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ComicBook Main Trivia YMMV main index Narrative
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 Captain Marvel and his alter ego Billy Batson, keeping it real in The Golden Age of Comic Books. SHAZAM! (Which used to be what he said, not who he was, but is now his official name.)You have to understand this before you proceed: comics weren't always just Super Heroes.Look — guys in masks only showed up around, say, 1936. Super Heroes only go as far back as Superman in 1938. Comics about detectives and daredevil pilots had been inherited from the pulps to great success. No-one thought costumed heroes would take off like they did. So when National Comics hit paydirt with their costumed super heroes, the initial reaction of Fawcett Publications was "Oh boy! We've got to get some of these!"So, they brought in C.C. Beck to do a story about a team of six heroes who all got powers from various gods. When this was pitched, it was decided that, while Cast Speciation was cool, All Your Powers Combined just looks better. The hero was to be called Captain Thunder. Except they couldn't get the name. So they called him Captain Marvelous, and then shortened it to Captain Marvel, because it sounds punchier. The character first appeared in "Whiz Comics" #2 (February, 1940). Note that #1 was only an ashcan copy, not intended for distribution.Little Billy Batson is a homeless orphan who is led by a mysterious stranger into a deserted train station, where a train with no driver leads him to a wizard's lair. There, the wizard gives him the power of six gods: 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, which when put together spell F-L-Y-I-N-G B-R-I-C-K. To summon these powers, he must shout the name of the wizard — "SHAZAM!" — which summons down lightning and transforms him into a superhuman adult with a bright red costume with a freakin' sweet cape.Billy Batson goes on to get a job as a radio announcer (yes, a ten-year-old announcer), but as his Superpowered Alter Ego, Captain Marvel, fights evil and chaos. He acquired an impressive Rogues Gallery, including diminutive Mad Scientist Doctor Sivana, villainous Super Soldier Captain Nazi, atomic android Mister Atom, former holder of the Marvel mantle Black Adam, and others. But he also had a group of staunch allies known as the Marvel Family, who had also (mostly) been gifted by Shazam; his best friend Freddy Freeman became Captain Marvel Junior, and his long-lost sister Mary Bromfield became Mary Marvel (complete with Mini Dress Of Power). Initially, Mary had her own pantheon of goddesses from which she derived power (including Zephyrus... which was actually a male, but then there aren't many mythological figures whose names start with a "Z"). Later, she switched over to Billy's pantheon. Then there were the Lieutenant Marvels, Uncle Marvel, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, and Tawny the Talking Tiger...This was Captain Marvel's Golden Age. His own title regularly sold over a million copies a month (FYI, the best selling comics of today usually top out at around 100,000), Mary and Junior had their own titles when most heroes had to settle for eight-page backups in anthology books. There was even a movie serial. He was arguably the most popular and recognizable Super Hero of the 1940s.Then there was a problem. On the one hand, there was Captain Marvel, a black-haired all-American feller in a costume with a lot of bright red, who can punch through cars and stop robbers... and on the other hand, there was Superman, a black-haired all-American feller in a costume with a lot of bright red, who... well, you get the idea. Admittedly, this described a lot of superheroes back then (and even today!), but Marvel had the flaw of selling more than his inspiration. DC Comics brought the case to court, and Fawcett fought it out for a while. Eventually, though, the superheroes stopped selling so well, and Fawcett decided to throw in the towel; they closed down their comics division and moved on.' The final appearance of the character was '"Marvel Family''" #89 (January, 1954)....only, a few years later, The Silver Age of Comic Books started up, and superheroes became popular again. Fawcett couldn't take advantage of this, because the settlement with DC had specified that they never publish a Captain Marvel comic again, but eventually, DC themselves expressed interest in the character. Fawcett licensed the whole shebang to DC (with the latter eventually buying the rights lock, stock and barrel), and after a couple of tryouts, they put out a new series in 1973. Unfortunately, they couldn't actually call the series "Captain Marvel", because Marvel Comics had snapped up the name in the meantime (and created their own character, and eventually a string of characters, by that name), so they titled it Shazam! and went ahead. The series, though never a hot seller, did fairly well; the Marvelverse (no relation) was slotted into DC's Multiverse as Earth-S, and he occasionally crossed over with DC's other heroes — naturally, the