Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
| Captain Marvel | |
|---|---|
| Captain Marvel (left), and his young alter ego, Billy Batson. Art by C.C. Beck, originally used for the cover of Whiz Comics no. 22. Captain Marvel (left), and his young alter ego, Billy Batson. Art by C.C. Beck, originally used for the cover of Whiz Comics no. 22. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fawcett Comics (1939–1953) DC Comics (1972– ) |
| First appearance | Whiz Comics no. 2 (1940, historical) The Power of Shazam! graphic novel (1994, canon) |
| Created by | C.C. Beck Bill Parker |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | William "Billy" Batson |
| Team affiliations | Marvel Family Justice Society of America Shadowpact, Justice League |
| Notable aliases | The World's Mightiest Mortal, The Big Red Cheese, Captain Thunder |
| Abilities | Magically bestowed aspects of various mythological figures which includes vast super strength, invulnerability, super-speed, flight, fearlessness, and vast wisdom/enhanced mental perception. |
Captain Marvel is a big Douchebag, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by C.C. Beck and Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics # 2 (Feb, 1940). With a premise that taps into adolescent fantasy, Captain Marvel is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a youth who works as a radio news reporter and was chosen to be a champion of good by the wizard Shazam. Whenever Billy speaks the wizard's name, he is instantly struck by a magic lightning bolt that transforms him into an adult superhero empowered with the abilities of six mythological figures. Several friends and family members, most notably Marvel Family cohorts Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr., can share Billy's power and become "Marvels" themselves.
Hailed as "The World's Mightiest Mortal" in his adventures (and nicknamed "The Big Red Cheese" by archvillain Doctor Sivana, an epithet adopted by fans as a nickname for their hero), Captain Marvel was (based on sales) the most popular superhero of the 1940s. The Captain Marvel Adventures series sold more copies than Superman and other competing superhero books [1][2]. Captain Marvel was also the first superhero to be adapted into film in 1941 (The Adventures of Captain Marvel). Fawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel and Marvel Family comics in 1953. This was due to both a general decline in the popularity of superheroes and a copyright infringement suit from DC Comics alleging similarities between Captain Marvel and Superman. DC licensed the Marvel Family characters in 1972 and acquired all rights in 1980. Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family have been integrated into the "DC Universe", and DC has attempted a few revivals. Captain Marvel has not regained widespread appeal with new generations, although a 1970s Shazam! live action television series featuring the character was very popular.
Due to the fact that Marvel Comics trademarked their Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the original Captain Marvel's Fawcett years and DC years, DC Comics has to promote and market their Captain Marvel/Marvel Family properties under the title Shazam! (based upon the aforementioned magic word as well as the name of the wizard). As a result, Captain Marvel himself is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Shazam".
Full history
Development and inspirations
After the success of National Comics' new superhero characters Superman and Batman, Fawcett Publications decided in 1939 to start its own comics division. Writer Bill Parker was recruited to create several hero characters for the first title in Fawcett's line, then to be called Flash Comics. Besides penning stories featuring Ibis the Invincible, Spy Smasher, Golden Arrow, Lance O'Casey, Scoop Smith, and Dan Dare for the new book, Parker also wrote a story about a team of six superheroes, each possessing a special power granted to them by a mythological figure. Fawcett Comics' executive director Ralph Daigh decided it would be best to combine the team of six into one hero who would embody all six powers, and Parker responded by creating a character he called "Captain Thunder" [3]. Staff artist Clarence Charles "C.C." Beck was recruited to design and illustrate Parker's story, rendering it in a direct, somewhat cartoony style that became his trademark.
The first issue, printed as both Flash Comics no. 1 and Thrill Comics no. 1, had a low-print run in the fall of 1939 as an ashcan copy created for advertising purposes. Shortly after its printing, however, Fawcett found it could not trademark "Captain Thunder", "Flash Comics", or "Thrill Comics", because they were already in use. Consequently, the book was renamed Whiz Comics, and the word balloons were re-lettered to label the hero of the book's main story as "Captain Marvel". Whiz Comics no. 2 was published in late 1939 and dated February 1940. Since it was the first of that title to actually be published, the issue is sometimes referred to as Whiz Comics no. 1, despite the issue number printed on it.
Inspirations for Captain Marvel came from a number of sources. His visual appearance was modeled after that of Fred MacMurray, a popular American actor of the period. Fawcett Publications' founder, Wilford H. Fawcett, was nicknamed "Captain Billy", which inspired the name "Billy Batson" and Marvel's title as well. Fawcett's earliest magazine was titled Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, which probably inspired the title Whiz Comics.
Marvel wore a bright red costume, inspired by both military uniforms and ancient Egyptian and Persian costumes as depicted in popular operas, with gold trim and a lightning bolt insignia on the chest. The body suit originally included a buttoned lapel, but was changed to a one-piece skintight suit within a year at the insistence of the editors (the current DC costume of the character has the lapel restored to it, presumably to differentiate from Superman's outfit). The costume also included a white collared cape trimmed with gold fleur-de-lis symbols, usually asymmetrically thrown over the left shoulder and held around his neck by a gold cord. The cape came from the ceremonial cape worn by the British nobility, photographs of which appeared in newspapers in the 1930s.
