Captain Marvel (DC Comics)

"Shazam!" redirects here. For other uses, see Shazam.
Captain Marvel

Art by Alex Ross
Publication information
Publisher Fawcett Comics (1939–1953)
DC Comics (1972–present)
First appearance Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940)
Created by C. C. Beck
Bill Parker
In-story information
Alter ego William Joseph "Billy" Batson
Team affiliations Marvel Family
Squadron of Justice
Justice League
Justice Society of America
Partnerships Mary Marvel
Captain Marvel Jr.
Mister Tawky Tawny
Notable aliases Captain Thunder, Marvel, Black Billy, Masked Superman, Shazam, Captain Shazam
Abilities Magically bestowed powers include superhuman strength and speed; flight; invulnerability; heightened intelligence; and other magical abilities, including control of magical lightning.
Captain Marvel Adventures
Series publication information
Publisher Fawcett Comics
Schedule Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre Superhero/Humor
Publication date March 1941 – November 1953
Number of issues 150
Main character(s) Captain Marvel
Creative team
Writer(s) Otto Binder
Artist(s) C.C. Beck, Pete Costanza, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby

Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker created the character in 1939. Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940), published by Fawcett Comics. He is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a boy who, by speaking the magic word "Shazam", can transform himself into a costumed adult with the powers of superhuman strength, speed, flight, and other abilities.

Based on book sales, the character was the most popular superhero of the 1940s, outselling even Superman.[1][2] Fawcett expanded the franchise to include other "Marvels", primarily Marvel Family associates Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., who can harness Billy's powers as well. Captain Marvel was also the first comic book superhero to be adapted into film, in a 1941 Republic Pictures serial titled Adventures of Captain Marvel.

Fawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel-related comics in 1953, partly because of a copyright infringement suit from DC Comics, alleging that Captain Marvel was a copy of Superman.[3] In 1972, DC licensed the Marvel Family characters from Fawcett, and returned them to publication. By 1991, DC had acquired all rights to the characters. DC has since integrated Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family into their DC Universe and have attempted to revive the property several times, with mixed success. Due to trademark conflicts over another character named "Captain Marvel" owned by Marvel Comics since 1967,[4] DC chose to publish the character's adventures under the comic book Shazam! for many years, leading many to assume that this was the character's name. DC later renamed the character "Shazam" when relaunching its comic book properties in 2011.[5]

In addition, since 1972, the character has been featured in two television series adaptations, one live action and one animated, by Filmation, and an upcoming Warner Bros. Shazam! feature film scheduled for release in 2019 as part of the DC Extended Universe. Captain Marvel was ranked as the 55th greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.[6] IGN also ranked Captain Marvel as the 50th greatest comic book hero of all time, stating that the character will always be an enduring reminder of a simpler time.[7] UGO Networks ranked him as one of the top heroes of entertainment, saying, "At his best, Shazam has always been Superman with a sense of crazy, goofy fun".[8]

Publication history

Development and inspirations

Whiz Comics #2 (Feb. 1940), the first appearance of Captain Marvel. Cover art by C. C. Beck.

After the success of National Comics' new superhero characters Superman and Batman, Fawcett Publications started its own comics division in 1939, recruiting 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 Invincible, Spy Smasher, Golden Arrow, Lance O'Casey, Scoop Smith, and Dan Dare for the new book, Parker also wrote a story about a team of six superheroes, each possessing a special power granted to them by a mythological figure.

Fawcett Comics' executive director Ralph Daigh decided it would be best to combine the team of six into one hero who would embody all six powers. Parker responded by creating a character he called "Captain Thunder".[9] Staff artist Charles Clarence "C. C." Beck was recruited to design and illustrate Parker's story, rendering it in a direct, somewhat cartoony style that became his trademark. "When Bill Parker and I went to work on Fawcett’s first comic book in late 1939, we both saw how poorly written and illustrated the superhero comic books were," Beck told an interviewer. "We decided to give our reader a real comic book, drawn in comic-strip style and telling an imaginative story, based not on the hackneyed formulas of the pulp magazine, but going back to the old folk-tales and myths of classic times".[10]

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 copy created for advertising and trademark 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 Costanza suggested changing Captain Thunder's name to "Captain Marvelous", which the editors shortened to "Captain Marvel". The word balloons 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.

Inspiration

Inspiration for Captain Marvel came from a number of sources. His visual appearance was modeled after that of Fred MacMurray, a popular American actor of the period,[11] though comparisons to both Cary Grant and Jack Oakie were made as well.[12] Fawcett Publications' founder, Wilford H. Fawcett, was nicknamed "Captain Billy", which inspired the name "Billy Batson" and Marvel's title, as well.[13] Fawcett's earliest magazine was titled Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, which inspired the title Whiz Comics.[14] In addition, Fawcett took several of the elements that had made Superman the first popular comic book superhero (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".[15]

Alter ego

Whiz Comics #22 (Oct. 1941), featuring Captain Marvel and his young alter-ego, Billy Batson. Art by C.C. Beck.

As a result, Captain Marvel was given a 12-year-old boy named Billy Batson as his alter ego. In his 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 to an underground tunnel with seven statues depicting the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (Pride, Envy, Greed, Hatred, Selfishness, Laziness and Injustice): the lair of the wizard Shazam. The wizard shows that he has observed the hardship of Billy's life, and grants him the power to become the adult superhero Captain Marvel, just before a stone suspended above Shazam's head crushes him. His ghost says he will give advice when a brazier is lit.

In order to transform into Captain Marvel, Billy must speak the wizard's name, an acronym for the six legendary figures who agreed to grant aspects of themselves to a willing subject: the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the invulnerability of Achilles (presumably less the heel), and the speed of Mercury. 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 bib front, but was changed to a one-piece skintight suit within a year (the partial bib would be restored to Captain Marvel's costume much later in the character's history, in 1994). The costume also included a white-collared cape trimmed with gold flower symbols, usually asymmetrically thrown over the left shoulder and held around his neck by a gold cord. The cape was inspired by the ceremonial cape worn by the British nobility,[16] photographs of which appeared in newspapers in the 1930s.

