...because, like almost all great comic book villains, the little SOB had an ace in the hole...
When DC revived the Marvel Family (after putting them out of business almost 20 years earlier), instead of rebooting the series, the creatives had arch-villain Sivana freeze them (and himself, accidentally) in "suspendium" to explain why they hadn't aged!
After an earthquake hits the museum, Billy/Captain Marvel digs out the museum-goers...
I'm including the next page just because it's a classic example of the kid-friendly "violence" the original series specialized in...
Though Cap stops Mr Mind's plan, the cunning worm escapes...
Despite writer Denny O'Neil and artist CC Beck (Cap's
original Golden Age artist who was still going strong) promise in
DC's SHAZAM! #2 (1973), the explanation became a running gag as Mr. Mind would escape just before telling how he survived certain death, until
SHAZAM! #31 (1977)...
...where writer E Nelson Bridwell (who was DC's resident "continuity fanatic" counterpart to Marvel's Roy Thomas) and penciler Kurt Schaffenberger (who had worked on Fawcett's Marvel Family titles from the mid-1940s until they were cancelled in 1954) finally told the story!
Note: there are no footnotes in these SHAZAM! tales referencing Captain Marvel Adventures #46 (1945), where Mr Mind met his (supposed) demise!
Why?
1) when SHAZAM! #2 was published in 1973, there were no reprints of the Monster Society of Evil serial...nor any Captain Marvel stories in print due to the terms of the DC/Fawcett lawsuit!
2) When SHAZAM! #31 was published in 1977, DC had reprinted some of the Fawcett Marvel Family stories, but had already perceived reprinting MSoE would be problematic due to the racist content of several of the chapters!
(Of course, this was before the Direct Market and comic book stores in almost every city/town/village!)
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