Owing to trademark conflicts over other characters named 'Captain Marvel' owned by Marvel Comics, DC has branded and marketed the character using the trademark Shazam! since his 1972 reintroduction. DC has since integrated Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family into their DC Universe and has attempted to revive the property several times, with mixed success. In 1972, Fawcett licensed the character rights to DC, which by 1991 acquired all rights to the entire family of characters. as Billy Batson.įawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel-related comics in 1953, partly because of a copyright infringement suit from DC Comics alleging that Captain Marvel was a copy of Superman.

Captain Marvel was also the first comic book superhero to be adapted to film, in a 1941 Republic Pictures serial, Adventures of Captain Marvel, with Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. Billy often shares his powers with other children, primarily his sister Mary Batson and their best friend/foster brother Freddy Freeman, who also transform into superheroes and fight crime with Billy as members of the Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family.īased on comic book sales, Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero of the 1940s, outselling even Superman.

The character battles an extensive rogues' gallery, most of them working in tandem as the Monster Society of Evil, including primary archenemies Black Adam, Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind. He is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a boy who, by speaking the magic word 'Shazam!' (acronym of six 'immortal elders': Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury), is transformed into a costumed adult with the powers of superhuman strength, speed, flight, and other abilities. Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 ( cover-dated Feb. Beck and writer Bill Parker created the character in 1939. Electricity generation and manipulationĬaptain Marvel, also known as Shazam and the Captain, is a superhero in American comic books originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics.

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