''Whiz Comics'' was an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

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 ...

series published by former American comic book publishing company,

Fawcett Publications Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885–1940). It kicked off with the publication of the bawdy humor magazine ''Captain Billy's Whiz B ...

between February 1940 until June 1953. It is widely known for being the comic run in which hugely popular superhero character Captain Marvel (Shazam) made his debut.

Publication history

In 1939, Fawcett Publications was trying to capitalise on the ongoing superhero boom spearheaded by characters like Superman and Batman. It was then that writer Bill Parker came up with the idea for a team of superheroes, each possessing the power of a different mythical character. The idea was eventually modified into a single character with all these powers, and thus Captain Marvel, known later as Shazam, was born. The first issue published of ''Whiz Comics'' was issue #2, published with a

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

of Feb. 1940. Fawcett created two black-and-white ashcan #1 issues to solicit advertisers and to secure the copyrights to the material. The two copies were identical but carried different titles: ''Flash Comics'' and ''Thrill Comics''; the Captain Marvel character was called "Captain Thunder" in a near-identical story. When Fawcett went to press with the magazine, the first issue was retitled as ''Whiz Comics'', a name inspired by the company's bawdy humor magazine, '' Captain Billy's Whiz Bang''. Further complicating matters, when they got to issue #3, Fawcett, through either mistake or intent, used the number twice. Thus, if viewed from the perspective of the second #3 (and, therefore, all the issues that followed it), ''Whiz'' #2 unofficially became ''Whiz'' #1. The cover art for the first issue showed Captain Marvel throwing a vehicle at a wall, and was inspired by the cover of ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics ...

'' #1, which shows Superman lifting a car. The first issue was written by Bill Parker, who also wrote several other issues before Whiz became popular and other writers were hired. Throughout its run, Captain Marvel continued to be the star attraction of ''Whiz Comics'', with his sales surpassing that of DC stalwarts like Batman (''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...

'' and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'') and Superman (''

'' and ''

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 ...

''). With half a dozen spin-offs, the honor of being the first superhero to appear on film in addition to Captain Marvel and ''Whiz Comics'' were outselling Superman by a huge margin it was clear Fawcett had the edge. DC was not pleased at having these sales losses and loss of the title of first superhero motion picture. Thus in 1941 DC sued Fawcett Publications over the allegations that Captain Marvel was a rip-off of Superman and a copyright violation. The lawsuit lasted 12 years and finally got settled with DC Comics winning and Fawcett having to pay $400,000 in repercussions and immediately cease ''Whiz Comics'' to stop publishing anything about Captain Marvel. With this ended the 13-year run of ''Whiz Comics''. The name 'Captain Marvel' was shortly trademarked by then up and coming company

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

and in 1972 DC bought all the creative rights of Fawcett publication's superheroes. Fawcett's and DC's Captain Marvel has since been renamed SHAZAM to avoid trademark infringement. Some ''Whiz Comics'' issues are now in the public domain and can be freely accessed through the internet.

Recurring features

''Whiz'' contained the following features depicting adventures of various

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

characters: * Captain Marvel *

Ibis the Invincible Ibis the Invincible is a fictional character originally published by Fawcett Comics in the 1940s and then by DC Comics beginning in the 1970s. Like many magician superheroes introduced in the Golden Age of Comics, Ibis owes much to the popular com ...

Spy Smasher Spy Smasher is the name of two fictional characters appearing in comics published by Fawcett and DC Comics. The first is a superhero that was formerly owned and published by Fawcett Comics. The second is a female anti-terrorism government agent, ...

* Golden Arrow *

Dan Dare Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ''Eagle'' comic story ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in repri ...

* Lance O'Casey *

Scoop Smith Scoop Smith is a fictional character first appeared in Fawcett Comics' ''Whiz Comics ''Whiz Comics'' was an anthology comic book series published by former American comic book publishing company, Fawcett Publications between February 1940 until J ...

References

Notes

Sources consulted

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Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

's "Shop Talk" book. Fawcett Comics titles Golden Age comics titles Comics magazines published in the United States 1940 comics debuts 1953 comics endings Magazines established in 1940 Magazines disestablished in 1953 {{Comics-stub