Yes!
No!
Shazam is fine.
Captain _________ would be better.
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The thing is Shazam and Captain Marvel, as names, are completely different flavours. Shazam fits as the name of an ancient shaman and as a magic word, but giving that name to a modern super-hero, in a military styled uniform, doesn't taste right.
I think that, when National Periodicals licensed the character from Fawcett in the early '70s, they were doing so because the first generation of fandom had such a grand opinion of Captain Marvel. For them, he essentially defined the "Golden Age of Comics." He influenced guys like Roy Thomas and E. Nelson Bridwell.
They remembered these big epic adventures, as well as the humour and the extended family. They wanted to bring all that back.
Cap Thunder?! Ummmmmm NO
"Life is too short so love the one you got cause you might get run over or you might get shot" - Sublime
1. Change the Main Character back to Captain Marvel...screw marvel comics. You can still use the name.
2. Change the setting of the book to Grant Morrison's Thunderworld and stop using the Main Earth Marvel. They gave you the opportunity for a whole new set of Universes...use them! I mean you have Mary Marvel and Mary Shazam running around in the comics...why not Captain Marvel. Have Shazam appear in other books, but make the actual title about Captain Marvel.
3. Whiz comics is out for logical reasons. Again, Grant gave you the title. Use it! Thunderworld!
Last Read: Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong
Monthly Pull List: Alan Scott: The Green Lantern, Birds of Prey, Daredevil, Geiger, Green Arrow, Justice Ducks, Justice Society of America, Negaduck, Nightwing, Phantom Road, Shazam!, Suicide Squad: Dream Team, Thundercats, Titans
So, of the 65 people who voted on the "Should Captain Marvel be renamed Captain Thunder?", only 12 voted "Yes!"
Twice as many people voted for "Shazam is fine."
Reality has set in. They’re not changing the name. He’s Shazam now.
I try and try but I really can't see what Grant or Johns offered that wasn't already present with Hypertime
"Screw Marvel Comics" is one of those things fans keep saying without really thinking about what it means on a business level. Like yeah, on a purely legal level they could continue using the name, but they're not gonna continue calling him a name that causes people to automatically think of another high profile character from their direct competitor, nor are they gonna continue using a name they can't actually use in marketing or merchandising. In the world of business, such a thing makes no sense unless you're intentionally trying to create brand confusion in hopes people accidentally buy yours instead, like those knockoff Pixar movies made in South America.
The higher ups at WB/DC probably allowed Billy to continue using the name as long as he did because until a relatively short time ago, nobody in the mainstream was all that familiar with Marvel's iteration of Captain Marvel and neither one was being positioned as the lead of a big budget film franchise and tie-in marketing assortment, which is no longer the case. When there's a bunch of money (potential or otherwise) involved, a desire for clear branding is gonna win out.
Last edited by Holt; 05-30-2022 at 05:47 AM.
Okay, I get that everyone now is a sniggering child, even people in their eighties, and you can't get away with "Whiz" anymore (what does Kraft do about "Cheez Whiz," I wonder)--but what about "Whiz-Bang," is that off the table, too?