39,327
edits
Shazam: Difference between revisions
m
update links
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (text tweaks, examples, tropelist) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 8:
Look -- guys in masks [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|only showed up]] around, say, 1936. [[Superhero]]es only go as far back as [[Superman]] in 1938. Comics about detectives and daredevil pilots had been inherited from the [[Pulp Magazine|pulps]] to great success. ''No-one'' thought costumed heroes would take off like they did. So when [[The DCU|National Comics]] hit paydirt with their costumed super heroes, the initial reaction of Fawcett Publications was "Oh boy! [[Follow the Leader|We've got to get some of these!]]"
So, they brought in C.C. Beck to do a story about a team of six heroes who all got powers from various gods. When this was pitched, it was decided that, while [[Cast Speciation]] was cool, [[All Your Powers Combined]] just looks better. The hero was to be called Captain Thunder. Except they couldn't get the name. So they called him Captain Marvelous, and then shortened it to Captain Marvel, because it sounds punchier. The character first appeared in ''"Whiz Comics''" #2 (February, 1940). Note that #1 was only an ashcan copy, not intended for distribution.
Little Billy Batson is a homeless orphan who is led by a mysterious stranger into a deserted train station, where a train with no driver leads him to a wizard's lair. There, the wizard gives him the power of six gods: the [[Wise Beyond Their Years|wisdom]] of '''S'''olomon, the [[Super Strength|strength]] of '''H'''ercules, the [[Implacable Man|stamina]] of '''A'''tlas, the [[Physical God|power]] of '''Z'''eus, the [[The Good Captain|courage]] of '''A'''chilles, and the [[Super Speed|speed]] of '''M'''ercury, which when put together spell [[Flying Brick|F-L-Y-I-N-G B-R-I-C-K]]. To [[By the Power of Greyskull|summon]] these powers, he must shout the name of the wizard -- "[[Fun with Acronyms|SHAZAM!]]" -- which summons down lightning and transforms him into a superhuman adult with a bright red costume with a freakin' sweet cape.
Line 16:
This was Captain Marvel's [[Golden Age]]. His own title regularly sold over a ''million'' copies a month (FYI, the best selling comics of today usually top out at around 100,000), Mary and Junior had their own titles when most heroes had to settle for eight-page backups in anthology books. There was even a movie serial. He was arguably the most popular and recognizable [[Superhero]] of the [[The Forties|1940s]].
Then there was a problem. On the one hand, there was Captain Marvel, a black-haired all-American feller in a costume with a lot of bright red, who can punch through cars and stop robbers... and on the other hand, there was Superman, a black-haired all-American feller in a costume with a lot of bright red, who... well, you get the idea. Admittedly, this described a ''lot'' of superheroes back then (and even today!), but Marvel had the flaw of selling ''more'' than his inspiration. [[DC Comics]] brought the case to court, and Fawcett fought it out for a while. Eventually, though, the superheroes [[The Interregnum|stopped selling so well]], and Fawcett decided to throw in the towel; they closed down their comics division and moved on.' The final appearance of the character was '"Marvel Family''" #89 (January, 1954).
...only, a few years later, [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]] started up, and superheroes became popular again. Fawcett couldn't take advantage of this, because the settlement with DC had specified that they never publish a Captain Marvel comic again, but eventually, DC themselves expressed interest in the character. Fawcett licensed the whole shebang to DC (with the latter eventually buying the rights lock, stock and barrel), and after a couple of tryouts, they put out a new series in 1973. Unfortunately, they couldn't actually ''call'' the series "Captain Marvel", because [[Marvel Comics]] had snapped up the name in the meantime (and created [[Captain Mar-Vell|their own character]], and eventually a string of characters, by that name), so they titled it ''Shazam!'' and went ahead. The series, though never a hot seller, did fairly well; the Marvelverse ([[Marvel Universe|no relation]]) was slotted into DC's [[The Multiverse|Multiverse]] as Earth-S, and he occasionally crossed over with DC's other heroes -- naturally, the [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|long-debated fight]] between Cap and Superman was one of the first. Incidentally, it's rather ambiguous who has the edge since Captain Marvel doesn't have Supes' [[Eye Beams|vision]] and [[Breath Weapon|breath powers]], but his powers are magic based which is a traditional [[Kryptonite Factor|weakness]] for Superman.
