I will never call Captain Marvel "SHAZAM"

[Cmbmool]

Im of two minds on this.

I really liked that the New52 Billy wasn't just naturally the "best kid in the whole world." I imagine the wish fulfillment quality of Shazam dies awfully quick when a kid realizes he could never be Shazam because they're not always perfect. I like the idea Johns brought in, that being "worthy" is an active choice, something you decide to be and not an innate quality you're born with. It also goes well with the "family is what it can be, not what it should be" angle, which again, seemed very fitting given Billy's orphan status.

And while the first backup issue went way overboard with the "this isn't the Billy you knew!" crap, that extreme quickly fell away and Billy was much closer to what we remember for most of the story. Still not the perfect, always-good little kid, but far closer to it than the first issue would have us believe. There were actually some really great Billy moments in that story, you just had to suffer through the first issue to reach them.

And of course, the way Johns instilled the Rock of Eternity with this "Harry Potter" type of fantasy.....that was brilliant in the most obvious and fun way. In my opinion the Rock had never been better than it was during that backup. Perfectly built to capitalize on Rowling's genius and a seamless mesh of superhero and Hogwarts.

But on the other hand, the character growth and journey Johns put Billy on in the backup was completely forgotten and ignored afterwards. It seems pointless, almost cruel, to establish this character arc and then ignore it, as if Billy himself had back-tracked somewhere between defeating Black Adam and joining the League. It was very disappointing. And that goes for the whole backup story. Sivana and Mr. Mind, Mary and Freddy and the other kids......the entire backup ends up feeling like a huge waste of potential because no one, including its original author, could be bothered to follow up on it.

And I never did get over Freddy being blonde and *not* having a rockabilly obsession.

If you want to read about someone worthy there’s Classic Marvel Thor.

[Ascended]

One thing I don't believe anyone's mentioned in this thread (which is admittedly more in-universe repercussions than legal dilemmas): calling Captain Marvel "Shazam" presents the same problem Captain Marvel Jr. originally had, where his name is also the trigger for his powers. So "Shazam" couldn't identify himself to anyone and Billy couldn't report a story on "Shazam" without one turning into the other. Unless they want to give them more control over when the word actually works (which kinda defeats the purpose of having a cool magic word that activates your powers).

They did that, actually. The word summons the magic, but it takes more than just saying the word to make it happen. As the Wizard said, you "have to say it with intent!" or something along those lines. So Billy can say Shazam without summoning the lightning, but can't summon the lightning without saying the word.

[Ascended]

If you want to read about someone worthy there’s Classic Marvel Thor.

Verily! I do enjoy a good Thor! For Asgard and glory!

[The Boss]

Whew! I finally found this thread! Even though i-'m drunk. I recently bought the serial, "The Adventures Of Captain Marvel" on DVD. This, IMO is so much better than a B'S film falsly calling the character "Shazam". Captain Marvel all the way.

[Jim Kelly]

With the name change you miss some of the fun good bits from when Captain Marvel was the best selling comic book character.

Things like gagging the Marvels so they couldn’t say the magic word. Or spontaneously becoming their counterpart whether they intended to or not. Or Freddy being unable to say his superhero name. Or Uncle Marvel, who claims to have Shazambago, casually using the magic word and not transforming.

Maybe we can induce someone to put out a book that appreciates the glory of the Fawcett days. And dare invite the wrath of fandom that condemns any whiff of nostalgia.

Or better yet, repackage several essays from the past that recalled the golden era of Captain Marvel. There’s a project for TwoMorrows.

[Ascended]

I definitely think DC could take a more retro approach with Shazam and make it work. I mean, Thunderworld did that and it was a thing of beauty.

The name issue though, that's just a legal problem, and not really related to the material itself. They could do "retro" and still call him Shazam (despite that being a crap name, at least DC owns it!)

[RepHope]

Fair enough, but we're the last of a dying breed OP. I had one kid admonish me for referring to Billy by that name since "his name is Shazam, and the woman (i.e. Carol Danvers) is Captain Marvel". Those are the characters the names will be associated with going forward.

[Stanlos]

Fair enough, but we're the last of a dying breed OP. I had one kid admonish me for referring to Billy by that name since "his name is Shazam, and the woman (i.e. Carol Danvers) is Captain Marvel". Those are the characters the names will be associated with going forward.

Wow.
Just...wow

[Sandy Hausler]

I believe Heroic owns 'Captain Thunder'.

I don't think so. From the Patent and Trademark Office:

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfi...809:5xwu7d.2.1

I'm not the first to point this out. This issue has come up before.

Sandy Hausler

[ed2962]

I definitely think DC could take a more retro approach with Shazam and make it work. I mean, Thunderworld did that and it was a thing of beauty.

The name issue though, that's just a legal problem, and not really related to the material itself. They could do "retro" and still call him Shazam (despite that being a crap name, at least DC owns it!)

They could do it, but I think DC is just a little afraid it wouldn't sell ( although that attitude might be changing). Remember a few years back Paul Pope claimed that when he pitched to DC a new Kamandi title and wanted to do it as a kid's comic, an editor told him something like, "Forget it. Our fans are 40yr old dudes..."

[RepHope]

Wow.
Just...wow

Had to choke back the nerd rage, but it forced me to accept the name change. Billy will be "Shazam" in the eyes of the next gens, and Carol will be "Captain Marvel". It's just how things are going to be.