Captain Marvel is a
fictionFiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al
comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
superheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
, originally published by
Fawcett ComicsFawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
and later by
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. Created in 1939 by artist
C. C. BeckCharles Clarence Beck was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics....
and writer
Bill ParkerWilliam "Bill" H. Parker, Jr. was an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known for creating Fawcett Comics' most popular character, Captain Marvel, in 1940, along with artist C. C. Beck....
, the character first appeared in
Whiz ComicsWhiz Comics was a monthly ongoing comic book anthology series, which was published by Fawcett Comics from February 1940 with issue #2 and stopping at issue #155 in June 1953, best known for introducing Captain Marvel. The first issue published of Whiz Comics was issue #2...
#2 (February 1940). With a premise that taps adolescent fantasy, Captain Marvel is the
alter egoAn alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
of
Billy Batson, a youth who works as a
radioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
news reporterA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and was chosen to be a champion of good by the
wizardA magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
Shazam. Whenever Billy speaks the wizard's name, he is struck by a magic lightning bolt that transforms him into an adult superhero empowered with the abilities of six legendary figures. Several friends and family members, most notably
Marvel FamilyThe Marvel Family is a group of fictional characters, a team of superheroes in the Fawcett Comics and DC Comics universes. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and Fawcett artists C. C...
cohorts
Mary MarvelMary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
and
Captain Marvel Jr.Captain Marvel Jr. is a fictional character, a superhero originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently in the . A member of the Marvel Family team of superheroes, he was created by Ed Herron and Mac Raboy, and first appeared in Whiz Comics #25 in December 1941.Captain Marvel Jr.'s...
, can share Billy's power and become "Marvels" themselves.
Hailed as "The World's Mightiest Mortal" in his adventures, Captain Marvel was nicknamed "The Big Red Cheese" by arch-villain
Doctor SivanaDoctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book supervillain. Created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, he first appeared opposite superhero Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2 by Fawcett Comics...
, an epithet later adopted by Captain Marvel's fans. Based on sales, Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero of the 1940s, as his
Captain Marvel Adventures comic book series sold more copies than
SupermanSuperman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938...
and other competing superhero books during the mid-1940s. Captain Marvel was also the first comic book superhero to be adapted to film, in a 1941
Republic PicturesRepublic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
serial titled
Adventures of Captain MarvelAdventures of Captain Marvel is a 1941 twelve-chapter film serial directed by John English and William Witney for Republic Pictures, adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character then appearing in Fawcett Comics publications such as Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures...
.
Fawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel-related comics in 1953, due in part to a
copyright infringement suit from DC ComicsNational Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications, 191 F.2d 594 , was a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a twelve-year legal battle between National Comics and the Fawcett Comics division of Fawcett Publications, concerning Fawcett's Captain Marvel...
alleging that Captain Marvel was an illegal infringement of Superman. In 1972, DC licensed the Marvel Family characters and returned them to publication, acquiring all rights to the characters by 1991. DC has since integrated Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family into their
DC UniverseThe DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, and have attempted to revive the property several times. However, Captain Marvel has not regained widespread appeal with new generations, although a
Shazam!Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....
live-action Saturday morning television series featuring the character ran for three seasons on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in the 1970s.
Because
Marvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
trademarked their
Captain MarvelCaptain Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Most of these versions exist in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe.- Publication history :...
comic book during the interim between the original Captain Marvel's Fawcett years and DC years, DC Comics is unable to promote and market their Captain Marvel/Marvel Family properties under that name. Since 1972, DC has instead used the trademark
Shazam! as the title of their comic books and thus the name under which they market and promote the character. Consequently, Captain Marvel himself is frequently erroneously referred to as "Shazam". Captain Marvel was ranked as the 55th greatest comic book character of all time by
WizardWizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...
magazine.
IGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
also ranked Captain Marvel as the 50th greatest comic book hero of all time stating that Captain Marvel will always be an enduring reminder of a simpler time. UGO Networks also placed him as one of the top heroes of entertainment quoting, "At his best, Shazam has always been Superman with a sense of crazy, goofy fun, to wit."
Development and inspirations
After the success of
National ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' new superhero characters
SupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
and
BatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
,
Fawcett PublicationsFawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
in 1939 started its own comics division. Fawcett recruited writer Bill Parker to create several hero characters for the first title in their line, tentatively titled
Flash Comics. Besides penning stories featuring
Ibis the InvincibleIbis the Invincible is a fictional character, a comic book superhero originally published by Fawcett Comics in the 1940s and then by DC Comics beginning in the 1970s. Like many magician superheroes introduced in the Golden Age of Comics, Ibis owes much to the popular comic strip character Mandrake...
,
Spy SmasherSpy Smasher is the name of two fictional characters appearing in comics published by DC Comics. The first is a superhero that was formerly owned and published by Fawcett Comics...
,
Golden ArrowGolden Arrow is a fictional character who had his own strip in Fawcett Comics' Whiz Comics comic book series, from 1940 to 1953.-Fictional character history:...
,
Lance O'CaseyLance O'Casey is a fictional character who had his own strip in Fawcett Comics' Whiz Comics. The stories were popular backup stories to the book's main attractions of Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher.-Character history:...
,
Scoop SmithScoop Smith is a fictional character who had his own strip in Fawcett Comics' Whiz Comics. A crime-fighting news reporter, Smith's adventures appeared in Whiz Comics during the title's earliest years.-References:*...
, and
Dan DareDan Dare is a fictional character who had his own strip in Fawcett Comics' Whiz Comics. A skilled detective and crime fighter, Dare's adventures appeared in Whiz Comics during the title's earliest years....
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. Parker responded by creating a character he called "Captain Thunder." Staff artist
Charles Clarence "C. C." BeckCharles Clarence Beck was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics....
was recruited to design and illustrate Parker's story, rendering it in a direct, somewhat
cartoonA cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
y style that became his trademark.
The first issue of the comic book, printed as both
Flash Comics #1 and
Thrill Comics #1, had a low-print run in the fall of 1939 as an
ashcan copyAn ashcan copy is a term that originated in the Golden Age of Comic Books, meant to describe a publication produced solely for legal purposes , and not normally intended for distribution.-Origins:...
created for advertising and
trademarkA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
purposes. Shortly after its printing, however, Fawcett found it could not trademark "Captain Thunder," "Flash Comics," or "Thrill Comics," because all three names were already in use. Consequently, the book was renamed
Whiz Comics, and Fawcett artist
Pete CostanzaPete Costanza was an American comic book artist and illustrator. He is best known for his work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during the World War II era fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, and served as one of Captain Marvel's longest-tenured...
suggested changing Captain Thunder's name to "Captain Marvelous", which the editors shortened to "Captain Marvel." The
word balloonSpeech balloons are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comic strips and cartoons to allow words to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic...
s in the story were re-lettered to label the hero of the main story as "Captain Marvel."
Whiz Comics #2 (cover-dated Feb. 1940) was published in late 1939.
Inspirations for Captain Marvel came from a number of sources. His visual appearance was modeled after that of
Fred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, a popular American actor of the period., though comparisons to both
Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and
Jack OakieJack Oakie was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television.-Early life:...
were made as well. 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 BangFawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
, which inspired the title
Whiz Comics. In addition, Fawcett adapted several of the elements that had made Superman, the first popular comic book superhero, popular (super strength and speed, science-fiction stories, a mild-mannered reporter alter ego), and incorporated them into Captain Marvel. Fawcett's circulation director Roscoe Kent Fawcett recalled telling the staff, "give me a Superman, only have his other identity be a 10- or 12-year-old boy rather than a man."
As a result, Captain Marvel was given a twelve-year-old boy named Billy Batson as his alter ego. In the origin story printed in
Whiz Comics #2, Billy, a homeless newsboy, is led by a mysterious stranger to a secret subway tunnel. An odd subway car with no visible driver takes them past Seven statues depicting the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness and Injustice) to the lair of the wizard Shazam, who grants Billy the power to become the adult superhero Captain Marvel and shows him his life, after which a stone above Shazam's head crushes him, although his ghost says he will give advice when a brazier is lighted. In order to transform into Captain Marvel, Billy must speak the wizard's name, an
acronymAcronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...
for the six various legendary figures who had agreed to grant aspects of themselves to a willing subject: the wisdom of
SolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
; the strength of
HerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
; the stamina of
AtlasIn Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens. Although associated with various places, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in north-west Africa...
; the power of
ZeusIn the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
; the courage of
AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
; and the speed of
MercuryMercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
. Speaking the word produces a bolt of magic lightning which transforms Billy into Captain Marvel; speaking the word again reverses the transformation with another bolt of lightning.
Captain Marvel wore a bright red costume with gold trim and a yellow lightning bolt insignia on the chest. The body suit originally included a partial
bibA bib is a garment worn hanging from the neck on the chest to protect clothing from spilling.The word, reported in English since 1580, stems from a verb bibben "to drink" , from Latin bibere, either because it was worn while drinking or because it "soaked up" spills.Bibs are frequently used by...
front, but was changed to a one-piece skintight suit within a year. in 1994, the
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
version of the costume had the partial bib restored. The costume also included a white-collared
capeCape can be used to describe any sleeveless outer garment, such as a poncho, but usually it is a long garment that covers only the back half of the wearer, fastening around the neck. They were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon, and have had periodic...
trimmed with gold flower 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-General History of British Nobility:The nobility of the four constituent home nations of the United Kingdom has played a major role in shaping the history of the country, although in the present day even hereditary peers have no special rights, privileges or responsibilities, except for residual...
, photographs of which appeared in newspapers in the 1930s.
In addition to introducing the main character and his alter ego, Captain Marvel's first adventure in
Whiz Comics #2 also introduced his archenemy, the evil
Doctor SivanaDoctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book supervillain. Created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, he first appeared opposite superhero Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2 by Fawcett Comics...
, and found Billy Batson talking his way into a job as an on-air radio reporter. Captain Marvel was an instant success, with
Whiz Comics #2 selling over 500,000 copies. 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, Captain Marvel soon gained a host of enemies. His most frequent foe was
Doctor SivanaDoctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book supervillain. Created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, he first appeared opposite superhero Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2 by Fawcett Comics...
