As regular visitors to the Fortress know, your humble host has been less than satisfied with DC’s treatment of the Marvel Family.

Jeff Smith’s mini-series is undeniably Marvel-ous (ouch) and we have high hopes for the upcoming Johnny DC title, but for whatever reason the DiDiots who run National Publications keep trying to shoehorn Cap & Co. into the grim ‘n’ gritty world of shock-driven super-hero comics - a misguided notion that always ends in frustration for fans and creators alike.

Judd Winick’s increasingly silly Trials of Shazam has yet to see its conclusion, leaving both Billy Batson and Freddy Freeman on the sidelines as the DC universe hurtles toward its Final Crisis.

Mary Marvel has played a prominent role in Countdown, but from what we’ve seen of the book (thanks to diligent coverage from Rokk) that story has done little more than drag the character through the mud without much in the way of an emotional payoff.

Still, our travels through the Internet this evening did result in a welcome piece of news. We bumped into this image from the current issue of Paul Dini’s non-hit weekly series …

… and it looks like the long nightmare is finally over for Mary Marvel and her fans.

Or at least, this fan.

Now, it’s on to Final Crisis where Grant Morrison has promised a knock-down, drag-out battle between Mary and a certain Supergirl from Krypton. Hopefully both characters will emerge from the episode with whatever dignity they have left intact.