''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' is a 1941 American 12-chapter

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

from

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

, produced by Hiram S. Brown, Jr., directed by John English and

William Witney William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: ''Dick Tracy Returns'', ''G-Men vs. the Black ...

, that stars

Tom Tyler Tom Tyler (born Vincent Markowski; August 9, 1903 – May 1, 1954) was an American actor known for his leading roles in low-budget Western films in the silent and sound eras, and for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the 1941 ...

in the title role of Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as his alter ego, Billy Batson. The serial was adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character, then appearing in the

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

publications ''

Whiz Comics ''Whiz Comics'' was an anthology comic book series published by former American comic book publishing company, Fawcett Publications between February 1940 until June 1953. It is widely known for being the comic run in which hugely popular superhero ...

'' and ''Captain Marvel Adventures''. The character is now owned by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

and is known as Shazam. ''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' was the 21st of 66 film serials produced by Republic and their first

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

character adaptation (not counting

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

s). The serial featured the Fawcett Comics superhero, placed within an original screen story. It is considered the first comic book superhero movie. Captain Marvel fights a masked criminal mastermind called the Scorpion, who is determined to gain control of an ancient weapon. It is made in the form of a large metallic scorpion with adjustable legs, tail, and removable lenses that must be properly aligned in order to activate its powerful ray.

Plot

During an archaeological expedition to find the lost secret of the Scorpion Kingdom in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

's volcanic Valley of the Tombs, a device of great power called the Golden Scorpion is discovered hidden inside a sealed crypt. While examining it, the device's

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

are aligned and a beam of powerful energy releases from the device that causes an explosion that reseals the crypt. This allows young radio broadcaster and expedition member Billy Batson, who obeyed the warning on the crypt's seal not to enter, to be chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam. The wizard grants Billy the powers of Captain Marvel whenever he repeats the wizard's name. Captain Marvel's powers can be used only to protect those in danger from the curse of the Golden Scorpion. The crypt's entrance is quickly cleared, then Captain Marvel utters "Shazam!" and returns to his previous state as Billy Batson

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

. The Golden Scorpion's power lenses are divided among the scientists of the Malcolm Archaeological Expedition so that its power can only be used by an agreement of the entire group. When the scientists return to the U.S, An all-black-garbed-and-hooded criminal mastermind called the Scorpion, steals their ancient device and sets about stealing the distributed lenses. Several expedition members are killed in the Scorpion's quest, despite Captain Marvel's continual efforts to thwart his plan. Deducing that the Scorpion always seems to know what happens during the scientists' meetings, Billy later confides to his friends, Betty Wallace and Whitey Murphy, his suspicion that the Scorpion may be one of the Malcolm archaeological team. Discovering that one of the Golden Scorpion's power lenses was purposely left behind, cleverly hidden in the very crypt where it was first discovered, Billy Batson and the surviving scientists agree it must be retrieved. They return by cargo ship to Siam where, near landfall, they barely survive a

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

before finally being rescued by Captain Marvel. They eventually retrieve the hidden lens, but it is stolen by the Scorpion. By accident, from a distance, the Scorpion observes Captain Marvel transforming back into Billy Batson. Capturing Billy and gagging him, the Scorpion interrogates him about his secret. Billy's tape gag is removed when he agrees to talk. "Shazam"! is his only response, and he transforms in a flash of light and smoke into Captain Marvel. The Scorpion's identity is then revealed to be one of the last surviving scientists, who is killed by a Siamese native who turns the idol's ray on him, vaporizing him. Captain Marvel tosses the Golden Scorpion and its power lenses into a volcano's molten lava to prevent them from ever being used for evil. Upon its destruction, Captain Marvel is instantly transformed back into Billy Batson forever, the danger from the device's curse having now been eliminated.

Chapters

# "Curse of the Scorpion" (30 min.) # "The Guillotine" (16 min.) # "Time Bomb" (17 min.) # "Death Takes the Wheel" (16 min.) # "The Scorpion Strikes" (16 min.) # "Lens of Death" (16 min.) # "Human Targets" (17 min.) # "Boomerang" (17 min.) # "Dead Man's Trap" (16 min.) # "Doom Ship" (16 min.) # "Valley of Death" (16 min.) # "Captain Marvel's Secret" (16 min.) _Source:

Cast

as Captain Marvel :* Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Billy Batson *

William Benedict William Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999), was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series. Early years Benedict was born in Haskell, Oklahoma, After his father's dea ...

