The hero had an upbeat personality, and he quickly acquired an equally upbeat cast of characters known as the Marvel Family - including Mary Marvel, Uncle Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. Billy Batson’s ability to say a magic word and summon a champion of good was that point of connection for Captain Marvel. When Captain Marvel said “Shazam!,” another crash brought Billy Batson back to reality.Īs the success of Robin, the Boy Wonder, would prove a year later, the new genre of superheroes lacked a proxy for children to see themselves in the story. When Billy said “Shazam!”, a crash of thunder and lightning swapped him out for Captain Marvel, the world’s mightiest mortal. For his pureness of heart, Shazam endowed Billy with the power of his name, an acrostic for (the wisdom of) Solomon, (the strength of) Hercules, (the stamina of) Atlas, (the power of) Zeus, (the courage of) Achilles, and (the speed of) Mercury. By way of a magical subway train, the orphaned and homeless paper boy Billy Batson entered the Rock of Eternity, where dwelled the wise wizard Shazam. Beck and Bill Parker created a hero called Captain Marvel for Fawcett Publications’ Whiz Comics #2. If we’re talking about Marvel Comics’ Captain Marvel, we’ll call him Captain Marvel.Īfter giving it some thought, this actually seemed less confusing than the alternatives.Īnd in 1939, C.C. If we’re talking about Miracleman in the time when he was called Marvelman, we’ll call him Marvelman. If we’re talking about Shazam in the time when he was called Captain Marvel, we’ll call him Captain Marvel. In this piece, we will be calling all characters by the name that they used in the time period we’re talking about when we name them. So, without further ado, the answer to the innocent question “ Why are there two Captain Marvels?” The ripple effect shows up just about everywhere for instance, there is a direct line of causation from the creation of the character known as Shazam and the very existence of Alan Moore’s Watchmen. The story of the Captain Marvels is the story of the American superhero itself, from its 1938 origins to its modern explosion across the silver screen. Among other things, it involves Superman, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, the UK’s Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act of 1955, the word “atomik” spelled backwards, and preeminent United States legal scholar, Judge Learned Hand. Someone might even have explained to you that this is connected to a decades-long trademark Cold War between DC and Marvel Comics, or that it’s a primary reason why Marvel has published a Captain Marvel book for so long even though the character has never really been a consistent hit.īut the story of the Captain Marvels begins decades before Marvel Comics was even calling itself “Marvel Comics,” and it’s much, much wilder than you could ever expect. They say that life is stranger than fiction, but I know it to be true because both Marvel and DC Comics have characters known as “Captain Marvel,” and in 2019, both of those characters have feature films out within a month of each other.Įven if you don’t know anything about comics, you may have heard that the lead character of Warner Bros.’ Shazam! used to be called “Captain Marvel,” just like the lead character of Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel.
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