No one seemed to notice or care, but DC finally used the full Captain Marvel name in a mainline book again in the latest Justice League Unlimited issue.No Shazam, no just Captain to imply the full name, just actually Captain Marvel, his original name.I wonder if the Marvel crossover had something to do with this, since Billy was called Captain Marvel in the Thor crossover.Maybe now we can focus on the more important problems about Billy's place in the DC Universe.
>>153461764Oh thank fucking Christ.
>>153461764Fawcett, Quality and Charlton comics are public domain. Marvel should also make Shazam comics.
>>153461764I thought DC could still call him Captain Marvel only as long as they didn't use that name in the title of his book, which is ridiculous seeing as how he was the first Captain Marvel.
They could always do this, they just chose not to. Nothing's changed.>>153462060DC's fault for being negligent about renewing the trademark. Marvel swiped it fair and square.
>>153462118>They could always do this, they just chose not to.I don't recall ever saying that they couldn't in the OP, just bringing up that they're doing it again.I also specifically said mainline, because DC did use the Captain Marvel (Jr.) name in DCeased while calling Billy Shazam in the mainline books.
>>153462118>DC's fault for being negligent about renewing the trademark. DC (as National, back in the 1950s) sued Fawcett Comics for so long claiming that Captain Marvel was a swipe of Superman that eventually Fawcett just stopped publishing comicsthe trademarks obviously weren't renewedin the 1960s Marvel Comics (who'd been Marvel Comics for several years, called after their own Marvel Mystery Comics, which pre-dates the first appearance of Fawcett's Captain Marvel by a month) began publishing their own Captain Marvel, in part as an obvious homage to a character who'd been out of print for well over a decade and was not expected to returnyears later in the early 1970s, Carmine Infantino hit on the brilliant idea of renting Fawcett's back catalog for reprint and getting a tv show made; the tv show ended up being called Shazam when, predictably, it turned out during the lawsuit that Infantino launched against Marvel that Marvel Comics owned the trademarkgenerously, Marvel Comics permitted DC Comics - out of respect for the Fawcett history, not DC - to continue to use the name for non-trademark purposes, as you state, a thing they have always been able to do since then>>153462060if DC didn't want to look ridiculous they should have never started this idiotic fight
>>153461764Cool
Lot of people call him Captain Marvel regardless of anything else anyway, since 'Shazam' sounds stupid.
>>153462233>generously, Marvel Comics permitted DC Comics - out of respect for the Fawcett history, not DC - to continue to use the name for non-trademark purposes, as you state, a thing they have always been able to do since thenConsidering the character is in the public domain, wouldn't it be a Dracula situation?
>>153462263Shazam is catchier, more unique, shorter thus easier to remember, and clearly memorable enough for people to think it was his actual name, it was basically meant to be a catchphrase for him after all.Saying "it's stupid" is also a weird thing to say, since superhero names are mostly inherently silly, like "Superman", or "Batman", or "Captain Marvel". Shazam isn't any different than other made-up comic terms like Kal-El. We just don't really think about that too much since we're so used to them.I prefer Captain Marvel, but let's not act like people didn't start calling him Shazam for no reason, it also doesn't help that most people mostly associate Captain Marvel with the actual Marvel company, normies mostly know Billy as Shazam now, the rest are all just ultra boomers or comic nerds who don't want to give up on Billy's original name.
>>153462335Look, you might have been part of that executive board meeting where you brainstormed the name together, but it is still a stupid name.Fucking 'Mr. Lightning' would've been better. 'Shazam' is dumb.
>>153462060This
>>153462355>where you brainstormed the name togetherThat's not how the name came up dude, it was mainly just DC accepting defeat on people calling him Shazam instead of Captain Marvel, which sucks.Wish they would make some new adaptation where they push Billy as Captain Marvel again, but get REALLY annoying about it, making it really clear about what his name actually is.
So can we change his Wikipedia page back now?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazam_(DC_Comics)
>>153462355>Mr. Lightning.Reminds me of DC's very own Captain Marvel knockoff: Captain Thunder.
>>153462394Ehhh, first we're gonna need DC to prove that this is the new norm going forward instead of just a fluke.And by that, I mean really commit to it, not just in the comics that no one reads, but in adaptations too, since that's how most people learn about these characters.The Shazam movies particularly reinforced the idea that his name is Shazam for the general public, and it doesn't seem like DC has any new Cap adaptations in the future, so it might take a while
>>153462313noonly one issue of Fawcett's Captain Marvel is public domain, so only the character as depicted in that issue is public domain, but the book ran for what 14 years after that?
Does this mean Freddy is Commander Marvel now?
I think Marvel is losing the rights to everything from now on because disney is full on debts mainly on the comic side
>>153462385doing that would likely breach the terms of the 1970s settlement and end DC's ability to use the character, let alone the name>>153462355what they could do is go right back to the original complain that killed him and claim he's a Superman knockoffjust call him Mr Superman or Captain Kal-El or whatever>>153462335Shazam was picked because it's his magic word in the comics and associated with the character, in addition to being catchy and (at the time, tho not any more) uniqueDC also did a terrible job of preventing Shazam from becoming genericized, so much so that an entirely unrelated company has traded for years under that name as a generic "magic word" for summoning music
>>153462539I think you should probably at least try to learn the basics of copyright law you fucking mong
>>153462548>doing that would likely breach the terms of the 1970s settlement and end DC's ability to use the character, let alone the nameHow? I'm not saying they should make a comic or game or movie named "Captain Marvel™", I'm saying they should make Shazam™ products where Billy goes out of his way to point out that his name is Captain Marvel, not Shazam.Again, as long as they don't use it in the title or something, it's fine, they've used Billy and called him Captain Marvel in adaptations before, they can do it, they just have to be more vocal and annoying about it.
>>153462533That I don't mind because I always thought Captain Marvel Jr. was a silly name.Made it sound like he was his son or something.
>>153461764The superhero name doesn't matter when writers aren't interested in writing about Billy Batson.
>>153462593That's the sad reality, Billy nowadays only exists to>job>lose his powers>give his powers to someone else>gush over the other heroesThere's no one at DC who is interested in Billy, they only see him as a way to make other characters cooler.
>>153462517>but in adaptations tooGood luck with that after Shazam 2 and Black Adam completely decimated the brand.
>>153462564sure marcuck
>>153461764This is because they've just given up on trying to make him a marketable character.
>>153462584That would likely still count as marketing. if the book is called Shazam but the content is at pains to make it clear it's being marketed as Captain Marvel, you're fucking yourself in the ass with a knife and calling it a loving marriage>>153462593thisthe character isn't for children and hasn't been for decades because the whole industry is aimed at adults
>>153462355>An iconic and unique word still strongly associated with the character is “stupid”Okay, dumdum.
>>153462641>I think you'll find we've become quite efficient at it
>>153463014>if the book is called Shazam but the content is at pains to make it clear it's being marketed as Captain MarvelThey've literally been doing that Pre-New 52 both in shows and books and has never been a problem.It's not marketing if Billy calls himself Captain Marvel in-universe, that's just a fact.
>>153461764But will it last?
>>153463014>because the whole industry is aimed at adultsThe fact that DC actually has two imprints, one for junior readers and other for YA readers, that had some success already that they can easily put Billy in is like the biggest joke.
>>153462641I know Curse of Shazam can be divisive with the fans but at least it was about Billy.
When Carol & Billy crossover comic?