as Whitey Murphy *

Louise Currie Louise Currie (born Louise Gunter; April 7, 1913 – September 8, 2013) was an American film actress, active from 1940 into the early 1950s. Biography Currie was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of Charles W. Gunter, a banker, ...

as Betty Wallace * Robert Strange as John Malcolm *

Harry J. Worth Harry J. Worth (6 February 1903 - 3 November 1975), was a British-born actor, appeared in British productions 1916-1929 and later appeared in a number of feature films after moving to Hollywood in 1935 to 1963. He was generally credited as Harr ...

as Prof Luther Bentley * Bryant Washburn as Harry Carlyle * John Davidson as Tal Chotali * George Pembroke as Dr. Stephen Lang * Peter George Lynn as Prof Dwight Fisher *

Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...

as Rahman Bar *

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

as Howell * Kenneth Duncan as Barnett *

Nigel De Brulier Nigel De Brulier (born Francis George Packer; 8 August 1877 – 30 January 1948) was an English stage and film actor who began his career in the United Kingdom before relocating to the United States. Biography De Brulier was born in Frenchay, a ...

as Shazam *

Tetsu Komai (23 April 1894 – 10 August 1970), also known as Tetsuo Komai, was a Japanese-American actor, known for his minor roles in Hollywood films. Biography Born in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Komai had small parts in over 50 films from the 1920s until the ...

as Chan Lai *

Stanley Price Stanley Price (December 31, 1892July 13, 1955) was an American film supporting actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1956. He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. Career Price was an actor whose artistic career sp ...

as Owens *

Gerald Mohr Gerald Mohr (June 11, 1914 – November 9, 1968) was an American radio, film, and television character actor and frequent leading man, who appeared in more than 500 radio plays, 73 films, and over 100 television shows. Early years Mohr wa ...

as The Voice of The Scorpion (uncredited) *

Ken Terrell Kenneth Jones Terrell (April 29, 1904 – March 8, 1966) was an American western and action film actor and stuntman best known for playing Joe Marcelli in the 1956 film ''Indestructible Man ''Indestructible Man'' is a 1956 American cri ...

as Bentley's Butler (uncredited)

Production

''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' was budgeted at $135,553, although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural h ...

was $145,588 (a $10,035, or 7.4%, overspend). It was filmed between December 23, 1940, and January 30, 1941, under the working title ''Captain Marvel''. The serial's production number was 1098. The serial was the outgrowth of Republic's lengthy failed attempt at licensing National Periodical Publications' (

today)

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

character.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

successfully tied up all the character's theatrical exhibition rights for its series of color Superman animated cartoons, produced for them by

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

. The license that National Comics had provided to Paramount was exclusive and prevented other film companies from using the Superman character, even in a non-animated production.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). ''Of Mice and Magic''. New York: Plume. pp. 120–122. Undaunted, Republic's completed script was reworked with various changes; it now had an original masked hero, the Copperhead, standing in for Superman, subsequently becoming the ''

Mysterious Doctor Satan ''Mysterious Doctor Satan'' (also known as ''Doctor Satan's Robot'') is a 1940 American film serial directed by William Witney and John English. Produced by Republic Pictures, the serial stars Edward Ciannelli, Robert Wilcox, William Newell, C ...

'' serial. The studio then approached Fawcett Comics about filming their most popular superhero, and they agreed. Director

, however, was skeptical about trying to adapt Captain Marvel after the problems encountered with Superman.Witney, William. ''In a Door, Into a Fight, Out a Door, Into a Chase: Moviemaking Remembered by the Guy at the Door''. (McFarland & Company) In spite of this, ''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' became the first superhero film adaptation of a

character. National attempted legal action to prevent Republic from developing their arch rival's most successful character, citing Republic's failure at adapting a Superman serial. Their attempt was unsuccessful, however, and Captain Marvel went into production. Writing in his autobiography of the period, William Witney revealed that in his court deposition he had claimed that both Superman and Captain Marvel were derivatives of

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar. About a decade later, following an ongoing legal battle with National and a declining comics market, Fawcett ceased publication of all its comic book titles. In the 1970s the dormant Captain Marvel family of characters was licensed and revived by DC Comics, which they ultimately wound up purchasing, adding a final chapter to the Fawcett/DC saga. The opening military scenes in the serial were reused footage lifted from Republic's 1938 film ''

Storm Over Bengal Storm Over Bengal is a 1938 adventure film that was nominated at the 11th Academy Awards for Best Score, the nomination was for Cy Feuer. Set during the British Raj, the film's working title was ''Bengal Lancer Patrol''.p. 15 ''San Antonio Ligh ...

''.