Introduction

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 Sivana, 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.[2] By 1941, he had his own solo series, Captain Marvel Adventures, while he continued to appear in Whiz Comics, as well as periodic appearances in other Fawcett books, including Master Comics.

Fawcett years: The Marvel enemies, family, and allies

Through his adventures, Captain Marvel soon gained a host of enemies. His most frequent foe was Doctor Sivana, a mad scientist 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 super strong Magnificus. Sivana's evil children, Georgia and Sivana, Jr., who were later introduced to the comics, resembled their father both physically and mentally.

Marvel's other villains included Adolf Hitler's champion Captain Nazi, an older Egyptian renegade Marvel named Black Adam (whose sole Golden Age appearance was in Marvel Family #1), an evil magic-powered brute named Ibac, who gained powers from historical villains, and an artificially intelligent nuclear-powered robot called Mister Atom.

The most notorious Captain Marvel villains, however, were the nefarious Mister Mind and his Monster Society of Evil, which recruited several of Marvel's previous adversaries. The "Monster Society of Evil" story arc ran as a 25-chapter serial in Captain Marvel Adventures #22–46 (March 1943 – May 1945), with Mister Mind eventually revealed to be a highly intelligent, yet tiny, worm from another planet.

The Monster Society was the first criminal group in comics with members from past stories. Among the group's members were Sivana, Ibac, and Captain Nazi, along with new foes including 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, such as 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 was 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.

Marvel Family

In the early 1940s, Captain Marvel 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 Supergirl first appeared in 1959). Whiz Comics #21 (September 1941) marked the debut of the Lieutenant Marvels, 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 of Captain Marvel's 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 twin sister Mary Bromfield, who discovered she could, by saying the magic word "Shazam", become the teenage super heroine Mary Marvel, who originally derived her powers from her own pantheon of female goddesses and benefactors rather than the figures who empowered Billy.

Detail from The Marvel Family #2 (June 1946), cover art by C.C. Beck. From left to right: Captain Marvel, Lt. "Fat" Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., Lt. "Tall" Marvel, Lt. "Hillbilly" Marvel, and Mary Marvel. Uncle Marvel is seated at the piano in the background.

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 artist" Uncle Marvel and his niece, Freckles Marvel—also sometimes joined the other Marvels on their adventures. A funny animal spin-off, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, was created in 1942 for Fawcett's Funny Animals comics, and was later given a series of his own.

Allies

As with other superheroes, Captain Marvel had a number of non-powered friends and associates as well, including 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 nature 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 lived in Billy's boarding house. The most prolific of Captain Marvel's supporting characters at Fawcett was Mister Tawky Tawny, an anthropomorphic tiger who had been fed a serum that allowed him to learn to speak and stand upright.[17]

The members of the Marvel Family often teamed up with the other Fawcett superheroes, including Ibis the Invincible, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Spy Smasher, Minute-Man, and Mr. Scarlet and Pinky. Among the many artists and writers who worked on the Marvel Family stories alongside C. C. Beck and main writer Otto Binder were Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Mac Raboy, Pete Costanza, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Marc Swayze.

Copyright infringement lawsuit and cancellation

Through much of the Golden Age of Comic Books, Captain Marvel proved to be the most popular superhero character of the medium, and his comics outsold all others, including those featuring Superman. Captain Marvel Adventures sold fourteen million copies in 1944,[18] 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").[2] Part of the reason for this popularity included the inherent wish-fulfillment appeal of the character to children, as well as the humorous and surreal quality of the stories. Billy Batson typically narrated each Captain Marvel story, speaking directly to his reading audience 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 both Fawcett Comics and Republic Pictures for copyright infringement in 1941, alleging that Captain Marvel was based on their character Superman.[19] After seven years of litigation, the National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications 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 strips, and it was decided that National had abandoned the Superman copyright.[20] As a result, the initial verdict, delivered in 1951, was decided in Fawcett's favor.

National appealed this decision, and Judge Learned Hand 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.[20]

Instead of retrying the case, however, Fawcett settled with National out of court. The National lawsuit was not the only problem Fawcett faced in regard 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.[21] 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 had gained popularity at the time.[22]

Feeling that this decline in the popularity of superhero comics meant that it was no longer worth continuing the fight,[23] Fawcett agreed to permanently cease publication of comics with the Captain Marvel-related characters and to pay National $400,000 in damages.[3] 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 / Miracleman

Main article: Marvelman

In the 1950s, a small British publisher, L. Miller and Son, published a number of black-and-white reprints of American comic books, including the Captain Marvel series. 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 Anglo, who created a thinly-disguised version of the superhero called Marvelman. 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" spelled 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 Moore 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 Miracleman (as Marvel Comics objected to the use of "Marvel" in the title), and continued publication in the United States after Warrior's demise. Within the metatextual story line 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 Gaiman. In 2009, Marvel Comics obtained the rights to the original 1950s Marvelman characters and stories,[24] obtaining the rights to the 1980s version and those reprints in 2013.[25][26]

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 short-lived Captain Marvel was credited in the comic as being "based on a character created by Carl Burgos".[27]

DC Comics revival: Shazam!

When superhero comics became popular again in the mid-1960s in what is now called the "Silver Age of Comic Books", Fawcett was unable to revive Captain Marvel, having agreed never to publish the character again as part of their 1953 settlement. Looking for new properties to introduce to the DC Comics line, DC publisher Carmine Infantino decided to bring the Captain Marvel property back into print, and licensed the characters from Fawcett in 1972 in preparation for such a revival.[28] Because Marvel Comics had by this time established Captain Marvel as a comic book trademark for their own character, created and first published in 1967, DC was forced to publish their book under the name Shazam![4] Infantino attempted to give the Shazam! book the subtitle The Original Captain Marvel, but a cease and desist letter from Marvel Comics forced them to change the subtitle to The World's Mightiest Mortal with Shazam! #15 (December 1974).[28] As all subsequent toys and other merchandise featuring the character have also been required to use the "Shazam!" label with little to no mention of the name "Captain Marvel", the title became so linked to Captain Marvel that many people took to identifying the character as "Shazam" instead of "Captain Marvel".[5]

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 animation for 20 years when the Sivanas attempted to put the Marvels into suspended animation. They finally broke free when the Suspendium globe moved towards the Sun.

