Shazam! The Original Captain Marvel hits theaters this week! The boy turned super-hero has been fighting crime, space monsters, Nazis and witches since 1940. A top selling book throughout the Golden Age of comics, Captain Marvel had movie serials, radio programs and toys. Captain Marvel has been re-imagined for every new generation over the years.

Here’s a look at the history of the boy turned Super-Hero:

1. Secret Origins

Captain Marvel is a newsboy named Billy Batson. He is endowed with powers by the ancient wizard, Shazam. By calling out the Wizard’s name “Shazam!,” Billy Batson would be transformed by magical lightning into an adult. Captain Marvel’s powers were based on an acronym of the wizard’s name. The wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, courage of Achilles, lightning of Zeus, the stamina of Atlas and the speed of Mercury.

Created by artist C.C. Beck and writer Bill Parker for Fawcett Comics, Captain Marvel was the perfect superhero for the 1940’s. Different than the adult Superman and unlike Robin, who was secondary to Batman; Captain Marvel was a boy turned super-hero who was the main star of his book.

2. Captain Marvel and Friends

Captain Marvel’s adventures were so popular that he was featured in many golden age comics including his main titles Whiz Comics, Captain Marvel Adventures and America’s Greatest Comics.

Captain Marvel discovered that he could transfer his powers to others who were worthy. He first granted power to Freddy Freeman, who had been crippled during a battle. As Captain Marvel Jr., Freeman gained similar powers but remained the same age. Later on, Billy Batson’s sister, Mary, was granted powers to become Mary Marvel.

Along with Captain Marvel, these three Shazam! characters made up most of Fawcett Comics’ superhero line. Mary Marvel starred in Wow Comics and Mary Marvel Comics while Captain Marvel Jr. starred in Master Comics and Captain Marvel Jr. Comics. All three heroes starred in the Marvel Family. There even was cartoon character, Hoppy The Marvel Bunny that starred in Funny Animals.

3. Movie Stardom

Captain Marvel was the first comic book  superhero to be adapted to film. Played by actor, Tom Tyler, The Adventures of Captain Marvel was a 12-part serial produced by Republic Pictures in 1941.

Captain Marvel had fan clubs as well as many advertising items and toys. During this time, Captain Marvel was the top selling comic and regularly had a monthly publication of upwards of 1.3 million copies per issue. And DC Comics took note.

4. DC Comics vs Fawcett Comics Lawsuit

DC Comics entered into a protracted period of lawsuits over the similarities of Captain Marvel and Superman. Superman was the first super-hero ever and debuted in Action Comics # 1 from 1938, while Captain Marvel emerged in 1940’s Whiz Comics # 2. While a simple comparison of their debut covers shows Captain Marvel being advertised as a “new” Superman, he was only one of many that imitated the Kryptonian. It was Captain Marvel’s popularity and financial success that drew DC’s attention. Both were super-strong, invincible to bullets, both could fly and were super-fast and wore costumes of primary colors and capes.

DC had a legal edge on Fawcett because Superman was the first Super-Hero and therefor was hard to argue against his influence. Eventually DC Comics was so persistent in legal battles that Fawcett Comics succumbed to the pressure and stopped publication of Captain Marvel in 1953. Even during and shortly after their lawsuit, DC introduced copycat derivatives including Superboy (created to compete with the success of Captain Marvel Jr.) and Supergirl (based on Mary Marvel).

5. Enter: The Copy Cats

By the late 1950’s the Super-Hero genre saw a huge revival. Marvel (as Atlas) and DC Comics had survived the great comic purge which saw the collapse of Fawcett Comics, EC Comics and many more. Julius Schwartz as editor of DC Comics began to redesign the older super-heroes of the 1940’s with new science fiction themes. One of the first characters to receive a re-design was the Flash (Barry Allen) by Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert. The costume was purposely based on Captain Marvel’s in part to transfer the nostalgia and commercial success of the previous to the new hero. The new Flash’s red/yellow scheme and lightning bolt symbol is a near copy except for the exclusion of a cape and the addition of a mask.

Later on a small publisher M.F. Enterprises recalled the Captain Marvel of the 1940’s and created a new character with the same name. The M.F. Enterprises version of Captain Marvel was an android robot that could split its body into moving parts by yelling “Split”. He had a human sidekick as well, Billy Baxton. However, Stan Lee objected to the use of “Marvel” and sent a “Cease and Desist” order. The M.F. Enterprises Captain Marvel ceased publication after 5 issues.

After Stan Lee’s successful lawsuit against M.F.E, he decided to trademark the “Captain Marvel” name to both secure the name recognition and history for Marvel Comics as well as prevent anyone else from cashing in on history of the character. He and artist Gene Colan developed a new Captain Marvel that debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes # 12 (1967) and later spun into a regular series, Captain Marvel (1968) and Ms. Marvel (1977).

6. DC Buys Captain Marvel Rights

By the early 1970’s, DC Comics picked up the Captain Marvel license from Fawcett. They re-hired C.C. Beck to create new adventures and continue the history of the character from his golden age roots. Only one problem, Stan Lee and Marvel Comics threatened to sue DC Comics over the use of “Captain Marvel.” From now on DC could only call the character Captain Marvel on the inside of the comic and could no longer use the name as the title or have it appear on the cover. As a result, DC featured the character as “Shazam!.”

7. Shazam! The TV Series

Shazam! received a Saturday morning live action TV series that ran for three seasons from 1974-1976. Jackson Bostwick portrayed Captain Marvel. The show featured a country traveling theme that saw Captain Marvel fight crime across the country. The super-heroine, Isis, also made appearances and spun off her own series both in TV and in the comics.

8. DC’s 1980’s Revival

DC’s licensing agreement with Fawcett proved to be too restrictive. DC had to pay every time that they used Captain Marvel in a comic. By the mid-1980’s DC made a bid to acquire and incorporate many of their now defunct Golden Age competitors. This new deal saw DC Comics purchase the character libraries of Charlton Comics, Quality Comics, and Fawcett Comics. DC’s Crisis On Infinite Earths helped reshape the continuity to incorporate 100’s of new characters into the DC universe.

Captain Marvel Shazam! was a major focus. He was on of the stand out stars of DC’s Legends mini-series by John Byrne that saw the re-shaping of the Justice League (which now included newly acquired Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel). Captain Marvel also received a new DC origin and mini-series written by comic historian, Roy Thomas. An ongoing monthly series debuted in 1994 called Power of Shazam! by Jerry Ordway.

In 2011, DC embarked on a company wide revitalization plan called the New 52. All 52 of their comic series began at #1 with the task of creators to re-envision new origins for all the DC characters that incorporated diversity as a testing ground for the DC cinematic universe. Captain Marvel was introduced as the hero, Shazam, with an new origin in Justice League #7-11. He debuted officially in Justice League # 0.

10. Shazam! The Movie

Shazam! makes his cinematic comeback in almost 80 years on April 5th 2019. The film stars Zachary Levi as Shazam! with Asher Angel playing Billy Batson. The movie is heavily based on the DC New 52 version of the character. DC has abandoned any effort to reclaim the “Captain Marvel” title and no mention is made in the movie.

With the success of Wonder Woman and Aquaman in solo films, Shazam! is expected to do well at the box office. Coming off the heels of Marvel’s Captain Marvel movie just weeks before, we will see how the box office reacts?! Captain Marvel has been re-imagined for every new generation over the years. Now as Shazam! our hero still remains a boy at heart.

Check Out our great selection of Shazam! Captain Marvel Comics: CLICK HERE

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, BrooklynComicShop