Casting

Republic cast Frank Coghlan as Billy Batson due to his physical resemblance to the character. There was, however, some criticism that Tom Tyler did not sufficiently resemble the "beefy, baby-faced Captain Marvel". At the time, Tyler was a weightlifting champion and the serial costume matched Captain Marvel's original comic book appearance, right down to his being slender. By the time of the serial's release, the appearance of Captain Marvel had changed due to Fawcett comics artist

C. C. Beck Charles Clarence Beck (June 8, 1910 – November 22, 1989) was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel (today known as Shazam!) at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics. Early li ...

changing the way he drew the character. Tyler was described as clumsy, knocking over props with his "lanky arms". Punches in fight scenes would sometimes connect. Due to his convincing performance in ''

King of the Royal Mounted ''King of the Royal Mounted'' is an American comics series which debuted February 17, 1935 by Stephen Slesinger, based on popular Western writer Zane Grey's byline and marketed as ''Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted''. The series' protagonist i ...

'', actor Robert Strange (as John Malcolm) was the obvious choice to be the identity of the Scorpion, but by the end of the serial he was just a diversion and not actually the villain.

Special effects

Republic's flying effects, under the direction of Howard and Theodore Lydecker, were performed using a dummy that was slightly larger than life (at 7 feet tall) and made of paper mâché so that it weighed only 15 lbs. The uniform was made of thin silk and cotton jersey. Four pulleys were connected to each shoulder and leg calf, which were then strung on two wires so the dummy moved along them by its own weight. The wires were attached to two opposite objects running across the camera's field of view, and the dummy then slid from one to the other, giving the illusion of flight. This system was originally intended for use in their Superman serial; a prototype dummy was even built but later discarded. The flying pose used for the dummy (arms outstretched and back arched) was based upon a Captain Marvel drawing by comics artist

Mac Raboy Emmanuel "Mac" Raboy (April 9, 1914 – December 12, 1967) was an American comics artist best known for his comic-book work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Jr.Brent Frankenhoff & Maggie Thompson ''The Greatest Comic Book Covers Of All Time''. I ...

. If the dummy needed to be seen flying upwards, the cape was convincingly weighted and the dummy was then slid backwards. The film sequence was then optically printed in reverse, completing the flying illusion. Stuntman David Sharpe was the human part of the effect. Dressed as Captain Marvel, he would leap from a high point with his body straight, as if able to fly, then roll to land at the last second. The combination of flying effects and stunts produced the overall illusion of a flying person. Sharpe also performed other stunts as Captain Marvel, such as back flipping and knocking down attacking Siamese tribesmen in the first chapter. Some shots of Captain Marvel flying were filmed with Tom Tyler posed against rear-projected clouds. Some of these scenes, however, show the suspension wires used to hold him up. According to author Raymond William Stedman, the flight scenes were "the most successful illusion of such aerobatics ever put upon the screen, in serial or feature". The technique had been developed in their earlier serial ''

Darkest Africa ''Darkest Africa'' (1936) is a Republic movie serial. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called ''The Lost Jungle'', also starring Clyde Beatty. Mascot, and other companies, ...

'' (

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

) and was later used again in their "rocket man" serials (''

King of the Rocket Men ''King of the Rocket Men'' is a 1949 12-chapter black-and-white movie serial from Republic Pictures, produced by Franklin Adreon, directed Fred C. Brannon, that stars Tristram Coffin, Mae Clarke, Don Haggerty, House Peters, Jr., James Craven ...

'', ''

Radar Men from the Moon ''Radar Men from the Moon'' is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody, Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, and serial veteran Roy Barcroft ...

'', ''

Zombies of the Stratosphere ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Studios serial directed by Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson, and special effects by Republic's Lydecker brothers. It was intended to be Republic's second ser ...

'', and '' Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe'') released from

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

through

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

. By contrast, the lower-budget

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

'' serials, which eventually appeared in the late 1940s, used unconvincing cartoon animation sequences to represent various live actions; the animated scenes of Superman-in-flight were vastly inferior to those for Republic's live-action sequences in ''Captain Marvel''. Columbia produced the cheapest serials of the era, and producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

was notorious for cutting costs to the bone.

Costume

One of Captain Marvel's

tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...

s later appeared as the costume of a member of the Kryptonian science counsel in the first episode of '' The Adventures of Superman'' television series, filmed in 1951. The lightning bolt on the tunic is partially concealed by means of an oversize collar around the actor's neck. After the usage in the ''Superman'' TV series, two Captain Marvel tunics were worn by actors in early episodes of the pioneering U. S.

