The History of Captain Marvel

Outline of the History of Captain Marvel (all of them)

by Zorikh Lequidre

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A. Fawcett Publications
- 1. Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang
  - a. Pulp humor magazine
- 2.Enters comics field, 1940
  - a. Whiz Comics
    - i. Original concept “Captain Thunder” and squad of 6 heroes.
    - ii. Concept re-worked to one character with 6 powes from gods, etc.
    - iii. Acronym: SHAZAM
      - 1. Solomon: wisdom
      - 2. Hercules: Strength
      - 3. Atlas: Stamina
      - 4. Zeus: Power
      - 5. Achilles: Courage
      - 6. Mercury: Speed
    - iv. 1st issue ashcan
    - v. 2nd issue, character re-named “Captain Marvel.”
- 3. Trend of growth in super-hero comics
B. Appeal of original Captain Marvel
- 1. Superman-like powers
- 2. Boy (Billy Batson) as secret identity
- 3. Magic word transforms boy into super-hero (wish fulfillment)
- 4. Simple drawing style
- 5. Humorous stories and story-telling
C. The Marvel Family
- 1. The Three Lieutennant Marvels
  - a. Three boys named Billy Batson, Tall Billy, Fat Billy, Hill Billy, have power of "Shazam"
- 2. Captain Marvel Jr.
  - a. Trend of boy super-heroes
    - i. Compare and contrast with Robin, Bucky, Star Spanglred Kid, Superboy, etc.
      - 2. CMJ not a sidekick or younger version of hero, but independent, self-reliant teenager
  - b. Spectacular Mac Raboy art
- 3.Mary Marvel
  - a. Powers of female gods
    - 1. Selena
    - 2. Hippolyta
    - 3. Ariadne
    - 4. Zephyrus
    - 5. Aurora
    - 6. Minerva
  - b. Trend of female super-heroes
  - c. Compare and contrast with Wonder Woman, Bulletgirl, etc.
- 4.Uncle Marvel
  - a. Loveable fraud
- 6. Hoppy the Marvel Bunny
  - a. The trend of “funny animal” comics
  - b. "Black Rabbit" a Black Adam-type villain, appears before Black Adam
D. Villains
- 1. Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana
- 2. Black Adam
- 3. Mr. Mind
- 4. IBAC
- 5. Captain Nazi
- 6. Nippo
- 7. King Kull, The Beastman
- 8. Mr. Atom
D. Captain Marvel Vs. Superman
- 1. Compare and Contrast
  - a. Magic vs. Alien
  - b. Alter ego as reporter
  - c. Alter go: boy vs. man
  - d. Humor vs. seriousness
  - e. Extended families
- 2. Popularity
  - a. CM has 1st movie serial
  - b. CM sells more
- 3. The Lawsuit
  - a. DC sues Fawcett for copyright infringement
  - b. Fawcett wins, verdict appealed
  - c. Things not looking good for Fawcett, settlement
  - d. Fawcett gets out of comic book industry, continues publishing Popular Mechanix, others
E. Shazam in Other Countries
- 1. "Whites" in Canada
  - a. Wartime rationing of resources
  - b. Locally drawn versions of Fawcett comics printed in black-and-white in Canada for Canadian market
E. Short- lived successors to original Captain Marvel
- 1. Fatman
  - a. Original CM creators, C.C. Beck and Otto Binder, fail to recapture success
- 2. Captain Marvel “Split!”
  - a. Separating body parts
  - b. Soon forgotten
F. Marvel Comics
- 1. 1968, Captain Mar-Vell
  - a. Alien soldier, becomes Earth’s protector
  - b. “Cosmic awareness”
  - c. Becomes “place trader” with Rick Jones via nega-bands
  - d. Trend of things involving outer space
    - i. 2001: A Space Oddysey
    - ii. Moon landing
    - iii. Jefferson Airplane becomes Jefferson Starship
G. DC Comics revival
- 1. DC acquires rights to Fawcetts comic book characters
- 2. All-new Captain Marvel comic
  - a. Because Marvel Comics has “Captain Marvel” book, DC must find new title
    - i. SHAZAM!
      - 1. Succeeding decades of people not knowing correct name
- 3. Original artist hired
  - a. Differences with publisher, artist quits
- 4. Test: “Captain Thunder” in Superman comics
  - a. CM-like character battles Superman
    - 1. "Captain Thunder" original name for CM
    - 2. Alter ego named "Billy Fawcett," after the original Captain Billy
  - 5.TV series
    - a. Slightly different from comic
    - b. Comic changes to fit TV show
    - c. Never quite catches on
  - 7. Change in art style
    - a. Shazam comic book discontinued
    - b. CM relegated to back-up feature in World’s Finest comics