long-debated fight between Cap and Superman was one of the first. Incidentally, it's rather ambiguous who has the edge since Captain Marvel doesn't have Supes' vision and breath powers, but his powers are magic based which is a traditional weakness for Superman.And then came Crisis on Infinite Earths, merging the DC multiverse, including Earth-S, into a single universe. Hilarity Ensued. The major change is that whereas Billy and Captain Marvel were largely considered two separate people, now Captain Marvel is unambiguously set with Billy's youthful personality. This means to others, this supposedly adult superhero has a personality of a child, albeit guided by the wisdom of Solomon. This has led to awkward situations more than once and when he was forced to reveal his true form to Superman in First Thunder, the Kryptonian made a bee-line to Shazam to confront him about recruiting a child as his champion. Also, the formation of the Marvel Family was reversed with Mary Marvel, who was the last major addition to arrive outside of Mr. Tawky Tawny in the original stories, usually meeting her brother first, then Jr. arrives later with the Lt. Marvels considered strictly afterthoughts if they are included at all. Black Adam was also reimagined as walking the line between Anti-Hero, Anti-Villain, Token Evil Teammate, and so on.So after a few comics and a brief membership spot in the Justice League of America, Captain Marvel became part of the wider DC Continuity. Whenever they needed a Superman-level fighter who was immune to kryptonite or magic, he was there. Whenever Wonder Woman needed to hit someone we didn't care about, he was there. Whenever villains needed someone hokey to fight, thus proving they were a Superstitious And Cowardly Lot, he was there. His standard shtick was to represent the sunny, old-timey virtues of Golden Age comics in the darkness of The Dark Age of Comic Books. On the other hand, despite the stereotype set by those fights, DC Comics also published First Thunder to show that Superman and Captain Marvel actually get along well in the same Universe: Superman appreciates having an ally with equivalent powers to help him fight supernatural foes that could otherwise lay out him with a shrug, and Billy values having the greatest of the superheroes as a mentor to help him through his double life's rough spots.Starting in 2005, though, the franchise hit a rough patch. The characters were constantly getting retooled, such as having Captain Marvel take the Wizard's place as "Marvel" and Freddy Freeman taking Billy's place as a hero named Shazam, apparently to get around the fact that I Am Not Shazam. Many of these retools were Darker and Edgier, the most infamous instance probably being "Evil Mary Marvel" in Countdown to Final Crisis. There was a bright spot, though, in that Black Adam was one of the leading characters in the acclaimed series 52, gaining Morality Pets in the form of Isis and Osiris. (They were both killed by the end of the event, but hey, this is comic books, Death Is Cheap.)At the same time, a more traditional Alternate Continuity take on the Marvel Family came in Jeff Smith's Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil; this was much-better received, and in July 2008, an ongoing series in the same continuity premiered, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! It is assumed, but has not been confirmed, that this is set on Earth-5, the post-Infinite Crisis version of Earth-S.Eventually, Captain Marvel's history was wiped clean by DC's New 52 reboot. He's to re-debut in backup stories in Justice League, with these stories focusing on the magical aspect rather than straight superheroics. Oh, and DC said "Heck with it" and properly changed his name from "Captain Marvel" to "Shazam".This character has had his share of other media adaptations. For instance, he was the first superhero to appear on film. This was in the Film Serial, The Adventures Of Captain Marvel, generally considered among the best serials ever made. When DC revived him, he appeared in a Saturday morning live action TV series, Shazam!, and an animated one called The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!, both produced by Filmation. He also appeared in Justice League Unlimited, bringing a hell of a fight to Superman. Oh, and he also made his Videogame debut in the Fighting Game Massive Multiplayer Crossover Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Billy can be found fighting crime alongside Batman in Batman The Brave And The Bold, and fighting Black Adam in the direct to DVD Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam. He's a member of the Justice League in Young Justice, taking a turn as the team's "den mother" in episode 13, where he gave Aqualad a pep talk ("Hey, wisdom of Solomon!") before chasing after a tiger. ("...Speed of Mercury.")
Shazam/Captain Marvel provides examples of:
Oh, and by the way, HE WAS NOT SHAZAM......but he is now.
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alternative title(s): Shazam
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