Libra X wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:04 pm Also, may I please ask if this thread is the right place to discuss your thought on Willie Fawcett (aka Captain Thunder) from SUPERMAN #276?
I’ve become rather fascinated by the pastiche of Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) DC created when they ALREADY owned the rights to The Big Red Cheese* and would love to see your thoughts on the character (Not to mention share my own - I’d really love to see him slotted in on Earth 36 of THE MULTIVERSITY, where it strikes me he would be a very natural fit).
*Any superhero who spends his nights battling Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy and The Wolf Man knows how to give readers a good time; I’m also intrigued by the notion of a world where Earth’s Mightiest Mortal has to be assembled from elements of the Superman mythos (My impression was that Captain Thunder is THE local hero of Metropolis on a world where Superman does not exist, but which otherwise contains all the elements associated with Superman comics - amongst other things, given the presence of Big Red).
Giving us a place to discuss Willie Fawcett, per Libra X's request, but keeping Ares' thread separate.Ken wrote: ↑Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:07 pm My next exposure was a copy of Superman #276 [my dad bought it; how much was because he wanted to give it to his almost 6 year old son, and how much was because he was a Captain Marvel fan from waaay back is debatable], though this was technically Captain Thunder, since Julie Schwartz got cold feet or something
As I said, I believe the story in Superman #276 was originally done as a Captain Marvel which was reworked into the story we received because the editor (Julius Schwartz) got cold feet about actually having the two meet.
Plus, it should be noted that DC was licensing the Marvel Family from Fawcett in those days. DC wouldn't own the characters until the mid-80s. So it could be that the Fawcett people nixed the idea of Billy and Clark meeting.
I'm pretty sure that the use of the Universal monsters was a shorthand way to change the Monster Society of Evil into the Monster League of Evil withou having to come up with expys of Mr. Mind, Captain Nazi, Sivana, etc.