls Ibac around so fast that the four evil spirits separate from him. Because he has not been able to defeat Captain Marvel, Printwhistle has not been obliged to give his soul to the devil, and has reformed, but being weak-willed, he has often been forced by other criminals into becoming the evil Ibac again. In his first Silver Age appearance, the spirits of the villains who gave him his powers telepathically communicate with him, and force him to become Ibac as he has reformed and been a street sweeper for the last ten years. They order him to capture, then destroy, Billy. He succeeds in surprising, capturing, and leaving a bound and gagged Billy in a building about to be blown up, but Billy is able to use a recording of his voice to summon Captain Marvel and beat up Ibac. After being defeated, his benefactors withdraw their powers from him. Ibac was a member of both the pre-''Crisis''

Monster Society of Evil The Monster Society of Evil is a supervillain team created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. It is led by Mister Mind against their mutual enemy Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel. The team is significant as one of the firs ...

during WW II, in which he nearly killed Billy in Africa after giving him bound and gagged to cannibals, and the Society formed years later. While Captain Marvel is empowered by six mythological and

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

figures, Ibac is empowered by four of the most evil and terrifying men to have ever walked the earth: the Terror of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

, the Cunning of

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

, the Fierceness of

Attila the Hun Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...

, and the Cruelty of

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

. While Captain Marvel transforms using magic

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

, Ibac's transformations are accomplished with magical green

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

and brimstone. When

King Kull Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a reject ...

causes trouble for

Earth-One Earth-One (also Earth-1) is a name given to two fictional universes (the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name i ...

Earth-Two Earth-Two (also Earth 2) is a setting for stories (a "fictional universe") appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''The Flash'' #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between the original ...

, and Earth-S, he enlists Ibac,

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

of Earth-One,

Queen Clea Queen Clea is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. The ruthless dictator of Venturia, a remote kingdom on the sunken continent of Atlantis, sh ...

of Earth-Two, and Blockbuster of Earth-One for his attack on Earth-Two, where he tries to wreck

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

and use a cloud to sink islands. This brings them into conflict with

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

of Earth-One, Wonder Woman of Earth-Two,

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

of Earth-One, and

Spy Smasher Spy Smasher is the name of two fictional characters appearing in comics published by Fawcett and DC Comics. The first is a superhero that was formerly owned and published by Fawcett Comics. The second is a female anti-terrorism government agent a ...

of Earth-S. Spy Smasher battles Ibac and is on the verge of losing when he remembers what Captain Marvel told him of the villain. Spy Smasher then taunts the dim-witted villain by telling him to "back down". Ibac responds proudly "I back down for nobody!" The phonetic "I back" causes him to revert to Stinky Printwhistle's form. Ibac's original benefactor Prince Lucifer gives him greater power briefly, but he turns back on purpose to escape the affections of Aunt Minerva after getting advice from Solomon.

Post-Crisis

In post-''Crisis'' continuity, Ibac's origin is similar to as his Earth-S counterpart although his power is implied to originate from Lady Blaze, his employer.''The Power of Shazam'' #1 (March 1995). DC Comics. Ibac also appears in ''

Villains United ''Villains United'' is a six-issue 2005 comic book limited series, published by DC Comics, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham and Wade Von Grawbadger, and later by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins. Publication history ''V ...

'' during the ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' storyline as a member of the

Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League, Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #1 ...

One Year Later "One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through the books published by DC Comics. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the "Infinite Crisi ...

, Ibac appeared in the ''

Secret Six The so-called Secret Six, or the Secret Committee of Six, were a group of men who secretly funded the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry by abolitionist John Brown. Sometimes described as "wealthy," this was true of only two. The other four were in po ...

'' series, still with the Society, battling the second

Ragdoll The Ragdoll is a List of cat breeds, breed of cat with a distinct Point coloration, colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its Morphology (biology), morphology is large and weighty, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. American breeder Ann Baker ...

on the orders of the Society. Ragdoll escapes, leaving a wounded Ibac. Ibac is seen among the captured villains in ''

Salvation Run ''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008. Premise The series, which is based on a pitch from George R. R. Martin, follows a wor ...

''. There, he is in Camp Lex and starts an argument with the people that are not working to help build the machine they need to escape back to Earth. Ibac was also in the ''DC Holiday Special '09'' issue fighting Captain Marvel once again, but in the spirit of the holiday, cease fighting and work together to rebuild what they destroyed during their brawl. Captain Marvel gives him amnesty to walk away free. In the last panel, both are shown at a soup kitchen in their human forms, but neither recognizes the other's alter-ego.

The New 52

In 2011, ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' rebooted the DC universe. During the ''

Forever Evil "Forever Evil" is a 2013–2014 crossover (comics), crossover comic book storyline published by DC Comics that began in September 2013 and ended in May 2014, consisting of an eponymous, central miniseries written by Geoff Johns and art by David F ...

'' storyline, "Ibac the First" is depicted as an evil barbaric ruler who enslaved the

Kahndaq This page lists the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics. Sites Arrowcave The Arrowcave is the former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy. Avernus Cemetery Avernus Cemetery is a hidden burial grou ...

people before being defeated and turned into stone by Black Adam whose family he murdered. Centuries later, one of his descendants takes the name of Ibac.

Powers and abilities

Powers of Ibac

All iterations of Ibac possess a range of powers akin to those bestowed by the Powers of Shazam, which is retroactively revealed to be an attempted replication of the powers originating from the Wizard Shazam. As a result, the character gains abilities such as superhuman strength and durability, enabling them to pose a formidable challenge to the champions of the Wizard, namely Shazam/Captain Marvel and Black Adam. While it is unknown which trait assigns what power, Ibac is attributed from traits of evil historical figures: Terror of

, Cunning of

, Fierceness of

, and Cruelty of

Ibac the First's abilities

In addition to the powers of Ibac granted to him by the Circle of Crows, the character is a skilled and ruthless warrior and general. He also uses the Lash of the Oppressor, a whip that can collect the Living Lightning and depower its users on contact.

Other versions

* A descendant of the character, Ibac II, is the tyrannical ruler of Kahndaq before being killed by Black Adam. * Hamid Stanli is a member of the Circle of Crows and the vessel for Ibac's spirit.

In other media

* Ibac appears in ''

The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! ''The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'' is an NBC Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Filmation, Filmation Studios in 1981. The half-hour show included two cartoon stories, with a variety of live-action wraparound segments. ''Hero High'' feat ...

'' episode "Best Seller", voiced by an uncredited Lou Scheimer. * Ibac makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "The Malicious Mr. Mind!" as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. * Ibac appears in the '' DC Nation'' short "SHAZAM!: Courage", voiced by David Kaye. * Ibac appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

References

External links

Ibac
at Comic Vine {{Shazam Golden Age supervillains DC Comics supervillains Fawcett Comics supervillains Comics characters introduced in 1942 DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters who use magic DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability DC Comics characters with superhuman strength Characters created by Otto Binder Characters created by C. C. Beck Male characters in comics Captain Marvel (DC Comics) de:Captain Marvel#Ibac