Dennis O'Neil was the primary writer of the book.[29] His role was later taken over by writers Elliot S. Maggin and E. Nelson Bridwell. C. C. Beck drew stories for the first 10 issues of the book before quitting due to creative differences. Bob Oksner and Fawcett alumnus Kurt Schaffenberger were among the later artists of the title.

With DC's Multiverse concept in effect during this time, 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".[30]

Shazam! was heavily rewritten as of issue #34 (April 1978), and Bridwell provided more realistic stories, accompanied by similar art; the first issue was drawn by Alan Weiss and Joe Rubinstein, and thereafter by Don Newton, a longtime fan of the character,[31] and Schaffenberger. Nevertheless, the next issue was the last one, though the feature was kept alive in a back-up position in the Dollar Comics-formatted run of World's Finest Comics (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 World's Finest Comics reverted to the standard 36 pages, leftover Shazam! material saw publication in Adventure Comics (#491–492, September–October 1982). The remaining 11 issues of that run contained reprints, with Shazam! represented by mostly Fawcett-era stories (left out of Legion of Super-Heroes #500 and the final #503, where two features were doubled up to complete their respective story arcs). Limited Collectors' Edition #C-58 (April 1978) featured a "Superman vs. Shazam!" story by writer Gerry Conway and artists Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano.[32][33] With their 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series, DC fully integrated the characters into the DC Universe. Prior to Crisis, the characters appeared a few times as guest stars in the Justice League of America series (vol. 1).

Captain Marvel in the late 1980s

The first post-Crisis appearance of Captain Marvel was in the 1986 Legends miniseries. In 1987, Captain Marvel appeared as a member of the Justice League in Keith Giffen's and J. M. DeMatteis' relaunch of that title. That same year (spinning-off from Legends), he was given his own miniseries titled Shazam: The New Beginning. With this four-issue miniseries, writers Roy and Dann Thomas, and artist Tom Mandrake, attempted to re-launch the Captain Marvel mythos and bring the wizard Shazam, Dr. Sivana, Uncle Dudley, and Black Adam into the modern DC Universe with an altered origin story.

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 traditional depiction used prior to 1986, 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. Though New Beginning had sold well and multiple artists were assigned to and worked on the book, it never saw publication due to editorial disputes between DC Comics and Roy Thomas, who departed the company in 1989 not long after his removal from the Shazam! project.[34]

Other attempts at reviving Shazam! were initiated over the next three years, including a reboot project by John Byrne, illustrator of Legends and writer/artist on the Superman reboot miniseries The Man of Steel (1986).[35] None of these versions saw print, though Captain Marvel, the Wizard Shazam, and Black Adam did appear in DC's War of the Gods miniseries in 1991. By this time, DC had finally ceased the fee-per-use licensing agreement with Fawcett Publications and purchased the full rights to Captain Marvel and the other Fawcett Comics characters.[34]

The Power of Shazam!

Main article: The Power of Shazam!

In 1991, Jerry Ordway was given the Shazam! assignment, which he pitched as a painted graphic novel that would lead into a series, rather than starting the series outright.[34] Ordway both wrote and illustrated the graphic novel, titled The Power of Shazam!, which was released in 1994. Power of Shazam! retconned Captain Marvel again and gave him a revised origin, rendering Shazam! The New Beginning and the Action Comics Weekly story apocryphal while Marvel's appearances in Legends and Justice League still counted as part of the continuity.[36]

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.[37] That series reintroduced the Marvel Family and many of their allies and enemies into the modern-day DC Universe.

Captain Marvel also appeared in Mark Waid and Alex Ross' critically acclaimed 1996 alternate universe Elseworlds Kingdom Come miniseries. Set 20 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. Because he is 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 Dini and painted by Alex Ross.

Early-mid-2000s: JSA, 52, and more

Since the cancellation of the Power of Shazam! title in 1999, the Marvel Family has made appearances in a number of other DC comic books. Black Adam became a main character in Geoff Johns' and David S. Goyer's JSA series, which depicted the latest adventures of the Justice Society of America, Black Adam joining the team as a means of seeking redemption for his past criminal acts. Feeling that Black Adam deserves a chance, but wanting to keep a closer eye on him at the same time, Captain Marvel appeared regularly in JSA in 2003 and 2004 after joining the team to keep an eye on his old nemesis. He also appeared in Frank Miller's graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the sequel to Miller's highly acclaimed graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, which culminated in his death. The Superman/Shazam: First Thunder mini-series, written by Judd Winick with art by Josh Middleton, and published between September 2005 and March 2006, depicted the first post-Crisis meeting between Superman and Captain Marvel .By this time, the definition of the effect of Billy's transformation to Captain Marvel had been changed to say that the force of the transforming lightning bolt was felt by the people around Billy when the lightning struck. Even though they themselves were not affected by the lightning bolt's changing power, they could be affected by the lightning bolt's force.

The Marvel Family played an integral part in DC's 2005/2006 Infinite Crisis crossover, which began DC's efforts to retool the Shazam! franchise. In the Day of Vengeance miniseries, which preceded the Infinite Crisis event, the wizard Shazam is killed by the Spectre, 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 when he hears their voices. The Marvel Family made a handful of guest appearances in the year-long weekly maxi-series 52, which featured Black Adam as one of its main characters and introduced Adam's "Black Marvel Family", consisting of Adam himself, his wife Isis, her brother Osiris, and Sobek. The series chronicled Adam's attempts to reform after falling in love with Isis, only to launch the DC universe into World War III after she and Osiris are killed. The Marvel Family appeared frequently in the 12-issue bimonthly painted Justice maxi-series by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithwaite, published from 2005 to 2007.