Whiz Comics no. 2: origin story
Template:Spoiler Captain Marvel's origin story finds the homeless and orphaned Billy Batson making a meager living selling newspapers near an old subway station, sleeping in the doorway of the station. Billy had been living with his uncle after the deaths of his parents, but the cruel old man threw the boy out into the streets and stole his inheritance. While selling papers one rainy night, a dark clothed stranger comes to the boy, and asks him to follow him down into the subway station. There, a strange subway train with no visible driver appears, which carries the pair to the secret lair of the wizard Shazam. There, the ancient wizard reveals that he has selected Billy to be his champion to fight for good as the "strongest and mightiest man in the world--Captain Marvel!".
To that end, Shazam orders the boy to speak his name, which was actually an acronym for various legendary figures who have agreed to grant aspects of themselves to a willing subject:
| S | for the wisdom of Solomon |
| H | for the strength of Hercules |
| A | for the stamina of Atlas |
| Z | for the power of Zeus (usually in the form of resistance to any injury) |
| A | for the courage of Achilles |
| M | for the speed of Mercury (and, by extension, the power to fly) |
Billy then says the wizard's name, and is immediately struck by a magic lightning bolt, which turns him into Captain Marvel, an adult superhero. He then learns that he only has to speak the word again to be instantly changed back into Billy.
With that, Shazam is immediately killed by a large granite block that falls from above his throne, and Billy vows to fulfill his bestowed role. Whenever he needed advice, Billy could light a brazier near Shazam's throne, which would summon the wizard's ghost.
Marvel's first call to duty was saving the world from the evil mad scientist Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, who threatened to silence radio forever unless he was paid a large sum of money. Resuming his regular form, Billy tells WHIZ radio mogul Sterling Morris that he can stop the Radio Silencer and Sivana; a disbelieving Morris offers Billy a job on the air if he can do so.
Finding the crooks' hideout, Billy transforms into Captain Marvel and destroys Sivana's radio silencing machine and apprehends his henchmen. Sivana escapes, however, setting the stage for a long line of future confrontations. Marvel transforms back into Billy, who presents the captured criminals and destroyed Radio Silencer to Sterling Morris. True to his word, Sterling Morris makes Billy an on-air news reporter for WHIZ radio.
Captain Marvel was an instant success, with Whiz Comics no. 2 selling over 500,000 copies [4]. By 1941, he had his own solo series, Captain Marvel Adventures, while continuing to appear in Whiz Comics as well. He also made periodic appearances in other Fawcett books, including Master Comics.
Fawcett years: the Marvel Family, allies, and enemies
Through his adventures, he soon gained a host of enemies, including Adolf Hitler's champion Captain Nazi, an older Egyptian renegade Marvel called Black Adam, an evil magic-powered brute named Ibac, and an artificially intelligent nuclear powered robot called Mister Atom. The most notorious Captain Marvel villains, however, were the nefarious Mister Mind and his Monster Society Of Evil, which recruited several of Marvel's previous adversaries. The "Monster Society of Evil" storyline ran as two-year story-arc in Captain Marvel Adventures no. 22–46 (March 1943–May 1945), with Mister Mind eventually revealed to be a highly intelligent yet tiny worm from the planet Venus.
In the early 1940s, Captain Marvel also gained allies in The Marvel Family, a collective of superheroes with similar powers and/or costumes to Captain Marvel's. (By comparison, Superman spin-off character Superboy first appeared in 1944, while Supergirl first appeared in 1959). Whiz Comics no. 21 (September 1941) marked the debut of the Lieutenant Marvels, the alter egos of three other boys who found that, by saying "Shazam!" in unison, they too could become Marvels. In Whiz Comics no. 25 (December 1941), a friend named Freddy Freeman, mortally wounded by an attack from Captain Nazi, was given the power to become teenage boy superhero Captain Marvel, Jr.. The next year in Captain Marvel Adventures no. 18 (December 1942), Billy and Freddy met Billy's long-lost twin sister Mary Bromfield, who discovered she could, by saying the magic word "Shazam", become teenage girl superheroine Mary Marvel.
Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. were featured as a team in a new comic series entitled The Marvel Family, published alongside the other Marvel-related titles, which now included Wow Comics featuring Mary, Master Comics featuring Junior, and both Mary Marvel Comics and Captain Marvel, Jr. Comics. Non-super-powered Marvels such as the "lovable con artist" Uncle Marvel and his niece Freckles Marvel also sometimes joined the other Marvels on their adventures. A funny animal character, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, was created in 1942 and later given a spin-off series of his own.
