The horrific stormageddon that appeared out of nowhere got me to thinking—naturally, about the original Captain Marvel. Once upon a time, there was a superhero called Captain Marvel (originally Captain Thunder). It was all about a kid named Billy Batson. Whenever there was trouble, Billy would shout SHAZAM!, bringing down a bolt of lightning that would transform young Billy into the World’s Mightiest Mortal! The Big Red Cheese! Captain Marvel!
SHAZAM was actually the name of an old magical wizard who lived in a cave who imbued Billy with the power of the gods, whose first initials made up his name.
Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.
A bit odd but it was 1939.
Captain Marvel was created for Fawcett comics by a guy named Bill Parker. He handed the writing chores primarily over to Otto Binder, but artist CC Beck is the man with the longest association to the character, creating the cartoony look of the character and his rogues gallery. This included his evil analog Black Adam, the troll-like scientist Dr. Sivana and the super-mentally powered Mr. Mind (a tiny worm under glass).
I’d be hard pressed to think of a superhero strip that was more fun than Captain Marvel. It was definitely geared more toward kids, with characters like Tawky Tawny, the tiger– a tiger who was sentient, walked upright, and wore a suit.
There was also the Marvel family, including Mary Marvel (Billy’s sister Mary), Captain Marvel jr. (Freddy Freeman, Billy’s best friend), and Uncle Marvel, who had no powers, just put on the suit.
Odd side note: While Billy’s transformative magic word was Shazam, Freddy’s magic word was instead “Captain Marvel!”, which, considering his superhero name was Captain Marvel Jr., that had to be awkward. That always kind of bugged me. A superhero who can’t even say his own name without lightning coming down? How does one mingle at parties? But I digress.
Beck’s artwork has always appealed to me. When they started the comic, Beck was adamant that they don’t do the same type of cliched superhero stories. He wanted to add more fun and whimsy to the production. It really was a grand, fun, CLEAN style, with some epic whimsy thrown in. The art looked much sharper and sophisticated than anything coming out in monthly superhero comics of the time, which had to have a huge impact on its sales and popularity.
Beck and co. created quite the unique world for Captain Marvel, with big storylines across a fair sized line of comics. It was a really long running and hugely profitable enterprise for Fawcett that went for years, outselling even Superman through the 1940’s! They had movie serials, you name it.
And DC had to go and screw EVERYTHING up.
At this juncture, I’d just like to point out the importance of GOOD legal council.
Evidently, National Comics (eventually DC comics), had top notch lawyers, because National brought forth a suit saying Captain Marvel was a rip off of Superman- an infringement on their copyright. It seems National just couldn’t stand some other comic making so so SO much more money than THEIR comic. Initially, Fawcett won in court but National appealed and got lucky on the second go round. The alleged likeness or “infringement” on National’s copyright was rubbish of course, but somehow, some way, National’s legal team convinced a judge and possibly a jury. I’m *guessing* that to the average person on the street, with no knowledge of the characters, one guy flying around in a cape looks just like the next.
Post war sales had declined and it reached a point where prolonging the legal battle was just not worth it so Fawcett settled out of court, paying off National.
By 1953, Fawcett shut down the Captain Marvel line.
Eventually, DC licensed the property from Fawcett and ran old issues in the ’60’s. Then, DC or Fawcett somehow managed to fall asleep at the wheel regarding holding onto the copyright for the name of Captain Marvel. During the late 1960’s, Marvel Comics came up with their own Captain Marvel (the Kree soldier, Mar-Vell), and by some legal chicanery, DC could no longer call their Captain Marvel… Captain Marvel. It was no longer their name. Marvel had the copyright, and has successfully managed to keep a hammer lock on the name for the last 50 years.
Between the ’60’s and present day, DC has tried numerous times to reboot the character, now known simply as Shazam. Different writers and artists have rendered the character over the years to varying degrees of success. The latest adaptation was the Zachary Levy movie, which was fun and did modestly well in cinemas. Somehow, none of the comic attempts have ever quite managed anything near the heyday of the Beck era.
I’m sure part of it is that NO comic has been able to come anywhere near the sales back then. These days, only the biggest, hottest comics can sell 100,000 copies. Back in the ’40’s, Captain Marvel could command one MILLION copies sold each month. In fact, at one point, Cap’s adventures were being put out bi-weekly, selling 1.3 million copies every two weeks. Yep. At their highpoint, they were averaging 2.6 million copies a month.
Remember that back then, comics were the only game in town as far as personal entertainment, aside from movies and radio. Television wasn’t even really a thing yet. These days, comics have a ton of competition, with video games, the Internet, tv, iPhone, streaming services, etc., etc.
But with each new attempt at a new incarnation of “Shazam”, we’re reminded of just how unique CC Beck’s take was of the character and his world. As it is, in the comics, Shazam’s often depicted as a cocky, somewhat unlikable teenager in a super adult form. Your writing mileage may vary, but for me, the best representation of the character by DC was in the Justice League animated series.
Bottom line, I believe there was simply a specific magic in the golden age with Binder’s scripts and Beck’s art that just worked. A perfect storm that hasn’t been replicated since.
One wonders what might have happened to Captain Marvel, if National hadn’t stepped in? One might think Shazam would have petered out on its own at some point, but then again, look at Archie comics. Somehow, some way, that franchise is still thriving after well over a half century, which is mind boggling. So who knows?
Maybe someone, somehow, will some day hit the right note again with the character. Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be the second movie entry and maybe it can improve on the original. The costume changed to more closely resemble the Beck version.
Of course, maybe the most annoying bit is the fact that once again, you’ve got a hero who can’t even say his own name without bringing down the Lightning. There goes the mingling at parties…..
…oh, and if you wondered how that nasty storm just ended….
…you’re welcome.
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