The Infamous Shazam Lawsuit
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2022
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DC Comics used all their legal power to kill Captain Marvel and turn him into Shazam, but Marvel's response changed comic history forever!
Special thanks to our Patrons for helping make this possible!
The Brain Teaser, Bonnie Davies, Senita Mahoney, Jonathan & Megan Pierson, Cody Plourde, David Adler, Milton Appling, Ralph Braganzan, Ethan Dannen, Yoav Haimovitz, LookWhosFhtagn, Scott Nesmith, Casper Qvortrup, Andrew Shaffer, Talentless Hack, Vydal
The song "Jiro Dreams" by Cocabona X Glimlip was provided by Lofi Girl.
The photo of Geoff Johns was provided by Luigi Novi.
Tags: #Shazam #Superman #DCComics 
Развлечения
Why black characters with lightning powers? I think it's the colour scheme. The brightness of electrical powers really works well with the darker skin tones, gives a sharp contrast when you give them bright coloured hair, and honestly really looks good with shading and the like.
*color
@@racager both are right color is american and colour is english
@@racager He’s from the UK
I love how you have a Luxray pfp
@@apollyon4761 I'd like to believe it lends me a certain degree of authenticity regarding this topic XD
I feel like DC should've just renamed Billy Batson's hero persona Captain Thunder when they acquired him. Gives him a legally distinct name to work with, and also avoids the issue of Billy both having the same name as the Wizard and also being actually able to tell people his hero name without turning into/out of said form.
Agreed. Captain Thunder is a cool codename.
Captain Thunder FTW! Make it happen DC! [>
"Hello people of random city, my name is Shazam!"
*Becomes normal
Since then, Roy Thomas created a character published outside of DC or Marvel by that name, Presumably trademarking the name also.
They owned the name when they bought the character ythe prblem was they shelved him and forgot about Captain Marvel If you don't publish a book under that name the rights to publish a book under ythat name (not the character confusing I know) so the people at Marvel saw the oportunity to puiblish a book called captain Marvel (mar-vel ) ans essentialy stole the name because DC got lazy, Dc used his name for a while but rebranded him as shazam eventually to avoid legal trouble, If they had published a book under Captain Marvel's name in the 20 or so years they shelved him they would have kept the name but disn't .
I blame the electric powers thing on the Superfriends. They couldn't get the rights to Black Lightning, so they made Black Vulcan. Black Vulcan later inspired Static Shock, and recently Black Lightning got his own TV show.
And again, if I recall correctly, the Static Shock animated series couldn't get the rights to Black Lightning so they created Soul Power.
Pure electricity... In my pants
It was actually to avoid paying Black lightning's creator
@@SuprousOxide Soul Power.... in my pants.
I do hope the video on the Electric Powers/Black characters does an aside to remind people Static is the character, Static Shock is the title of the show and title of his book from time to time.
The legal problems, confusion & weirdness of Shazam continues to this day, too! The MCU Captain Marvel movie and the Shazam! movie both debuted roughly a month away from each other in the same year!
Shazam! is my favorite character, btw.
The story of the Caption Marvel is that of self perpetuating legal pettiness that has lost all meaning but is endlessly fascinating too watch
2019 and 2023 is Captain Marvel’s years…
This is one story I now know by heart from years of coverage, now when I need to explain it to casual fans, I can put it in bullet points lol
(Black characters with lighting powers seems to be a color theory. Contrast something dark, with light to stand out)
🤘🏻😎👍🏻
The second part is gonna be the Miracleman stuff?
That gives me a headache every time I remember all the crazy angles of that story and how it ended up with Marvel after YEARS of 2 main names in the industry fighting for it.
The funny thing about all this is that Superman is weak to magic, which means that with enough training, Batson could totally beat him in a fight.
What a legal rollercoaster. Dude, this might be my new favorite video of yours. The editing, script, research, and delivery were all perfect.
Just wait! Part two is going to knock this one out of the park. 😏
@@ComicDrake you know what’s also weird ? How African Americans have hammers as a weapon
@@ComicDrake qaaa1 to me to
I’ve seen a lot of videos about the legal battle of Shazam/Captain Marvel, but you weren’t lying, you explain things that other haven’t done.
