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While DC’sSupermanwas createdduring the Golden Age of Comics , he was not the most democratic superhero of the era - and the true grinder of the clock time outsold the Man of Steel so much that DC sued on his behalf . Very few prosperous Age submarine of the late 30s and 40s remain active today , but from time to time some exceptions like Superman and Captain America can be found in the modern earned run average . But Captain Marvel - now namedShazam- was the rightful champion of the 40s , and DC knew the only manner to beat the character reference was to gainsay him in court .
Comics may be dominate by superheroes today , but the rule book of the XXX were fill with police detective , warfare heroes and teras . Superman ’s arrival inactiveness Comics # 1 in 1938 was quickly followed by plenty of other superheroes with similar force and even similar intention . But the most infamous of them all was Captain Marvel , created in 1939 and embellish funny pages one year later by writer Bill Parker and artist C.C. Beck .
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Ten - yr - old Billy Batson , local radio set announcer , is allot the power of six ancient figure by an old necromancer , becoming the hero Captain Marvel . By shouting"Shazam!",Billy obtains the wisdom of Solomon , the strong suit of Hercules , the stamina of Atlas , the mightiness of Zeus , the courageousness of Achilles and the fastness of Mercury ( the first letters of each pee-pee up the magic word).Captain Marvel routinely outsold Superman , selling over one million copy per month ( to put this statistic in perspective , modern - day comics rarely sell over 100,000 copy ) . The hero push various supervillains and defeated them all until he came across Superman and his many lawyers at DC Comics ; the company decide Captain Marvel shared far too many constituent with the Man of Steel to be a coincidence .
Captain Marvel - Not Superman - Was The Most Popular Hero Of The 40s
Detective Comics file a lawsuit against Fawcett Comics ( the owner of Captain Marvel ) in 1941 , take the character infringe on their Superman right of first publication ; the chest logo , mantle , and flee - brick powers were all cited . A years - foresighted effectual battle result , ending with a 1948 decision by the court saying Captain Marvel was indeed an illegal copy of Superman . The lineament and his name was changed multiple times to avoid legal bother , cease with the 2011New 52reinvention of Captain Marvel as " Shazam " ( which was what many fans were calling him anyway , specially after Marvel debuted their own Captain Marvel , who later became a legacy character ) .
Today , Shazam is to a great extent promote by DC Comics but does not have the same amount of fan adoration as characters like Aquaman , Batman , and of class Superman . The 2019Shazam!film avail pad the character ’s popularity , but he still lag behind the other members of the Justice League . Shazamis far from his glory days as the hero who outsoldSuperman , and he can give thanks DC ’s attorney for that .
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