Mego Superhero Prototypes discovered (and for sale!)

[swankcat]

I wrote a letter to my good friend Mr. Internet...I started it with: Dear Google,

Anyway a quick visit to Wikipedia cleared some stuff up:

DC Comics revival: Shazam!
When superhero comics became popular again in the mid-1960s in what is now called the "Silver Age of Comic Books", Fawcett was unable to revive Captain Marvel, having agreed never to publish the character again as part of their 1953 settlement. Looking for new properties to introduce to the DC Comics line, DC publisher Carmine Infantino decided to bring the Captain Marvel property back into print, and licensed the characters from Fawcett in 1972 in preparation for such a revival.

Because Marvel Comics had by this time established Captain Marvel as a comic book trademark for their own character, created and first published in 1967, DC was forced to publish their book under the name Shazam! Infantino attempted to give the Shazam! book the subtitle The Original Captain Marvel, but a cease and desist letter from Marvel Comics forced them to change the subtitle to The World's Mightiest Mortal with Shazam! #15 (December 1974).

As all subsequent toys and other merchandise featuring the character have also been required to use the "Shazam!" label with little to no mention of the name "Captain Marvel", the title became so linked to Captain Marvel that many people took to identifying the character as "Shazam" instead of "Captain Marvel".

The Shazam! comic series began with Shazam! #1, dated February 1973. It contained both new stories and reprints from the 1940s and 1950s. The first story attempted to explain the Marvel Family's absence by stating that they, Dr. Sivana, Sivana's children, and most of the supporting cast had been accidentally trapped in suspended animation for 20 years when the Sivanas attempted to put the Marvels into suspended animation. They finally broke free when the Suspendium globe moved towards the Sun.

Dennis O'Neil was the primary writer of the book. His role was later taken over by writers Elliot S. Maggin and E. Nelson Bridwell. C. C. Beck drew stories for the first 10 issues of the book before quitting due to creative differences. Bob Oksner and Fawcett alumnus Kurt Schaffenberger were among the later artists of the title.

[imp]

Oh noes. The glorious expert finally lost his kewl. He could see that coming? I know. Anyone who has been around you in some capacity.

I'm not answering your questions, because I don't need your seal of approval. You were irrelevant to me a long, long time ago. And I didn't "misrepresent" you or your book...which I bought off Ebay, from Overstock, for 20 shipped, by the way. They had like fifty copies.

If I'm so "irrelevant" to you, why on earth do you keep (mis)quoting me? In this thread alone, you have cited me no less than three times… and you managed to get the facts wrong every single time. That's uncanny! Do you have a learning comprehension issue?

Listen, I understand that you're trying to insult me, but you can't do it. First of all, I know I have a reputation for being brash — even downright mean to morons who continually feign knowledge or expertise — so I can handle your criticism.

Next, you know why I'm an "expert" on the material in my book? Because I dedicated years to researching the facts. By contrast, I watch you run around this message board dropping your utterly fabricated word-turds because you can't even be bothered to spend five minutes on Wikipedia (I mean, honestly. Gomer Pyle?? Honestly.)

Finally, I hate to burst your bubble, but I got paid the exact same amount from you buying my book, whether you paid $20 or $200. And despite this unpleasant exchange, I really appreciate you purchasing it. But to quote my Friend Robert on Mego Mania, "Well having it and reading it are two different things."

- Benjamin

[hedrap]

If I'm so "irrelevant" to you, why on earth do you keep (mis)quoting me? In this thread alone, you have cited me no less than three times… and you managed to get the facts wrong every single time. That's uncanny! Do you have a learning comprehension issue?

Listen, I understand that you're trying to insult me, but you can't do it. First of all, I know I have a reputation for being brash — even downright mean to morons who continually feign knowledge or expertise — so I can handle your criticism.

Next, you know why I'm an "expert" on the material in my book? Because I dedicated years to researching the facts. By contrast, I watch you run around this message board dropping your utterly fabricated word-turds because you can't even be bothered to spend five minutes on Wikipedia (I mean, honestly. Gomer Pyle?? Honestly.)

Finally, I hate to burst your bubble, but I got paid the exact same amount from you buying my book, whether you paid $20 or $200. And despite this unpleasant exchange, I really appreciate you purchasing it. But to quote my Friend Robert on Mego Mania, "Well having it and reading it are two different things."

- Benjamin

Chatlin can say whatever he wants, wherever.

Earlier in this thread, I found your points about Tarzan rights credible and when I pshopped the auction head, I agreed it does look more like Junior than Superboy.

But I think Lonnie is on the right track about Batson/Parker. I think OD is right to think that head could pass for Superboy as it looks a lot like Captain Action Superboy and the spitcurl has a very Superboy Filmation vibe. People want to disagree about Gomer Pyle's impact, that's fine. It's all conjecture and deduction using whatever facts are available.

Which takes me to your book. As a picture book, it's great and contains a lot of great granular facts pertaining to Mego, moreso distribution and manufacturing. The Mego-based dates I used came directly from you. But your book doesn't extend beyond that, and that's at the core of the Capt Marvel Junior debate, and you keep trying to shut down the debate with your proclamations.

The decision making process, impact on sales, product choices, goes beyond what you published. Yes, I got the Weston/Marvel relationship backwards because I associate him with developing GI Joe and Superfriends. But his control of Marvel, a one-note mention on p9 of your book, is not footnoted on p57 when Cap/Spidey are intro'd at Toy Fair. Point to me where you explain why Mego walked away from DC after Green Arrow. In the Titans section, your answer from Abrams was they (Titans) where produced to keep Leisure and DC happy, yet earlier on p185, you say regarding Wave 4 "the Marvel expansion wasn't particularly successful". But then on p146 you lay out how Wave 3 "performed terribly in the marketplace" and Hulk "did not gain popularity until the CBS TV show gained momentum three years after the figure debuted".

That's the irrelevancy. Maybe it's too harsh of a reaction, but the more I read your book, the more I realize you really omit the impact TV/Film had on WGSH. By your account, Aquaman was included because of the Filmation cartoon and not Superfriends which debuted a year later. Yet we know Weston dealt with Hanna-Barbera, held an Aquaman license under Captain Action and had influence over Mego as he was the broker. He would have known Superfriends was in production as it would have taken HB most of '72 to produce the episodes. They didn't spontaneously generate cartoons the day before airing. WGSH Wave 1 may have came out before Superfriends premiered, but that show unquestionably rocketed sales. That's the exact same pattern we see with Shazam!

So Hulk only moves after Bixby/Ferrigno appear. Spidey has an "Electric Company" marked box. Shazam looks like Bostwick and not the Beck-inspired head we now see existed. WGSH Wave 1 pushes the exact lead characters of Superfriends S1. Isis which wasn't even owned by DC, but Filmaton, is produced. Conan's licensing rights weren't fixed until '75 with the film rights optioned in '76. My point is when the comics dictated the characters, sales went down. When the characters were tie-ins to TV/Film, sales were strong. Then Star Wars changed all that.

[rchatlin]

Chatlin can say whatever he wants, wherever.

Guess this is one more mistake on your part -

You named the wrong Rob.


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