Clarence Charles "C.C." Batson (named after Captain Marvel co-creator Charles Clarence "C.C." Beck) is the biological father of Billy Batson. Billy's biological parents had been alluded to in a handful of "Shazam!" stories published prior to 1990 under different names. The 1994 graphic novel "The Power of Shazam!" by Jerry Ordway introduces C.C. and his wife, Billy's mother Marilyn, and how their deaths in that Post-Crisis continuity at the hands of Theo Adam (alter-ego of Black Adam) led to Billy gaining his powers. Much emphasis is made of Captain Marvel/Shazam's almost-identical appearance to the deceased C.C. Batson.