But I still wonder why the call him The Big Red Cheese
I don't know exactly how it started but Dr Sivana, his nemesis, calls him that as an insult.
Sivana's children also call Captain Marvel Jr the Blue cheese, and Mary Marvel the little red cheese.
There are plenty of kinds of cheeses that have a red wax coating and have the cheese, well, yellow since almost all cheeses are yellow. Which is the same colorscheme as Captain ShaMarvel.
@@LetsTakeWalk Oh, thank you very much!
@@LetsTakeWalk most cheeses are white. Cows dont produce yellow milk. The color comes from the flavorless Annatto seed. i just missed half the video researching cheese. 😂
Drake, there's no way Pikachu is African-American.
He's Japanese. Still black, though.
Doesn't Billy taking the name Shazam also mean he's fully succeeded the wizard?
That was in the pre-New 52 universe.
I was not aware of all the history Shazam had, thank you for this video!
Lol
I know having a black character with lightning powers is kinda a cliché at this point and I personally don’t mind it at all. It’s probably one of my favorite super powers in general and if I had to choose what power to have that definitely would be one of them.
Least it is a cool power to be stock identified with. "Oh yeah just another token black lightning user. Wait why am I complaining that kicks ass."
But when a black man applies to join a super team and his power turns out to be telekinesis, they always look disappointed.
As someone who has been researching the history of all the Captain Marvels for over a decade, I must say that this is a very entertaining and informative video that covers a lot of historical ground and makes some good points. I am particularly glad that you brought up Marvelman/Miracleman, and I look forward to watching that video. However, you do have a few inaccuracies abut the whole Captain Marvel/DC thing here, and a few other things that I would like to inquire about or elaborate on.
1. Fawcett's "Master Man" was created after their Captain Marvel. CM was their first Superhero and Whiz #2 their first comic book.
2. The issue about "Captain Thunder" as the hero's name is debatable, but not about trademark. Some sources say that the name was thought "too clamorous." Ralph Daigh said in court that it was his idea to change the name because he didn't like it. But other sources suggest that the name was changed because a month before Whiz #2 came out, a character named "Captain Terry Thunder" appeared in Jungle Comics #1.
3. Legal technicality department: The judge stated that similarities and differences of characters are not the defining factor in determining copyright infringement, but copying stories and pictures are, and between testimony and exhibits, he found that there was copying..
4. Not a correction, but an inquiry dept: What is your source on Carl Burgos' motivation for creating the MF Enterprises' Captain Marvel? I have been trying to find more info on that. I do know that Burgos worked for Myron Fass, who published that comic, and that the credit in the first issue was :based on a character created by Carl Burgos." The nebulousness of that credit really has md me wondering how much input Burgos actually had.
Remember, also, that 1966 was the year Batman, Green Hornet, and the Marvel Superheroes came on TV and Superman had a Broadway musical, so there was a boom in superhero comics. Even former Fawcett writer Otto Binder and artist CC Beck put out "Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer" that year. Myron Fass was a publishing opportunist/schlockmeister, so there may have been more elements in play with the timing and naming of this character.
5. Elaboration Dept.: There are two competing histories of how and why DC decided to revive the original Captain Marvel. Carmine Infantino, publisher of DC at the time, said that he was a big fan of Captain Marvel and just decided to see if Fawcett would let them bring him back. So he called Fawcett and asked what it would take and they said "make us an offer." A good move on Fawcett's part, since they owned a property8 they otherwise could not make any money on.
The other version is told by Mark Evanier who worked with Jack Kirby. When Kirby was with DC i in the early 1970's, he suggested that DC revive a number of old heroes, and he would edit their new stories. One of them was Captain Marvel (of which he and Joe Simon had done one issue back in 1940). it was that suggestion that led to the call which got the licensing contract.
Since pretty much no one who was involved with DC during the time of the lawsuit with Fawcett was still involved with DC in 1972, the idea that DC audaciously "stole" Captain Marvel seems a little strong.