The Trials of Shazam!

The Trials of Shazam!, a 12-issue maxi-series written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Howard Porter for the first eight issues, and by Mauro Cascioli for the remaining four, was published from 2006 to 2008. The series redefined the Shazam! property with a stronger focus on magic and mysticism. 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 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. However, a witch named Sabina attempts to take the power herself.

In the pages of the 2007–2008 Countdown to Final Crisis limited series, Black Adam gives the powerless Mary Batson his powers, turning her into a more aggressive super-powered figure, less upstanding than the old Mary Marvel. By the end of the series, as well as in DC's 2008–2009 Final Crisis limited series, the now black-costumed Mary Marvel, possessed by the evil New God Desaad, becomes a villainess, joining forces with Superman villain Darkseid and fighting both Supergirl and Freddy Freeman/Shazam, who turns her back using his lightning.

A three-issue arc in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) undid much of the Trials of Shazam! changes. Issues 23 through 25 of Justice Society featured Black Adam and a resurrected Isis taking over the Rock of Eternity and robbing Billy Batson of his Marvel powers. Billy calls the Justice Society to intervene, while Adam and Isis enlist the evil Mary Marvel to turn Billy into an evil Marvel as well. By the end of the story arc, Adam realizes that Isis and the evil Batson siblings are out of control, and gives up his power to resurrect the wizard Shazam. The angry wizard promptly takes back his powers from the others, threatening to also deal with Freddy Freeman/Shazam, who is absent from the story.

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 Lantern, on the Internet from their apartment.[38] In 2011, DC published a one-shot Shazam! story written by Eric Wallace, in which the still-powerless Billy and Mary help Freddy/Shazam in a battle with the demoness Blaze. Freddy would eventually have his powers stolen by Osiris in Titans #32 the same year.[39]

The New 52 relaunch

Alternate cover for Justice League (Vol. 2) #0. Clockwise from bottom/front: Shazam!, Eugene Choi, Darla Dudley, Pedro Peña, Freddy Freeman, Mary Bromfield, Tawny, Black Adam, and Doctor Sivana. Art by Ivan Reis.

In 2011, DC Comics relaunched their entire comic book lineup, creating The New 52 series. One of these relaunched series, Justice League, began featuring a Shazam! backup story with issue #7 in March 2012.[40] The feature, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Gary Frank, introduces Billy Batson and his supporting cast into the new DC Universe. As part of the redesign, Captain Marvel received a new costume designed by Frank with a long cloak and hood.[41] Johns noted that the character's place in the world will be "far more rooted in fantasy and magic than it ever was before".[42] The character also was officially renamed "Shazam".[5] The Shazam! origin story concluded in Justice League #21 (2013), a full-length Shazam! issue, preceding a DC's crossover "Trinity War" story line which heavily features the Shazam mythos.

In his revised origin, Billy Batson is an arrogant and troubled 15-year-old foster child living in Philadelphia who has gone through several foster homes.[43] At his newest foster home, he gains five foster siblings, including new versions of Mary Bromfield and Freddy Freeman.[44] When the evil Dr. Sivana unleashes the ancient magical warrior Black Adam from his tomb,[45] the Wizard of the Rock of Eternity – the last of a council of beings who once controlled magic – begins abducting new candidates to assess them for the job of being his champion. He dismisses them all for not being pure of heart.[46][47]

Eventually, the Wizard summons Billy, who is another unsuitable candidate, but Billy persuades the Wizard that perfectly good people "really don't exist". In desperation and seeing the "embers of good" within Billy, the dying Wizard passes on his powers and teaches Billy they can be accessed through the magic word "Shazam" when spoken with good intentions. After saying the magic word, Billy is struck by a bolt of lightning which transforms him into Shazam, a super-powered being possessing super-strength, flight, and vast magical powers. The Wizard dies and transports Shazam back to Earth, where Billy reveals his new secret to Freddy. The two scheme to make money with Shazam's new powers, until Shazam is attacked by Black Adam.[46] After learning of Black Adam's troubled origin, Billy attempts and fails to reason with Adam,[48] and is saved only by sharing his powers with his foster siblings, who all become magic-powered adult superheroes.[49] Ultimately, Billy goads Adam into saying the magic word and transforming into his human form, at which time he promptly turns to dust.[49]

Commencing the "Trinity War" story line, Billy flies to Black Adam's home nation of Kahndaq to bury Adam's remains. Shazam's entry into the country is interpreted by the locals as illegal US entry into their territory, following a similar international incident with Superman and Wonder Woman several weeks previously. Both the independent Justice League and the US-sponsored Justice League of America (JLA) arrive in Kahndaq to take control of the situation. Shazam is taken into US custody by the JLA, alongside the Justice League, after Superman inadvertently kills Doctor Light.[50][51] Shazam travels with the Justice League to the Justice League Dark for further investigation of Light's death, and the sorcerer John Constantine briefly steals Shazam's abilities, fearing what a child will do with them.[52] Shazam later tries to open Pandora's Box, a device which opens the doorway to Earth-3, and is infected with evil. His costume changes, giving him the visual appearance of Black Adam for a time.[53] Following the successful defeat of Earth-Three's Crime Syndicate by Lex Luthor, Shazam is inducted into the League.[54] While still a newcomer to the league, Billy has a number of new adventures while under the mentorship of Cyborg, such as taking up monitor duty while learning, accidentally, how to conjure items he wants with his magic.[55]

Powers and abilities

The character obtains powers through a transformation from a human persona into a superpowered entity. When the human persona, Billy Batson, says the magic word "Shazam!", transformation into the superpowered entity Captain Marvel/Shazam occurs.

