Captain Marvel Jr. (also known Shazam Jr., CM3, or The Commander) is a superhero appearing in American comic books formerly published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics. A member of the Marvel/Shazam Family team of superheroes associated with Captain Marvel/Shazam, he was created by Ed Herron, C.C. Beck, and Mac Raboy, and first appeared in Whiz Comics #25 in December 1941.
The character's alter-ego is Frederick Christopher "Freddy" Freeman, whose origin has varied; in older stories and from Fawcett Comics, he is a disabled newsboy saved by Captain Marvel from the villainous Captain Nazi (who is also later as giving him the injuries responsible for being disabled) and empowered to save his life, becoming one of Batson's closest friends and allies. Modern stories instead depict him as Billy's more sociable and disabled foster brother and best friend put into foster care under the Vasquez family when his parents went to prison. In his depictions, the character typically shares the same powers as Billy Batson but retains a teenaged appearance although this has been subjected to changes, sometimes also having an adult appearance in empowering him with a differing set of gods. Within Shazam! comic books, he is a reoccurring supporting character in the Marvel Family and was a love interest of Mary Marvel prior to depictions following the New 52. The character has also served in teams such as the Teen Titans, Young Justice, and once briefly assumed the Shazam / Captain Marvel role during the Trials of Shazam!, with Batson in the role of the Wizard following his comic book death until the New 52 reboot.
Since his creation, the character is attributed to be one of the more well-known ancillary characters whom once headline his own series at one point. Well-known rock-and-roll musician Elvis Presley was known to be a fan of the Captain Marvel Jr., sometimes modelling himself after the character in appearance. Amon Tomaz (known prominently as Osiris) was also created in inspiration of Freddy's character.
Captain Marvel Jr. has also appeared in various media outside comics. Barry Gordon, John DeVito, and Georgie Kidder have voiced the character in animation, while Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody portray him in the DC Extended Universe, the former in his normal form and the latter in his super-powered form respectively.
Publication history Fawcett character origin
After Fawcett Comics' success with their first superhero character, Captain Marvel, the company decided to introduce a spin-off character. Although Captain Marvel had been given part-time sidekicks in the form of the look-alike Lieutenant Marvels in Whiz Comics #21 (September 1941), Fawcett editor Ed Herron wanted to introduce a distinctive spin-off character. Captain Marvel transformed from teenage boy to adult superhero with a magic word; Herron decided his new character would remain a teenager to differentiate him from Captain Marvel. Fawcett staff artist Mac Raboy designed the new character, named Captain Marvel Jr., using a more realistic style parting with C.C. Beck's more cartoony artwork for the Captain Marvel stories. Whereas Captain Marvel changed identities by saying "Shazam", Captain Marvel Jr. says "Captain Marvel" to transform; this was intended to serve as a frequent reminder to readers to buy the Captain Marvel Sr. books.
Captain Marvel Jr.'s first appearance in Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941), written by Herron with art by Beck and Raboy, was part of a three-issue crossover between Whiz Comics and another Fawcett publication, Master Comics, in late 1941. The crossover, printed during the height of World War II, found Bulletman and Captain Marvel at odds with Adolf Hitler's superpowered champion, Captain Nazi. During a battle with Captain Nazi in Whiz Comics #25, one of Captain Marvel's punches sends the villain careening into a lake. An elderly man and his teenage grandson happen to be fishing in the lake near the place Nazi lands and, not knowing who he is, lift the unconscious man into their boat to prevent him from drowning. Nazi immediately comes to, tosses the old man into the lake, and knocks the boy out of the boat with an oar. The old man immediately dies, but Captain Marvel is able to save the unconscious boy, named Freddy Freeman, and bring him to a hospital.
Captain Marvel, in his alter ego as young Billy Batson, learns from a nurse that Freddy is not expected to last the night. This leads Billy to take Freddy to the underground throne of the wizard Shazam, who originally granted Captain Marvel his powers. Billy asks the wizard to heal Freddy and save his life, but Shazam cannot, and instead tells Billy that he, as Captain Marvel, can pass along some of his powers so that Freddy can walk again. Shazam disappears and Billy transforms back into Captain Marvel, just as Freddy awakens. Looking up, he exclaims “Why...it's Captain Marvel,” and is instantly transformed into a super-powered version of himself. Freddy, now called Captain Marvel Jr., resembles a younger Captain Marvel, though with a yellow-on-blue costume with a red cape, rather than Marvel Sr.'s yellow-on-red with a white cape.
