It's Official: Captain Marvel Is Dead...Long Live Shazam?

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

He'll always be Shazam to me (unelightened or not). I've always felt Captain Marvel was the most generic superhero name.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I find it kind of ironic that Roy Thomas inadvertently caused this eventual conclusion. Roy is the poster boy for Golden Age fandom, and he caused the most successful Golden Age hero to lose his own identity!!! It was Roy who suggested to Stan Lee that Marvel publish their own Captain Marvel to protect their name. Of course, he thought no one would ever be able to publish the real CM again (especially DC). The poor Captain has never been the same.

Of course, if DC had updated him upon his revival in the 70s, that would have helped too. I think an approach like "Power of Shazam" would have worked in the 70s, instead of the outdated whimsy of the 40s. It just didn't fly in the 70s.

Chris

[madmarva]

I loved Don Newton's art on the character when the 70s series was canceled and moved into the $1 World's Finest. It certainly wasn't in the C.C. Beck tradition, but it was still cool. Maybe, I just love Don Newton's art.

I always thought it was kind of neat that Captain Marvel's adventures were so cartoony but Mac Rayboy's work on Captain Marvel Jr. was almost photo-realistic.

Didn't Thomas prepare a revamp of the character as Captain Thunder and he was going to be African-American in the 80s.

I always thought Thomas (I think it was Thomas) fusing Mar Vel with Rick Jones was a nice little nod to the original character.

[The Toyroom]

Didn't Thomas prepare a revamp of the character as Captain Thunder and he was going to be African-American in the 80s.

Yes, and Thomas was also the one who gave us "Shazam! A New Beginning" in the wake of the "Legends" mini-series with horrid artwork by Tom Mandrake.
Not sure if his Captain Thunder proposal was scrapped in favor of the more traditional take in the published mini-series...

[Figuremod73]

I find it kind of ironic that Roy Thomas inadvertently caused this eventual conclusion. Roy is the poster boy for Golden Age fandom, and he caused the most successful Golden Age hero to lose his own identity!!! It was Roy who suggested to Stan Lee that Marvel publish their own Captain Marvel to protect their name. Of course, he thought no one would ever be able to publish the real CM again (especially DC). The poor Captain has never been the same.

Of course, if DC had updated him upon his revival in the 70s, that would have helped too. I think an approach like "Power of Shazam" would have worked in the 70s, instead of the outdated whimsy of the 40s. It just didn't fly in the 70s.

Chris

Thats very true. Also add to the fact that after the filmation series started they began tying that into his comic as well!

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I really like the Ordway version, too. However, even that one got a bit heavy handed. To me the series should always be about fun and not realism. That was what made it different from Superman to me.

[Toyman_Chris]

So when he introduces himself he'll turn back into Billy?

So true....LOL. Bet they didn't think of that! Shazam's weakness is being polite and introducing himself to the villain, who then pummels Billy!

[Mego Superboy Prime]

He'll always be Captain Marvel...always.

Captain Marvel vs Superman is the superfight in comics!!

"Hero Envy" The Blog Adventures: SUPERMAN VS CAPTAIN MARVEL

[Earth 2 Chris]

Captain Thunder was to be the Earth-One Captain Marvel. Thomas created him with Newton and Jerry Ordway on inks. An Earth-One Captain Marvel DID appear in a Thomas-written DC Comics Presents, if I remember correctly, but everyone seemed to forget about him as soon as that issue was over.

Did anyone see the proposal Alex Ross did for Shazam post Infinite Crisis? He pitched the "Trials of Shazam" angle that eventually made it into the series where Freddy became "Shazam". In Ross' version, Captain Marvel's powers were scattered across the DCU and given to other individuals. Years later, Billy was to come back and reclaim each power across the first several issues of the series. Ross did a cool redesign which kept the costume intact, but he gave the Captain an eerie lightning effect and upswept hair. He looked like a darker Jackson Bostwick. I can't believe DC passed over this in favor of that Freedy Freeman relaunch.

Chris

[madmarva]

I really enjoyed Ordway's graphic novel. It's probably my favorite version of the character, but the series lost me pretty quickly.

I liked Captain Marvel in the JSA because I felt he was of the same era as the JSA characters, and the failed romance with Stargirl was interesting and sad. I would have liked to have known what was running through Jay Garrick's head when he had Marvel back off.

An Ultimates or Watchmen take on Captain Marvel could be really interesting or quite pervy. Which of course leads me to think of Alan Moore and Rich Veitch's Marvel Man comics. When is Marvel going to reprint them?

I'd still love to see what Ross would do with Captain Marvel. You know he's going nutso about changing the name to Shazam.

[The Toyroom]

Captain Thunder was to be the Earth-One Captain Marvel. Thomas created him with Newton and Jerry Ordway on inks. An Earth-One Captain Marvel DID appear in a Thomas-written DC Comics Presents, if I remember correctly, but everyone seemed to forget about him as soon as that issue was over.

Did anyone see the proposal Alex Ross did for Shazam post Infinite Crisis? He pitched the "Trials of Shazam" angle that eventually made it into the series where Freddy became "Shazam". In Ross' version, Captain Marvel's powers were scattered across the DCU and given to other individuals. Years later, Billy was to come back and reclaim each power across the first several issues of the series. Ross did a cool redesign which kept the costume intact, but he gave the Captain an eerie lightning effect and upswept hair. He looked like a darker Jackson Bostwick. I can't believe DC passed over this in favor of that Freedy Freeman relaunch.

Chris

Yeah the stuff shown in Ross' book "Rough Justice" looked pretty cool...a lot of his redesigns did. But instead DC went in other directions which ultimately failed.

[Random Axe]

That was a huge ball for DC to drop when they opted for Winnick's series. Ross' body of work speaks for itself, and to ultimately just let him walk away from DC was just an ignorant move. His rendition would have been spectacular and would have created another viable franchise in the DCU.

[samurainoir]

Some of the artwork:

http://i.newsarama.com/images/SHAZAM3_100_02.jpghttp://i.newsarama.com/images/SHAZAM2_100_02.jpg

Is that supposed to be Billy? Since when does he wear glasses? Looks like Peter Parker!

Again with the Harry Potter.

[samurainoir]

[samurainoir]