So when a 1950s court ruling sent Fawcett Publications back to a lower court to continue the fight, Fawcett instead caved completely, settling the lawsuit and promising never to publish Captain Marvel again. (eventually DC Comics).Īs a legal battle over copyright infringement worked its way slowly through the courts, the superhero boom started to fade. A super-strong hero in a brightly colored, caped costume, whose secret identity is a reporter (Billy got a job as a newscaster by the end of his first adventure)? The similarities to the first appearance of Superman in 1938's Action Comics #1 had not gone unnoticed by Superman's publisher, Detective Comics, Inc.
While Captain Marvel had started strong as competition for Superman, the seeds of the character's undoing had been planted in his very first story. What's in a name? Oh, just billions of dollars. was the first superhero who couldn't say his own name (otherwise he'd constantly change forms), an unwieldy bit of business that would eventually define the entire franchise. These additional titles showcased not only the Captain, but also "Marvel family" members Mary Marvel (Billy's sister) and Captain Marvel Jr., whose alter-ego was Freddy Freeman, a newsboy with whom Captain Marvel shared his powers after the subtly named villain Captain Nazi had maimed the kid.įreddy's most-enduring qualities were a cape-and-slight-pompadour look that inspired a young Elvis Presley, and the awkward aspect of his magic word: While Billy and Mary said "Shazam!" to transform, Freddy had to say the source of his powers - that is, Captain Marvel - to change into Captain Marvel Jr.
Captain marvels magic word movie#
In addition to a live-action 1941 movie serial (Superman wouldn't get the serial treatment until 1948), Captain Marvel appeared in every issue of Whiz and spawned several spinoffs, among them Captain Marvel Adventures, which published two best-selling issues every month. The nonsense word summons a lightning bolt that turns him into a red-and-yellow-costumed grownup named Captain Marvel, and saying "Shazam!" turns him back into normal Billy Batson.Ĭaptain Marvel quickly became a phenomenon, and the character's success rivaled even that of Superman, who had debuted a year-and-a-half earlier.
Shazam gives Billy the ability to summon the powers of six conveniently named gods and heroes - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury - by shouting their names. With its February 1940 issue of Whiz Comics, Fawcett Publications introduced Billy Batson, a homeless orphan who follows a stranger into an abandoned subway tunnel (those were some seriously innocent times) and meets the ancient wizard Shazam. The character was later purchased by DC and his name changed to Shazam."Shazam!" was originally what Billy Batson said to become Captain Marvel Initially, though, all of those powers just translated into "the same powers as Superman," which is partially why National Comics eventually sued Fawcett and ultimately won, with Captain Marvel ceasing publication in 1952. SHAZAM was an acrostic that stood for Captain Marvel's powers: 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. Fawcett dropped Master Man, but then introduced Captain Marvel in 1940, who was also a Superman riff, albeit with the added twist that he transformed back and forth from a boy when he shouted the magic word, "Shazam!" One of the companies that it forced to drop an imitation hero was Fawcett Comics, who had a Superman knockoff called Master Man. Of course, the big-ups at National Comics (now DC Comics) either sued or threatened to sue them all for stealing their idea. The Man of Steel was a sensation and soon, rival comic book companies were trying to do their own knockoff versions. Comic books had only really been a thing for a couple of years when the whole industry was rocked by Action Comics #1, which contained the first appearance of Superman.
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