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Captain Marvel: time traveler extraordinaire

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Harry Potter isn't the first youthful hero with super powers whohas captured the hearts and minds of children. Back in the1940s, Billy Batson, a, homeless boy who eked out a living byselling newspapers, could turn into Captain Marvel , anadult superhero, simply by saying the word, "Shazam!" Captain Marvel first appeared in a comic book published byFawcett Comics in 1939. In the original episode, Billy Batson isselling papers one rainy night when a stranger in dark clothessuddenly appears and asks the youth to follow him down into thesubway station near Batson's news stand. There, an apparentlydriverless subway train takes Billy and the stranger to thesecret hideaway of the wizard Shazam, who discloses that he haschosen 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 Billysays "Shazam!" he is struck by a magic lightning bolt andtransformed into Captain Marvel. When he says "Shazam" a secondtime, he changes back into Billy. We soon learn that each letter in the word "Shazam" stands for alegendary figure who has agreed to grant his signature attributeto a willing


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subject. "S" is for the wisdom of Solomon; "H" isfor the strength of Hercules; "A" is for the stamina of Atlas;"Z" is for the power of Zeus; "A" is for the courage ofAchilles; and "M" is for the speed of Mercury. Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero character of the1940s, the Golden age of comic books. Captain Marvel comic booksoutsold all others, including Superman comic books. In 1944,Captain Marvel Adventures sold 14 million copies, and at onepoint it was being published weekly with a circulation of 1.3million copies every week. One of the most intrieguing and contuinuting aspects of CaptainMarvel's appeal is his ability to travel back in time. He didn'tneed any complicated machines or gagets. Aided by the power ofZeus, which gave him the power for intereimensional travel, andthe speed of Mercury, which enabled him to fly faster than thespeed of light, Captain Marvel could simply fly out into spaceuntil he had flown past the light eminating from a particulartime and place, and then turn around, fly back and stop at thattime and place. Some feat for a homeless boy! Interested in this subject? Try this link for more of the same . About the author: None

Written by: Barry Hooper

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