, a
mad scientistA mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
who was determined to rule the world, yet was thwarted by Captain Marvel at every turn. He had two non-evil children, the beautiful Beautia, who loved Captain Marvel, and the superstrong Magnificus. Sivana's evil children, Georgia and Sivana, Jr., were later introduced to the comics, and they resembled their father both physically and mentally. Marvel's other villains included
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's champion
Captain NaziCaptain Nazi is a Fawcett Comics and DC Comics supervillain, a rival of Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. He was created by William Woolfolk and Mac Raboy.-Fawcett Comics:...
, an older Egyptian renegade Marvel called
Black AdamBlack Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
(whose sole Golden Age appearance was in
Marvel Family #1), an evil magic-powered brute named
IbacIbac is a fictional Fawcett Comics and DC Comics supervillain, and a foe of Captain Marvel. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist C.C. Beck, he first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventurs #8 .-Fictional character biography:...
, who gained powers from historical villains, and an artificially intelligent
nuclear-poweredNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
robotA robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
called
Mister AtomMister Atom is a fictional comic book supervillain, a radioactive robot who is regularly seen as an enemy of Captain Marvel. He first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #78 in November 1947.- Golden Age and pre-Crisis version :...
. The most notorious Captain Marvel villains, however, were the nefarious
Mister MindMister Mind is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain created for Fawcett Comics, and now owned and published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C...
and his Monster Society of Evil, which recruited several of Marvel's previous adversaries. The "Monster Society of Evil" story arc ran as a twenty-five chapter serial in
Captain Marvel Adventures #22–46 (March 1943 – May 1945), with Mister Mind eventually revealed to be a highly intelligent yet tiny
wormThe term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
from another planet. The Monster Society was the first criminal group in comics with members from past stories, including Sivana, Ibac, and Captain Nazi, along with new foes, like Herkimer the crocodile man and a multi-headed Hydra. Even Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo were members, along with other Nazis. The Society tried many plans, firstly trying to use Captain Nazi to steal magic fortune-telling pearls, using a film to intimidate the world, and even trying to use a giant cannon to blow holes in countries. Mr. Mind is eventually executed in the electric chair for 186,744 murders at the end of the arc, but would be reintroduced decades later in DC Comics'
Shazam! #2.
In the early 1940s, Captain Marvel also gained allies in the Marvel Family, a collective of superheroes with powers and/or costumes similar to Captain Marvel's. (By comparison, Superman spin-off character
SuperboySuperboy is the name of several fictional characters that have been published by DC Comics, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman. These characters have also been the main characters of four ongoing Superboy comic book series published by DC....
first appeared in 1944, while
SupergirlSupergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
first appeared in 1959).
Whiz Comics #21 (September 1941) marked the debut of the
Lieutenant MarvelsThe Lieutenant Marvels are fictional characters, a team of superheroes in the Fawcett Comics and DC Comics universes. They first appeared in Whiz Comics #21 in 1941...
, the alter egos of three other boys (all also named Billy Batson) who found that, by saying "Shazam!" in unison, they too could become Marvels. In
Whiz Comics #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., with a distinctive gold on blue version of the Marvel costume. A year later in
Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (December 1942), Billy and Freddy met Billy's long-lost
twinA twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
sister Mary Bromfield, who discovered she could, by saying the magic word "Shazam," become teenage superheroine Mary Marvel, although the pre-
CrisisCrisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
Mary Marvel got her power from "goddesses."
Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr., were featured as a team in a new comic series entitled
The Marvel Family. This was published alongside the other Captain 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 artistA confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
"
Uncle MarvelUncle Marvel is a fictional comic book character originally created for Fawcett Comics, and today owned by DC Comics, who appears in stories about the Marvel Family team of superheroes...
and his niece, Freckles Marvel, also sometimes joined the other Marvels on their adventures. A
funny animalFunny animal is a cartooning term for the genre of comics and animated cartoons in which the main characters are humanoid or talking animals, with anthropomorphic personality traits. The characters themselves may also be called funny animals...
spin-off,
Hoppy the Marvel BunnyHoppy the Marvel Bunny is a fictional comic book superhero and funny animal originally published by Fawcett Comics as a spin-off of Captain Marvel. He was created by Chad Grothkopf , and debuted in Fawcett's Funny Animals #1...
, was created in 1942 for
Fawcett's Funny Animals comics, and later given a series of his own.
As with other superheroes, Captain Marvel had a number of non-powered friends and associates as well. These included Mr. Morris, Billy's employer at WHIZ radio; Joan Jameson, Billy's secretary (and one of the few people to know his secret identity); Beautia Sivana, Dr. Sivana's good-natured adult daughter who had a crush on Captain Marvel and only periodically joined forces with her father (and usually by force); and Dexter Knox, an intelligent young scientist who was a friend of Billy's friends. The most prolific of Captain Marvel's supporting characters at Fawcett was Mister Tawky Tawny, an anthropomorphic tiger who'd been fed a serum that allowed him to learn to speak and stand upright.
The members of the Marvel Family often teamed up with the other Fawcett superheroes, who included Ibis the Invincible,
Bulletman and BulletgirlBulletman was a Fawcett Comics superhero created by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle for Nickel Comics #1 in May, 1940.-Fictional character biography:...
, Spy Smasher,
Minute-ManMinute-Man is a fictional comic book superhero.-Publication history:Named after the minutemen of the American Revolution and sporting an American flag-inspired costume, he was originally published by Fawcett Comics...
, and
Mr. ScarletMister Scarlet is the name of several fictional characters, comic book superheroes published by DC Comics. Brian Butler the original Mister Scarlet debuted in Wow Comics #1 , and was created by France Herron and Jack Kirby....
and Pinky. Among the many artists and writers who worked on the Marvel Family stories alongside C. C. Beck and main writer
Otto BinderOtto Oscar Binder was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books...
were
Joe SimonJoseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and
Jack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
,
Mac RaboyEmmanuel "Mac" Raboy was an American cartoonist whose comic books and strips remain collectibles more than 40 years after his death. He was known for his work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Jr...
, Pete Costanza,
Kurt SchaffenbergerKurt Schaffenberger was an American comic book artist. Schaffenberger was best known for his work on Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family , as well as his work on the title Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early career:Schaffenberger was born on a farm in the...
, and
Marc SwayzeMarc Swayze was an American comic book artist from 1941-53 for Fawcett Publications.He is best known for his work on Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during the Golden Age of comic books for Fawcett Comics, and is the co-creator of Mary Marvel with writer Otto Binder...
.
Copyright infringement lawsuit and cancellation
Through much of the
Golden Age of Comic BooksThe Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
, Captain Marvel proved to be the most popular superhero character of the medium with his comics outselling all others, including those featuring Superman. In fact,
Captain Marvel Adventures sold fourteen million copies in 1944, and was at one point being published bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.3 million copies an issue (proclaimed on the cover of issue #19 as being the "Largest Circulation of Any Comic Magazine"). Part of the reason for this popularity included the inherent wish-fulfillment appeal of the character to children, as well as the humorous and
surrealSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
quality of the stories. Billy Batson typically narrated each Captain Marvel story,
speaking directly to his reading audienceThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
from his WHIZ radio microphone, relating each story from the perspective of a young boy.
Detective Comics (later known as National Comics Publications, National Periodical Publications, and today known as DC Comics) sued Fawcett Comics for
copyright infringementCopyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
in 1941, alleging that Captain Marvel was based on their character Superman. After seven years of litigation, the
National Comics Publications v. Fawcett PublicationsNational Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications, 191 F.2d 594 , was a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a twelve-year legal battle between National Comics and the Fawcett Comics division of Fawcett Publications, concerning Fawcett's Captain Marvel...
case went to trials court in 1948. Although the judge presiding over the case decided that Captain Marvel was an infringement, DC was found to be negligent in copyrighting several of their
Superman daily
newspaper stripsSuperman was a daily newspaper comic strip which began on January 16, 1939, and a separate Sunday strip was added on November 5, 1939. These strips ran continuously until May 1966. In 1941, the McClure Syndicate had placed the strip in hundreds of newspapers...
, and it was decided that National had abandoned the Superman copyright. As a result, the initial verdict, delivered in 1951, was decided in Fawcett's favor.
National appealed this decision, and Judge
Learned HandBillings Learned Hand was a United States judge and judicial philosopher. He served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...
declared in 1952 that National's Superman copyright was in fact valid. Judge Hand did not find that the character of Captain Marvel itself was an infringement, but rather that specific stories or super feats could be infringements, and that the truth of this would have to be determined in a re-trial of the case. The judge therefore sent the matter back to the lower court for final determination.
Instead of retrying the case, however, Fawcett decided to settle with National out of court. The National lawsuit was not the only problem Fawcett faced in regards to Captain Marvel. While
Captain Marvel Adventures had been the top-selling comic series during World War II, it suffered declining sales every year after 1945 and by 1949 it was selling only half its wartime rate. Fawcett tried to revive the popularity of its assorted Captain Marvel series in the early 1950s by introducing elements of the horror comics trend that gained popularity at the time. Feeling that a decline in the popularity of superhero comics meant that it was no longer worth continuing the fight, Fawcett agreed to never again publish a comic book featuring any of the Captain Marvel-related characters, and to pay National $400,000 in damages. Fawcett shut down its comics division in the autumn of 1953 and laid off its comic-creating staff.
Whiz Comics had ended with issue #155 in June 1953,
Captain Marvel Adventures was canceled with #150 (November 1953), and
The Marvel Family ended its run with #89 (January 1954).
Marvelman (and Miracleman)
In the 1950s, a small British publisher, L. Miller and Son, published a number of
black-and-whiteBlack-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
reprints of American comic books, including the Captain Marvel series. With the outcome of the
National v. Fawcett lawsuit, L. Miller and Son found their supply of Captain Marvel material abruptly cut off. They requested the help of a British comic writer,
Mick AngloMichael "Mick" Anglo was a British comic book writer, editor and artist, as well as an author. He is best known for creating the superhero Marvelman, later known as Miracleman.-Biography:...
, who created a thinly disguised version of the superhero called
MarvelmanMarvelman, also known as Miracleman for trademark reasons in his American reprints and story continuation, is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1954 by writer-artist Mick Anglo for publisher L. Miller & Son. Originally intended as a United Kingdom home-grown substitute for the American...
