In the midst of dueling Captain Marvel franchises, KINO-LORBER scores!

With two Captain Marvel franchises in the works for 2019, one from Marvel ...loosely based on the title originated in the 60's after the acquisition of Fawcett's old trademark through reregistering the name with a new character... and the other from DC ...loosely based on Fawcett's character won through a lengthy lawsuit and reintroduced as SHAZAM! since they somehow failed to license the character's name (Holy Moley!)... KINO has scored with their upcoming Blu-Ray release of The Adventures of Captain Marvel, the classic cliffhanger serial loosely based on Fawcett's original character!

This is a major coups in the sense that this will be the closest version to the original character in costume and concept as the serial paid much closer attention to the basic design and origin of the character as conceived by artist C.C. Beck. Captain Marvel was to be Fawcett's answer to DC's Man of Steel and indeed for a number of years Captain Marvel and his Marvelous family bested DC's Superman in sales! In fact, for most of the war years WHIZ comics, which featured Captain Marvel, was published bi-weekly! Alas, post-war Superman's legal team did a full court press to remove the good Captain from newsstands across America and eventually developed a strong enough legal case of character similarity against Fawcett for the perceived infringement on DC's Superman copyright, that the publisher gave up in 1953 (a low ebb in superhero comic sales probably being the deciding factor).

So, how does the 75 year old serial stack up? Well, Republic Studio's character is more ruthless in true pulp-hero fashion than the good-boyish innocent of Beck's comic hero, but the costume and look of the character is uncannily accurate. For whatever differences between the serial and comic book, Tom Tyler IS Captain Marvel. Setting aside the limitations of 1940's B&W serial production, Captain Marvel succeeds 'ahem' marvelously. Mostly serious, there are moments of humor and adroit sarcasm from the character, but nothing silly or camp (Republic was known for playing it straight, emphasizing action/adventure).

While this has been available on DVD from a variety of sources, it has never been offered in high resolution from the best 35mm sources. Unlike a lot of studio's lost treasures most of Republic's features and serials have supposedly been archived and preserved in good shape, so by all accounts this should look fantastic. While mentioning this, I'd be remiss in failing to note an equally important upcoming BD serial release from KINO-Lorber, Daredevils of the Red Circle. This is one of the very best Republic serials from their early days ('39) featuring some of the wildest cliffhangers every attempted. Only previous available as a legit release through Republic Home Video on VHS (remember videotape?), this high definition transfer is welcome news.


Cat

 

Few minor corrections: DC did not win the rights to the Captain Marvel character through the lawsuit. Rather, they paid to license them from Fawcett publishing in 1973. The license included use of the character's name. However, by that point Fawcett no longer owned the trademark to the phrase "Captain Marvel" since they'd lost it to disuse and Marvel had established their own trademark for that phrase. Lack of a trademark meant DC could not use the phrase "Captain Marvel" as the main title of a comic nor to advertise or merchandise the character, but they could (and did) use it within comic stories themselves. For a short time, DC worked out a deal with Marvel whereby they paid Marvel to use "The Original Captain Marvel" as the subtitle of their Shazam series. But after seven issues, low sales on the book convinced them it was not cost effective, and they abandoned that agreement and eliminated the subtitle. Since then, the phrase "Captain Marvel" has never appeared on the cover of any DC comic. In the early 80s DC finally purchased the copyright to the character from Fawcett outright, but of course they still do not own the trademark to "Captain Marvel."

 

Not necessarily during the titles, but The Adventures of Captain Marvel has some jaw dropping flying sequences. Howard and Theodore Lydecker, Republic Studio's special effects guys, were some of the best in the business. And stuntman David Sharpe, who doubled for Tom Tyler in some spectacular scenes, helped make this one of the best serials ever done.

Not far behind is Daredevils of the Red Circle. Again, great special effects (even stuff that was "borrowed" in much later features), good cliffhangers, and entertaining plots make these worthwhile. If you're unfamiliar with the old serials, you're in for a treat. Really fun stuff.

 

And I believe they voluntarily decided to just call him "Shazam" after the reboot.

 

While DC technically didn't win Captain Marvel through the lawsuit, the judgment effectively put Fawcett's Marvel Family out of business. DC would later license the rights to Captain Marvel as no other comic publisher could acquire those characters but DC did slip-up by not acquiring those rights before Marvel developed a character with that name in the 1960's.