That is great work on explaining the difference between copyright and trademark, though. A lot of people just don't get it.
En teoría se le puede seguir diciendo Capitán Marvel dentro de una Serie y Run de cualquier Escritor pero,no se le puede Publicitar con ese Nombre??
As a Shazam fan yes, knew all this, but this is the most well-presented version that I can use to send my friends to this vid when they ask me about Shazam. Because I love my lightning/thunder characters XD But I saw I think it was Pandaredd's TikTok speaking of this and he dropped your name and I was like 'I have to find this persona and follow them.'
The fact that even Elvis Presley was a huge fan of Captain Marvel Jr alone tell how massive the impact of Captain Marvel comics were
You can bet that he managed to get a copy of EVERY single marvel family appearance, and his collection has never been showed. beyond a book or two.
I love the nickname "Big Red Cheese", since you can tell that's what his villains nicknamed hin, like Sonic as "the Blue Blur", even an evil scientist with laser guns mounted by aiming-to-kill A.I. can't hit someone so fast, it'd be a trait that scientist might swear under their breathe later in retrospect.
That African American Captain Thunder would've been a great idea. But I think DC kinda payed that off by having a Black Captain Marvel in the Elseworlds reality where Supergirl and Batwoman were Earth's main heroes. Fantastic video by the way
As usual, brilliant work Drake. Keep it up
Also I didn't think that I needed to hear that Captain Marvel was also known as the Big Red Cheese but I am thankful that I heard it
DC and Marvel both have lot of really good lawyers.
Yea like daredevil…
NO DARE DEVIL IS MARVEL LMAO!!!
Like Matt Murdock
@@smiley3047 And She-Hulk.
They somehow managed to get joint trademark of the term Super-hero,even though them both using it should have shown it wasn't a unique term worthy of a Trademark
Good video. As for the black hero with lightning powers cliche, part of it may be that for the longest time DC didn't know if the license for Black Lightning belonged to them or his original creator. So they made ripoffs of him, the most blatant being Black Vulcan from Super friends. It wasn't until the 80s,I think, that DC found that they did have the rights to Black Lightning. However, I did read this on TVTropes, so you may want to check these facts.
No Black Vulcan was used because Hanna Barbera couldn’t use the character not DC. DC has obviously always owned the character since it was a work for hire
12:38 I just looked this up and discovered Flashpoint had another version of Captain Thunder that incorporated the team idea where they all merge into Captain Thunder. I've seen the merge thing in animation somewhere before too, I can't remember where.
Its in flashpoint paradox
@@wizard2545 Well that checks out lol.
@@samphadhavihara4035 or wonderwoman
@@samphadhavihara4035 No. That's two people, not five and not even to mention _entirely_ unrelated to SHAZAM.
@@wizard2545 ....What?
Captain marvel was such a genius concept. Like of course the kids reading it would love to become a superman-like hero by saying shazam. It’s next level escapism.
Very unfortunate about the name change. I understand why they picked shazam but how is billy gunna get his name out there if everytime he says it, he turns back to billy batson?
IT was written so that he only changes if he really wants to change.
Like the light bulb in the psychiatrist's office.
Marvel Comics getting the Fawcett rights is a really fascinating "What if?" scenario. One of the problems that DC has always had with Shazam and his supporting cast is that the character missed out on decades of character development to bridge the Golden and Silver Ages. He never got to evolve the way that other characters had when the industry evolved, so writers struggled to make him fit.
But now imagine a world where that doesn't happen--a world where Marvel Comics snatches up the rights before DC. How would the House of Ideas handle the character, and what kind of directions could the writers of the time take him?
Captain Thunder is also the Flashpoint version of Shazam.
Loved this vid! Great introduction to your channel.
I really hope you do chase down that whole "black heroes with electricity powers" because I'm super curious about that.
16:21
“Cole McGrath remains as the only white guy with lightning powers.”
-GodzillaMendoza
I wonder if there’s any correlation the Captain Marvel film and Shazam came out relatively close to eachoter. Or if that was just coincidence.
