After making her premiere in Captain Marvel Adventures, Mary Marvel was Billy Batson's long-lost twin sister who now shares the same powers as him in The Marvel Family. She also began her own feature in the pages of Wow Comics #9, written by Supergirl creator Otto Binder, which was also her first Mary Marvel comic feature. Up until then, the headliner space in Wow was taken up by the Jack Kirby-created superhero Mr. Scarlet and his manly sidekick Pinky, but now they are regulated to second billing from that point on, even though it begins with them literally giving Mary Marvel the keys to the comic's front door. Mary Batson was adopted by the rich Bromfields, so she carries out some of her filthy rich foster family's charity stunts so they can claim them as a tax write off by inviting some orphans over to her palatial residence as guests on Christmas Eve. Mary and Mrs. Bromfield visit a dept. store to get some gifts for the visiting children, but the ticked off clerk is really a thief named Spike trying to smuggle stolen jewels in toys. This prompts Spike to try and knock Mrs. Bromfield with a baseball bat, so Mary says Shazam and turns into her alter-ego taking a bonk to the head, much to the shock of Spike as she punches him into a wall. Mary quickly exists as she transforms back with her indoor magic lightning and shows up just in time to convince Mrs. Bromfield that Mary Batson and Mary Marvel are two separate people. Mrs. Bromfield falls for this ruse and buys all the toys with the hidden jewels, so Spike and his gang called the Nefarious Four decide to all dress up as Santas to burgle the toys from the Bromfield's on Christmas Eve. Mary does her Shazam makeover as the crooks try to mow her down with tommy guns they kept in their Santa bags, and Mary Marvel swats them all with one blow, but has to change back from being the World's Mightiest Girl just to keep her pointlessly secret identity. The Nefarious Four ties up normal Mary just as a different trio of other Santas come down the chimney. The new Santas turn out to be a special appearance by Captain Marvel, Mr. Scarlet, and Pinky who meant to surprise the orphans. The three wise heroes overwhelm Spike and his gang as Capt. Marvel frees his sister so she can join them in the yuletide stomping of fake Santas. The good guys find the stolen jewels in the toys just as the orphans wake up to find four full-fledged costumed crimefighters wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Mary Marvel's original solo adventure managed to get everyone from Santa Claus, her superhero brother, and two random masked vigilantes showing up like guests in a Bing Crosby special. This is one of the first times in a comic book that had superheroes beating up evil Kris Kringles, but Mary managed to highlight an all-star cast in a holiday hullabaloo, even though she did end up as a damsel in distress before the finale.
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