Mentor
Wouldn't it have been better if Billy Batson was his trip with his grandfather or uncle? I mean I never got their relationship. Was he his teacher, guardian, etc.
shareAccording to the late, great E. Nelson Bridwell, in the introduction of "Shazam From The 40s to the 70s", Mentor was originally conceived to be Billy's predicessor as a hero (kind of like Black Adam, but who didn't turn evil), and now, with Billy as the successor to the power of Shazam, Mentor would show him the ropes of being a superhero.
There was also suspicion that Mentor might be the wizard Shazam himself in disguise.
But by time the show went into production, none of this made it to the final scripts. Bridwell suggested Mentor as he appeared in the completed episodes, could very well be Uncle Dudley...and Bridwell, when he started writng the "Shazam" comic to reflect the TV series, did just that...made Dudley Mentor.
I believe that Mentor is just the wizard Shazam himself, although how the frack he's able to be away from the Mountain of Judgment, I have no idea. I doubt that it's Dudley, since Dudley's a big dunce (and in one issue of the comic book, was drunk as ever near Mary Marvel!)
I much prefer the set-up of the more recent Shazam comic books, in which Dr. Silvana was retconned as being Billy's guardian who treated Billy like crap before he could get away from him and fulfill his destiny, and the more recent retcon, Superman/Shazam-First Thunder in which Billy's a homeless youth living in Fawcett City who becomes Captain Marvel, meets Superman, and must stop Dr. Silvana (now a rich billionaire CEO/scientist/inventor like Lex Luthor) from wrecking the city and a solar power project, but with consequences for Billy/Captain Marvel-A friend of Billy's, Scott Okun, is caught in the crossfire (literally) between Billy/Captain Marvel and Dr. Silvana; he is killed by Silvana's hired thugs who were going to kill Billy himself.
Just my $0.02.
I always thought it would've been cool if Mentor turned out to be the Billy Batson from the serial "Adventures Of Captain Marvel", just 30 or so years older. He'd be able to identify with the powers and responsibility of Captain Marvel, and yet shape his 'younger' self as his guardian... making both the lessons learned as Billy and Captain Marvel equally important.
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