. Captain Marvel, Jr., was adapted to create Young Marvelman, while Mary Marvel had her gender changed to create the male Kid Marvelman. The magic word "Shazam!" was replaced with "Kimota", "Atomik" backwards. The new characters took over the numbering of the original Captain Marvel's United Kingdom series with issue number #25.
Marvelman ceased publication in 1963, but was revived in 1982 by writer
Alan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
in the pages of
Warrior Magazine. Beginning in 1985, Moore's black-and-white serialized adventures were reprinted in color by Eclipse Comics under the new title
MiraclemanMarvelman, also known as Miracleman for trademark reasons in his American reprints and story continuation, is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1954 by writer-artist Mick Anglo for publisher L. Miller & Son. Originally intended as a United Kingdom home-grown substitute for the American...
(as
Marvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
now existed and objected to the use of "Marvel" in the title), and continued publication in the United States after
Warriors demise. Within the metatextual storyline of the comic series itself, it was noted that Marvelman's creation was based upon Captain Marvel comics, by both Alan Moore and later Marvelman/Miracleman
writer Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
. In 2009, Marvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
obtained the rights to the original 1950s Marvelman characters and stories.
The M. F. Enterprises Captain Marvel
In 1966, M. F. Enterprises produced their own Captain Marvel: an android superhero from another planet whose main characteristic was the ability to split his body into several parts, each of which could move on its own. He triggered the separation by shouting "Split!" and reassembled himself by shouting "Xam!" He had a young human ward named Billy Baxton. This Captain Marvel, who did not last long, was credited in the comic as being "based on a character created by
Carl BurgosCarl Burgos was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 Carl Burgos (né Max Finkelstein, April 18, 1916, New York City, New York; died March 1984) was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating...
."
DC Comics' Shazam! revival
When superhero comics became popular again in the mid-1960s in what is now called the
Silver Age of Comic BooksThe Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
, Fawcett was unable to revive Captain Marvel, having agreed never to publish the character again in order to settle the lawsuit. Carmine Infantino, publisher of DC Comics, licensed the characters from Fawcett in 1972, and DC began planning a revival. Because Marvel Comics had by this time established Captain Marvel
as a comic book trademark, DC published their book under the name Shazam!
Since then, that title has become so linked to Captain Marvel that many people have taken to identifying the character as "Shazam" instead of his actual name.
The Shazam!
comic series began with Shazam #1, dated 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, Dr. Sivana, Sivana's children, and most of the supporting cast had been accidentally trapped in
suspended animationSuspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
for twenty years when the Sivanas attempted to put the Marvels into suspended animation, until finally breaking free when the Suspendium globe moved towards the Sun.
Dennis O'NeilDennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
was the primary writer of the book; his role was later taken over by writers Elliot S. Maggin and
E. Nelson BridwellEdward Nelson Bridwell was a writer for Mad magazine and various comic books published by DC Comics. One of the writers for the Batman comic strip and Super Friends, he also wrote The Inferior Five, among other comics...
.
C. C. BeckCharles Clarence Beck was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics....
drew stories for the first ten issues of the book before quitting due to creative differences;
Bob OksnerBob Oksner was an American comics artist known for both adventure comic strips and for superhero and humor comic books, primarily at DC Comics.-Biography:...
and Fawcett alumnus
Kurt SchaffenbergerKurt Schaffenberger was an American comic book artist. Schaffenberger was best known for his work on Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family , as well as his work on the title Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early career:Schaffenberger was born on a farm in the...
were among the later artists of the title.
With DC's
MultiverseThe DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
concept in effect during this time, it was stated that the revived Marvel Family and related characters lived within the DC Universe on the parallel world of "Earth-S". While the series began with a great deal of fanfare, the book had a lackluster reception. The creators themselves had misgivings; Beck said, "As an illustrator I could, in the old days, make a good story better by bringing it to life with drawings. But I couldn't bring the new [Captain Marvel] stories to life no matter how hard I tried." Shazam! was heavily rewritten as of issue #34 (April 1978), with Bridwell providing more realistic stories, accompanied by similar art, the first issue by
Alan WeissAlan Weiss is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work on Warlock, Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Sub-Mariner and Spider-Man...
and
Joe RubinsteinJosef "Joe" Rubinstein is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.-Career:...
, thereafter by a longtime fan of the character,
Don NewtonDon Newton was an American comic book artist. During his career, he worked for a number of comic book publishers, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Charlton Comics. He is best known for his work on The Phantom, Aquaman, and Batman...
and Schaffenberger. Nevertheless, the next issue was the last one, though the feature was kept alive in a back-up position in a giant-formatted run of
World's Finest ComicsWorld's Finest Comics was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled World's Best Comics for its first issue; issue #2 switched to the more familiar name...
(from #253, October/November 1978, to #282, August 1982, skipping only #271, which featured a full-length origin of the Superman-Batman team story). Schaffenberger left the feature after #259, and the inking credit subsequently varied. When WFC
reverted to the standard 36 pages, leftover Shazam!
material saw publication in Adventure ComicsAdventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
(#491-492, September–October 1982); the remaining eleven issues of that run contained reprints, Shazam!
represented by mostly Fawcett era stories (left out of an all Legion of Super-HeroesThe Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
#500, and the final #503, where two features were doubled up to complete their respective story arcs). With their 1985 Crisis on Infinite EarthsCrisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
limited seriesA limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
, DC fully integrated the characters into the DC Universe. With the exception of an appearance by
Lex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
in #15 (November/December 1974), the early, faithful-to-the-1940s-comics versions never crossed over with the mainstream DC characters.
Captain Marvel in the late 1980s
The first post-Crisis appearance of Captain Marvel was in the 1986
Legends"Legends" was a comic book crossover story line that ran through a six-issue, self titled limited series and various other titles published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987...
miniseries. In 1987, Captain Marvel appeared as a member of the Justice LeagueThe Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
in Keith GiffenKeith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....
and J. M. DeMatteisJohn Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
' relaunch of that title. That same year (spinning-off from Legends
), he was also given his own miniseries titled Shazam! The New Beginning. With this four-issue miniseries, writers
Roy andRoy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
Dann ThomasDanette "Dann" Thomas is a comic book writer, the wife of comic book writer and editor Roy Thomas. She has at times collaborated with Thomas on All-Star Squadron, Arak, Son of Thunder, the Crimson Avenger miniseries and Avengers West Coast.She married Roy Thomas in May 1981 and legally changed her...
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.
The most notable change that Thomas, Giffen, and DeMatteis introduced into the Captain Marvel mythos was that the personality of young Billy Batson is retained when he transforms into the Captain; this change would remain for most future uses of the character as justification for his sunny, Golden-Age personality in the darker modern-day comic book world instead of the Golden Age depiction which tended to treat Captain Marvel and Billy as two separate personalities.
This revised version of Captain Marvel also appeared in one story-arc featured in the short-lived anthology Action Comics Weekly
#623–626 (October 25, 1988 – November 15, 1988). At the end of the arc, it was announced that this would lead to a new Shazam!
ongoing series, which failed to materialize.
The Power of Shazam!
DC finally purchased the rights to all of the Fawcett Comics characters in 1991. In 1994, due to the unpopular revision of the character from 1987's Shazam: The New Beginning
miniseries, Captain Marvel was retconned again and given a revised origin in The Power of Shazam!
, a painted graphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
written and illustrated by Jerry OrdwayJeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths , his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and...
. This story became Captain Marvel's official DC Universe origin story (with his appearances in Legends"Legends" was a comic book crossover story line that ran through a six-issue, self titled limited series and various other titles published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987...
and Justice League still counting as part of this continuity).
Ordway's story more closely followed Captain Marvel's Fawcett origins, with only slight additions and changes. For example, in this version of the origin, it is Black Adam (in his non-powered form of Theo Adam) who killed Billy Batson's parents, and the "mysterious stranger" who leads Billy to the subway tunnel with statues of the Sins and the wizard Shazam is revealed to be the ghost of his father. The graphic novel was a critically acclaimed success, leading to a Power of Shazam!
ongoing series which ran from 1995 to 1999. That series reintroduced the Marvel Family and many of their allies and enemies into the modern day DC Universe.
Marvel also appeared in Mark WaidMark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
and Alex RossNelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
' critically acclaimed 1996 alternate universe ElseworldsElseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
Kingdom ComeKingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
miniseries. Set twenty years in the future, Kingdom Come features a brainwashed Captain Marvel playing a major role in the story as a mind-controlled pawn of an elderly Lex Luthor. Being one of the most powerful beings on Earth, his mere presence unnerves many of those around him and, brainwashed, he even sets out to cause what could lead to the end of the world. However, Marvel ultimately sacrifices himself as an act of redemption and, as a figure of martyrdom, becomes the symbol of a new world order.
In 2000, Captain Marvel starred in an oversized special graphic novel, Shazam! Power of Hope
, written by Paul DiniPaul Dini is an American writer and producer who works in the television and comic book industries. He is best known as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros./DC Comics animated series, including Star Wars: Ewoks, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated...
and painted by Alex RossNelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
.
JSA
, 52
, and other early/mid 2000s appearances
Since the cancellation of the Power of Shazam!
title in 1999, the Marvel Family have made appearances in a number of other DC comic books. Black Adam became a main character in Geoff JohnsGeoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...
and David S. GoyerDavid Samuel Goyer is an American screenwriter, film director and comic book writer.-Early life:Goyer was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended Hebrew school and has described himself as "half Jewish"...
's JSA
series, which depicted the latest adventures of the Justice Society of AmericaThe Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
. Captain Marvel also appeared regularly in JSA
in 2003 and 2004. He also appeared in Frank MillerFrank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes AgainBatman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again is a Batman mini-series by Frank Miller with Lynn Varley. It is a sequel to Miller's 1986 miniseries, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.-Overview:...
, the sequel to Miller's highly-acclaimed graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns
.
The Marvel Family played an integral part in DC's 2005/2006 Infinite CrisisInfinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
crossover, which began DC's efforts to retool the Shazam!
franchise. In the Day of VengeanceDay of Vengeance is a six-issue comic book limited series written by Bill Willingham, with art by Justiniano and Walden Wong, published in 2005 by DC Comics.-Publication history:...
miniseries, which preceded the Infinite Crisis
event, the wizard Shazam is killed by the SpectreThe Spectre is a fictional character and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in More Fun Comics #51 and received his first story the following month, #52...