The members of the Marvel Family often teamed up with the other Fawcett superheroes, who included Ibis the Invincible, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Spy Smasher, Minute-Man, and Mr. Scarlet and Pinky. Among the many artists and writers who worked on the Marvel Family stories alongside C.C. Beck and main writer Otto Binder were Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Mac Raboy, Pete Costanza, Kurt Shaffenberger, and Marc Swayze.
Captain Marvel vs. Superman
Main entry: National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications
Through much of the Golden age of comic books, Captain Marvel proved to be the most popular superhero character of the medium with his comics outselling all others, including those featuring Superman. Part of the reason for this popularity included the inherent wish fulfillment appeal of the character to children, as well as the humorous and surreal quality of the stories. In fact, Captain Marvel Adventures sold fourteen million copies in 1944 [5], and was at one point being published weekly with a circulation of 1.3 million copies an issue (proclaimed on the cover of issue no. 19 as being the "Largest Circulation of Any Comic Magazine") [6].
Due to the alleged similarity of Captain Marvel to Superman, National Comics Publications (now DC Comics) sued Fawcett Comics for copyright infringement of intellectual property in 1941. After seven years of litigation, the National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications case went to trials court in 1948. The initial 1951 verdict was decided in Fawcett's favor: although the judge decided that Captain Marvel was an infringement, DC was found to be negligent in copyrighting several of their Superman daily newspaper strips, and it was decided that DC had abandoned the Superman copyright[7]. DC appealed this decision, and Judge Learned Hand declared in 1952 that DC's Superman copyright was in fact valid. Judge Hand maintained that Captain Marvel was an infringement [8].
Before damage assessment could be carried out, Fawcett decided to settle with DC out of court instead of re-appealing, feeling that a decline in the popularity of superhero comics meant that it was no longer worth continuing the fight [9]. Fawcett shut down its comics division in the autumn of 1953, laid off its comic-creating staff, and paid DC $400,000 in damages [10]. Whiz Comics had ended with issue no. 146 in June 1952, with Captain Marvel Adventures folding with no. 150 (November 1953), and The Marvel Family ending its run with no. 89 (January 1954).
In the 1950s, a small British publisher, L. Miller and Son, published a number of black and white reprints of American comic books, including the Captain Marvel series. In 1954, their supply of Captain Marvel material was abruptly cut off because of the lawsuit, and they requested the help of a British comic writer, Mick Anglo, who created a British copy of the superhero called Marvelman. Marvelman ceased publication in 1963, but was revived in 1982 and retitled Miracleman in 1985.
The Shazam! revival
When superhero comics became popular again in the mid-1960s (in what is now called the Silver Age of comics), Fawcett was unable to revive Captain Marvel because of its earlier concession. Eventually, they licensed the characters to DC Comics in 1972, and DC began planning a revival. Because Marvel Comics had by this time established its own claim to the use of Captain Marvel as a comic book title, DC published their book under the name Shazam!. Since then, that title has become so linked to Captain Marvel that the general public has taken to identifying the character as "Shazam" instead of his actual name, Captain Marvel.
The Shazam! comic series began with issue no. 1 in February 1973. It contained both new stories and reprints from the 1940s and 1950s. The first story attempted to explain the Marvel Family's absence by stating that they, the Sivanas, and most of their supporting cast had been accidentally trapped in suspended animation for 20 years until finally breaking free.
Dennis O'Neil was the book's primary writer. C.C. Beck drew stories for the first ten issues of the book before he quit because of differences with DC Comics; Kurt Shaffenberger and Don Newton were among the later artists of the title.
With DC's Multiverse in effect during this time, it was stated that the revived Marvel Family and related characters lived on the parallel world of "Earth-S". While the series began with a great deal of fanfare, the book got lackluster reviews. Shazam! was cancelled with issue no. 35 (June 1978) and relegated to a back-up position in World's Finest Comics (from no. 254 in November 1979 to no. 282 in August 1982) and Adventure Comics (from no. 491 in September 1982 to no. 498 in April 1983). DC Comics bought the Fawcett line of characters outright in 1980, and with their 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, fully integrated the characters into the mainstream DC superhero setting.
Shazam! The New Beginning
The first post-Crisis appearance of Captain Marvel was in the 1986 Legends miniseries. In 1987, Captain Marvel appeared as a member of the Justice League. That same year, he was also given his own miniseries, Shazam! The New Beginning. With the four-issue miniseries, writer Roy Thomas and artist Tom Mandrake attempted to re-launch the Captain Marvel mythos and bring the wizard Shazam, Dr. Sivana, Uncle Dudley, and Black Adam into the modern DC Universe with an altered origin story. In this miniseries, both Sivana and Dudley were Billy Batson's real uncles who fought over the custody for the boy after his parents were killed (by Sivana) in a car accident. Black Adam is also present in the story as Sivana's partner in crime.