As Captain Marvel/Shazam, several powers are bestowed to the character. Though the link to the specific mythological figures is de-emphasized in many modern-day stories, traditionally the letters in the name Shazam each represent a specific superhuman ability:

S for the Wisdom of Solomon As Captain Marvel/Shazam, Billy's neurons and synapses are supercharged with divine magics and energy. This allows him an instantaneous access to a vast amount of scholarly knowledge and objective, nearly infallible wisdom; including an innate understanding of most known languages and sciences. He has exceptional photographic recall and mental acuity, allowing him to read and decipher hieroglyphs, recall everything he has ever learned, and solve long mathematical equations. He also has a great understanding of divine phenomena in the mortal world. The wisdom of Solomon 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.
H for the Strength of Hercules This fundamental superpower is among Captain Marvel/Shazam's most definitive and chief abilities. Hercules' power supercharges Billy's muscles, tendons and bones; granting Captain Marvel/Shazam immense superhuman strength comparable to that of the legendary demigod now known as the Olympian God of Strength; making Captain Marvel/Shazam one of DC Comics' strongest characters. He is able to easily bend steel in his bare hands, do the work of several laborers in half the time, toss pickup trucks high into the air, punch through walls, and lift massive objects. In the comics, this strength has been compared to that of Superman and other godlike superheroes and villains.[56] The strength of the Golden Age Captain Marvel was unlimited,[57][58] and the character was strong enough to move stars and planets.[57][59][60][61]
A for the Stamina of Atlas Using Atlas' stamina, Captain Marvel/Shazam can withstand and survive most types of extreme physical assaults, and heal from them within seconds without any seeming discomfort. In some stories, the stamina of Atlas makes Captain Marvel nearly invulnerable in the same way as Superman and similar characters in that he is almost completely impervious to harm from such things as bullets, blades, fire, chemicals, and explosions. The stamina of Atlas also prevents him from getting tired and provides him with a supernaturally endued metabolism preventing fatigue, thirst and hunger.[62]
Z for the Power of Zeus Zeus' power, besides fueling the magic thunderbolt that transforms Captain Marvel/Shazam, also enhances Marvel's other physical and mental abilities, and grants him resistance against all magic spells and attacks. The hero can use the lightning bolt as a weapon by dodging it and allowing it to strike an opponent or other target. The magic lightning has several uses, such as creating apparatus, restoring damage done to the hero, and providing fuel for magic spells. The current-continuity version of Shazam is able to personally generate and control lightning for various uses. He also can use it readily from his fingertips. The power of Zeus also enhances the levels of Shazam's other powers as well.[63] From Zeus's power Captain Marvel inherits his invulnerability.[64][65]
A for the Courage of Achilles This aspect is mostly psychological and spiritual in nature. The courage of Achilles gives Captain Marvel/Shazam the courage and bravery of the legendary Greek hero. This magic stems from the Styx; endowing Captain Marvel/Shazam with an omnipresent presence of good will and inner harmony that protects him from doubt, renders him impervious to intimidation or forces of personality, and comforts him even in the most hopeless of times. In one story it is claimed to also give him fighting skills.[64] In the Trials of Shazam! mini-series, this was changed temporarily to Achilles' near-invulnerability. It also aids the hero's mental fortitude against most mental attacks.
M for the Speed of Mercury By channeling Mercury's speed, Captain Marvel/Shazam can move at superhuman speeds and fly, although in older comics he could only leap great distances. The Captain Marvel of pre-1985 stories was also able to travel to the Rock of Eternity by flying faster than the speed of light.

In classic stories, simply saying the word "Shazam!" transformed Billy into Captain Marvel and back again.[66] When Captain Marvel shared his powers with his Marvel Shazam Family teammates, it was depicted as a finite source which would be divided in half, into thirds, or further, depending upon how many Marvels were super-powered at one time, and weakening them accordingly.[67] In modern stories where Billy goes by the name Shazam, the word does not automatically summon the lightning without his intent that it do so. He can also share the power with friends of his to an unknown degree, without obvious ill effects on his overall power.

Captain Marvel/Shazam is not completely invulnerable. In several stories, he is shown to be susceptible to high-powered magic,[68] which can weaken or de-power him,[68] and, in some older stories, to significantly high voltages of lightning or electricity, which would revert him back to Billy Batson form.[69] Later depictions also show his childlike innocence and immaturity to be a significant weakness.[70]

Since the 2011 reboot, Shazam's powers have been slightly altered. The word "Shazam" does not cause a transformation if Billy does not want it to; he is able to use and manipulate magical lightning much more readily from his fingertips; able to share his magical powers and bestow unique powers onto those he chooses, without weakening himself but disrupting the enchantments cast.[71] He also demonstrates the ability to use magic in as-yet-unexplored ways, on one occasion using it to conjure items.[55] During the "Darkseid War" story line in 2015, his powers are altered in unexplored ways again when his connection to the six deities is disrupted, and he is given new magical patrons in the form of Sivaa (Shadow elemental of the 3rd world), H'ronmeer (the Martian fire god), Anapel, Zonuz (another name for Yuga Khan, Darkseid's father), Atë, and Mamaragan (the Wizard himself).[72][73]

In the late 2000s, when Billy replaced the wizard and took on white robes and the name of "Marvel", he commanded the various magical abilities once owned by the wizard. However, he was required to remain on the Rock of Eternity and could only be away from the Rock for 24 hours at a time[74]

Other versions

A significant number of "alternate" depictions of Shazam/Captain Marvel have appeared in DC publications since the 1970s.

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 rubbing a magic belt buckle with a thunder symbol on it and saying "Thunder". His powers came from Tornado (power), Hare (speed), Uncas (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 Luthor in Shazam! #15, November/December 1974).

Captain Thunder (1982)

In 1983, a proposal for an updated Captain Marvel was submitted to DC by Roy Thomas, Don Newton, and Jerry Ordway.[34] 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 named "Willie Fawcett" (as in the 1974 story), who spoke the magic word "Shazam!" to become Captain Thunder, Earth-One's Mightiest Mortal.[34] This alternate version of the character was never used.