, and Captain Marvel assumes the wizard's place in the Rock of Eternity which is rebuilt by the Shadowpact, although he has trouble with the Sins imprisoned there as he hears their voices. The Marvel Family made a handful of guest appearances in the year-long weekly maxi-series 5252 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
, which featured Black Adam as one of its main characters and introduced Adam's "Black Marvel Family", consisting of Adam himself, his wife
IsisIsis is a DC Comics superhero, as well as a separate Egyptian goddess also living in the DC Universe. The recent superhero character is modeled closely after the main character of The Secrets of Isis, a live-action American Saturday Morning television program that served as the second half of The...
, and her brother
OsirisOsiris is the name of three fictional characters published by DC Comics. The first appeared in 1994 as a foil for the Justice League. The second appeared under the Vertigo Comics imprint in a spin-off of The Sandman in 2002. The third debuted in the pages of Teen Titans and 52 in 2006.-Publication...
, and Sobek. Marvel gave the amulet which was used to give Isis her powers. Marvel marries Adam and Isis. He helped battle Sabbac later on Halloween. The Marvel Family also appeared frequently in the 12-issue bimonthly painted
JusticeJustice was a twelve-issue American comic book limited series published bimonthly by DC Comics from August 2005 through June 2007, written by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, with art also by Ross and Doug Braithwaite...
maxi-series by
Alex RossNelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
,
Jim KruegerJim Krueger is an American comic book writer, novelist, and filmmaker.- Filmmaking :Kreuger's first short film, They Might Be Dragons, which he wrote, directed, and produced, won "Best In Class" at New York University , a "Best Short Film" award from the New York Independent Film Festival, and a...
, and Doug Braithwaite, published from 2005 to 2007. When Black Adam attacks the world in retaliation to the deaths of Osiris and Isis at the hands of the Four Horsemen, Captain Marvel is beaten by him, along with the rest of the Marvel family. He first asks the Egyptian gods to take Adam's powers but fails and is told he has their blessing, then uses his lightning to change Adam back when
Alan ScottAlan Scott is a fictional character, a superhero in the and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.-Publication history:The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell, who was inspired by the sight of a New York Subway employee waving a red lantern to...
Green Lantern and
Power GirlPower Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
dragged him into the path. He also changes Adam's magic word with the help of other mystics and he claims he will never tell anybody else. It is later revealed the word is chocolate egg cream.
The Trials of Shazam! and Final Crisis
The Trials of Shazam!
, a 12-issue maxi-series written by Judd WinickJudd Winick is an American comic book, comic strip and television writer/artist and former reality television personality...
and illustrated by Howard PorterHoward Porter is an American comic book artist from southern Connecticut.-Biography:Porter graduated from Paier College of Art in Connecticut where he majored in illustration. One of his teachers there was Frank McLaughlin...
for the first eight issues and by Mauro Cascioli for the remaining four, began publication in August 2006. The series redefined the Shazam!
mythos, the characters, and their place in the DC Universe. Trials of Shazam!
featured Captain Marvel, now with a white costume and long white hair, taking over the role of the wizard Shazam under the name Marvel
, while Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel lose their powers. A powerless Freddy Freeman is then drafted to prove himself worthy to each of the six gods represented by the "Shazam" acronym so that he can become their new champion and herald under the name Shazam
, although a witch Sabina from the Council of Merlin attempts to take the power herself, as ordered by her father Merlin. Atlas is killed during the series by Sabina, but Apollo's healing replaces him. Marvel helps Freddy when he is trapped by the weight that Atlas bore.
In the pages of the 2007–2008 Countdown to Final CrisisCountdown, known as Countdown to Final Crisis for its last 24 issues based on the cover, was a comic book limited series published by DC Comics. It debuted on May 9, 2007, directly following the conclusion of the last issue of 52...
limited series, Black Adam gives the powerless Mary Batson his powers, turning her into a more villainous character. She eventually relinquishes the power and gets powers from the Olympians, but she is tempted by her old power. By the end of the series, as well as in DC's 2008–2009 Final CrisisFinal Crisis is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones; artists Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy and...
limited series, the now black-costumed Mary Marvel, possessed by the evil New God DesaadDesaad is a fictional comic book supervillain, appearing in books published by DC Comics. He is one of the followers of Darkseid from the planet of Apokolips in Jack Kirby's Fourth World meta-series....
, becomes a villain, joining forces with Superman villain DarkseidDarkseid is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 and was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby....
and fighting both SupergirlSupergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
and Freddy Freeman/Shazam, who turns her back using his lightning.
Justice Society of America
The redesigned Marvel made a few appearances in various DC comics outside of The Trials of Shazam!
maxi-series for two years before returning in Justice Society of America
vol. 3, #23, in January 2009. Justice Society
writer Geoff Johns collaborated with writer/artist Jerry Ordway to write a three-issue storyline that would again retool the Shazam! franchise.
In the story, Marvel is ambushed by Black Adam and Isis, who are intent on taking over the Rock of Eternity. Isis robs Marvel of his powers by saying Shazam from a spell book to send lightning at him, and banishes a powerless Billy Batson back to Fawcett City, where he tries to contact Freddy, but instead contacts the Justice Society for help. Upon arriving at the Rock of Eternity with Billy, the Justice Society fights Black Adam and Isis. Billy is abducted by the now evil Mary Marvel, who shares her powers with him and turns him into an evil teenage Captain Marvel. The evil Billy and Mary join Adam and Isis in fighting the Justice Society. However, Adam switches sides when Isis sets into action her plan to kill off humanity and destroy modern civilization, firstly killing civilians of Khandaq. With the help of the Justice Society's Flash and the spirit of C.C. Batson (Mary and Billy's father), the dead wizard Shazam's soul is retrieved from an underworld realm known as the Rock of Finality, and Adam gives up his powers to resurrect him from the statue he is imprisoned in. Shazam promptly takes his powers back from the other three Black Marvels, turns Adam and Isis into stone statues, and banishes Billy and Mary from the Rock of Eternity upon stating that they have failed him. He threatens to come after Freddy Freeman, as his powers come directly from the Gods. Billy and Mary are later seen walking the streets of Fawcett City while homeless and pondering the fate of their father's spirit.
Billy and Mary Batson made a brief appearance during DC's 2009–2010 Blackest Night
saga in a one-shot special, The Power of Shazam!
#48. The siblings watch the rampage of the once-dead Osiris, now revived as an undead Black LanternThe Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of revenants appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe.-Publication history:...
, on the internet from their apartment. The issue was written by Eric Wallace, who would also write a Shazam!
one-shot, released in January 2011 featuring Billy, Mary, Freddy Freeman/Shazam, Osiris, and Blaze.
Freddy later learns about what happened to Billy and Mary following a fight with Blaze. Freddy tells both of them that he will find a way to restore their powers.
The Curse of Shazam
DC Comics recently announced that Captain Marvel will appear in a back-up feature starting in Justice League
#5 in January 2012 titled The Curse of Shazam
. The feature, written by Geoff JohnsGeoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...
and drawn by Gary FrankGary Frank is a British comic book artist, notable for pencilling on Midnight Nation and Supreme Power, both written by J. Michael Straczynski...
, will introduce Captain Marvel and his supporting cast into the post-Flashpoint
universe. As part of the redesign, Captain Marvel will receive a new costume designed by Gary Frank.
Other appearances
The Superman/Shazam: First ThunderSuperman/Shazam: First Thunder is a 2006 comic book mini-series published by DC Comics, written by Judd Winick, with art by Joshua Middleton.The story recounts the first meeting between two DC superheroes, Superman and Captain Marvel...
mini-series, written by
Judd WinickJudd Winick is an American comic book, comic strip and television writer/artist and former reality television personality...
with art by
Josh MiddletonJoshua Middleton is an artist and designer working in the animation, film, comics, and book industries...
, and published between September 2005 and March 2006, depicted the first post-Crisis meeting between Superman and Captain Marvel. The meeting proves to be most amicable, with Superman noting that he is impressed to have an ally who may have similar powers to himself, but who is also far more resistant to the kind of magic attacks that he is vulnerable to. However, he is disturbed when he learns that the Captain is actually a child and agrees to Shazam's suggestion that he mentor the boy.
A second Captain Marvel mini-series, Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil
, written and illustrated by Jeff SmithJeff Smith is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series Bone. His current series, RASL, focuses on an art thief who hops through dimensional barriers, hiding out on various parallel worlds.-Early life and education:Jeff Smith was born in McKees...
(creator of BoneBone is an independently published graphic novel series originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. Bone was drawn and written by Jeff Smith....
), was published in four 48-page installments between February and July 2007. Smith's Shazam! miniseries, in the works since 2003, is a more traditional take on the character, which updates and reimagines Captain Marvel's origin. Smith's story features a younger looking Billy Batson and Captain Marvel as separate personalities, as they were in the pre-1985 stories, and features a prepubescent Mary Marvel as Captain Marvel's sidekick instead of the traditional teenaged or adult version. Dr. Sivana is Attorney General of the United States, and Mister Mind looks more like a snake than a caterpillar.
An all-ages Captain Marvel comic,
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! was an all-ages comic book series published by DC Comics as a part of its Johnny DC imprint. The series debuted in September 2008, and was originally written and drawn by Mike Kunkel.-Overview:...
, debuted in July 2008 under DC's Johnny DCJohnny DC is a character that DC Comics has used at various times as a mascot for its lines of comic books, and occasionally as metafictional character who comments on the comics in which he appears.-History:...
youth-oriented imprint and was published monthly through December 2010. Following the lead and continuity of Smith's version, it was initially written and drawn by Mike Kunkel, creator of Herobear
. Art BaltazarArt Baltazar is an American comic book artist and writer who currently works for DC Comics. Baltazar started making comic books with the his self-published comic book, The Cray-Baby Adventures...
and Franco Aureliani, of Tiny TitansTiny Titans is an Eisner Award-winning comic book series by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani. It is published by DC Comics, beginning publication in February 2008. The first issue was also released as part of the annual Free Comic Book Day promotion in May 2008.Tiny Titans stars alternate versions...