The most notable change that Thomas and Justice League writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis introduced into the Captain Marvel mythos was that the personality of young Billy Batson is retained when he transforms into the Captain (classic-era comics tended to treat Captain Marvel and Billy as two separate personalities). This change would remain for all future uses of the character, as justification for his sunny, Golden-Age personality in the darker modern-day comic book world. (Captain Marvel's Justice League teammate Guy Gardner often jokingly referring to the innocent, pure-hearted Captain as "Captain Whitebread").
The Power of Shazam!
Main entry: The Power of Shazam!
In 1994, Captain Marvel was retconned yet again and given a revised origin in The Power of Shazam!, a painted graphic novel by Jerry Ordway. This version of Marvel's origin, now considered his official DCU origin story, more closely followed his Fawcett origins, with only slight additions and changes.
In this version of the story, it is Black Adam who kills Billy Batson's parents (as his resurrected non-powered form of Theo Adam) while the Batsons and Adam are excavating an ancient tomb in Egypt. He also kidnaps Billy's sister Mary, who ends up missing.
Template:Spoiler The wizard Shazam is made aware of all of these events, and (just as in the Fawcett origin) has Billy brought before him by the dark-clothed stranger, and grants the boy the power to become Captain Marvel. As Captain Marvel, Billy takes on the form of his late father, which is how Theo Adam guesses his identity, has a revelation about the power of Shazam, and becomes Black Adam using a scarab he stole from the tomb. After subduing Black Adam and his employer, the rich tycoon Dr. Sivana, Billy swears to find his sister as Captain Marvel.
The graphic novel was a critically acclaimed success, leading to a Power of Shazam! ongoing series which ran from 1995 to 1999. The series reintroduced the Marvel Family and many of their allies and enemies into the modern-day DC Universe.
During the publication of the series, the Marvel Family also appeared in Mark Waid and Alex Ross's critically acclaimed miniseries Kingdom Come, with a brainwashed Captain Marvel playing a major role in the story. Captain Marvel also starred in an oversized special graphic novel, Shazam!: Power of Hope, in 1999, written by Paul Dini and painted by Alex Ross.
Captain Marvel in the 2000s
Personality
Since 1999, the characters have made appearances in a number of other comic book series. Ironically, a typical use for Captain Marvel guest appearances in current comics is as a backup for Superman when a flight-enabled, super-strong being is needed, especially in situations where Superman's special weaknesses (which Captain Marvel does not share) are involved.
Captain Marvel is usually depicted as pure-hearted and unwaveringly upstanding. At one point, he was described by Alex Ross as the "Sir Percival of superheroes", or a representation of what kids think their dad should be — a "big, nice, noble guy without much sexuality about him". Like the classic depiction of Aquaman, Marvel is usually an amiable, friendly person. Since he is still a youth, it is harder for him to become corrupted (thus the wizard's reasoning for not choosing another adult like Black Adam as his champion). In the 1995 Underworld Unleashed miniseries, Captain Marvel's soul is coveted by the demon prince Neron, but Marvel's soul is so pure that Neron was unable to possess it.
However, despite his wisdom, which most likely serves as a buffer protecting him against the traumas he witnesses, Captain Marvel is also depicted as somewhat immature. Since Billy is only a teenager, he tends to take many things for granted and is usually nervous about interacting with other superheroes, making him seem like a case of arrested development to other heroes who are unaware of his true form. At one point, he got the Martian Manhunter addicted to Oreo cookies.
JSA membership (2003–2004)
In 2003, Captain Marvel became a member of the revived Justice Society of America and was featured prominently in that series alongside his nemesis Black Adam. Captain Marvel had originally joined the team to keep an eye on Adam, who had joined the JSA claiming to have reformed. Black Adam eventually left the JSA to instigate a takeover of his home country of Khandaq; he had a fondess for the country, and wished to see the totalitarian regime done away in what he saw as justice. Captain Marvel remained with the team. During his tenure in the JSA, Marvel dated Courtney Whitmore, a.k.a. Stargirl, which put him in an unusual position: while he could legally date Courtney as Billy Batson, it looked very strange for the grown-up Captain Marvel to be with the teenaged Stargirl. The Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, another JSA member, confronted Marvel about the issue, but instead of telling Garrick and the team the truth about his age, Marvel chose to follow the Wisdom of Solomon and leave the team and Courtney.
In 2005, Captain Marvel made an appearance in Frank Miller's alternate-future mini-series "The Dark Knight Strikes Again".
Day of Vengeance
Template:Spoilers Superman #216, Captain Marvel battled Eclipso, and the wizard Shazam had to call upon the Spectre to stop the demon. This action broke a covenant between Eclipso and the Spectre, and set Eclipso permanently at odds against Shazam and Captain Marvel. Possessing the body of the Atom's ex-wife Jean Loring, Eclipso corrupted the confused Spectre into joining forces with her, and began a war against all magic-powered beings in the DC Universe.
In the Day of Vengeance miniseries, Shazam enlisted Marvel to keep the Spectre at bay so that the wizard could prepare to battle him. Marvel therefore threw himself into a desperate battle versus the Spectre, assisted by the newly-formed Shadowpact band of magic-based heroes, which battle ended in a draw.