Captain Thunder (2011): Flashpoint

The 2011 Flashpoint miniseries featured an alternate timeline accidentally created by the Flash, who then helped the heroes of this timeline to restore history. One of those heroes is Captain Thunder – an alternative version of Captain Marvel who has six alter-egos, rather than one, and a scarred face as the result of a fight with Wonder Woman, who in this timeline is a villain.

The six children – (collectively known as "S.H.A.Z.A.M") – each possess one of the six attributes of the power of Shazam and must say the magic word together to become Captain Thunder. The six children consist of an Asian-American boy named Eugene Choi, who possesses the wisdom of Solomon; an overweight Hispanic boy named Pedro Peña, who possesses the strength of Hercules; Mary Batson, who possesses the stamina of Atlas; Freddy Freeman, who possesses the power of Zeus; Billy Batson, who possesses the courage of Achilles; and an African-American girl named Darla Dudley who possesses the speed of Mercury. Pedro's pet tiger Tawny also transforms into a more powerful version of himself via the magic lightning.[75]

The six children later transform into Captain Thunder to help Flash and his allies stop the war between Aquaman's Atlantean 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 Flash's accomplice Enchantress, who is revealed to be a traitor. Before the kids can reform Captain Thunder again, Billy is stabbed by the Amazon Penthesileia and killed.[76]

After the conclusion of the Flashpoint miniseries, the three new children from the Flashpoint timeline – Eugene, Pedro, and Darla – were incorporated into the DC Universe via the Shazam! backup strip in Justice League, appearing as Billy, Mary, and Freddy's foster siblings.

Elseworld's Finest

In the alternate universe Elseworlds book Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl (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 visibly aged, with receding white hair and glasses. He is being blackmailed by Lex Luthor into working for him, to prevent Luthor from killing 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. As a result, 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 lightning and destroys himself.

Kingdom Come

The graphic novel Kingdom Come depicts a possible future of the DC characters. In this version, Billy Batson is grown up, but the human hostility towards superheroes has made him uneasy, and he has not transformed into Captain Marvel for several years. Instead, he becomes a brainwashed servant of Lex Luthor, who 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 Superman causes many others to react in fear and unease when he mingles with them, unsure whether it is Batson (whose adult appearance is identical to his Captain Marvel form) or Marvel that serves Luthor.

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, Captain Marvel - spurred by Superman telling him that he is the only one capable of making the choice due to his ties to both humanity and the superhuman community - 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 super humans will now live in harmony.

Earth-5

In the final issue of the maxi-series 52 (#52, May 2, 2007), a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities is one designated Earth-5. As a result of Marvel Family foe Mister Mind "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.[77] 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 reappeared in Final Crisis #7, along with an army of Supermen from across the Multiverse to prevent its destruction by Darkseid.[78] Following The New 52 Multiverse reboot, Earth-5 remains a Fawcett Comics-inspired setting, and is spotlighted in the comic book The Multiversity: Thunderworld #1 (Feb 2015), a modernized take on the classic Fawcett Captain Marvel stories from writer Grant Morrison and artist Cameron Stewart.[79][80]

Justice League: Generation Lost

A female version of Captain Marvel is shown as a member of an alternate-future Justice League in Justice League: Generation Lost. 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 during battle. She and her teammates are ultimately killed by an army of Omni Mind And Community (OMACs).[81]

Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil

A second Captain Marvel mini-series, Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith (creator of Bone), 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.[82] 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 teen-aged or adult version. Dr. Sivana is Attorney General of the United States, and Mister Mind looks more like a snake than a caterpillar.

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!

An all-ages Captain Marvel comic, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, debuted in July 2008 under DC's Johnny DC 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.[83] Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, of Tiny Titans, took over as writers with issue #5, with Byron Vaughns as main artist until issue #13, when Mike Norton assumed his place for the remainder of the series.[84] 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.

Mazahs

In the 2013–14 Forever Evil crossover event series, the Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 is revealed as Mazahs, the Earth-3 version of Shazam.[85] In the story, the Crime Syndicate (analogues of the Justice League) have brought Alexander Luthor, their prisoner, with them to the Prime Earth where the Justice League and other heroes reside. Lex Luthor and his team sneak in to the Justice League Watchtower where the Syndicate has Alexander hostage, and remove the duct tape holding his mouth closed. As soon as this is done, Alexander speaks the word, 'Mazahs', transforming himself into the muscular, highly powerful being Mazahs, and killing the Syndicate's speedster Johnny Quick.[86] In the final issue of the series, it is revealed that Wonder Woman analogue Superwoman is in a relationship with Alexander and is responsible for tricking her teammates into bringing him with them. She also reveals she is carrying his child, who is prophesied to bring an end to the world. Exploiting his ability to use the powers of those he has killed, Mazahs easily takes down both the Syndicate and Luthor's team, but the original Lex Luthor (having the same voice as Mazahs) manages to call down the lightning and transform Mazahs into his human form. Sealing Alexander's mouth, Lex stabs him with a knife, killing him.[87]

Injustice: Gods Among Us

In the prequel comic to the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, Shazam joins Superman's Regime in establishing a new approach to ending crime. Similar to the Golden Age version, this Shazam is suggested to have two personalities: Billy Batson is a separate person from Shazam. In Year One he, like the Flash, are somewhat skeptical of Superman's intentions, as his actions strongly question morality; one chapter particularly focuses on his contradicting views on the matter. Ultimately, Shazam decides to stay and support the Regime, devoted to its cause. Years Two and Three see him helping to fight the Green Lantern Corps and the magic users Batman recruits for his Insurgency respectively. He becomes the object of affection by Harley Quinn, being bound and gagged by her in Year Four. He is freed by Ares to join the Regime in combating the Amazon army and Greek gods, but just when they seem to be winning Shazam is stripped of his powers by Zeus, rendering him to Billy permanently. He, Harley (for trying to help him), and Hippolyta are sent to Tartarus as punishment, though they escape and Billy is left out of the conflict without his powers. Eventually Zeus is forced to return Billy's power after the Highfather intervenes in the conflict.

