Captain Marvel (M. F. Enterprises)

Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel #1, note also the ersatz version of "Plastic Man"
Publication information
Publisher M. F. Enterprises
First appearance Captain Marvel #1 (April 1966)
Created by Carl Burgos
In-story information
Alter ego Prof. Roger Winkle
Species Alien android
Place of origin Unnamed planet destroyed by nuclear war
Team affiliations Earth, Dartmoor University
Partnerships Billy Baxton (kid sidekick), Tinyman (D.A. Jack Baker)
Notable aliases The Human Robot, Mr. Marvel
Abilities

Captain Marvel was a superhero published by Myron Fass' short-lived M. F. Enterprises. The character is unrelated to those published by Fawcett Comics, DC Comics, or Marvel Comics and only appeared in a few comics in the late 1960s before legal challenges shut down the publisher.[1]

Publication history

Captain Marvel lasted for four issues (cover-dated April–Nov. 1966).[2] It was followed by two issues of Captain Marvel Presents the Terrible Five, numbered #1 and #5 (Sept. 1966 and Sept. 1967).[3]

Fictional character biography

Captain Marvel was a jet-booted and laser-eyed alien android powered by an "M"-emblemed medallion who had been sent to Earth by his creators to escape the atomic destruction of their war-ravaged planet. Vowing to protect the peace of his new home, the self-proclaimed "Human Robot" took the secret identity of journalist turned Dartmoor University professor Roger Winkle. He fought crime using his superhuman strength, speed and durability and various built-in gadgetry like his super-intelligent computer brain programmed with the scientific knowledge of two worlds. His signature ability, however, was the power to detach his head, limbs and hands and send them flying off in all directions whenever he shouted "Split!" and reattach them when he shouted "Xam!"[4]

The M. F. Enterprises version of Captain Marvel made a cameo appearance, along with other alternate versions of Captain Marvel, in issue #27 of DC Comics' The Power of Shazam! (1997). The character is shown performing his trademark division trick while wearing the traditional thunderbolt costume of Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel.

Antagonists

Captain Marvel's villains included characters who resembled other companies' characters, or whose names were actually already in use by other companies, such as the elastic-limbed alien Plastic Man (Plastic Man), who was renamed Elasticman after his first appearance,[5] and the bristly-mustached mad scientist Dr. Fate (Doctor Fate), who was obsessed with learning the electronic secrets of the android.[5] The flying, hypnotic mastermind known as the Bat[6] resembled Batman enough to prompt a response from DC Comics attorneys threatening to sue for plagiarism. The character's name was changed to the Ray[7] (not to be confused with the Quality Comics character) along with the addition of a lightning bolt emblem on his chest.[8][9]

Other characters were somewhat less legally contentious. The handsome Prof. Doom[10] of the subversive organization B.I.R.D. (Bureau of International Revolutionary Devices) secretly performed on-campus mind control experiments which endangered Prof. Winkle's relationship with the university president's daughter Linda Knowles. Tarzac, the bald, amphibious, self-styled "King of the Sharks", rode a giant seahorse and protected an underwater fortress.[11] Nuclear physicist turned metal-mouthed pirate Atom-Jaw could bite through solid steel.[5] And Tinyman was a miniature human being who, in an inversion of Ant-Man and the Atom's powers, could grow to normal adult male size and quickly shrink back down again and who, with the hero's help, later reformed to become the local district attorney.[7]

Captain Marvel's nemesis, the only foe he actually "hated" (because he was pre-programmed to by his makers), was the burly, flame-throwing Destroyer, an android like himself, a literally fiery-eyed, skullcap-clad weapon of mass destruction created by the enemy Volcano People of the hero's home planet who also escaped the death of their world and was now allied with Earth's own hostile subterranean race.[12]

References

  1. ↑ MacDougall, A. Kent (November 13, 1967). "Bam! Pow! Two Captain Marvels Do Battle in Lawsuit Over Use of Name in Comic Book". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016.
  2. ↑ Captain Marvel (M. F. Enterprises, 1966) at the Grand Comics Database.
  3. ↑ Captain Marvel Presents the Terrible Five #1 (Sept. 1966) and Captain Marvel Presents the Terrible Five #5 (Sept. 1967) at the Grand Comics Database.
  4. ↑ Howlett, Mike, The Weird World of Eerie Publications, Feral House, 2010 p. 281
  5. 1 2 3 Captain Marvel #2 (June 1966)
  6. ↑ Captain Marvel #3 (Sept. 1966)
  7. 1 2 Captain Marvel #4 (Nov. 1966)
  8. ↑ Howlett, Mike, The Weird World of Eerie Publications, Feral House, 2010 p. 282
  9. ↑ "DIAL B for BLOG - THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMIC BLOGAZINE". Dialbforblog.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  10. ↑ Captain Marvel presents The Terrible Five #1 (Aug. 1966)
  11. ↑ Captain Marvel presents The Terrible Five vol. 2, #5 (Sept. 1967)
  12. ↑ Captain Marvel presents The Terrible Five Vol.2, No. 5 Sept. 1967
  • Captain Marvel (1966) at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012.
  • M.F.'s Captain Marvel at the International Catalog of Superheroes
  • Cronin, Brian (November 12, 2010). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #286 > Comic Legend: A short-lived 1960s Captain Marvel series caused all sorts of trademark issues with names". CBR.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
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