Spectre later directly confronted Shazam at the Rock of Eternity and killed him, absorbing all of his magicks and powers. The Rock of Eternity crumbled apart and exploded into "a billion pieces" above Gotham City, freeing the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man and many other demons and evil magicks into the mortal world. This leads Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family into DC Comics' current Infinite Crisis, in which the stability of their powers and their very existences are uncertain because of the Spectre's rampage on magic.
Other series
A four-issue Captain Marvel/Superman miniseries, Superman/Shazam: First Thunder, is currently being published by DC, and began with issue no. 1 on September 7. The miniseries, written by Judd Winick with art by Josh Middleton, depicts the first meeting between the two heroes and officially establishes that Captain Marvel has the inate advantage of being far more resistant to magical attacks than the Kryptonian.[11]
A new take on Captain Marvel is expected in the future, written and drawn by popular independent comic artist Jeff Smith, best known for his epic series Bone.
Supporting cast
Marvel Family
Captain Marvel often fights evil as a member of a superhero team known as the Marvel Family, made up of himself and several other heroes:
- The Wizard Shazam. Although he is killed, as prophesied, after giving Billy the power to become Captain Marvel, Shazam's spirit remains as the vigilant caretaker of the Rock of Eternity. In current continuity, Shazam does not die after granting Billy his powers, and was a much more active character than he was during the classic Marvel Family adventures. He attained godhood after the 1998 Genesis crossover, and was ultimately defeated and murdered by the Spectre in the 2005 Day of Vengeance miniseries.
- Mary Marvel. Billy's once-lost twin sister Mary Batson (adopted as Mary Bromfield), who found she could say the magic word "SHAZAM!" and become a female Marvel. The classic-era Mary Marvel remained a teenager after saying her magic word, with a yellow on red short sleeve and skirt costume, while the modern version is transformed into an adult like her brother, with a yellow on white costume. During the run of the series The Power of Shazam!, Mary shared the title of "Captain Marvel" with Billy. In the Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries, Mary became part of the "Super Buddies," a group consisting largely of former Justice League members, after Captain Marvel turned down his invitation.
- Captain Marvel, Jr. Attacked and left for dead by Captain Nazi, Freddy Freeman was given the power to become a Marvel to save his life. Whenever he speaks Captain Marvel's name, Freddy becomes a teenage version of Captain Marvel with a sharply contrasting yellow on blue costume. This created the odd problem that he could not identify himself without changing back to his regular form. The modern-day Junior at one time went by the alias CM3 (short for "Captain Marvel Three", "CM1" being Billy and "CM2" being Mary) so that he could identify himself without transforming. He was a member of the Teen Titans during the late-1990s. Junior has recently joined the most recent incarnation of the Outsiders, after teaming up with them once on an early mission to stop Sabbac.
- Uncle Dudley/Uncle Marvel. During the classic era, an old man named Dudley claimed that he was not only a relative of the Marvels but also a Marvel himself (although neither was true). The Marvels took a liking to him and decided to humor him, and "Uncle" Dudley became Uncle Marvel, the Marvel Family's manager. In modern continuity, Dudley is simply a janitor at Billy's school who finds himself involved in Marvel Family adventures. His niece Freckles Marvel was an irregular companion of Mary Marvel's in her classic-era solo adventures.
- The Lieutenant Marvels. Three other boys named "Billy Batson" (nicknamed "Tall Billy", "Fat Billy", and "Hill Billy"—the latter because he was from Appalachia) who learned that, because they also were named Billy Batson, they could draw on the power of Shazam. They vowed only to use their power if asked by Captain Marvel, and only if all three were to say the magic word, "SHAZAM!", in unison. They have not appeared in Marvel Family stories since the early 1980s, having been retconned out of existence during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. A spin-off character generally confined to his own series, the pink funny animal rabbit version of Captain Marvel periodically assisted the human Marvels in their adventures.
Rogues gallery
Through his adventures, Captain Marvel gained a host of enemies, including the following:
- Dr. Sivana (and the Sivana Family). Captain Marvel's very first and primary foe. Sivana, a bald, diminutive mad scientist, often attempts to take over the world or destroy the Marvels using his inventions. In classic-era continuity, Sivana's teenage children Georgia and Sivana, Jr. often joined their father in his evil schemes; the three of them were collectively known as the Sivana Family. In current DC Universe continuity, Sivana heads the Fearsome Five team of supervillians, which have fought both the Teen Titans and the Outsiders, who include Captain Marvel, Jr.