Supporting cast

In the traditional Shazam! stories, 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 miniseries, 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, and a team of protégés (all of whose alter egos are named "Billy Batson") known as the Lieutenant Marvels. A pink rabbit version of Captain Marvel, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, appeared in his own stories featuring a funny-animal cast.

Over the course of his adventures, Captain Marvel has 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 magical powers who had been a former pupil of Shazam; and Ibac and Sabbac, demon-powered supervillains who transform by speaking magic words made up of beings who give them power, in a manner similar to Captain Marvel.

The Marvel Family's non-powered allies have traditionally included 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;and Billy's girlfriend Cissie Sommerly. Jerry Ordway's Power of Shazam! series also introduced Billy's school principal Miss Wormwood and Mary's adoptive parents Nick and Nora Bromfield.

The current-continuity version of Shazam has five foster siblings, with whom he can share his powers at will: Mary Batson, Freddy Freeman, Pedro Peña, Eugene Choi, and Darla Dudley. Shazam can also share his powers with Tawny, a tiger at the local city zoo whom he considers family.[49]

Collected editions

Many of the character's appearances have been collected into several volumes:

In other media

Live-action films

DVD front cover for Adventures of Captain Marvel film serial, starring Tom Tyler in the title role.

Direct-to-video animated films

Radio

Television

Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel on CBS' Shazam! Saturday morning TV series.

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 Tremayne), traveled in a motor home across the US, interacting with people in different towns in which they stopped to save the citizens from some form of danger or to help them combat some form of evil. With the wizard Shazam absent from this series, 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 Gray as Billy Batson, with both Jackson Bostwick (season 1) and John Davey (seasons 2 and 3) as Captain Marvel.[110] An adapted version of Isis, 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 52.

Shortly after the Shazam! show ended its network run, Captain Marvel (played by Garrett Craig) appeared as a character in a pair of low-budget, live-action comedy specials, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions under the name Legends of the Superheroes in 1979. The specials also featured Howard Morris as Doctor Sivana, and Ruth Buzzi 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 cartoon series Super Friends (which featured many of the other DC superheroes), he did appear in some of the merchandise associated with the show.

Captain Marvel battles Superman in the "Clash" episode of Cartoon Network's Justice League Unlimited.

Video games

Comic strips

In 1943, C.C. Beck and writer Rod Reed prepared seven sample installments of a comic strip, but syndicates expressed no interest in it. Reed suspected the DC lawsuit was the reason syndicates would not take on the property, for fear of becoming parties in the ongoing litigation.[116]

Cultural impact

Captain Marvel vs. Superman in fiction

Superman and Captain Marvel face off in the 1996 Kingdom Come miniseries. Art by Alex Ross.

Captain Marvel's adventures have contributed a number of elements to both comic book culture and pop culture in general. The most notable contribution is the regular use of Superman and Captain Marvel as adversaries in Modern Age comic book stories. The two are often portrayed as equally matched and, while Marvel does not possess Superman's heat vision, x-ray vision or breath powers, the magic-based nature of his own powers are a weakness for Superman.

The National Comics/Fawcett Comics rivalry was parodied in "Superduperman",[117] a satirical comic book story by Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood in the fourth issue of Mad (April/May 1953). 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 is 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 battles against a Monster League, who cast a spell to make him evil, but Superman helps him break free.[118] Two years later, Justice League of America #135–137 presented a story arc which featured the heroes of Earth-1, Earth-2, and Earth-S teaming together against their enemies. It is in this story that Superman and Captain Marvel first meet, 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 Comics. 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 robot is destroyed.

Notable later Superman/Captain Marvel battles in DC Comics include All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58 (1978), All-Star Squadron #36–37 (1984), and Superman vol. 2, #102 (1995). The Superman/Captain Marvel battle depicted in Kingdom Come #4 (1996) serves as the climax of that miniseries, with Marvel having been brainwashed by Lex Luthor and Mister Mind to turn against the other heroes. The "Clash" episode of the DC-based animated TV series Justice League Unlimited, which includes Captain Marvel as a guest character, features 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.[119]

