On March 8, Marvel will release Captain Marvel, following the adventures of a (sort-of) new super heroine played by the gorgeous Brie Larsen. Later this year, Warner Bros will release Shazam, following the adventures of a teenager who magically becomes a superhero, played by Zachary Levy.
These two heroes may not be especially familiar to everyone, but some might be thinking, "wait... I thought that guy was Captain Marvel. Yup, red costume, super strength, says 'Shazam' in order to get his powers. That's Captain Marvel! Who's this broad?" This, of course, may confuse a lot of the uninitiated. She's Captain Marvel, why would you think Shazam was Captain Marvel? He's not even a Marvel character.
Trust me, there's a reason for this.
1940 was a banner year for superheroes: as the comic book world saw the first appearances of the original Robin, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom and Hawkman. Yup, all of these characters would become legacy characters, meaning others would come along and take their names. In fact, those who followed would sometimes become the more identifiable.
And it was into this world that the Captain Marvel was born.
By February of 1940, Fawcett Publications published the first issue of Whiz Comics, though it was listed as the second issue as the first was used only for copyright purposes and went unpublished.
In the cover feature, a young boy by the name of Billy Batson enters a subway station and is lead to the Wizard Shazam, who bestows upon him the ability to become Captain Marvel by saying his name. Captain Marvel is imbued with...
The wisdom of SOLOMON
The strength of HERCULES
The stamina of ATLAS
The power of ZEUS
The courage of ACHILLES
The speed of MERCURY
Captain Marvel quickly became the most popular superhero of the early 1940s, and held the honor of being the first to appear on the silver screen, beating out the first of Max Fleisher's famous Superman cartoons when the serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel premiered.
And that brings us to the Man of Steel himself.
It doesn't take a connoisseur of comics to see the similarities between Superman and Captain Marvel. The Big Red Cheese may have different colors on his uniform, but the two heroes look very similar. They also had similar powers (super strength, super speed and at-least an implicit ability to fly) and a few parallels (mad scientist enemies, jobs as reporters, throwing a car on the cover of their first appearances) but they were two different characters, not only in terms of origins, but characters. Billy Batson was a kid who became a Superman-esque hero by uttering a magic word, whereas Clark Kent was still Superman just behind a pair of glasses and a business suit.
National Periodicals--now, D.C. Comics--sued Fawcett Publications. It wasn't the first time. They had previously sued over the similarities between Superman and a character Fawcett had published called Master Man, and won.
However, Captain Marvel--it would turn out--would be somewhat influential in his own right. As many superheroes had kid sidekicks, Fawcett decided to introduce one by the name of Captain Marvel Jr. Despite what the name may imply, Captain Marvel Jr. is Captain Marvel's best friend Freddie Freeman who gets his powers by saying, "Captain Marvel!" As it turned out, Captain Marvel Jr. was the favored superhero of a young boy growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi: Elvis Aaron Presley.
Captain Marvel was also blessed with a twin sister by the name of Mary Marvel, who also gained her powers by saying "Shazam!" These two spin-off characters were co-created by Otto Binder who would go on to write some of Superman's sillier stories in the 1950s.
After World War II, sadly, Captain Marvel's popularity--along with that of many superheroes--began to wane. The spirit of World War II seemed to have bolstered the popularity of costumed do-gooders, but in the years following, some enthusiasm was lost. This likely had to do with the decreased need for comics as reading material for soldiers abroad, but also a growing audience. It's interesting to note that while other superheroes' popularity was on the decline, Superman's popularity grew somewhat. His was one of the few lines of superhero comics to continue, while his first live-action serial (Superman, 1948) and its sequel (Atom Man Vs. Superman, 1950) flourished at the box office and his first feature film (Superman and the Mole Men, 1951) was successful enough to engender a T.V. series (The Adventures of Superman).