- Black Adam. An older Egyptian renegade protégé of the wizard Shazam, who was the first to be granted superpowers by the wizard. He eventually grew to abuse his power and seized power to become a tyrant. Shazam returned to punish him with either exile (classic version) or death (modern version). He returns to Earth (or life) after Shazam appoints Captain Marvel his new successor, and was soon established as Captain Marvel's most powerful foe. In current DCU continuity, Black Adam, claiming that he and his murderous host Theo Adam are separate personalities, joined the Justice Society of America, claiming to be a hero as he had once been in Egypt. Adam eventually turned on the JSA, wanting to be a hero on his own terms. He later forcefully overthrew the tyrannous government of his old homeland of Khandaq, appointing himself ruler.
- Captain Nazi. Adolf Hitler's champion, created through science as the "perfect specimen" of a soldier. Obviously inspired by the events of World War II, Nazi continued to appear in classic-era Marvel Family stories into the 1980s. In the Power of Shazam! series, Nazi was brought back into action after having been in suspended animation for fifty years, and quickly became an enemy of the Marvel Family.
- Ibac. A frail thug named "Stinky" Printwhistle who was empowered by Lucifer himself with the powers of four of the most evil men to walk the face of the earth. When he says the name "IBAC", he becomes a large, muscular brute with super-strength. Saying his name again transforms him back into Printwhistle (therefore, like Captain Marvel, Jr., Ibac also cannot say his own name).
- Mister Mind. Arguably the most notorious classic-era Captain Marvel villain, the at-first unseen Mister Mind started and headed a supervillain team known as the Monster Society of Evil. After two years of masterminding tyranny with a team of hundreds of villains and criminals (including several previous Marvel Family adversaries like Captain Nazi and Ibac), Mister Mind was revealed to be a two-inch, myopic, mind-controlling worm from another planet. The evil worm was placed on trial, convicted of killing 186,744 people, and placed in the electric chair. Mind survived his execution and escaped; he would go on to battle Marvel Family many other times until the Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the Power of Shazam! series, Mind was reimagined as the leader of a race of millions of mind-controlling Venusian worms, who irregularly appear across the DC Universe attempting to control potential human hosts.
- Mister Atom. An artificially intelligent nuclear-powered robot created by Dr. Charles Langley. In the Power of Shazam! series, Mister Atom, under the control of Mister Mind, destroys Fairfield, a town near Fawcett City where Mary Bromfield lived with her adoptive parents, with a nuclear explosion.
- Blaze and Satanus. Only present in the modern-day Marvel Family stories, the demoness Blaze and her brother Lord Satanus, originally appearing in the Superman books, are the illegitimate children of the Wizard Shazam, who was bewitched by their mother during his superhero days in Biblical Canaan. Blaze has attempted to spread her evil influence throughout Fawcett City since the 1940s, requiring Shazam and his allies to work together to stop her.
- Oggar. The self styled "World's Mightiest Immortal", he was a major recurring enemy of the Marvels in the Pre-Crisis DC stories. His magic enabled him to do nearly anything, but it cannot be directly cast against a female target. Thus Mary Marvel was usually called upon to deal with him.
- Sabbac. Like Ibac, Sabbac is another magical being powered by the forces of demons. Sabbac gets his powers from six demons (Satan, Any, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus and Craeteis), who give him powers proportional to those of the Marvels. The original Sabbac, the alter ego of Freddy Freeman's foster brother Timothy Barnes, first appeared in 1943 as a humanoid figure. In the early 2000s The Outsiders comic book, Barnes was murdered and his Sabbac powers stolen by a Russian mobster named Ishamel Gregor. When Gregor becomes Sabbac, he transforms into a hulking demon with red skin, horns, fire breath, and a scent of brimstone.
Other characters
- Beautia and Magnificus Sivana. Dr. Sivana's beautiful adult daughter Beautia shared her father's passion for world domination until meeting, and falling for, Captain Marvel. She has an unrequited crush on the shy Captain, not realizing that he is actually only a young boy. Her brother Magnificus is also generally depicted as a Marvel Family ally, although in his only Golden Age appearance, Magnificus had super powers and fought Captain Marvel hand-to-hand.
- Mister "Tawky" Tawny. A humanoid sapient tiger who, in classic-era continuity, wishes to live among the humans in civilization instead of in the wild or the zoo. As such, he is typically dressed in a tweed business suit and usually carries himself in a formal dignified manner. The modern-day Tawky Tawny was a stuffed tiger doll who was animated by Lord Satanus to assist the Marvel Family in their battle against Satanus's sister Blaze. He only appeared as an animate being to Billy, Mary, and later Dudley at first (a la Hobbes in Calvin and Hobbes), but later was made permanently real by the power of Ibis the Invincible.
- Mr. Sterling Morris. The president of WHIZ radio and Billy's employer.
- Miss Wormwood. In modern-era comics, Billy's schoolteacher (and later principal), presented as the typical "mean teacher" stereotype. Her name is another reference to the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, where Calvin's schoolteacher was also named Miss Wormwood.
- Cissie Sommerly. Billy's girlfriend in classic-era continuity.
