Back كابتن مارفل (دي سي كومكس) Arabic Shazam (DC Comics) Catalan کاپتن مارڤڵ (کۆمیکی دی سی) CKB Captain Marvel (DC Comics) German Captain Marvel (DC Comics) Greek Shazam (DC Comics) Spanish کاپیتان مارول (دیسی کامیکس) Persian Kapteeni Marvel Finnish Captain Marvel (DC Comics) French קפטן מארוול (DC קומיקס) HE
| Captain Marvel / Shazam | |
|---|---|
&sq=Google&lang=en&file=File:Shazam_Captain_Marvel.png) Captain Marvel as depicted in Shazam!: Power of Hope (November 2003). Art by Alex Ross. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940)[1] |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | William Joseph "Billy" Batson |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Justice Society of America Justice League International Marvel / Shazam Family Squadron of Justice Teen Titans |
| Partnerships | Mary Marvel Captain Marvel Jr. Tawky Tawny The Wizard Raven (mentor) |
| Notable aliases | Captain Thunder World's Mightiest Mortal King Shazam Captain Shazam Lightning Guy |
| Abilities |
|
Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam[a] and the Captain, is a superhero in American comic books originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics. Artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker created the character in 1939. Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (cover-dated Feb. 1940), published by Fawcett Comics. 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. 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. 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.
Based on comic book sales, Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero of the 1940s, outselling even Superman.[2][3] 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. as Billy Batson. Fawcett 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.[4] In 1972, Fawcett licensed the character rights to DC, which by 1991 acquired all rights to the entire family of characters. 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. Owing to trademark conflicts over other characters named "Captain Marvel" owned by Marvel Comics,[5] DC has branded and marketed the character using the trademark Shazam! since his 1972 reintroduction.[6] This led many to assume that "Shazam" was the character's name. DC renamed the mainline version of the character "Shazam" when relaunching its comic book properties in 2011,[7] and his associates became the "Shazam Family" at this time as well.[8]
DC's revival of Shazam! has been adapted twice for television by Filmation: as a live-action 1970s series with Jackson Bostwick and John Davey as Captain Marvel and Michael Gray as Billy Batson, and as an animated 1980s series. The 2019 New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. film Shazam!, an entry in the DC Extended Universe, stars Zachary Levi as Shazam and Asher Angel as Billy Batson. Levi and Angel return in the sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
The character was ranked as the 55th-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.[9] IGN also ranked Shazam as the 50th-greatest comic book hero of all time, stating that the character will always be an enduring reminder of a simpler time.[10] UGO Networks ranked him as one of the top heroes of entertainment, saying, "At his best, Shazam has always been compared to Superman with a sense of crazy, goofy fun."[11]
- ^ "Whiz Comics #2". Grand Comics Database.
- ^ Tipton, Scott (April 1, 2003). "The World's Mightiest Mortal". Comics 101. Archived from the original on June 14, 2005. Retrieved June 17, 2005.
I've always felt that it was this origin story and concept that made Shazam instantly popular, to the point that it was outselling every comic on the stands for several years throughout the '40s.
- ^ "Comic Book Success Stories". The Museum of Comic Book Advertising. Retrieved June 17, 2005.
By the middle of the decade, Captain Marvel had received a self-titled comic book, Captain Marvel's Adventures [sic], which had a circulation that reached 1.3 million copies per month. Shazam's circulation numbers exceeded National's Superman title and the rivalry between the companies led National to sue Fawcett for plagiarism.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
settlementwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Smith, Zack (December 30, 2010). "An Oral History of Captain Marvel: The Lost Years, pt. 3". Newsarama. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
- ^ Bricken, Rob (September 4, 2013). "The Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel/Shazam Clusterf*ck Explained". Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NameChangewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; Wiacek, Stephen (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe (first American ed.). New York. p. 272. ISBN 9781465453570. OCLC 936192301.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Wizard's Top 200 Characters". Wizard. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011. Note: External link consists of a forum site summing up the top 200 characters of Wizard Magazine since the real site that contains the list is broken.
- ^ "Captain Marvel is number 50". IGN. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ "Best Heroes of All Time". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).