, took over as writers with issue #5, with Byron Vaughns as main artist until issue #13, when
Mike NortonMike Norton is an American comic book artist and writer, known for his work on Runaways and Gravity. In February 2007, Norton signed an exclusive contract with DC and has worked on the All New Atom, written by Gail Simone...
assumed his place for the rest of the series. Kunkel's version returns to the modern concept of having Captain Marvel retain Billy's personality, and also introduces new versions of Black Adam (whose alter ego, Theo Adam, is a child like Billy Batson in this version), King Kull, the Arson Fiend, and Freddy Freeman/Captain Marvel, Jr.
Powers & Abilities
When Billy Batson says the magic word "Shazam!" and transforms into Captain Marvel, he is granted the following powers:
| S |
for the wisdom of Solomon |
As Captain Marvel, Billy has instant access to a vast amount of scholarly knowledge, including most known languages and sciences. He has exceptional photographic recall and mental acuity allowing him to read and decipher hieroglyphics, recall everything he has ever learned and solve long mathematical equations. He also has a great understanding of divine phenomenon in the mortal world. The wisdom of SolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
also provides him with counsel and advice in times of need. In early Captain Marvel stories, Solomon's power also gave Marvel the ability to hypnotize people. (Solomon is the only figure in the list not taken from Greco-Roman mythology.) |
| H |
for the strength of Hercules |
HerculesHercules is a fictional Olympian god in the DC Universe based on the Greek demigod and hero of the same name....
' power grants Captain Marvel immense superhuman strength, making him one of DC Comics' strongest characters; he is able to easily bend steel, punch through walls, and lift massive objects, (including whole continents like South America). In the comics, this strength has evolved in parallel to that of SupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
. |
| A |
for the stamina of Atlas |
Using AtlasIn Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens. Although associated with various places, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in north-west Africa...
' stamina, Captain Marvel can withstand and survive most types of extreme physical assaults, and heal from them. Additionally, he does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe and can survive unaided in space when in Captain Marvel form. Pre-Crisis, it was implied in some stories to give him invulnerability. |
| Z |
for the power of Zeus |
Zeus In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
' power, besides fueling the magic thunderbolt that transforms Captain Marvel, also enhances Marvel's other physical and mental abilities, and grants him resistance against all magic spells and attacks. Marvel can use the lightning bolt as a weapon by dodging it and allowing it to strike an opponent or target. The magic lightning has several uses, such as creating apparatus, restoring damage done to Marvel, and acting as fuel for magic spells. If Billy is poisoned, for example, transforming will enable him to survive. Pre-Crisis, it was claimed in some stories to give him invulnerabilty. It can also turn other Marvels back by striking them. It aids interdimensional travel at the Rock of Eternity. |
| A |
for the courage of Achilles |
This aspect gives Captain Marvel the courage of AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
, giving him bravery and in one story it is claimed to give him fighting skills. In the Trials of Shazam! mini-series, this was changed to Achilles' near invulnerability. It also aids Captain Marvel's mental fortitude against most mental attacks. |
| M |
for the speed of Mercury |
By channeling MercuryMercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
's speed, Captain Marvel can move at superhuman speeds and fly, although in older comics he could only leap great distances. This also gives Marvel the ability to fly to the Rock of Eternity by flying faster than the speed of light. |
Repeating the word "Shazam!" transforms Captain Marvel back into Billy. In Whiz Comics
#11, Billy is shown to be able to summon up a ghostly version of Captain Marvel by whispering the word, and in other stories the spirit of Captain Marvel was shown talking to Billy. Captain Marvel shares his powers with Marvel Family members Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. In pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths
stories, this had no detrimental effect on the heroes' abilities, while in DC's Power of Shazam series and irregularly afterward, the Shazam power was shown to be a finite source which would be divided in half or into thirds depending upon how many Marvels were in active super-powered form at one time.
As he was transformed by magic lightning, Captain Marvel was shown in several stories to be susceptible to both high-powered magic, which can weaken or de-power him, and to significantly high voltages of electricity or lightning to revert him back to Billy Batson form. Likewise, lightning could transform Billy to Captain Marvel. The modern version of Captain Marvel is also vulnerable in the fact that he possesses the immature personality of a teenager. In one story it is shown that if the Elders strike their name from the list Captain Marvel loses his powers. If Shazam is incapitated he could not send down the lightning, though later it was shown Zeus could send it down also. It was claimed in some stories that he was invulnerable to every force in the universe, including shrinking rays.
The white-clad "Marvel" version of the character from the Trials of Shazam!
series also possessed the commands of various magic abilities once owned by the wizard Shazam. However, Marvel was required to remain on the Rock of Eternity and could only be away from the Rock for twenty-four hours at a time.
Captain Thunder 1974
In Superman #276 (June 1974), Superman found himself at odds with "Captain Thunder", a superhero displaced from another Earth and another time. Thunder had been tricked by his archenemies in the Monster League of Evil into doing evil by a magic spell, and Thunder therefore was made to do battle with Superman. Captain Thunder, whose name was derived from Captain Marvel's original moniker, was a thinly veiled pastiche of Marvel; down to his similar costume, his young alter ego named "Willie Fawcett" (a reference to the publisher of the original Captain Marvel stories, Fawcett Comics), and a magic word ("Thunder!") which was an acronym for seven entities and their respective powers. He got his power from rubbbing a magic belt buckle with a thunder symbol on it and saying "Thunder." He got his powers from Tornado (power), Hare (speed),
UncasUncas was a sachem of the Mohegan who through his alliance with the English colonists in New England against other Indian tribes made the Mohegan the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut.-Early life and family:...
(bravery), Nature (wisdom), Diamond (toughness), Eagle (flight), and Ram (tenacity). Superman held him while he used his wisdom to escape the effects of the spell.
At the time of Superman
#276, DC had been publishing Shazam!
comics for two years, but had kept that universe separate from those of its other publications. The real Captain Marvel would finally meet Superman in Justice League of America
#137, two years later (although he met Lex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
in Shazam!
#15, November/December 1974).
Captain Thunder 1982
In the early 1980s, a proposal for an updated Captain Marvel was submitted to DC by Roy Thomas, Don Newton, and Jerry Ordway. This version of the character, to be an inhabitant of DC's main Earth-One universe rather than the Fawcett-based Earth-S universe, would have featured an African-American version of Billy Batson, who spoke the magic word "Shazam!" to become Captain Thunder, Earth-One's Mightiest Mortal. This alternate version of the character was never used.
Captain Thunder 2011/Flashpoint
After history is rewritten by the Flash in FlashpointFlashpoint is an American comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011...
, radically different versions of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family are introduced. The new Marvel Family consists of six children who were caught on a subway car that took them to the Rock of Eternity, and as a result each of the youths were granted with a different one of the wizard's attributes. An Asian-American boy named Eugene Choi possesses the wisdom of Solomon, an overweight Latino boy named Pedro Pẽna possesses the strength of Hercules, Mary Batson possesses the stamina of Atlas, Freddy Freeman possesses the power of Zeus, Billy Batson possesses the courage of Achilles, and an African-American girl named Darla Dudley possesses the speed of Mercury. Tawky Tawny is also shown with them on a leash held by Pedro. By saying the word "Shazam" together, the six children possess the collective ability to turn into Captain Thunder, this timeline's version of Captain Marvel, who has a scarred face which he claims is due to
Wonder WomanWonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
, who in this timeline is a villain. The transformation also affects Tawney.
The children are approached by a group of superheroes - Cyborg, the Flash,
BatmanThomas Wayne is a fictional character in the Batman series of comic books. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the father of Bruce Wayne, and husband of Martha Wayne, as well as a gifted surgeon and philanthropist...
,
EnchantressThe Enchantress is a DC Comics character who has been both a superheroine and supervillainess. She first appeared in National Comics flagship science fiction anthology title Strange Adventures #187 , and was created by writer Bob Haney and artist Howard Purcell.More recently she is usually called...
and Element Woman - seeking their help. Billy is swayed to the heroes' cause after he uses his abilities to see what the timeline is supposed to be like while stabilising the Flash's memories, (which are changing to incorporate the new timeline rather than the original history that he is trying to restore), and convinces the other children to help. They transform into Captain Thunder and join the heroes to stop the war between
AquamanAquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
's
AtlanteanAtlantis is a fictional location in the DC Comics Universe. The very first DC Universe version of Atlantis debuted in Action Comics #18 , and was created by...
army and Wonder Woman's Amazonian forces. Captain Thunder briefly fights Wonder Woman to a draw before being transformed back into the six children by Enchantress, who is revealed to be a traitor. Before the kids can reform Captain Thunder, Billy is stabbed by the Amazon Penthesileia killing him.
Elseworld's Finest
In the alternate universe
ElseworldsElseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
book
Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & BatgirlElseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl is an Elseworlds comic book by Tom Simmons, Matt Haley and Barbara Kesel.It is based in a world in which Bruce Wayne was never Batman, and the infant Kal-El did not survive long enough to become Superman...
(1998), Captain Marvel is depicted as a bald African American man.
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
In the dark alternate future shown in The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Captain Marvel is now visibly aged, with receding white hair and glasses, and is being blackmailed by Lex Luthor into working for him or Luthor will kill the captured Mary Marvel. During an alien attack on Metropolis, Marvel is trapped underneath a collapsing building with no way out, and admits that Billy Batson — here clearly defined as a separate person from Marvel, rather than simply transforming into him — died eight years ago of unspecified health problems, with the result that, when he next speaks his word, he will cease to exist like any dream that no longer has anyone to remember it. His last words to Wonder Woman are to give everyone his best, noting that it was nice existing, before he calls down his thunder and destroys himself.