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

TV series '' Space Patrol''. Very early into the series, those Marvel tunics were replaced by custom made shirts. At the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington, one of the remaining Captain Marvel tunics is on public display.

Release

Theatrical releases

''Adventures of Captain Marvel''s official release date was March 28, 1941, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. The serial was re-released on April 15, 1953, under the title ''Return of Captain Marvel'', between the first runs of ''

Jungle Drums of Africa ''Jungle Drums of Africa'' is a 1953 12-episode American serial film shot in black-and-white. It was an original commissioned screenplay by Ronald Davidson produced by Franklin Adreon and directed by Fred C. Brannon for Republic Pictures. The ...

'' and ''

Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders ''Canadian Mounties vs Atomic Invaders'' (1953) is a Republic Movie serial starring Bill Henry and both produced and directed by Franklin Adreon. It was the sixty-second serial (of sixty-six) produced by Republic. Despite the title, this is ...

''. Due to the superhero nostalgia craze in the U. S. during the spring of 1966, resulting from the hit ''Batman'' television series, the serial was quickly re-released again, this time as a complete, nearly four-hour-long feature film. All 12 chapters were just strung together, each opening with the prior chapter's ending scenes and a plot synopsis, forcing audiences to sit through a summation of what they had just watched in the previous chapter.

Home media

released the serial as a two-tape VHS set in 1995 and then again in 2003 on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

as a two-disc set.

Kino International The Kino International is a film theater in Berlin, built from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Karl-Marx-Allee in former East Berlin. It hosted premieres of the DEFA film studios until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today it is a protec ...

released the serial on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on September 19, 2017; it contains a

commentary track An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

provided by film historians Jerry Beck, Chris Eberle, Shane Kelly, Boyd Magers,

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

, Adam Murdough, Constantine Nasr, Donnie Waddell, Tom Weaver, and J.D. Witney.

Critical reception

Authors

Jim Harmon James Judson Harmon (21 April 1933 – 16 February 2010), better known as Jim Harmon, was an American short story author and popular culture historian who wrote extensively about the Golden Age of Radio. He sometimes used the pseudonym Judson Grey ...

and

Donald F. Glut Donald F. Glut (; born February 19, 1944) is an American writer, motion picture film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing The Empire Strikes Back (novel), the novelization of the second ''Star Wars'' film, ''The Empire Strikes ...

claim that ''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' is "unquestionably one of the finest movie serials ever made, possibly the best with the exception of the three

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

epics". Author William C. Cline describes this as one of the most outstanding of all serials and Republic's "masterpiece". He writes that Tyler's "striking performance...remains in thousands of minds as the most memorable serial hero of all time – bar none".

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

called Tyler's Marvel "the most homicidal berserker superhero of cinema".

Influence

The characters of Betty Wallace, Whitey Murphy, and John Malcolm all appeared in the Fawcett comics in the 1940s, beginning with "Capt. Marvel And The Temple Of Itzalotahui" (''

'' #22, Oct. 3, 1941) featuring Murphy and Malcolm; Murphy made several appearances in the 1970s DC Comics incarnation of Captain Marvel, as featured in the comic series ''Shazam!'' and ''World's Finest Comics''. Fawcett also published a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to the 1941 serial. Titled ''The Return of the Scorpion'', it was one of the four releases in its Dime Action Books series, which imitated the format of the popular Big Little Books. The book is notable for reusing several characters from the serial and for being

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

's first writing assignment at Fawcett; he went on to be a prolific comics writer for the company. In 1994 comic book writer/artist

Jerry Ordway Jeremiah Ordway (born November 28, 1957) is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books. He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining ''Crisis on Infinite Earths' ...

wrote and painted a graphic novel, ''

The Power of Shazam! ''The Power of Shazam!'' is a 1994 hardcover graphic novel, written and painted by Jerry Ordway for DC Comics. The 96-page story, depicting the revamped origins of former Fawcett Comics superhero Captain Marvel, was followed by an ongoing series ...

'', and an ongoing comic book series spin-off, which ran from 1995 to 1999. Ordway used the Republic serial as his initial inspiration in his handling of the Captain Marvel characters.(April 1998
Interview with Jerry Ordway
WestfieldComics.com. Retrieved April 10, 2009.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures Of Captain Marvel 1941 films 1940s fantasy films 1940s superhero films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Captain Marvel (DC Comics) in other media Live-action films based on DC Comics Films directed by John English Films directed by William Witney Republic Pictures film serials American superhero films Articles containing video clips American fantasy films Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1940s American films Films based on DC Comics