DC won a substantial judgment in the lawsuit with Fawcett, but I'm confident that DC's editor's didn't voluntarily choose the name "Shazam" for the character. Shazam has always been the word Billy Batson used to call on Captain Marvel's powers. Marvel now owns the name Captain Marvel as a licensed trademark.

Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics) - Wikipedia »

Captain Marvel (DC Comics) - Wikipedia »


Cat

 

Very true, loads of fun.

I'm hopeful that Olive and KINO-Lorber's efforts bodes well for BD releases of other languishing cliffhangers of yesteryear. There are so many deserving 12, 13 & 15 chapter productions from Republic, Columbia and Universal. Some are surprisingly good given the low budgets and short shooting schedule.


Cat

 

I'm not talking way back when. I'm referring to the current situation where DC has elected to no longer refer to the character as Captain Marvel. When they reset the universe a few years back, he was just "Shazam."

Captain Marvel (DC Comics) - Wikipedia »

 

Point taken, but resetting/rebooting/reimagining runs completely counterpoint to the goals of this thread. I'm trying to make a case for the nostalgic roots of comic characters envisioned in films many decades ago. Admittedly, some were done poorly back then (Columbia's Batman serials licensed through DC, for instance), others done extremely well (Republic's Adventures of Captain Marvel and Spysmasher serials licensed through Fawcett).

The historical facts are what they are & rebooted characters don't fit cuz they're the wrong size (Captain Marvel will never be "Shazam" to fans of the original character, ...and friends don't let friends reset the universe).


Cat

 

True, that. And Alan Scott will never be a homosexual and will always be married to Rose Thorn! I actually got to meet and talk for some time with Irwin Hassen (Green Lantern, Justice Society, Dondi) at a con several years back. Interesting chap.

 

Thanks, seed_drill. So far KINO-Lorber is only promising two HD mastered serial releases on Blu-Ray ...Olive has also issued two from the 50's..., but if sales are strong enough I'm sure more will follow. Apparently Republic's 35mm archives are in pretty good shape (some serials were issued by Republic Home Video in the 80's and early 90's on VHS and LD). Hopefully the licensers will choose the best serials from the 30's & 40's peak years for HD transfers.

Besides the previously mentioned Spy Smasher, my dream list would probably include Rod Cameron's two serials, G-Men vs the Black Dragon and Secret Service in Darkest Africa, as well as The Masked Marvel, The Crimson Ghost, Fighting Devil Dogs, the four 15 chapter D. Tracy serials (especially the last three), Manhunt on Mystery Island, King of the Rocket Men, Zorro's Fighting Legion, and, if 35mm elements still exist, Drums of Fu Manchu. Anyone else have favorites they've seen on earlier formats (VHS, LD, DVD)?


Cat

 

A western serial, Universal's Flaming Frontiers, is a very good one with two villains. One is Charles "Ming" Middleton.

Another good Republic serial, even with a "trashcan" robot, is Mysterious Dr. Satan. The villain, played by Eduardo Cianelli, is excellent.

A friend and I were watching the mentioned King of the Rocket Men, with flying sfx done by the wonderful Lydecker brothers. In one scene he's flying down a long hill, into the back of a truck. We both popped out of our chairs at the same time. It was amazing!

 

Another minor correction, but DC did not win the lawsuit with Fawcett. Rather, Fawcett and DC agreed to an out-of-court settlement which involved Fawcett agreeing to cease publication of the character and pay monetary damages to DC. There is of course no way of knowing if DC would have prevailed in court had the case gone forward. Given the declining sales of Captain Marvel at the time, Fawcett decided it was not worth the trouble/expense of continuing, and that cutting their losses and settling was the best course of action.

 

The settlement was to avoid further litigation, but for all intent DC won based on the appeal. Who would want to attempt appealing the ruling of a Judge named "Learned Hand?"

Yep, the Lydeckers were well ahead of their time. Most A-list productions of the era didn't have FX as realistic as what they managed to achieve on a shoestring budget.

I'll have to check out Mysterious Doctor Satan. Thanks for the recommendation!


Cat

 

I'm amazed someone at Kino had the good sense to license this Captain Marvel serial with the big-budget Hollywood films coming soon.

DC was basically forced by their corporate overlords to change Captain Marvel's name to Shazam when the movie division realized they could never use that name as the title of the movie.

