Question for those who grew up in the 1940s and 1950s: Were you more enamored of Superman or Captain Marvel?

Question

I mean back then, not now. Could you if possible please include a brief statement as to why you preferred the one you did.

If you don't mind could you also state whether you were reading comics mainly in the 40s or 50s?

[ЭΩ∞]: I doubt you even ever heard of Captain Marvel before.

[ЭΩ∞]: OK. I rescind my last remark. But now you ARE showing your age!

Answer 1

You keep asking questions that I cannot resist answering. I grew up in the 1940s in backwoods America. I have just been writing about Captain Marvel in my memoirs for my children and grand-children. Here's an excerpt from what I have written:

He was there when I needed him most. Oh, he didn’t have a Batmobile and a buddy named Robin. He didn’t wilt in the presence of kryptonite or have a subliminal love affair with Lois Lane. Dr. Sivana wasn’t quite as daunting an adversary as the Joker. True, the Captain had sort of a round baby face (patterned after the actor Fred McMurray, I’m told) and slicked back, black hair. His physique was supersize, of course (6’2”, 215 pounds, I’m told now), but not quite as square as Charles Atlas. His fighting stance may have looked less like a man of steel; his boots and cape and bright red leotards may not been quite as macho as Superman’s. Maybe he was called “the Big Red Cheese” by his enemies. But there was that bolt of lightning he wore on his chest, his deeds of daring, and the supervalues he embodied. SHAZAM! Captain Marvel was the superhero I needed. Captain Marvel was the superhero I needed to be.

So why did I prefer Captain Marvel, “the Big Red Cheese,” to Superman or Batman? Well, I can think of at least two reasons.

First, I was already into mythic heroes. Since the age of seven or eight, I had been caught up by Bible-story heroes: Joseph, Joshua, David, and Daniel, for example. So the fact that Solomon with his wisdom was the lead-off man in the SHAZAM acronym would have set well with me (and have won the approval of my mother, who probably provided the dimes I needed to purchase more and more comic books).

Furthermore, the first history I remember studying in “grammar school” was World History. The year began (as World History did for us in those days) with Greece and Rome. Our first few weeks were devoted to Greek mythology. I remember one of my more literal-minded classmates finally said to the teacher, “I thought history was to study real things. Why are we still readin’ about these made-up guys?” But, in my imagination, those Greek gods and heroes could not have been more real. It was much easier for me to believe in them than in George Washington and the cherry tree.

Even before that, one of my favorite stories had been “The Wonderful Pitcher,” from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Wonder Book for Boys and Girls. It was a retelling of the ancient story of Baucis and Philemon, an old childless couple. Zeus and Mercury, disguised as ordinary peasants, were refused hospitality by everyone in town until they came upon the old couple’s cottage. As a reward, though the town was destroyed by a flood, their humble cottage became a temple and they, its caretakers for a long and happy life. Now that was my kind of story.

So I knew all about Zeus’s power and Mercury's speed and cleverness. I also knew about Hercules’ strength, Atlas’s stamina (though I would have had to look that word up in the dictionary), and Achilles’ courage. SHAZAM! spoke to me.

Perhaps even more important were the alter egos of the superheroes. I knew that the wealthy Bruce Wayne was well beyond my reach, even harder to imagine than Batman. The bumbling reporter Clark Kent was someone I feared I might actually grow up to be. Thankfully, the term nerd had not been invented yet, but even so I was a nerdy kid, awkward, skinny, backward, shy, handier with a pencil than a baseball bat. So, no Clark Kent for me. I already knew what it was like to be a bumbler. But Billy Batson? Now that was someone more in my league: a poor, homeless paper boy who used his transformation into Captain Marvel for his own benefit only in one way: negotiating a place as a newscaster at the local radio station. Now that was a daydream within my imaginative reach. I needed a super-hero whose alter ego I could identify with.

I suspect there were other, more obvious reasons: the Captain's villains may have been less real, more manageable; his city seemed somehow less "urbane" than Superman's Metropolis (less forbidding to a country boy); his lightning bolt was easier to handle than finding a telephone booth nearby, he smiled more, and I think his creators had a better sense of humor.

And let's face it: Billy was a better newscaster than Clark Kent was a reporter--and I was a few hormones away from needing a Lois Lane. And SHAZAM! did sound more like the Tarzan yell I practiced in my backyard!

Answer 2

Growing up in the 1970s, I was a Superman fan. For me, Captain Marvel was a really cheesy Saturday morning show that lasted only one season, just like Isis.

Answer 3

Smart, Very Smart - but it's gonna take a little more than that before you can find out THIS young fart’s true age! :-) :-) :-)


I've got "babes" checking out my every Y!A move, you want 'em to think I'm an old kook by answering self-incriminating questions like this??? LOL LOL

Marko F - All I have to say to your observation is (and with big bold letters written across the screen): S H A Z A M !


Marko F - Think reruns and DVD rentals my friend, think reruns and DVD rentals!!! :-) :-) :-)
Official Disclaimer: To all you Y!A ladies out there - otherwise my adoring fans - I only know Captain Marvel through TV reruns, DVD rentals and old pass-me-down comics! LOL

Answer 4

I was such a Superman fan.. For a girl I had a cape and all.

I had 7 brothers to keep up with .......

Answer 5

superman, when i was young i believed he could do all that was said he could do....i was very impressed

Answer 6

SUPERMAN, the man of steel..need i say more?