Kingdom Come
The graphic novel
Kingdom ComeKingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
depicts a possible future of the DC characters. In this version, Billy Batson is now grown up, but the human hostility towards super-heroes has caused him unease and he has not been Marvel for several years. Instead he becomes a brainwashed servant of
Lex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
. Luthor uses Mister Mind's offspring to keep Batson in check and bend him to his will. Nevertheless, Batson's potential as a being powerful enough to rival
SupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
causes many others to react in fear and unease when he mingles with them. Events finally cause him to change back into Captain Marvel and he unleashes a force that could destroy the world. When the authorities try to stop it by dropping a nuclear bomb, Marvel, spurred by Superman, triggers his lightning to sacrifice himself and destroy the bomb while it is still airborne. The bomb's fallout kills a large number of heroes, but does cool the war-like attitudes of the survivors. Superman uses Marvel's cape as the symbol of a new world order in which humans and superhumans will now live in harmony.
52 and Earth-5
In the final issue of the maxi-series
5252 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
(#52, May 2, 2007), a new
MultiverseThe DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated Earth-5. As a result of Marvel Family foe
Mister MindMister Mind is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain created for Fawcett Comics, and now owned and published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C...
"eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-S, including the Marvel Family characters.
The Earth-5 Captain Marvel and Billy Batson appeared in the Final Crisis: Superman Beyond
miniseries, assisting Superman. The miniseries established that these versions of Captain Marvel and Billy are two separate beings and that Billy is a reporter for WHIZ Media, rather than a radio broadcaster. The Earth-5 Captain Marvel re-appeared in Final Crisis
#7 along with an army of Supermen from across the Multiverse to prevent its destruction by Darkseid.
Justice League: Generation Lost
A female version of Captain Marvel named Shazam is shown as a member of an alternate-future Justice League in Justice League: Generation LostJustice League: Generation Lost was a year-long comic book limited series that premiered July 2010. It ran twice a month for 24 issues, alternating with Brightest Day written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi.-Publication history:...
. Little is revealed about her other than the fact that her civilian name is Sahar Shazeen, and she is shown wielding a pair of swords when in battle. She and her teammates are ultimately killed by an army of OMACs.
Supporting cast
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, who empowers the team; Captain Marvel's sister Mary Marvel; and Marvel's protégé, Captain Marvel, Jr. Before the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series, the Marvel Family also included part-time members such as Mary's non-powered friend "Uncle" Dudley (Uncle Marvel), Dudley's non-powered niece Freckles Marvel, a team of protégés (all of whose alter egos are named "Billy Batson") known as the Lieutenant Marvels, and the funny-animal pink rabbit version of Captain Marvel, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny.
Through his adventures, Captain Marvel gained an extensive rogues gallery, the most notable of whom include the evil mad scientist Doctor Sivana (and, pre-Crisis, the Sivana Family); Shazam's corrupted previous champion Black Adam, who has powers from Egyptian Gods; Adolf Hitler's champion Captain Nazi; and the mind-controlling worm, Mister Mind, and his Monster Society of Evil. Other Marvel Family foes include the evil robot Mister Atom; the "World's Mightiest Immortal" Oggar, a god with magic powers and former pupil of Shazam with cloven hooves and member of the Pantheon, who was banished for an attempted rebellion; and Ibac and
SabbacFor uses of similar names, see SabacSabbac is the name of two comic book supervillains appearing in Fawcett Comics and/or DC Comics. The original Sabbac debuted in Captain Marvel, Jr. #4 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Carreno in 1943 as an enemy of Captain Marvel, Jr., while the modern...
, demon-powered supervillains who transform by saying magic words made up of beings who give them power as Captain Marvel does.
The Marvel Family's non-powered allies include Dr. Sivana's good-natured adult offspring, Beautia and Magnificus Sivana; Mister "Tawky" Tawny the talking tiger; WHIZ radio president and Billy's employer Sterling Morris; Billy's girlfriend Cissie Sommerly; Billy's school principal Miss Wormwood; and Mary's adoptive parents Nick and Nora Bromfield.
Collected editions
The character's appearances have been collected into individual
volumesIn comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- Shazam! From the Forties to the Seventies (1977, Harmony Books
Harmony Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, itself part of publisher Random House. It focusses on topics such as religion, the occult, the paranormal and other pseudoscientific material...
, ISBN 0-51753-127-5). Hardcover collection reprinting thirty-seven Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., Mary Marvel, and Marvel Family stories from the original Fawcett comics and DC's 1970s Shazam! series. Stories by Bill Parker, Otto Binder, and others; art by C.C. Beck, Marc Swayze, Mac Rayboy, Kurt Shaffenberger, and others. Forward by E. Nelson Bridewell.
- The Monster Society of Evil: Deluxe Limited Collector's Edition (1989, American Nostalgia Library, ISBN 0-948248-07-6). Compiled and designed by Mike Higgs. Reprints the entire "Monster Society of Evil" story arc that ran for two years in Captain Marvel Adventures #22-46 (1943–1945), where Captain Marvel meets Mister Mind and his Monster Society of Evil. This oversized, slipcased hardcover book was strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies.
- The Shazam! Archives, Volumes 1–4 (1992, ISBN 1-56389-053-4; 1998, ISBN 1-56389-521-8; 2002, ISBN 1-56389-832-2; 2005, ISBN 1-4012-0160-1). Hardcover volumes reprinting Captain Marvel's adventures from his earliest Fawcett appearances in titles such as Whiz Comics, Master Comics
Master Comics was a monthly ongoing comic book anthology series that began its 133-issue run during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
, and Captain Marvel Adventures from 1940 to 1942. Stories by Bill Parker, Ed Herron, and others; art by C.C. Beck, Pete Costanza, Mac RaboyEmmanuel "Mac" Raboy was an American cartoonist whose comic books and strips remain collectibles more than 40 years after his death. He was known for his work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Jr...
, Joe Simon, Jack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, George TuskaGeorge Tuska , who early in his career used a variety of pen names including Carl Larson, was an American comic book and newspaper comic strip artist best known for his 1940s work on various Captain Marvel titles and the crime fiction series Crime Does Not Pay, for and his 1960s work illustrating...
, and others.
- The Shazam! Family Archives, Volume 1 (2006, ISBN 1-4012-0779-0). This spin-off volume features the adventures of Captain Marvel, Jr., from Master Comics #23-32 and Captain Marvel, Jr. #1, as well as the origin of Mary Marvel from Captain Marvel Adventures #18. Stories by various writers; art by Mac Raboy, Al Carreno, Marc Swayze, and C.C. Beck.
- Shazam! and the Shazam! Family Annual (2002). An 80-page paperback collection reprinting several Golden Age Marvel Family adventures from Captain Marvel Adventures, Captain Marvel, Jr., and The Marvel Family, including the first appearances of Mary Marvel and Black Adam. Stories by Otto Binder
Otto Oscar Binder was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books...
; art by C.C. Beck, Pete Costanza, Mac Rayboy, Marc Swayze, Bud Thompson, and Jack BinderJack Binder was a Golden Age comics creator and art packager. A fine artist by education, Binder had a prolific comics career that lasted from 1937–1946, then continued from "semi-retirement" until 1953. He was the creator of the original comic book Daredevil, for Lev Gleason Publications...
.
- Showcase Presents: Shazam! Volume 1 (2006, ISBN 1-4012-1089-9). A 500-page trade paperback featuring black-and-white reprints of stories from the 1970s Shazam! ongoing series, collecting only the new material that was published (and not the Golden Age reprints) in issues #1-33. Written by Dennis O'Neill, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Elliott Maggin; art by C.C. Beck, Kurt Schaffenberger, Dave Cockrum, Dick Giordano, and others.
- Shazam! The Greatest Stories Ever Told (2008, ISBN 1-4012-1674-9). A compilation featuring Captain Marvel stories collected from the Fawcett publications Whiz Comics #2; Captain Marvel Adventures #1, 137, 148; The Marvel Family #21, 85; and the DC publications Shazam! #1, 14; DC Comics Presents
DC Comics Presents was a comic book published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 featuring team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters of the DC Universe...
Annual #3; Superman #276; L.E.G.I.O.N.L.E.G.I.O.N., is a team of fictional extraterrestrial superheroes, a science fiction comic book published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Invasion! #1, and were created by Keith Giffen, Bill Mantlo and Todd McFarlane...
'91 #31; The Power of Shazam! #33; and Adventures in the DC Universe #15.
Film
The first filmed adaptation of Captain Marvel was produced in 1941.
Adventures of Captain MarvelAdventures of Captain Marvel is a 1941 twelve-chapter film serial directed by John English and William Witney for Republic Pictures, adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character then appearing in Fawcett Comics publications such as Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures...
, starring
Tom TylerTom Tyler was an American actor in silent and sound motion pictures, best known for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the acclaimed 1941 movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel.-Biography:...
in the title role and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Billy Batson, was a twelve-part
filmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
serial produced by
Republic PicturesRepublic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
in 1941. Often ranked among the finest examples of the form, its release made Captain Marvel the first superhero to be depicted in film. Whitey Murphy, a supporting character in the serial, found his way into Fawcett's Captain Marvel stories, and elements of the serial's plot were later worked into DC's The Power of Shazam
continuity. The Adventures of Captain Marvel
(the man-in-flight effects techniques which, ironically, were originally developed for a Superman film serial that Republic never produced) predated Fleischer StudiosFleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
' SupermanThe Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman....
cartoons by six months.
In 1950, Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
released the comedy/mystery The Good Humor Man
with Jack CarsonJohn Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
, Lola AlbrightLola Jean Albright is an American singer and actress.Albright worked as a model before moving to Hollywood. She began her motion picture career with a bit part in the 1948 film The Pirate, and followed it with an important role in the acclaimed 1949 hit Champion...
, and George ReevesGeorge Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
. The storyline has Carson as an ice cream vendor who also belongs to a home-grown Captain Marvel Club with some of the kids in the neighborhood. Fawcett released a tie-inA tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
one-shot the same year the movie appeared, Captain Marvel and the Good Humor Man
.
New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
began development of a Shazam!
live-action feature film in the early 2000s, with screenplay drafts by the team of William Goldman and Bryan Goluboff and later being written by John AugustJohn August is an American screenwriter and film director. He also writes and maintains the popular screenwriting blog , and develops screenwriter-targeted software....
