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There was a scene with Billy and Stargirl where he explained that he was desperate to pass a makeup test at school. He was left alone in the room, and he had the idea to change into Captain Marvel to use the Wisdom of Solomon to pass the the test. Once he changed, however, that same wisdom would not allow him to cheat, so he had to complete the exam as Billy. That’s the exact opposite of the superhero version of BIG. 

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This is a perfect description of Johns’ Black Adam.

Here's a nice video detailing the history of the original Captain Marvel:

Many more fannish conceits clogged that title, such as Mary being beautiful in super-heroine form and plain in real life and the power being divided between the three primary Marvel Family members, making it less useful to have one come to the rescue of the others, since the transformation would then reduce the first one's power by half or even two-thirds. Back in the day, the Lieutenant Marvels shared only a fraction of Captain Marvel's power in a similar manner, but this is hardly an improvement when introduced into the Marvel Family proper.

I'm one of those who thinks the really BIG guns should be able to survive in outer space for a considerable time, even if not indefinitely (e.g., Captain Marvel somehow trapped on the Moon might eventually die**... but he'd have no problem flying from Earth to Venus.) I know that Mr. Byrne went a different route with Superman, and of course, his character trumps my opinion.

*Say, that does make it hard to use the abbreviation to refer to it, doesn't it? I'll wager the All-Star Squadron had the same issue.

**I read once that Captain Marvel was the World's Mightiest Mortal because half his life was spent as the entirely mortal Billy Batson. This made me wonder if Billy, at the end of his life, said one last "Shazam!" and made Captain Marvel a kind of sort of were-zombie... and again, that's pushing the discussion too far. God, I'm old...

Count me as someone who would have been very happy to see Generations 4.  I loved that series so much.  It so reminded me of the old Imaginary Tales I read as a boy.  Even though all comics are imaginary, something about seeing what happened to Superman etc. in those Silver Age books was so exciting! 

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I think Frank Miller used a variation of this -- minus the wife and kids -- in DK2. JB -- did he get the idea from you?

Alan Moore's unproduced "Twilight" proposal featured the various DC "families" forming royal houses to govern the Earth. The Marvel's House of Thunder is presided over by Billy who has married his sister Mary and had a daughter by her. He'll later find that she is having a Lancelot-Guinevere style affair with Freddy, precipitating the downfall of their "kingdom."