And then came ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', merging the DC multiverse, including Earth-S, into a single universe. [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity Ensued]]. The major change was that whereas Billy and Captain Marvel were largely considered two separate people, now Captain Marvel is unambiguously set with Billy's youthful personality. This means to others, this supposedly adult superhero has a personality of a child, albeit guided by the wisdom of Solomon. This has led to awkward situations more than once and when he was forced to reveal his true form to Superman in ''First Thunder'', the Kryptonian made a bee-line to Shazam to confront him about recruiting a child as his champion. Also, the formation of the Marvel Family was reversed with Mary Marvel, who was the last major addition to arrive outside of Mr. Tawky Tawny in the original stories, usually meeting her brother first, then Jr. arrives later with the Lt. Marvels considered strictly afterthoughts if they are included at all. [[Black Adam]] was also reimagined as walking the line between [[Anti-Hero]], [[Anti-Villain]], [[Token Evil Teammate]], and so on.
So after a few comics and a brief membership spot in the [[Justice League of America]], Captain Marvel became part of the wider DC Continuity. Whenever they needed a Superman-level fighter who was immune to kryptonite or magic, he was there. Whenever [[Wonder Woman]] needed to hit someone we didn't care about, he was there. Whenever villains needed someone hokey to fight, thus proving they were a Superstitious And Cowardly Lot, he was there. His standard shtick was to represent the sunny, old-timey virtues of [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] comics in the darkness of [[The Dark Age of Comic Books]]. On the other hand, despite the stereotype set by those fights, [[DC Comics]] also published ''First Thunder'' to show that Superman and Captain Marvel actually get along well in the same Universe: Superman appreciates having an ally with equivalent powers to help him fight supernatural foes that could otherwise lay out him with a shrug, and Billy values having the greatest of the superheroes as a mentor to help him through his double life's rough spots.
Starting in 2005, though, the franchise hit a rough patch. The characters were constantly getting retooled, such as having Captain Marvel take the Wizard's place as "Marvel" and Freddy Freeman taking Billy's place a hero ''named'' Shazam, apparently to get around the fact that [[I Am Not Shazam]]. Many of these retools were [[Darker and Edgier]], the most infamous instance probably being "Evil Mary Marvel" in ''[[Countdown to Final Crisis]]''. There was a bright spot, though, in that Black Adam was one of the leading characters in the acclaimed series ''[[52]]'', gaining [[Morality Pet]]s in the form of Isis and Osiris. (They were both killed by the end of the event, but hey, this is comic books, [[Death Is Cheap]].)
Line 30:
Eventually, Captain Marvel's history was wiped clean by DC's [[New 52]] reboot. He's to re-debut in backup stories in ''Justice League'', with these stories focusing on the magical aspect rather than straight superheroics. Oh, and DC said "Heck with it" and properly changed his name from "Captain Marvel" to "Shazam".
This character has had his share of other media adaptations. For instance, he was the ''first'' superhero to appear on film. This was in the [[Film Serial]], ''[[The Adventures of Captain Marvel]]'', generally considered among the best serials ever made. When DC revived him, he appeared in a Saturday morning live action TV series, ''Shazam!'', and an animated one called ''The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'', both produced by [[Filmation]]. He also appeared in [[Justice League Unlimited]], bringing a hell of a fight to Superman. Oh, and he also made his [[Video Games]] debut in the [[Fighting Game]] [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]] ''[[Mortal Kombat]] vs. [[DC Universe]]''. Currently, Billy can be found fighting crime alongside [[Batman]] in ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'', and fighting Black Adam in the direct to DVD ''[[Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam]]''. He's a member of the Justice League in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', taking a turn as the team's "den mother" in episode 13, where he gave Aqualad a pep talk ("Hey, wisdom of Solomon!") before chasing after a tiger. ("[[Deadpan Snarker|...Speed of Mercury]].")
----
Line 54:
* [[Blond Guys Are Evil]]: Captain Nazi.
* [[Brains Evil, Brawn Good]]: Captain Marvel and Dr Sivana.
* [[The Brute]]: Ibac.
* [[By the Power of Greyskull]]: He and Mary say Shazam, Freddy says Captain Marvel. Basically, say the name of your benefactor, and off you go. Ibac and Sabbac say, well, Ibac and Sabbac in order to get similar results.