. Peter SegalPeter Segal is an American film director, with credits in producing, writing, and acting. He has had general success in the comedy film genre.-Filmography:*Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult *Tommy Boy...
was attached as director and former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was in talks to appear as Black Adam. The Shazam!
film was originally being produced by New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
, which was absorbed into Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
during the course of pre-production. Following the success of Warner's film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
-inspired BatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
film The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
and the commercial failure of its lighter, family-friendly Speed RacerSpeed Racer is a 2008 American live action film adaptation of Tatsuo Yoshida's 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The film is written and directed by the Wachowskis...
during the summer of 2008, August departed from the project after being forced to make the film's script more in line with The Dark Knights serious tone. In the summer of 2009, it was announced Bill Birch and
JSA/52 co-author Geoff Johns were assigned to write the screenplay, while Segal remained attached as director. In August 2010,
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
columnist Geoff Boucher reported discussions had begun to possibly cancel the theatrical movie and do a live action series for prime time network television instead.
Captain Marvel's first appearance in Warner Bros.' line of DC Animated Universe direct-to-video films was a brief cameo in 2008's
Justice League: The New Frontier. The character had a more substantial role in the 2009 animated film
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies# "Markets Crash"# "Main Titles"# "Freeway Chase"# "Admit Something"# "Meteor"# "Metallo"# "High Voltage"# "Framed"# "Luthor talks to Power Girl"# "S.T.A.R...
, based on a
Superman/BatmanSuperman/Batman was a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Batman and Superman...
comic book arc in which Marvel battles Superman under orders from United States president
Lex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
. Captain Marvel was voiced by
Corey BurtonCorey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
. An uncredited
Rachael MacFarlaneRachael Ann MacFarlane is an American voice actress best known for her appearances in Codename: Kids Next Door as supreme leader Numbuh 362 and the FOX animated series Family Guy and American Dad!, both created and executive-produced by her older brother Seth MacFarlane.Aside from voice acting,...
voiced Billy Batson.
Captain Marvel appears in an animated short film entitled
Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black AdamSuperman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam is a 2010 short animated film, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos and written by Michael Jelenic, featuring George Newbern and Jerry O'Connell reprising their roles from Justice League Unlimited as Superman and Captain Marvel who team-up to do battle with the...
(released on the
DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection DVD compilation as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies) with
Jerry O'ConnellJeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan...
reprising his role as Captain Marvel and Billy Batson voiced by Zach Callison.
Television
Captain Marvel first came to
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in 1974.
FilmationFilmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
produced
Shazam!Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....
, a live-action
television showA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
which ran from 1974 to 1977 on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. From 1975 until the end of its run, it aired as one-half of
The Shazam!/Isis Hour, featuring Filmation's own
The Secrets of Isis as a companion program.
Instead of directly following the lead of the comic, the
Shazam! TV show took a more indirect approach to the character: Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, accompanied by an older man known simply as Mentor (
Les TremayneLes Tremayne was a radio, film, and television actor. Born Lester Tremayne in England, he moved with his family at the age four to Chicago, where he began in community theatre. He danced as a vaudeville performer and worked as amusement park barker...
), traveled in an RV motor home across the USA, interacting with people in different towns they stopped in to save the citizens or help them combat evil. The wizard Shazam was absent from this series, and Billy received his powers and counsel directly from the six "immortal elders" represented in the "Shazam" name, who were depicted via animation: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.
Shazam! starred
Michael GrayMichael Gray is a retired American actor, best known for his portrayal of Billy Batson in the 1970s Shazam! TV series...
as Billy Batson, with both
Jackson BostwickJackson Bostwick is an American actor best known for playing Captain Marvel in the first season of the Shazam! television series of the mid-1970s.Bostwick is an expert in Jeet-Kune-Do and Wing-Chun Kung-Fu...
(season one) and John Davey (seasons two and three) as Captain Marvel. An adapted version of
IsisIsis is a DC Comics superhero, as well as a separate Egyptian goddess also living in the DC Universe. The recent superhero character is modeled closely after the main character of The Secrets of Isis, a live-action American Saturday Morning television program that served as the second half of The...
, the heroine of
The Secrets of Isis, was introduced into DC Comics in 2006 as Black Adam's wife in the weekly comic book series
5252 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
.
Shortly after the
Shazam! show ended its network run, Captain Marvel, played by Garrett Craig, appeared as a character in a pair of low-budgeted live-action comedy specials, produced by
Hanna-Barbera ProductionsHanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
under the name
Legends of the SuperheroesLegends of the Superheroes is an umbrella title for two one-hour and live-action Hanna–Barbera TV specials based on the Super Friends cartoon show that aired on NBC in January 1979...
in 1978. The specials also featured
Howard MorrisHoward Morris was an American comic actor and director who was best known for his role as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show.- Life and career :...
as Doctor Sivana, and
Ruth BuzziRuth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...
as Aunt Minerva, marking the first appearance of those characters in film or television. Although Captain Marvel did not appear in Hanna-Barbera's long-running concurrent
Saturday morning cartoonA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
series
Super FriendsSuper Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
(which featured many of the other DC superheroes), he did appear in some of the merchandise associated with the show.
Filmation revisited the character three years later for an animated
Shazam! cartoon, which ran on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from 1981 to 1982 as part of
The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! with Captain Marvel voiced by Burr Middleton. 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. Dr. Sivana, Mr. Mind, Black Adam, and other familiar Captain Marvel foes appeared as enemies.
Captain Marvel and/or Billy Batson made brief "cameo" appearances in two 1990s TV series. Billy has a non-speaking cameo in the
Superman: The Animated SeriesSuperman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
episode "Obsession", while live actors portraying Captain Marvel make "cameo" appearances in both a dream-sequence within an episode of
The Drew Carey ShowThe Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
, and in the
Beastie BoysBeastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
' music video for "Alive".
Captain Marvel's first formal appearance in a
DC Animated UniverseThe DC Animated Universe is a fan term that refers to a series of popular animated television series and related spin-offs produced by Warner Bros. Animation which share the same continuity. Most of these series are adapted from DC Comics properties...
series, the name given to the animated DC Comics spin-off productions produced by
Bruce TimmBruce Walter Timm is an American character designer, animator and producer. He is also a writer and artist working in comics, and is known for his contributions building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, the DC animated universe.-Animation:Timm's early career in animation was varied; he...
and/or
Paul DiniPaul Dini is an American writer and producer who works in the television and comic book industries. He is best known as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros./DC Comics animated series, including Star Wars: Ewoks, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated...
, was as the main guest star character of the
Justice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
episode "Clash", originally aired in 2005 on
Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
. Captain Marvel was voiced by
Jerry O'ConnellJeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan...
and Billy Batson voiced by
Shane Haboucha- Early life :Haboucha attended a Jewish private school, Tarbut V' Torah Community Day School, until the eighth grade, and was home-schooled.- Acting career :Haboucha was discovered at ProScout and started acting in commercials in Texas...
. In this episode, Captain Marvel joins the Justice League, but his positive opinions about supervillain Lex Luthor's apparent reform create a heavy strain on his relationship with Superman. This tension eventually leads to an all-out battle between Marvel and Superman which destroys Luthor's newest creation, Lexor City. Marvel loses to Superman. Although Marvel is eventually proven to have been right all along, he is still understandably hurt by Superman's actions, and resigns from the Justice League in disgust despite Superman's efforts to apologise, unaware that he was unwittingly a pawn in a plot by Luthor and Amanda Waller to damage Superman's image.
Four years later, Captain Marvel made seven appearances in Cartoon Network's
Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
series with Captain Marvel voiced by
Jeff BennettJeffrey Glenn "Jeff" Bennett is an American voice actor and musician, listed "among the top names in the voice-over field", best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo in the series of the same name...
and Billy Batson voiced by
Tara StrongTara Lyn Strong is a Canadian actress, voice-over artist, singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons.-Early life and career:...
. He appears in the opening teaser to the episode "Death Race to Oblivion!" helping Batman battle the supervillain Blockbuster. A later episode in the same 2009-10 season, "The Power of Shazam!", was set in Fawcett City and featured Captain Marvel/Billy Batson, as well as the Sivana Family, Black Adam, the wizard Shazam, Aunt Minerva, and Mary Batson. Marvel later appeared in the two-episode storyline "The Siege of Starro!", in which he joins a small coalition of heroes, among them Firestorm,
B'wana BeastB'wana Beast is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. He first appeared in Showcase #66 , and was created by Bob Haney and Mike Sekowsky.-Publication history:...
, and
Booster GoldBooster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
, in helping Batman stop a malevolent alien from invading and devouring the Earth. The entire Marvel Family was featured in the episode "The Malicious Mr. Mind!", which pitted Batman, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. against Sivana, Mr. Mind, and the rest of the Monster Society of Evil. He later covered for Batman, while wearing his costume, fighting
BaneBane is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 , and was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan. Bane has been one of Batman's more physically and intellectually powerful foes...
, Blockbuster,
Solomon GrundySolomon Grundy is a fictional character, a zombie supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. Named after the 19th century children's nursery rhyme, Grundy was introduced as an enemy of the Golden Age Green Lantern , but has since become a prominent enemy for a number of superheroes, such as Batman and...
, and
Killer CrocKiller Croc is a comic book supervillain in the DC Universe, an enemy of Batman. Created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Gene Colan, while there was a shadowy cameo in Detective Comics #523 , his actual first appearance is credited to Batman #357 , which is also the first appearance of Jason...
in "Night of the Batmen!". He became a member of the
Justice League InternationalJustice League International is a DC Comics superhero team written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire, created in 1987.-Publication history:...
in "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!".
Captain Marvel also appears in the ongoing DC Comics-based Cartoon Network series
Young JusticeYoung Justice is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice comic series, but rather an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young...
, with his voice provided by
Rob LoweRobert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
. In "Alpha Male" Captain Marvel is introduced as the team's new "den mother" after what happened to
Red TornadoRed Tornado is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Justice League of America #64 , and was created by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin.-Publication history:...
. He accompanies the team to India where mutated animals have been attacking people. The culprits are later revealed to be
the BrainThe Brain is a fictional character, a supervillain in the and frequent enemy of the Doom Patrol. He is a French mastermind and criminal genius...
and
Monsieur MallahMonsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent gorilla supervillain in the and the criminal and romantic partner of the Brain. Monsieur Mallah first appeared in Doom Patrol Monsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent gorilla supervillain in the and the criminal and...
who captured Captain Marvel and want to experiment on his brain before they are stopped by the team. Captain Marvel also gives
AqualadJackson Hyde is one of two fictional characters codenamed Aqualad. He is a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. Jackson Hyde, created by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, debuted in comic books in Brightest Day #4 and is based on the Aqualad character originally created for the Young Justice...