 

I've always had a soft spot for William Benedict. I though he was great alongside Dane Clark in this Oscar Winning Warner Brothers short.

 

I'm a little hesitant to bring Quinton Tarrantino into this discussion of classic serials, but since William Witney is one of Tarrantino's favorite directors and Witney directed or co-directed many of the great Republic serials, this article might be a worthwhile read:

QT discusses William Witney - The Quentin Tarantino Archives »

Here's a bit more about Witney's serials and direction from his biographical webpage:

William Witney Official Website : Bio »


Cat

 

From what I read a long time ago, both sides had arguments in their favor. If I remember correctly:

• DC's argument:
  
  • Superman and Captain Marvel have basically the same powers, although Superman developed vision powers later.
  • Both are reporters
  • Both have a bald-headed scientist as their main enemy.
• Fawcett's argument:
  • Billy Batson physically transforms into Captain Marvel, while Clark Kent just removes his outer clothing to become Superman.
  • Captain Marvel's powers come from magic, while Superman's are based on science.
  • Their origins are very different, with Captain Marvel being granted powers by a wizard while Superman came from another planet.

 

Thanks for the reminder about this great series!

 

I remember as a kid being confused by the whole "Captain Marvel" overlaps. Shazam! was being re-booted by D.C. as an intentionally retro book, while Captain Marvel's profile in the Marvel universe was being raised via his own comic as well as crossover appearances in other books. Both were utilizing the alter-ego concept as well.

 

Yeah, trademark and copyright ownership issues can just as easily damage a character's historical image as protect it. When competition pits art against commerce the public can only vote with their wallets or acquiesce to market forces.

There are a number of classic serials that are only known to exist in well worn 16mm dupes because the negatives were either destroyed or returned to copyright holders long ago. Examples (Republic): The Lone Ranger serials, Drums of Fu Manchu, and Captain America.


Cat

 

It's not just an issue with Captain Marvel, but with a majority of DC characters. DC has had at least eight universe-altering events (Crisis On Infinite Earths, Zero Hour - Crisis In Time, The Kingdom, Infinite Crisis, 52, Flashpoint, Convergence and Rebirth), and each one layers complexity on top of complexity. To illustrate: Legion Of Super-Heroes is the series that I followed for decades, and now there are four different version of the Legion all in existence at the same time:

• The original Legion (which was drastically affected by Crisis On Infinite Earths, to the point of being so damaged that it couldn't be fixed. This led to...)
  
• The rebooted Legion (a complete reboot of the series due to the events of Zero Hour)
  
• The three-booted Legion (which is the Legion from the real world's future)
  
• The Legion where Crisis On Infinite Earth never happened.

The above makes it difficult to follow the story since continuity keeps changing (with some events being both in continuity and not in continuity at the same time).

With Captain Marvel, before Crisis On Infinite Earths he was the greatest superhero on Earth-S, a retro world where (according to The Flash [Barry Allen]) science is an adjunct to magic (and all of Captain Marvel's history was in continuity). Due to this, he is more effective on Earth-S than Superman is. Putting Captain Marvel on the same world as Superman takes away what makes Captain Marvel stand out.

 

Sometimes, amidst all of the reboots, alternate Earths, costume makeovers, gender and race explorations, it's good to get back to a character's roots to see what influenced audiences to love the concept to begin with.


Cat

 

I strongly agree. I miss the days when I could pick up my favorite comic book and enjoy it without having to read a massive number of other comics. While there was some interaction between titles (usually within the same family of comics), there wasn't the mass of continuity that exists now. One of the reasons I enjoyed Legion Of Super-Heroes (LSH) is that, due to it being set in the 30th Century, it was a self-contained series that rarely interacted with the rest of the DC Universe (in fact, it was events in the rest of the DC Universe that led to the end of the LSH that I enjoyed).

 

I also thought that modernizing the character took quite a bit of the appeal away. The original Fawcett issues by CC Beck and Otto Binder are really fun and whimsical and they contrast nicely with Captain Marvel, Jr. who was much more naturalistic with the Mac Raboy artwork and somewhat more serious stories (for the time). The 70s Shazam title by D.C. tried to stay true to the concept but slowly became more of a standard superhero title before it was cancelled. With few exceptions, the character in the last 30 years has just been a Superman stand-in.