Fawcett, meanwhile, was getting tired of battling Superman. The company tried taking Captain Marvel in a new direction, adding more horror elements to the books, but by 1953--by which time, the courts had decided that Captain Marvel did infringe upon Superman--Fawcett closed down its comics division.
Captain Marvel was gone, but not forgotten. The renown T.V. character Gomer Pyle re-appropriated "Shazam!" as his catchphrase, while the classic musical film West Side Story (1961) featured a character who was in love with Captain Marvel comics. Perhaps most notably, the Beatles mentioned the character in their 1968 tune "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill."
Or at-least I'm pretty sure it was a reference to this Captain Marvel. By that time, there was a new Captain Marvel.
Well, two, actually.
In 1966, a small comic book publisher known as M.F. Enterprises introduced their own Captain Marvel. By this time, reintroducing new versions of old superheroes had become a major trend in the comic book, beginning in 1956 with the Flash (new costume, secret identity, origin and occupation) and spreading to other heroes whose Golden Age adventures had run their course.
Seems pretty natural, of course. Marvel Comics would want a Captain Marvel, especially since the original had been a legitimate cultural icon in the 1940s. This version, however, was not quite the same character.
In the second issue, they introduced a character called Carol Danvers who was intended as a love interest. Skipping ahead somewhat, Carol went onto become Ms. Marvel in the late '70s and is the current Captain Marvel. She is the character appearing in the new movie.
But back to Mar-Vell: as you can see, his original costume left something to be desired: it looked like a kind of throwback to Flash Gordon serials, with a rather ho-hum color scheme. The story wasn't un-interesting, but his personality never seemed especially captivating or unique.
This, and the snazzier costume with which he was outfitted, may have helped, but he never really became one of Marvel's top heroes, despite the cache one might think the name would bring. At the risk of creating a tangent, I think it's worth exploring a few reasons why Captain Marvel proved not to be a masthead for the company but, basically, an also-ran.
For one thing, the original Captain Marvel had been a legitimate cultural phenomenon in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s, younger readers likely weren't familiar with him unless, perhaps, they managed to get their hands on some of his old comics.
Most popular reboots of heroes had at-least something to do with the original. Marvel's first two heroes, SubMarriner and the Human Torch, were brought back in the pages of Fantastic Four. Like many of D.C.'s heroes, the Human Torch was given a new identity, origin, personality and (when not using his powers) look. He was Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four: the Invisible Woman's little brother and a sort-of James Dean type. Still: he had the same powers and, when in Torch mode, basically looked the same. The SubMariner, on the other hand, was reintroduced basically as he appeared in the 1940s, but was sometimes an antagonist of the team, though not necessarily a "villain."
Marvel's most popular hero in the Golden Age, however, was Captain America and with the fourth issue of The Avengers, in 1964, he had returned for good in a (surprisingly influential) story in which he'd been found in a state of suspended animation. He was the stalwart to whom all the other heroes looked for inspiration.
Not only that, but while Captain Marvel might have fit in with heroes such as Iron Man or Daredevil (that is, heroes with existential problems), Marvel's most popular heroes tended to be either monsters, like the Thing and the Hulk, or younger heroes like Spider-Man or the Human Torch.
Then in 1972, D.C. Comics licensed the original Captain Marvel from Fawcett Publications, who had agreed to stop publishing Cap in their 1953 settlement. In his return, it was explained that he and the other Marvels had been in a state of suspended animation (yup) but were now back. These new comics weren't top sellers and that's probably largely due to the retro nature of the books and the fact that they took place outside of D.C.'s main "universe."
It likely didn't help that because Marvel Comics owned the trademark to the name Captain Marvel, they were restricted from using it as the title of their mag, though apparently it was okay to refer to him as "the original Captain Marvel" in a blurb on the cover. This meant that on all merchandise for the character, the name "Captain Marvel" was forbidden, even if he was still referred to as such in the stories. As a result, the word SHAZAM! itself was used on toys, trading cards and other forms of merchandise. It's debatable as to whether or not people thought the character's name was Shazam, but in any case, it clearly hurt efforts to market him. While a live-action TV series and, briefly, an animated series did materialize, the trademark issue seemed to prevent Captain Marvel from returning to status as a household name like Superman or Batman.
