Shazam: 7 Things You Need To Know

7. He's Not A DC Creation

Despite now being owned by the comics giant, DC were not the original creators of Shazam, with the character having initially fallen under the ownership of Fawcett Publications in their series Whiz Comics.

Shazam's creation stemmed from the successes of superhero comics like Batman and Superman, the sales of which inspired Fawcett to create a comic-specific division and, in 1939, debut the character in Whiz Comics #2. This series proved to be insanely popular, outselling every other book of the era but, as often, this success came with its share of troubles, and in 1941 DC sued the publishers, claiming the character was a knockoff of Superman.

After seven years, the case finally went to court and was actually initially won by Fawcett, but after an appeal by DC and a few retrials, the two companies settled the matter outside of court, with DC gaining $400,000 in damages and Fawcett eventually shutting down its comic division due to its declining sales.

In 1974, DC revived the character under the series title of Shazam! - continuing to use him to this day.