Captain Marvel: time traveler extraordinaire
Harry Potter isn't the first youthful hero with super powers who
has captured the hearts and minds of children. Back in the
1940s, Billy Batson, a, homeless boy who eked out a living by
selling newspapers, could turn into Captain Marvel, an
adult superhero, simply by saying the word, "Shazam!"
Captain Marvel first appeared in a comic book published by
Fawcett Comics in 1939. In the original episode, Billy Batson is
selling papers one rainy night when a stranger in dark clothes
suddenly appears and asks the youth to follow him down into the
subway station near Batson's news stand. There, an apparently
driverless subway train takes Billy and the stranger to the
secret hideaway of the wizard Shazam, who discloses that he has
chosen Billy to be his champion to fight for good as the
"strongest and mightiest man in the world."
Shazam tells Billy to speak the wizard's name. As soon as Billy
says "Shazam!" he is struck by a magic lightning bolt and
transformed into Captain Marvel. When he says "Shazam" a second
time, he changes back into Billy.
We soon learn that each letter in the word "Shazam" stands for a
legendary figure who has agreed to grant his signature attribute
to a willing subject. "S" is for the wisdom of Solomon; "H" is
for the strength of Hercules; "A" is for the stamina of Atlas;
"Z" is for the power of Zeus; "A" is for the courage of
Achilles; and "M" is for the speed of Mercury.
Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero character of the
1940s, the Golden age of comic books. Captain Marvel comic books
outsold all others, including Superman comic books. In 1944,
Captain Marvel Adventures sold 14 million copies, and at one
point it was being published weekly with a circulation of 1.3
million copies every week.
One of the most intrieguing and contuinuting aspects of Captain
Marvel's appeal is his ability to travel back in time. He didn't
need any complicated machines or gagets. Aided by the power of
Zeus, which gave him the power for intereimensional travel, and
the speed of Mercury, which enabled him to fly faster than the
speed of light, Captain Marvel could simply fly out into space
until he had flown past the light eminating from a particular
time and place, and then turn around, fly back and stop at that
time and place. Some feat for a homeless boy!
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