H. New Marvel Captain

1. Marvel’s Captain Marvel dies
- a. First Marvel Comics graphic novel rides wave of new creativity in comic books
  - i. Trend of creator owned characters
  - ii. Trend of independent comic book publishers
  - iii. Trend of non-comics-code-approved comics
  - iv. Trend of comics beginning to be taken seriously as art and literature.
2. New Captain Marvel from Marvel Comics
- a. Black, female, police officer with light-based powers
  - i. Trend of multiculturalism in super-hero comics

I.DC re-interprets CM

1. “Crisis on Infinite Earths”
- a. Multiple universes combined into one
  - i. CM in same universe as Superman for the 1st time
  - ii. “Shazam: A New Beginning”
    - a. CM re-interpreted in mini-series as dark avenger
    - b. Trend in early ‘80’s towards dark avengers
  - iii. “Legends”
    - a. Attempt to see if fans would embrace new/old CM
2. CM joins Justice League
- a. 1st time CM is member of super-hero team
- b. CM interpreted as boy in super-hero’s body
3. Abandoned concept of new CM
- a. CM as black male super hero

J. Jerry Ordway revitalizes CM for DC

1. “Zero Hour”
- a. Another re-ordering of DC universe allows opportunity to re-introduce CM to new generation of readers
2. "Power of Shazam" Graphic novel and series
- a.Many disparate elements of CM’s history brought together, re-ordered, and re-interpreted
  - 1. Billy Batson’s parents introduced
  - 2. CM is Billy in CM’s body
  - 3. Power of Shazam shared between Marvel family, not cumulative
  - 4. Locaton “Fawcett City,” not NYC
  - 5. Elements of CM movie serial incorporated into story
  - 6. Mr. Tawny as “Calvin and Hobbes”
  - 7. Alternate CM’s alluded to in alternate-universe story
  - 8. Mary and CMJ re-interpreted for modern age
3. “Power of Shazam” comic book cancelled after 4 years
4. Further interpretations of this CM
- a. “Kingdom Come”
  - i. Billy Batson as grown man brainwashed into not becoming CM
- b. “DK2”
  - i. Billy has been dead for years, but CM still lives
- c. “Underworld”
  - i. CM’s innocence and purity (as he is really a boy) tricks the devil

K. Amalgam CM

1. Amalgam of DC and Marvel universes’ CM’s

K. Marvel’s newest CM

1. Son of Captain Mar-Vell
2. Trades places with Rick Jones in and out of Negative Zone
3. Constant "Cosmic Awareness" dives him crazy

L. Characters satirizing, based on, similar to, and inspired by CM

1. Captain Marbles
2. Fatman
3. Marvelman
4. Thor
5. Captain Everything
6. Miracleman (Formerly Marvelman)
7. Captain Thunder
8. Mighty Man
9. Prime
10. Thunder Bunny

M. Latest happenings for CM

1. Revitalization of interest in the Original CM
- b. New appearances in comics
- c. New action figures
- d. Proposed new movie

N. Bibliography and web resources

Chapter 1: The Captain and the Major
Chapter 2: The Big Blue Guy
Chapter 3: The Big Red Guy
Chapter 4: Early Captain Marvel
Chapter 5: Powers and Personality
Chapter 6: Going Hollywood
Chapter 7: Friends and foes: The Lietenant Marvels
Chapter 8: Friends and Foes: Captain Marvel Junior
Chapter 9: Friends and Foes: Mary Marvel
Chapter 10: Friends and Foes: Other Friends
Chapter 11: Friends and Foes: Dr. Sivana
Chapter 12: Mr Mind
Chapter 13: Friends and Foes: Other Foes
Chapter 14: Enter the Binder
Chapter 15: Superman V. Captan Marvel
Chapter 16
Go to the outline of Captain Marvel history

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Content of this web page is copyright 2003 by Zorikh Lequidre
All characters named in are copyrighted by their respective copyrght holders.
This outline is not sponsored or endorsed by the holders of any of these copyrights or the creators of any of these characters.