If I were to guess, I'd say it was coincidence. Marvel Studios started development for the Captain Marvel solo film in 2013, while New Line Cinema stated work on their Shazam film in the early 2000's. It just so happened that both films finally came together at the same time.
It was a coincidence, in fact Captain Marvel was supposed to release in July 2018, it only ended up in 2019 because of two factors 1. Marvel-Sony deal which resulted in several MCU films from Thor: Ragnarok onwards getting delayed to make room for the new Spider-Man film and 2. Marvel announcing Ant-Man 2 which again resulted in another wave of delays to make room for that film, as pre-Spidey, CM was supposed to come in July 2018, but once Spidey got added it got pushed to Novembe 2018, while BP took the July 2018, but then Ant-Man 2 got added to the schedule and took the July 2018, resulting in BP moving to February and Captain Marvel being pushed to 2019 in order to not have 4 MCU films in 2018.
@@vullord666 From what I read in the Wikipedia article, the New 52 reboot came AFTER the movie was already in a state of development limbo after 2008. Essentially, screenwriter John August quit after WB bought New Line and asked him to make the film darker and more serious to piggyback off the success of "The Dark Knight"; and active development would not pick back up until 2014, with the film being inspired by the the Shazam backup feature in Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Justice League run.
So, yeah, you're right; but it's worth noting that Dwayne Johnson was attached to the 2000's version and the film that eventually came out as either Shazam or Black Adam. He didn't appear in the 2019 film because was decided he would appear in a solo Black Adam film.
@@ChuckBrowning Ah, yes. Make the kid superhero who transforms with a silly magic word dark and gritty so he can be the next Dark Knight.
God if that isn't just, like, peak Hollywood executive.
@@nathanl8622 it's certainly peak WB who have repeatedly demonstrated how clueless they can be with anything other than Batman.
My biggest issue with calling him Shazam, besides the fact that it's the magic word, is that it's also the name of the wizard who gave him his powers. (So already overuse much)
Also, Captain Marvel (or even Captain Thunder) sounds like something a kid would come up with as a superhero name. (Also, I actually got used to the name from his various appearances pre-flashpoint in the JSA and his own 'Trials of Shazam' series)
I really didn't mind that both Marvel and DC had a character with the same name since they didn't really have too much in common besides the name.
It's not the Wizard's name either.
the wizards name isnt shazam its mamoragon
Besides Marvel and DC already have name sharing history. Guardian (Joe Simon/Jack Kirby)/Guardian (Chris Claremont/John Byrne). Changeling X-Men/New Teen Titans
I love how Pikachu is shown next to all the black characters with electric powers
Great history lesson. I love the legal background of Superman and Shazam.
I'd be interested in seeing where that Captain Thunder book could have gone.
I don't mind the black person electricity trope. A character is only as good as its creative team. Great story and art can make or break a title.
When the Captain Marvel name thing comes up I often see people say how Marvel should give the name back to DC. Never makes sense to me given how DC acquired it the company doesn't have any sort of moral right to it and they lost the legal one.
Marvel is kinda the innocent party here. DC sued to kill Captain Marvel's original company then forced that cast into their universe. All Marvel was doing was protecting a trademark that fits their company name after the OG Captain Marvel was already killed by DC.
@@denniswilliams6519 not exactly. After The Fawcett IP went dormant. Marvel then called Atlas Comics wasn’t the first one trying to revive the trademark. Myron Fass creates his own Captain Marvel which was different from the Fawcett and Marvel one. Marvel a year later created their own Captain Marvel. Myron Fass sued Marvel and went to court with them. Marvel ended up just paying around $ 5,000 in settlement fees and trademarked the Captain Marvel name
@@sladewilson377 If we are gonna be technical that Captain Marvel only existed to be a spite character to the comics industry being a blatant rip off mash of other characters. Not exactly fair to say they "deserved" this trademark given the character and books belong in the "totally original OC do not steal"
The original Dr. Sivana was far superior to Luthor in both humanity and intellect. Unlike Luthor, he actually understands magic's connection to science and he has a pretty happy family. New Sivana is an interesting foil to Billy, but I miss his Walk Through Walls level nonsense
I would really like to know why most black characters have lightning powers
4:02 World's Mightiest Mortal is also his nickname.