- Nick and Nora Bromfield. In modern continuity, Mary Batson's adoptive parents, who adopted her through illegal means after their maid, Sarah Primm, brought the child to them (Primm saved Mary from her kidnapper, Primm's brother Theo Adam). Nora Bromfield was a cousin of Billy and Mary's mother, but chose not to tell Mary about her real family. The Bromfields would eventually gain the rights to legally adopt both Mary and Billy, giving the children a traditional family structure again. The couple was named after Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man film series.
Cultural influences
Captain Marvel's adventures have contributed a number of elements to both comic book culture and pop culture in general. The most notable of these is the regular use of Superman and Captain Marvel as adversaries in Modern Age comic book stories. The Superman/Captain Marvel rivalry has its origins in a popular comics story in MAD Magazine no. 4 from 1953, entitled "Superduperman", which was inspired by the Fawcett/DC legal battles. In the story, Superduperman (an obvious Superman doppelganger) does battle with the Captain Marvel-esque Captain Marbles. Marbles' magic word was not "SHAZAM", but "SHAZOOM", which stood for Strength, Health, Aptitude, Zeal, Ox—power of, Ox—power of another, and Money. After DC revived Captain Marvel in the 1970s, they followed MAD's cue and often pitted Captain Marvel and Superman against each other for any number of reasons, but usually as an inside joke to the characters' long battles in court; they are otherwise staunch allies who get along very well with each other. Notable Superman/Captain Marvel battles in DC Comics stores include All-New Collectors' Edition no. C-58 (1979), All-Star Squadron no. 37 (1984), Superman no. 102 (1995), the final issue of the Kingdom Come miniseries (1996), and, most recently, Superman no. 216 (2005). The "Clash" episode of Justice League Unlimited, which included Captain Marvel as a guest character, featured a Superman/Captain Marvel fight as its centerpiece.
Captain Marvel was the first major comic book hero to have a young alter ego. Although kid superheroes had generally been neglected before Marvel's introduction, kid sidekicks soon became commonplace shortly after Marvel's success: Robin was paired with Batman in May 1940, and Captain America was introduced with sidekick Bucky in March 1941. The idea of a young boy who transformed into a superhero proved popular enough to inspire a number of superheroes who undergo similar transformations, including Marvel Comics' Darkhawk, Malibu Comics' Prime, and animated/action figure superheroes such as Hanna-Barbera's Mighty Mightor and Young Samson, Mattel/Filmation's He-Man, and Warner Bros. Television's Freakazoid. Other heroes, including Marvel Comics' Thor, undergo similarly magical transformations from a weak human form to a god-empowered form.
In pop culture, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel's magic word, "Shazam!", became a popular exclamation from the 1940s on, often used in place of an expletive. The most notable user of the word "Shazam!" in this form was Gomer Pyle from the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Elvis Presley was a fan of Captain Marvel, Jr. comic books as a child, and later styled his hair to look like Freddy Freeman's and based his stage jumpsuits and TCB lightning logo on Captain Marvel Junior's costume and lightning-bolt insignia. Actor Cary Grant said that some of his younger fans told him they thought he bore an uncanny resemblance to Captain Marvel.
Even more than ten years after the character first disappeared, the superhero was still used for jokes, such as in The Monkees when Peter Tork tried to escape the ropes he was tied up in by yelling "Shazam!", only to magically break a mirror and sheepishly note that it's seven years bad luck for Captain Marvel. Several other episodes of The Monkees had Captain Marvel references, including using the name "Freddy Freeman" in dialogue. Captain Marvel also made a cameo in The Beatles song "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill". Another catchphrase popularized by Captain Marvel was his trademark exclamation, "Holy Moley!"
In the Fox Network animated series American Dad!, Steve's favorite t-shirt has Captain Marvel's signature lightning bolt insignia on it (although he repeatedly refers to it as a "Shazam" shirt, which is technically incorrect). Additionally, Captain Marvel made a cameo appearance in an episode of The Drew Carey Show, as part of a dream sequence.
Appearances in film and television
The first filmed adaptation of Captain Marvel was produced in 1941. The Adventures of Captain Marvel, starring Tom Tyler in the title role of Captain Marvel and Frank Coglan, Jr. as his alter ego, Billy Batson, was a twelve-part film serial produced by Republic Pictures in 1941. Often ranked among the finest examples of the form, its release made Captain Marvel the first superhero to be depicted in film.
Over thirty years later, Filmation produced Shazam!, a live-action television show which ran from 1974 to 1977 on CBS. From 1975 until the end of its run, it aired as one-half of The Shazam!/Isis Hour. The Shazam! TV show was a more indirect approach to the character; it told of Billy Batson/Captain Marvel making road trips, instead of flying across the USA to combat evil. Michael Gray portrayed Billy Batson in the series, with both Jackson Bostwick (season 1) and John Davey (seasons 2 and 3) as Captain Marvel. Shortly after the Shazam! show ended its network run, Captain Marvel appeared as a character in the low-budgeted comedy special, Legends of the Superheroes, in 1978.