Back to Marvel.
In Captain Marvel #18 (1969), Carol Danvers was caught in an explosion with Captain Marvel, which resulted in her gaining some portion of his powers. Eight years later, she came into her own as Ms. Marvel in the pages of Ms. Marvel #1. The series had solid writing and great artwork (the original artist was John Buscema who literally wrote the book on drawing superheroes) and some ties to Marvel's most popular superhero: Spider-Man.
All of this may have lead one to believe that Ms. Marvel would soon become one of Marvel's top heroes, and indeed their top heroine. And of course, the powers-that-were could be forgiven for not rushing out to air an animated series before the ink dried on their first issue. And in fairness, she did become a member of the Avengers (more on that in a bit) but sadly, Carol's time in the sun would have to wait.At the time, superheroes tended to be treated with a certain amount of dignity. Then again, what distinguished Marvel from D.C. and traditional superheroes in general, was the fact that they put their characters through struggles that went far beyond beating the villain. Spider-Man dealt with bullying and media bias, the X-Men and the Hulk were both feared and hated by the world they protected, Iron Man had shrapnel in his heart as well as an alcohol addiction, Daredevil was blind and Captain America was a man out of time.
All of that pales in comparison to the cruelty that Marvel showed Carol in the early '80s.
In the infamous Avengers #200, Carol is impregnated in an incredibly controversial story in which she discovers that she's been impregnated and she ends up giving birth only three days later. The child, named Marcus, grew to adulthood almost immediately, claiming to the be son of Immortus and has come from Limbo, using Ms Marvel as a way to get out of there. Unfortunately, he finds he must return to Limbo and Carol returns with him, feeling a strong bond. Then, we see the following panel. I'd prefer any younger readers not view this, nor people who might be sensitive or easily disturbed.
This violation of Ms. Marvel is simply indecent and after this point, she'd be gone from the Avengers. In fact, gone from Marvel Comics for about a year. Uncanny X-Men writer was, rightfully, appalled not just because this act took place, but because the other Avengers (and apparently, the real-life writers and artists) just didn't seem to see the problem. Consequently, he followed up on it in Avengers Annual #10 which marked Marcus' demise.
Sadly, even after making her a regular in the X-Men series, Carol found herself in the midst of a battle with Rogue, who was one of Magneto's minions at the time. She held onto Ms Marvel long enough to take her powers permanently and, as a result, the character went from simply having the ability to drain the powers of others, but to having super strength, durability and flight as well. Not long after that, in Uncanny X-Men #, Carol lost her connection to the Earthlings and became a being known as Binary, joining the Starjammers and leaving the planet.
Meanwhile, in Marvel's first graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell himself passed away. I'm giving this short shrift because I haven't read this graphic novel and would like to do it justice in a future post. The point was that Captain Marvel was gone.
For a few minutes, but then in 1982, Marvel introduced a new heroine named Monica Rambeau, who became... Captain Marvel. This time, a black woman held the name, but once again, didn't become one of Marvel's top heroes.
It just wasn't a great time for heroes bearing this name. Marvel's attempts to introduce a Captain Marvel seemed to fall flat while the original Captain Marvel plodded along at D.C.
So how did we get to this point?
In 1987, Captain Marvel was integrated into the regular D.C. Universe following the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries. He plodded along in Justice League and some solo miniseries', but it wasn't until 1994's The Power of Shazam that the character truly came into his own. Mainly helmed by writer/artist Jerry Ordway, the series may not have been a top seller, but this time, incorporating the sillier concepts of yesteryear (for example, Talking Tawney) endeared the series to some readers and the character seemed to find his niche as a symbol of comic books' yesteryear. Even Superman had to modernize somewhat, but Captain Marvel could be that superhero who was, proudly, stuck in the past.
