For the average Joe like me the upcoming exciting cinema releases of both Captain Marvel and Shazam! is super confusing.
As far as I knew they were once the same superhero!
Looking under their regal capes it seems it was a swish of lawsuits between comics publishers Fawcett and DC and ultimately a desire by Marvel to snaffle the name Captain Marvel that created the split.
Here's a captain's log of the main marvelous captains I could find
[the net is full of much more detailed chronologies and IMdB have a video on the subject]
Fawcett Comics 1941
Sued by DC. Cap looked to much like Superman!
They won.
DC ate the competition.
Captain Marvel becomes Shazam!
DC Comics 1973
but Marvel grab the name Captain Marvel.
Marvel 1968
Marvel 1974
The Captain sports the black and red spandex with star.
Marvel 1977
Ms. Marvel sports the same colour scheme and star
Marvel 2006
Ms. Marvel is still her own woman
Marvel films 2018
Ms. Marvel becomes the Captain!
DC films 2019
Shazam! gets his own movie too.
Marvelous!
What do you think readers? Confusing?
Anyone got any toys or collectables?
I honestly can't see the point in Shazam film, as its basically a poor mans superman. Making Captain Marvel a woman is another nod to the inclusive generation again, the same as Dr Who. In this instance its no bad thing as it seems like Captain Marvel is a Superman paragon, the top of the super chain, so it tempers the leagues of male figures currently "flexing their muscles, like so many impotent beach boys" as Blofeldt once said. Wonder Woman on the DC side has a similar effect, being supremely moral and fair, whilst the likes of Batman are portayed as costumed thugs.
ReplyDeleteInteresting bill. I would have thought that young boy comics readers liked captain marvel a lot! For some reason i am drawn to shazam! He was more popular than supe back in the day. A true radio star.
DeleteWoodsy, what your research did not show is the best part. When DC put an end to Captain Marvel being published the supply of reprints in Britain ended. To fill the loss, artist Mick Anglo created MARVELMAN. This British version with the expanded range including Young Marvelman, Marvelman Family and Kid Marvelman had early works by Don Laurence of Trigan Empire fame................KIMOTA!
ReplyDeleteFascinatin terran. A whole marvel family! Never heard of marvelman. I shall check it out. My mum used to drink powdered marvel milk!
DeleteI've never really thought that Mick Anglo 'created' Marvelman so much as just copied Captain Marvel (and Captain Marvel Junior, and Mary Marvel). Also, the real reason that Fawcett threw in the towel was because sales were on the slide and there seemed no point in continuing to fund expensive 'back-and-forth' legal battles to defend a character who was on-the-wane. It occurs to me that as DC viewed Captain Marvel as a Superman imitation, they could have launched a plagiarism suit over Marvelman, as he was just an imitation of an imitation.
DeleteWhen Marvel finally acquired the rights to the character and reprinted the strips, they did so under the Miracleman name, which makes it all seem pointless.
My reprints by Marvel are in hardback book form and are called MARVELMAN
DeleteIt is a complicated story and thanks for helping me out understand it Kid and Terran. It'll be good to have all this in the back of my mind when I go and see Shazam! and hopefully Captain Marvel at the flicks!
DeleteDC's Shazam character still has a child's mind and is a flawed character as a result, his powers derived from a magical source so in many ways making him more powerful than Superman who is vulnerable to magic, it's beautifully born out in Alex Ross's Kingdom Come graphic novel! -Mark J Southcoast Base
ReplyDeleteA flawed character! I like it. I am drawn even more to shazam now. I must see the movie mark. And i shall look for kingdom come on ebay.
DeleteI recall buying Shazam comics at the Majier Thrifty Acres grocery store in Kalamazoo when I was a kid. I liked them for the crisp lines and uncluttered colors. Sure the villains were weird, a talking bug, a bent bald scientist etc but they were good fun reads. Most of my Superman reading was actually Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes. The daughters of our neighbor were like older sisters to me and we'd actually swap comics to read.
ReplyDeleteSo where those Shazam comics you got DC comics Lance?
DeleteYeppers, they were the DC versions which featured a lot of reprints. They were well worth their cover price imo. I would have been 8 years old when DC launched that new 1st issue in Feb '73.
DeleteMarvel's Captain Marvel at an early point was spelled as Mar-vell.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcGhgMwJxtk/WmuJm2u-LnI/AAAAAAABJUo/awDQGk-YLiYUWl0Q7OE1i_qJrfkZNPf7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Captain_Marvel_12_comic.png
Quite a horrid costume and name. I'm glad it didn't take and things got changed.
Yes, I see what you mean about the costume Lance. Green Lantern had enough trouble with green. Mar-vell eh. Sounds Kryptonian like Jor-el. The whole Cap Marvel/ Shazam subject is truly fascinating - super doppelgangers and the two films out at the cinema within 12 months seems to follow suit!
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