Well I’m all sure you’ve heard the news by now. Actually, I’ve already discussed it in part. Thanks to Marvel Comics’ continuing to hold on to the name Captain Marvel (because they’re “Marvel” Comics and they don’t want DC to have it), DC will start referring to the REAL Captain Marvel as “Shazam”, the magic word that Billy and Mary Batson use to transform into their superpowered alter egos. Now of course the only reason they’re intro keeping this character is that they love what they’ve done with Black Adam, Cap’s opposite number, so they really want to keep him around. The latest move, however….
Is just the final nail for me.
First in case anyone asks, yes I do know about the new Marvel Comics Captain Marvel. I’ll get into Marvel’s stupidity tomorrow. Let’s focus on DC’s stupidity for a moment. First there’s the question of why they’re changing the name in the first place. We know the real reason, but what reason is Johns giving?
“We changed his name [to Shazam] for a lot of reasons,” said Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns. “One of them is that Shazam is the word most associated with the character, so we just felt it made sense — a lot of people already thought that was his name, anyway.”
That’s a load of BULL and everyone knows it! This was my introduction to Captain Marvel.
This was my second exposure to Captain Marvel.
It says right in the intros that “Shazam” is the magic word and the hero is Captain Marvel. Then again, the only time I’ve heard Michael Knight referred to as “Knight Rider” is by people talking about the show. This was never a name that either show used. (Yes, I know there was a Team Knight Rider and they called themselves TKR, short for Team Knight Rider. However, does anybody really care about that show?) There was an episode of The Monkees that referenced the character (I tried finding the clip) when Peter tries to escape by using the magic word only to have a mirror break. His response? “Well, another 7 years bad luck for Captain Marvel! The Filmation series hadn’t come out yet and the serial was all but forgotten at that point. This was just on the comic. What changed? NOTHING!
And thanks to DC’s predecessors, Captain Marvel was never able to reach the popularity ranks of Superman, all because they were jealous that the Fawcett Publications character was doing better. Then again, they only care about Black Adam. The only people who would even know the character were comic fans and folks who saw either of the TV shows, all of whom would know Shazam is the magic word if they’re not aware of the Wizard (who IS the one named Shazam) or just thought it was the word that guy on The Andy Griffith Show used in place of an expletive. (Or “curse” if you want a bad pun.)
Image via Wikipedia
Oh, thanks for reminding me of this costume, Zemanta link service that works with WordPress.com hosting. That brings me to the other reason for this article. The Curse of Shazam, a back-up story in Justice League, apparently is going for a different style, much like the recent “re-imagining” (I am learning to hate this word!) of Firestorm. From the New York Post article.
With a new origin, a cowl, a lightning bolt on his chest, and a penchant for causing electrical appliances to explode, Shazam still bears similarities to the original hero, including the power to change from feisty teen Billy Batson into a superhero by uttering the magic word that is now his name.
……“His place in the world will be far more rooted in fantasy and magic than it ever was before,” Johns said.
First Firestorm and now Captain Marvel. Do you hate me this much, Geoff Johns? Do you? Do you hate my childhood? Do you hate two of the reasons I used to be a DC Comics fan? Do you love adding articles to the “Death of DC” category, a category that was originally meant to only have three articles in it? Apparently you do, because you ruined Firestorm, my favorite of the characters introduced in the Super Friends series and now you’ve dug deeper back into my childhood and screwed that up!
Captain Marvel was NEVER a magical superhero. He was a regular superhero who just happened to gain his powers via magic. He’s not supposed to be something out of Justice League Dark, which is where I’m sure they’ll try to stick him. Go back and watch those two shows. Go read Billy Batson & The Magic of Shazam!, the last time anybody at DC Comics did anything good with him. Go watch Young Justice and see how THEY use him.
I’ve got a little something planned where I will go into greater length about how I see Captain Marvel and Billy Batson and even with my deflated ego I think I’m dead right, but the short of it is that this is a fantasy for kids. All the good parts of being an adult superhero without having to give up being a kid and all the fun that comes with that. (Well, fun in the respect that originally he was a kid living on the streets living off of a paperboy’s salary before getting a job at a radio station as the youngest newspaper reporter in history.) He’s not supposed to be Zatara or the Spectre, or to go Marvelside, Doctor Strange. Not that I’m opposed to magical villains and he’s had his share, but no more than any other non-mystic superhero.
Stop ruining Captain Marvel! Or maybe we’ll just pretend “Shazam” just shares a name and concept, another knockoff like Miracleman/Marvelman. (Yep, said it again.)
Related articles
- So to become Shazam, does he have to say “Captain Marvel”?
- Gutters comic #265 (I wish my parodies were as good as this site’s)
Tomorrow we yell at Marvel Comics.
BW Media Spotlight 
Another nice piece, that I agree with 100%.
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