This was even more true of Mary Marvel upon her reintroduction. By 1994, the "bad girl" trend in comics was in full swing, but Mary was given a sweeter personality and her classic modest costume. That was... until the 2007 saga Countdown to Final Crisis in which she was taken over by D.C.'s top villain, Darkseid.
By this time, Freddie Freeman--who by this point, had gone by the monicker CM3, rather than Captain Marvel Jr.--became the new Captain Marvel while Billy became the guardian of the Rock of Eternity, which had previously been the Wizard Shazam.
Outside of the comics, the original Captain Marvel had appeared in episodes of Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave & the Bold as well as the video game Mortal Kombat vs. the DC Universe. He had a long way to go, but he was, to be sure, regaining his stature.
Meanwhile, the question over at Marvel was, "will the real Captain Marvel please stand up?" In 1996, Monica Rambeau lost the title of Captain Marvel to Genis-Vell: an artificially-created son of Mar-Vell, previously introduced as Legacy. He held the title for about a decade, sharing it with his sister Phyla-Vell. Both heroes subsequently took on other names and both have since died. Monica currently operates under the name Spectrum.Eventually, Ms. Marvel got her powers (and personality) back and rejoined the Avengers in 1998, albeit using the name Warbird (though clad in the second Ms. Marvel costume). In the 2005 saga The House of M, the magical character Scarlet Witch inadvertently altered the space time continuum due to a disturbance in her powers. This lead (temporarily) to major changes in the Marvel Universe, and we got to see Ms. Marvel written as though she were the idealistic heroine she was meant to be. By this time, comic books seemed to be reviving more traditional concepts and Ms. Marvel seemed to hit the bill. While the altered reality of House of M came to an end, Carol returned to the name Ms. Marvel.
Carol's popularity increased over the next several years, as she not only received her own title but also appeared in the animated series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its sequel.
2011 saw the rebirth of the D.C. Universe in yet another reality-altering saga known as Flashpoint. In the aftermath, D.C. reintroduced Billy Batson, except this time, he was no longer Captain Marvel, but Shazam! The rationale in the D.C. offices was that they had been using Shazam on merchandise for so long that people just assumed that the character's name was Shazam. I still have my doubts that that's the case, but in any event, this character would no longer be referred to as Captain Marvel. In this continuity, he had to use the word "Shazam!" with intent in order to change from Billy Batson to Shazam or vice-versa.In 2012, Carol Danvers officially became Captain Marvel and since then, she's been the only hero to bear the name. The name Ms. Marvel was given to a new character whose real name was Kamala Kahn, who was intended to bring forth some diversity by way of a middle-eastern Muslim teenager. This character's popularity doesn't seem to be off the charts, but it was an example of Marvel's push for diversity.
The two Captain Marvel movies recalls the 1983 Battle of the Bonds in which Roger Moore's Octopussy squared off against Sean Connery's independently-produced Never Say Never Again. The hype made Octopussy the highest-grossing 007 film to date (eventually unseated by Goldeneye and subsequent Bond films) but Connery remained, to most, the greatest 007.
I wonder if today's kids would even know that "Shazam" was even called Captain Marvel and, if so, what they will make of it. In any case... I'm rooting for Shazam! I'm still a D.C. guy and it honestly looks better, almost like a send-up. Captain Marvel looks good and I look forward to it, but kind-of generic, though I like the feel of the scenes of her in the air force. Kind-of like an all-female Top Gun but one that becomes a superheroine fantasy.
Finally... I'm not going to weigh in on Brie Larson's political views, but I am going to say that it's really, really hilarious that the dolts who run Rotten Tomatoes got all butthurt because of negative feedback after years of subtly engineering bias against the DCEU films beginning with Man of Steel.