I love how Drake changed his outfit for the different segments of the video xD
ur vids are always so informative and awesomely made!!
im not a comic reader (unfortunatelly), but i love watching your vids to get an insight on this quirky yet interesting and beautiful world
Am I the only one who appreciates the background logos, they're a cool background and I really like the additions of the anime ones (Bleach, Yu Gi Oh and FMAB are the ones I could find) and Radiant Black
*manga 😉
16:30 Ah yes Pikachu, my favorite Black Superhero 😂
Drake, this was a great episode! 😃
I'm looking forward to seeing your take on Marvel Man in the future, its a fascinating/ frustrating part of comicbook history!
The post-crisis Captain Thunder sounds like it was a real missed opportunity. More diversity of characters and stories within the DC universe, and solved the whole Captain Marvel/ SHAZAM naming issue decades ago!
An episode about black characters with electric powers also sounds like it could be really interesting as well!
He will always be captain marvel to me
16:30 Pikachu is BLAAACKKK!!!!!
3:57
Alternate universe where Billy Batson leads a team of multi-coloured Space Pirates
Love the extra editing you are doing these days! Great video as always!
This case has always fascinated me.
Can't wait to see you tackle more of it!
Looking forward to the next part. I knew some of this but not all. It's crazy that it took so long for it to all smooth out.
16:26 Electro and Shocker are both turned black too HAHHAHA
Shit I want to see the universe where Marvel gets Captain Marvel/Shazam.
Like, first, it would solve the 'who is the main superman analogue in Marvel' question right away. Second, Billy's nature as a kid that has to be a hero would be gold for Marvel's more character focused writing. An anti Spiderman, if you will. With a beloved by the media hero face, and a 'do no good' face as a civilian.
Also I have the mental image of Shazam calling down his lightning into Thor's hammer for a combo attack and now I want someone skilled to draw it.
That would been pretty interesting sight to see also does that mean that we Billy Batson reporter of Daily bugle.
Also I think it would been fun if Cap Marvel and Spider-Man developed friendship Ala booster gold and blue beatle
This is actually quite brilliant.
This is so dumb.
1.Why just why would Marvel even go for Billy? Why would they go for a character that DC sued to the ground? There’s no way DC would have allowed anyone else to revive Captain Marvel since it would mean that DC would have to sue another company. All Captain Marvel/Shazam shares with Atlas (now known as Marvel Comics) is the name. Fawcett’s Captain Marvel has nothing to do with Marvel’s Captain Marvel. And Why would Marvel go for Fawcett Captain Marvel when they already had their own. In fact, There is actually a 3rd Captain Marvel from
MF enterprises. Marvel never tried to get that Captain Marvel but they failed to.
2) Shazam and his gang would never have fit into the Marvel Universe. Shazam is a golden age hero. Marvel is mostly Silver age heroes.
@@shadowclaw7210 that was a very dumb idea
PLEASE make a video on Black people with lightning powers. I’m so curious about why and how such a (seemingly) random thing became such a well known trope
The panel at 12:48 also contains references to Rick Jones and Mar-Vel’s shared existence (which was itself a call-back to the original “Captain Marvel”) and the Monica Rimbeau Captain!
16:11 probably because the lightning has a nice contrast too the skin colour, which let's it look more powerful
I’m so glad you’re making a video on marvel man/miracle man because I’ve always been a little confused on that
Great video. I’ve been waiting for you to give your take on this content. I can’t for part 2!
Oh i am HYPED for a video on why so many black characters have lightning powers, its something ive been wondering about for years
Awesome video! Can’t wait for the next one! What’s funny about the Shazam name change is you can definitely see Geoff Johns backpedaling a bit in his most recent Shazam comic. Be interesting to see if the characters name remains the same or if they go back to Captain Marvel at some point.
19:15 in the background he used a picture of pikachu i'm dead
*⚡SHAZAM!⚡*
I can't wait to see your Marvelman/Miracleman video. P.S. why is Pikachu in that photoset of black people with lightning powers? 😅
I always forget that Shazam was the first super hero movie
16:28 wtf is pikachu doing there?