Three years later, Filmation revisited the character for an animated Shazam! cartoon, which ran on NBC from 1981 to 1982 as part of the Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!. The rest of the Marvel Family joined Captain Marvel on his adventures in this series, which were more similar to his comic-book adventures than the 1970s TV show.
In 2005, Captain Marvel guest starred in the Cartoon Network animated series Justice League Unlimited, in an episode entitled "Clash". Captain Marvel was voiced by Jerry O'Connell, with Shane Haboucha as Billy Batson. In the episode, Marvel joins the Justice League, but soon finds himself in a battle with Superman over the perception of Presidential candidate Lex Luthor's credibility and a perceived nuclear threat. A fight sequence between Captain Marvel and Superman, during which the dueling heroes level much of Luthor's prototypical Lexor City, contains references to the Kingdom Come mini-series. "Clash" aired in May 2005 in Canada and aired on 11 June 2005 in the United States.
Currently, New Line Cinema has plans for a Shazam! live-action feature film, with Michael Uslan as producer. The film is scheduled for release in late 2006 or early 2007.
See also
Notes
- ^ Tipton, Scott (2 April 2003). "The World's Mightiest Mortal" Moviepoopshoot.com. Retrieved 17 June 2005. Excerpt: "I’ve always felt that it was this origin story and concept that made Captain Marvel instantly popular, to the point that it was outselling every comic on the stands for several years throughout the '40s."
- ^ "Comic Book Success Stories". The Museum of Comic Book Advertising. Retrieved 17 June 2005. Excerpt: "By the middle of the decade, Captain Marvel had received a self-titled comic book, Captain Marvel's Adventures (sic), which had a circulation that reached 1.3 million copies per month. Captain Marvel's circulation numbers exceeded National's Superman title and the rivalry between the companies led National to sue Fawcett for plagiarism."
- ^ Hembeck, Fred (18 June 2003). "Johnny Thunder and Shazam!". The Hembeck Files. Retrieved 22 June 2005.
- ^ Ibid. Excerpt: "The first issue of Whiz Comics, introducing Captain Marvel, sold over 500,000 copies."
- ^ *Lavin, Michael L. (Summer 1998) "Comic Books And Graphic Novels For Libraries: What To Buy". Serials Review. No. 24, Vol. 2., p. 34. Excerpt: "In 1944, the best-selling comic book title (Captain Marvel Adventures) sold more than fourteen million copies for the year."
- ^ "Comic Book Success Stories". The Museum of Comic Book Advertising.
- ^ Ingersoll, Bob (31 May 1985). "The Law is an Ass" Installment no. 66. Comics Buyer's Guide issue #602. Retrieved from http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/law/back20001024.shtml on 19 June 2005. Detailed summary of the cases and rulings related to National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publishing.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Gore, Matthew H. The Origins of Marvelman. Retrieved 17 June 2005. Excerpt: "With avenues of appeal still open but their outcome obvious after the first court ruled for National Periodicals, Fawcett Publications settled out of court in late-1953. Fawcett agreed to cease publication of all Captain Marvel related titles. However, Fawcett's decision to give up the legal battle came when all of the company's superhero titles were reporting greatly diminished sales was no circumstance."
- ^ "The World's Mightiest Mortal & Big Red Cheese". The Museum of Comic Book Advertising. Retrieved 17 June 2005. Excerpt: "In 1953, the case was finally settled out of court when Fawcett agreed to quit using the Captain Marvel character(s) and pay DC the sum of $400,000."
- ^ Newsarama: Superman/Shazam: First Thunder. Six-page preview of and news information on upcoming miniseries.
References
- Beck, C.C. and Parker, Bill (February 1940, reprinted March 2000). "Capt. Marvel" Whiz Comics no2. New York: Fawcett Publications (reprint by DC Comics).
- Beck, C.C. and O'Neil, Denny. (February 1973). "In the Beginning" Shazam! no. 1. New York: National Periodical Publications.
- Grogan, Walt. The Marvel Family Web. Retrieved 16 June 2005.
- Markstei, Donald D. (2000 - 2004). "Captain Marvel". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 16 June 2005.
- Ordway, Jerry. (1994). The Power of Shazam! New York: DC Comics. ISBN 156-389153-0.
- Thomas, Roy and Mandrake, Tom. Shazam! The New Beginning no. 1–4. New York: DC Comics.
External links
Comics
- Captain Marvel's "Secret File" at dccomics.com.
Fan sites
- The Marvel Family Web. Extensive information, images, and more on all Captain Marvel-related comics
- The Shazam! page. Dedicated to Captain Marvel; includes detailed synopses of each issue of The Power of Shazam!
- The Captains Marvel. Dedicated to Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel; includes information, images, and more.
- Index of the Marvel Family's Earth-S adventures from SHAZAM! No. 1 (1973) through the CRISIS (1986)
- the thunderstrike04's The Marvel Family Website, news, Links, DC Comics/Fawcett Publications Timeline and History.