References

  1. ↑ Tipton, Scott (April 1, 2003). "The World's Mightiest Mortal". Comics 101. Retrieved 2005-06-17. I've always felt that it was this origin story and concept that made Captain Marvel instantly popular, to the point that it was outselling every comic on the stands for several years throughout the '40s.
  2. 1 2 3 "Comic Book Success Stories". The Museum of Comic Book Advertising. Retrieved 2005-06-17. By the middle of the decade, Captain Marvel had received a self-titled comic book, Captain Marvel's Adventures [sic], which had a circulation that reached 1.3 million copies per month. Captain Marvel's circulation numbers exceeded National's Superman title and the rivalry between the companies led National to sue Fawcett for plagiarism.
  3. 1 2 "The World's Mightiest Mortal and Big Red Cheese". The Museum of Comic Book Advertising. Retrieved 2005-06-17. In 1953, the case was finally settled out of court when Fawcett agreed to quit using the Captain Marvel character(s) and pay DC the sum of $400,000.
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  10. ↑ Tom Heintjes (2015-07-04). "An Interview with C.C. Beck | Hogan's Alley". Cartoonician.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  11. ↑ Beck, C. C. (2001). Fawcett Companion: The Best of FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America). Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-1-893905-10-8.
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  16. ↑ "PART ONE: The Captain and the Kid!". blog archive. DialBforBlog.com. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  17. ↑ Bridwell, introd. by E. Nelson (1977). Shazam!: From the Forties to the Seventies. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-53127-5.
  18. ↑ Lavinie, Michael L. (Summer 1998). "Comic Books and Graphic Novels for Libraries: What to Buy" (PDF). Serials Review 2 (24). p. 34. In 1944, the best-selling comic book title (Captain Marvel Adventures) sold more than fourteen million copies for the year.
  19. ↑ Hand, L. (Circuit Judge) (1951). "191 F.2d 594: National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. et al United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit. - 191 F.2d 594 Argued May 4, 1951 Decided August 30, 1951". Justia US Law. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  20. 1 2 Ingersoll, Bob (May 31, 1985). "The Law is a Ass (Installment #66)". Comics Buyer's Guide (602). Retrieved June 19, 2005. (Detailed summary of the cases and rulings related to National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publishing.)
  21. ↑ Wright, Bradford W. (2001). Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins. p. 57. ISBN 0-8018-7450-5.
  22. ↑ Wright, p. 156.
  23. ↑ Gore, Matthew H. "The Origins of Marvelman". Retrieved 2005-06-17. With avenues of appeal still open but their outcome obvious after the first court ruled for National Periodicals, Fawcett Publications settled out of court in late-1953. Fawcett agreed to cease publication of all Captain Marvel related titles. However, Fawcett's decision to give up the legal battle came when all of the company's superhero titles were reporting greatly diminished sales was no circumstance.
  24. ↑ Phegley, Kiel. "CCI: Cup o' Joe – Marvelman at Marvel". Comic Books. ComicBookResources.com. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  25. ↑ "NYCC: Marvel to Reprint Classic Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman 'Miracleman'". Hollywoodreporter.com. 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  26. ↑ "NYCC: Cup O' Joe Announces Miracleman's Return". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  27. ↑ Captain Marvel (M.F.) at the Comic Book DB
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  29. ↑ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. In 1972, DC acquired the rights to Captain Marvel and in 1973 they launched the series Shazam!, which re-established the Captain Marvel mythos...Responsible for resurrecting the lightning-charged champion, writer Denny O'Neil and original artist C. C. Beck together explained Cap's absence.
  30. ↑ Benton, Mike (1989). The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor. p. 77. ISBN 0-87833-659-1.
  31. ↑ Wilson, Bill G. (1969). "Interview with Don Newton". The Collector (17).
  32. ↑ Hamerlinck, P.C. (December 2012). "When Worlds Collide The Colossal-Sized Confrontation Between Superman and Captain Marvel". Back Issue! (TwoMorrows Publishing) (61): 65–68.
  33. ↑ "GCD :: Issue :: All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58". Comics.org. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 Thomas, Roy; Jerry Ordway (July 2001). "Not Your Father's Captain Marvel! An Artist-by-Artist Account of a Doomed Quest for a 1980s Shazam! Series". Alter Ego (Two Morrows Publishing) 3 (9): 9–17.
  35. ↑ Smith, Zack (25 February 2011). "An Oral History of CAPTAIN MARVEL: Secret SHAZAM". Newsarama. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  36. ↑ Cereno, Benito. "The Evolution Of Shazam: Best Captain Marvel Stories By Decade". Comics Alliance. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  37. ↑ Manning, Matthew K. "1990s" in Dolan, p. 269: "Writer Jerry Ordway chronicled the further adventures of Billy Batson, the World's Mightiest Mortal, in the new ongoing effort The Power of Shazam!, alongside artists Mike Manley and Peter Krause".
  38. ↑ The Power of Shazam! #48 (January 2010)
  39. ↑ Titans vol. 2 #32 (February 2011)
  40. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (January 27, 2012). http://www.newsarama.com/comics/first-look-curse-of-shazam-preview-120127.html
  41. ↑ "GARY FRANK (& Geoff Johns) Try to Lift THE CURSE OF SHAZAM!". Newsarama.com. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  42. ↑ Kaplan, Don (2012-03-05). "Shazam electrifies again | New York Post". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  43. ↑ Justice League Vol. 2 #7 (May 2012)
  44. ↑ Justice League Vol. 2 #8 (April 2012)
  45. ↑ Justice League Vol. 2 #9 (July 2012)
  46. 1 2 Justice League Vol. 2 #0 (Nov. 2012)
  47. ↑ Justice League Vol. 2 #2, 7 (May 2012)
  48. ↑ Justice League #20 (June 2013)
  49. 1 2 3 Justice League #21 (2013)
  50. ↑ Justice League #22 (2013)
  51. ↑ Justice of America #6 (2013)
  52. ↑ Constantine #5 (2013)
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  54. ↑ Justice League #30 (2014)
  55. 1 2 Justice League #31 (2014)
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  57. 1 2 Captain Marvel Adventures #28
  58. ↑ Captain Marvel Adventures #139
  59. ↑ Captain Marvel Adventures #95
  60. ↑ Captain Marvel Adventures #98
  61. ↑ Captain Marvel Adventures #138
  62. ↑ World's Finest Comics #257
  63. ↑ World's Finest Comics #254
  64. 1 2 Captain Marvel Adventures #144
  65. ↑ DC Comics Presents Annual #3
  66. ↑ Whiz Comics #2 (Feb 1940)
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  68. 1 2 Day of Vengeance #6 (2005)
  69. ↑ The Marvel Family #10 (1947)
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  71. ↑ Justice League #20 (2014)
  72. ↑ Justice League-Darkseid War-Shazam #01 (2016)
  73. ↑ Justice League #45 (2016)
  74. ↑ The Trials of Shazam! #8 (2007)
  75. ↑ Flashpoint #1 (May 2011)
  76. ↑ Flashpoint #4 (August 2011)
  77. ↑ Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 (August 2008)
  78. ↑ Final Crisis #7 (March 2009)
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  81. ↑ Justice League: Generation Lost #14
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  83. ↑ Pumpelly, Danny (August 11, 2007). "WWC: DC New Worlds Order". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
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  85. ↑ Johns, Geoff (w), Finch, David (p), Friend, Richard (i), Oback, Sonia (col), Leigh, Rob (let). "Forever Evil Chapter Six: The Power of Mazahs!" Forever Evil 6 (May 2014), DC Comics
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  87. ↑ Forever Evil #7
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  117. ↑ Wright, p. 146.
  118. ↑ Superman #276 (June 1974)
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