(who is questioning his role as the leader of the team) some advice on how to be an effective leader, which proves to be pivotal in the rescue mission. His identity as 10-year-old Billy Batson is only revealed at the end as he is shown living with
Uncle DudleyUncle Marvel is a fictional comic book character originally created for Fawcett Comics, and today owned by DC Comics, who appears in stories about the Marvel Family team of superheroes...
. He is briefly included in the following episode, "Revelation", where he is seen eating
Kid FlashKid Flash is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero The Flash. The first incarnation of the character, Wally West, debuted in The Flash #110...
's food. He then proceeds to join the team on their mission, but is stopped by
BatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, and is told to join the League in fighting the plant creatures. In "Humanity", Captain Marvel takes care of Wally, who broke his arm in the fight against the Injustice League. The team then sets him up when they send him out to play with Wolf so they could "kidnap"
ZatannaZatanna Zatara is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman vol. 1 #4...
to find Red Tornado.
Video games
Captain Marvel made his first official video game appearance as a playable character in
Mortal Kombat vs. DC UniverseMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a crossover fighting game from Midway Games and Warner Bros. Games. The eighth game in the Mortal Kombat series, MK vs. DC was released on November 16, . MK vs. DC contains characters from both the Mortal Kombat franchise and the DC Universe...
played by Stephan Scalabrino and voiced by
Kevin DelaneyKevin Delaney is an actor and voiceover artist based in Los Angeles, California. He has performed in numerous TV and radio commercials, as well as video games such as Kingdom Hearts II as the Tournament Announcer and The Matrix: Path of Neo....
, for the
PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and
Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game consoles. In the story, Captain Marvel is among several DC superheroes teleported to the
Mortal Kombat video game universe when the two universes merge and characters from each franchise are forced to do battle.
Captain Marvel also appears as a jump-in hero character in
Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The VideogameBatman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame is a video game based on the comic book character Batman and the television cartoon series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. It was developed by WayForward Technologies and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment...
voiced by
Jeff BennettJeffrey Glenn "Jeff" Bennett is an American voice actor and musician, listed "among the top names in the voice-over field", best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo in the series of the same name...
.
Captain Marvel appears in
DC Universe OnlineDC Universe Online or DCUO is an MMORPG by Sony Online Entertainment – Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nuñez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez...
.
Comic strips
In 1943, C.C. Beck and writer Rod Reed prepared seven sample installments of a comic strip. Syndicates expressed no interest in it; Reed suspected the DC lawsuit was why syndicates wouldn't take on the property, for fear of ending up as parties in the ongoing litigation.
Captain Marvel vs. Superman in fiction
Captain Marvel's adventures have contributed a number of elements to both comic book culture and
pop culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
in general. The most notable of these is the regular use of Superman and Captain Marvel as adversaries in
Modern AgeThe Modern Age of Comic Books is an informal name for the period in the history of mainstream American comic books generally considered to last from the mid-1980s until present day...
comic book stories. The two are often portrayed as equally-matched, as while Marvel does not possess Superman's vision or breath powers, the magic-based nature of his own powers is a weakness for Superman.
The National Comics/Fawcett Comics rivalry was parodied in "
Superduperman"Superduperman" is a satirical story by Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood published in the fourth issue of Mad . Lampooning both Superman and Captain Marvel, it revolutionized the types of stories seen in Mad, leading to greatly improved sales, and it was influential on writers, notably Alan Moore,...
," a satirical comic book story by
Harvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
and
Wally WoodWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
in the fourth issue of
MadMad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
(April/May 1953). In the parody, inspired by the Fawcett/DC legal battles, Superduperman, endowed with muscles on muscles, does battle with Captain Marbles, a Captain Marvel caricature. Marbles' magic word is "SHAZOOM", which stands for
Strength,
Health,
Aptitude,
Zeal,
Ox—power of,
Ox—power of another, and
Money. In contrast to Captain Marvel's perceived innocence and goodness, Marbles was greedy and money-grubbing, and a master criminal. Superduperman defeats Marbles by tricking him into hitting himself.
While publishing its
Shazam! revival in the 1970s, DC Comics published a story in
Superman #276 (June 1974) featuring a battle between the Man of Steel and a thinly disguised version of Captain Marvel called Captain Thunder, a reference to the character's original name. He apparently battled against a monster league. Two years later,
Justice League of America #135-137 featured a story arc which featured the heroes of Earth-1, Earth-2, and Earth-S teaming together against their enemies. It was in this story that Superman and Captain Marvel first met, albeit briefly. King Kull has caused Superman to go mad using red kryptonite, meaning he and Marvel battle, but Marvel restores his mind to normal with lightning. In
Shazam! #30 (1977), Dr. Sivana creates several steel creatures to destroy Pittsburgh's steel mills, after getting the idea from reading an issue of
Action ComicsAction Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
. He finally creates a Superman robot made of a super-steel to destroy Captain Marvel. They both hit each other at the same moment, and the Superman is destroyed.
Notable later Superman/Captain Marvel battles in DC Comics include
All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58 (1978),
All-Star SquadronThe All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 . Created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway.-The concept:...
#36-37 (1984), and
Superman vol. 2, #102 (1995). The Superman/Captain Marvel battle depicted in
Kingdom Come #4 (1996) served as the climax of that miniseries, with Marvel having been brainwashed by
Lex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
and
Mister MindMister Mind is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain created for Fawcett Comics, and now owned and published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C...
to turn against the other heroes. The "Clash" episode of the DC-based animated TV series
Justice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
, which included Captain Marvel as a guest character, featured a Superman/Captain Marvel fight as its centerpiece. By contrast, the depiction of the pair's first meeting in the
Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder miniseries establishes them as firm friends and allies to the point of Superman volunteering to be Billy's mentor when he learns the boy's true age.
Captain Marvel in popular culture
In pop culture, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel's magic word, "Shazam!", became a popular
exclamationIn grammar, an ejaculation is an utterance that expresses a feeling outside of the normal language structure. Often, but not always, it is an exclamation, most often consisting of a single word, either an interjection or a profanity or both.Examples:...
from the 1940s on, often used in place of an
expletiveExpletive comes from the Latin verb explere, meaning "to fill", via expletivus, "filling out". It was introduced into English in the seventeenth century to refer to various kinds of padding—the padding out of a book with peripheral material, the addition of syllables to a line of poetry for...
. The most notable user of the word "Shazam!" in this form was
Gomer PyleGomer Pyle is a bubbly, gentle, rural auto mechanic character played by American singer/ television actor Jim Nabors. Gomer Pyle became a character on the TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, when actor Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, suffered a stroke and took a respite from acting. Jim...
, a character from the 1960s
sitcomA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
and later
Gomer Pyle USMC.
Foxxy CleopatraFoxxy Cleopatra, played by Beyoncé Knowles, was the female counterpart to Austin Powers in the third Austin Powers film: Austin Powers in Goldmember.-Austin Powers in Goldmember:...
from the 2002 film
Austin Powers in GoldmemberAustin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...
is also fond of the word. In another 2002 movie,
Spider-ManSpider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
, Peter Parker shouts "Shazam!" while trying to control his powers. Then in the 2007 sequel
Spider-Man 3Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
Peter Parker again uses the phrase while posing and celebrating, whilst receiving the key to New York City. In the Fox TV show
Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, the phrase "Shazam!" is used by
Peter GriffinPeter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
whenever he is having sexual relations with his
wifeLois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
and shouts it out upon climax. In the aforementioned 1950
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
film,
The Good Humor Man, the kids of the local Captain Marvel Club's secret catchphrase is not "Shazam!", but instead "Niat-Pac Lev-Ram!" — that is, "Captain Marvel" pronounced backwards.
For many years,
Phoenix SunsThe Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
play-by-play announcer
Al McCoyAl McCoy , sometimes nicknamed as The Voice Of The Suns, has been the radio broadcast announcer of Phoenix Suns NBA basketball games since 1972 which makes him the longest tenured broadcaster in the NBA...
has said "Shazam!" when a Phoenix Sun player makes a three-point field goal. He has said that it came from Captain Marvel comics. In 1974,
Square DanceModern Western square dance is one of two types of square dancing, along with traditional square dance. As a dance form, modern Western square dance grew out of traditional Western dance...
caller Deuce Williams wrote the call "Shazam". It is a very quick call (taking one, or at most two beats of music) and can be thought of as a lightning strike.
In the M*A*S*H episode
Tuttle Staff Sgt. "Sparky" Pryor thanks Radar O'Reilly for sending a Captain Marvel annual and exclaims SHAZAM! when asked to turn back a call to aid the effort to establish Tuttle's existence.
Years after the character disappeared in 1953, the superhero was still used for allusions and jokes, in films such as
West Side StoryWest Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
, TV shows such as
The MonkeesThe Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
and
M*A*S*H, and songs such as "Shazam" (1960) by
Duane EddyDuane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
.
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
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
TCBThe "Memphis Mafia" was the nickname for a group of friends, associates, employees and "yes-men" whose main function was to be around Elvis Presley from 1954 until he died. Several filled practical roles in the singer's life. For instance, they were employed to work for him as bodyguards or on tour...
lightning logo on Captain Marvel Junior's costume and lightning-bolt insignia. The
Academy of Comic Book ArtsThe Academy of Comic Book Arts is an American professional organization of the 1970s that was designed to be the comic book industry analog of such groups as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1970 and hosting its first awards ceremony in 1971 for work published in 1970,...
named its Shazam Award in honor of the character's mythos.
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
mentioned Captain Marvel in their song "
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" is a song by The Beatles from the 1968 double album The Beatles ....
" (1968), and
Paul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
shouts "Shazam" to the camera in the dressing room scene of
A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
(1964). The English footballer
Bryan RobsonBryan Robson OBE is an English football manager and a former player. He is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. He was the manager of Sheffield United, being relieved of his first team duties at the club in February 2008...
, who was captain of
Manchester United F.C.Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and
EnglandThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
, was nicknamed "Captain Marvel".
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