Oh my god, I paused at 16:29 to look over the characters and noticed one standing out that doesn't seem to belong, causing me to laugh for like 15 seconds straight
10:40 Oh yea, I heard of DC's The Ray from Arrowverse's Crisis on Earth-X crossover event.
I love how one second very few people know Miracleman, and now everyone in the whole universe knows who Miracleman is.
I love the little details you do like swapping from coffee to tea and the new symbols in the background
16:28 I'm pleasantly surprised that Drake knows Darui and Yoruichi.
I mean I've had a Bleach logo on my background for a good long while.
@@ComicDrake
Hell! I’m surprised you put a character from Shotaro Ishinmori’s Cyborg 09.
I love captain marvel billy baston and the marvel family especially Mary marvel and captain marvel jr they were really awesome and tons of fun.
Why are this videos so informative a
AND entertaining?!!!!! Great job drake!
I love it when you do comics history!
I am very much looking forward to that black characters and lightning trope!
Oh wow, Hoppy the bunny made a return in The New Champion of Shazam recently!
This was a great video! I’ve been confused about the captain marvel debate for years and this simplified it into something I could easily consume. Props!
you should do a vid on Otto Binder the creator of captain Marvel whe went on to be one of the most influencial Superman writers . He added Siupergirl. the Legion of superheroes krypto, briainiac etc.
Captain Marvel was so popular that he made his way to here in Finland already in the 40s. 'Captain Steel', they called him. Superman was named and is still called the 'Steelman' here, so maybe they really liked the concept of 'man of steel' back then, or they too saw the obvious connection.
We need that follow up video, sounds mad interesting
love your channel man!
16:35 don't forget all the latinos with fire powers
in the group of electric powered charcter... who's the girl on the right? she looks awesome and i wanna read it
Isn't she mary marvel?
Drake, look up the "Magical Negro" trope, and that'll basically explain why there's so many black characters with electric powers.
Always looking forward to hearing your videos.
With some of the unfortunate history the imagery can bring up, as well as potential stories of reclamation, I look forward to the discussion of Black superheroes with electric powers, though I wonder how deep of a dive that will go
Honestly I really wish they would go back to Captain Marvel. It’s just a better name and there is no way to give names to his extended family of supporting characters based on the Shazam moniker.
Can we take a moment to appreciate that Drake copied the "superman" haircut for this video
16:27 Wait, does Jakeem Thunder count? I mean Yz _does_ have electric blast powers and you included Raoul, ThunderMan's operator. Unlike Count Zap with his electric rods, Raoul has no electric powers of his own (he doesn't even cross fuse in the anime).
Awesomeness! Cheers to this cool and amazingly clear video!!
Great video! I had to comment on all those outfit changes, they really made the video pop in my opinion!
I personally cannot wait for the "lightning" video 😉
Ngl the first thing that came to my mind when you said superhero was the start of Batman's beatbox from the Black Panther vs Batman beatbox video.....
I kinda knew but I didn't know about all the details like the captain thunder or the time-line of it all so thanks comic drake
Love your work sir, this and your Miricleman video are grade A quality stuff
Every time he says because comics take a shot
Oh, now I wish that Marvel Comics did grab the Fawcett properties. Especially if Jack Kirby put his spin on the Big Red Cheese, probably being re-introduced in the Fantastic Four before getting his own series.
Love the video keep up the amazing work. Also I can’t wait for that video about the black characters with lightning powers.
Always nice seeing you posted
I'm so hyped for this, always found this an interesting topic
MY GOD,second part is gonna be......an event,thanks for the wonderfull video.
Stoked for part 2. Hi Drake! I hope you're doing well. :)
... From the title alone.. my first thoughts were... "And they stole Captain Marvel too!"
Really looking forward to part 2
I know the general gist of what happens, and let me tell you, it is NUTS!
6:09 Oh hey look, it's Comic Drake, Ace Attorney!
I will forever love the trope of black folks with electric powers.
I love that nickname for the captain XD its amazing