The League of Regrettable Superheroes by Jon Morris
Author:Jon Morris [Morris, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-59474-783-0
Publisher: Quirk Books
Published: 2015-06-01T16:00:00+00:00
CAPTAIN MARVEL
“SPLIT!” “XAM!”
Created by: Carl Burgos and Roger Elwood
Debuted in: Captain Marvel #1 (M. F. Enterprises, April 1966)
Personal existential dilemma: If mine eye offend me, should it fly away and fight crime?
© 1966 by M. F. Enterprises
ORE THAN A FEW superheroes have taken to the skies using the name “Captain Marvel.” Most, naturally enough, have been published under the auspices of the Marvel Comics Group, which is intent on preserving its corporate identity in an often crowded marketplace. The original, of course, was the red-suited, lightning-bolt-emblazoned hero whose magic word “Shazam!” echoed in the ears of fans, from comic pages to movie serials to Saturday morning TV.
The Captain Marvel shown here, however, was a short-lived sound-alike from publisher Myron Fass’s fly-by-night comics company, eponymously titled M. F. Enterprises. He was crafted by Carl Burgos, whose “Human Torch” creation was one of the three key superheroes published by Timely Comics (primogenitor of Marvel Comics). This new Captain Marvel was something of an amalgam of the two: he bore the first Captain Marvel’s name and, like him, was powered by a shouting a magic word. Additionally, like the so-called Human Torch, this Captain Marvel was an android.
Captain Marvel—who was also an alien from another world, just to ensure all bases were covered—possessed possibly the most unique and disturbing superpower in comics history: his limbs fell off. With a cry of “SPLIT!” the good captain’s arms, legs, and head would fly free of his torso to tackle a multitude of foes, flip distant switches, or generally create a sense of profound unease. When the individual body parts had achieved their collective goal, the head would holler “XAM!”—not a far cry from the original Captain Marvel’s magic word—and the pieces would reunite.
The Captain wasn’t the only character in his book to borrow a name from a more popular superhero comic. His kid sidekick was a young fellow named “Billy Baxton” (not dissimilar from the original Cap’s secret identity, Billy Batson), and his foes included such familiar super-sobriquets as Plastic Man, Dr. Doom, and Dr. Fate. In fact, his most dreaded enemy was originally called “The Bat,” but a cease-and-desist order from DC Comics reminded M. F. Enterprises that it was treading dangerously close to a certain caped crusader. The villain’s name was changed to “The Ray” (also the name of a onetime popular superhero).
Ultimately, the troubled Captain M lasted for only a handful of issues. The publisher folded after less than a year, with a measly three titles to its name.
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