9 Reasons Why Comic Books Hate Shazam

By T Campbell /

6. He Lost His Name

Taking no chances of brand confusion, Marvel Comics had trademarked the name €œCaptain Marvel€ and applied it to a character of its own, an alien superhero who just so happened to be a military captain and go by the name €œMar-Vell,€ which, one surmises, is like €œJoe Smith€ on his planet. When Mar-Vell succumbed to cancer, wouldn€™t you know it? He was so inspirational to the superhero community that six other Marvel characters (and counting) took the name, like a crowd of adults playing keep-away with a ten-year-old boy€™s favorite ball. This essentially meant that not only could Captain Marvel not speak his mentor€™s name, but he couldn€™t appear in a comic book title that used his own name. Those interested in the character's future like Jerry Ordway, author of The Power of Shazam, struggled under this restriction for decades.