* [[The Cape (trope)]]: Captain Marvel obviously, but Mary and Jr. likely qualify too.
* [[Captain Superhero]]
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Sivana. He regularly describes himself as evil.
Line 71:
* [[Embarrassing First Name]] & [[Embarrassing Middle Name]]: Thaddeus ''Bodog'' Sivana. No wonder he's evil.
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Black Adam. Though Adam's "evilness" tends to vary. A lot. Then there's Ibac, who gains his powers from four brutal historical figures, and Sabbac who takes his abilities from six [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Demon Lords]].
* [[Evil Costume Switch]]: When Mary accquires Black Adam's powers, her costume turns black and she gains a new level in moral ambiguity.
** And a much higher hemline!
* [[Evil Laugh]]: A lot of Captain Marvel's recurring enemies do this.
* Expy: In ''[[Love and Capes]]'', Captain Marvel's analogue is Major Might. Mark gets grouchy around him because he thinks he's a "copycat", until the Major's child self reveals that he chose powers like the Crusader's out of admiration. Awww.
* [[For the Evulz]]: As Merlyn once put it, "Joker and Sivana do it for kicks."
* [[Flying Brick]]: One of the earliest.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: An obvious wannabe of Superman, debuting not too long after the Man of Steel.
** Which then began to run backwards when Superman himself started copying elements from Captain Marvel, such as a female counterpart, the power of flight, and a bald [[Mad Scientist]] arch nemesis. And then DC sued Fawcett for making The Captain too similar.
* [[Gendered Outfit]]: Mary Marvel's outfit has a skirt, unlike the rest of the Marvel Family.
* [[Henshin Hero]]: Billy has to switch between his normal form and superhero form by using a magic word.
Line 85:
* [[I Am Not Shazam]]: [[Trope Namer]]. [[Averted Trope|No longer applies]], though. As of the [[In-Universe|DC relaunch]], he's now called Shazam. (As of the time of this edit, there is no information on what the wizard Shazam has been renamed, or whether he still exists at all)
* [[In the Hood]]: The New 52 incarnation turns his cape into a full cloak.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Captain Nazi, in the middle of a battle with Captain Marvel, took time off to murder Freddy's grandfather and cripple him. Why? For the heck of it. He later came back and tried to finish Freddy off? Why? Once again, for the heck of it.
** And between these two acts, he took the time to ''telephone Hitler himself'' to boast about how much fun he was having. Even the Fuhrer seemed a little frustrated by his agent's pettiness.
* [[Knight Templar]]: Mary after gaining Black Adam's powers. Black Adam himself a lot of the time.
Line 99:
* [[Out of Focus]]: In scope of the larger DC Universe.
* [[Playing with Fire]]: Sabbac gains flames from one of his sponsors.
* [[Reality Subtext]]: Whenever Superman and [[Captain Marvel]] are in the same comic together, it's a pretty good bet one of them is going to punch the other. This is a reference to their famous court battle, where DC sued Fawcett over similarities to Superman.
* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]: Sivana.
* [[Seven Deadly Sins]]: Sabbac can command the "Seven Deadly Enemies Of Man", a slightly modified version of the usual seven.
Line 105:
* [[Super-Hero Speciation]]: The obvious redundancy with [[Superman]] has finally been worked out in modern times with Supes valuing an ally whose similar, but magic and gods based, powers makes him very welcome company against supernatural foes while Cap enjoys him as a mentor.
* [[Superheroes Wear Capes]] (until the New 52 reboot, anyway)
* [[Super Family Team]]: With Mary and Freddy.
* [[Superpower Lottery]]: A major winner.
* [[Super Soldier]]: Captain Nazi.
Line 112:
* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: Freddy and his grandfather saved Captain Nazi from drowning. He promptly killed the latter and crippled the former. Why? As he puts it, "Might as well ask, 'Why is the sky blue?'"
* [[Wearing a Flag on Your Head]]: [[Badass Grandpa|Minuteman]] wears the stripes on his shirt, and the stars on both sleeves. Captain Nazi has the swastika on his chest in most apperances.
* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: Him and Stargirl, again. They nearly kiss in the most-recent JSA/Marvel story, but it's broken up, and she goes back to crushing on Atom Smasher shortly.
* [[A Wizard Did It]]: Literally.
* [[World Domination]]: Sivana wants to be a [[Time Lord]].
| |||