Captain Marvel informs Junior that he cannot remain in his super-powered form at all times, but that he must allow his human form to heal as best it can. With that, Freddy once again said his mentor's name and returned to his hospital bed. Freddy remains permanently lame in his left leg and is forced to walk with a crutch (although Captain Marvel Jr. bears no such impediment). As a result, Junior sought revenge against Captain Nazi, and the two repeatedly battled in a number of World War II-era comic stories.
Fawcett years Immediately following the crossover chapters in Master Comics #21–22, Captain Marvel Jr. began starring in the series with issue #23 (February 1942). His own Captain Marvel Jr. comic book launched nine months later. Mac Raboy's darker, more dramatic art style illustrated adventures with more serious themes than those often seen in the often whimsical Captain Marvel stories. Marvel Jr. regularly dealt with espionage, organized crime, murder, and Nazis in more-or-less straightforward adventure styles with often somber overtones.
The stories depicted the plight of working class and working poor people during World War II. Even as he fought Japanese air attacks, conferred with United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt and United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and even came close to capturing Adolf Hitler himself, Freddy continued to live in a run-down hovel and to dress in shabby rags. His one valuable possession appeared to be his diary, which was written in a large, richly ornamented book.
In most of his adventures, Freddy Freeman is depicted as a character to be pitied for his injury, reminiscent of Tiny Tim from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, until he transforms into his super-powered state (C.C. Beck described the character as resembling Tiny Tim as Freddy Freeman, and Peter Pan as Captain Marvel Jr.).Beck, C.C. (1983). "The Human Quality of the Captain Marvel Characters." Originally written for Fawcet Collectors of America magazine, reprinted in
Junior, Captain Marvel, and Mary Marvel began appearing together in The Marvel Family comic book beginning in 1945. That title and Junior's own ran until 1953, when Fawcett Publications discontinued all the Marvel Family comic books as the result of a lawsuit brought by National Comics (later DC Comics).
Shazam! revival After Fawcett Comics folded, Captain Marvel Jr. remained unpublished, alongside the rest of the Marvel Family, for years. In 1972, DC Comics purchased the rights to the Marvel Family characters and revived them in a new series entitled Shazam! In his 1970s adventures, Captain Marvel Jr. discovers that fellow superhero Kid Eternity is his long-lost brother, Christopher Freeman. This retcon took place because of the characters' very similar origins. Both characters' origins involved the death of a grandfather, and both characters also rely on magic words that form part of their superhero names (and therefore neither hero can speak his name without triggering his powers). Kid Eternity had been published by another company, Quality Comics, whose characters DC had also purchased.
The Power of Shazam! and other 1990s/early 2000s appearances Freddy Freeman was reintroduced in 1995, with The Power of Shazam! #3. His origin as Captain Marvel Jr. was reworked and represented, with Junior making his first Post-Crisis appearance in heroic form in The Power of Shazam! #7 (Sept. 1995). Beginning with The Power of Shazam! #13, writer Jerry Ordway began focusing the book on Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, relegating Junior to periodic solo stories. During this period, Junior began appearing in Teen Titans, and the character's name was changed to CM3, so that he could identify himself without triggering his transformation.
Junior continued to appear in Teen Titans until its cancellation in mid-1998. The character then returned to regular appearances in The Power of Shazam!, until that book was cancelled at the end of the year. After the demise of The Power of Shazam!, Captain Marvel Jr. made sporadic guest appearances throughout the DC Universe. One of these appearances was as an adult Captain Marvel in "Titans Tomorrow", a story-arc in Teen Titans vol. 3 #17–19 (2005). By this time, the character was once again identified by the name Captain Marvel Junior, rather than CM3, and his costume was slightly modified, substituting his traditional red cape for a white one like that of the other two Marvels.
A guest appearance in The Outsiders vol. 3 #10 in 2004 led to Captain Marvel Jr. briefly joining the team the following year. The Junior-featured Outsiders stories featured the team battling Marvel Family villains such as Dr. Sivana, Sabbac, and Chain Lightning. Captain Marvel Jr. also made brief appearances in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis miniseries and its 2006–2007 maxiseries sequel, 52. One of the key supporting characters of 52 was Osiris, Captain Marvel Jr.'s analogue in Black Adam's Black Marvel Family. Junior vouches for him when he tries joining the Teen Titans, as he is mistrusted due to his alliance with Black Adam.
The Trials of Shazam! Writer Judd Winick, who had written Outsiders (vol. 3), was given the task of revamping the Captain Marvel franchise. The events of Infinite Crisis included the death of the wizard Shazam, and in a 12-issue maxiseries titled The Trials of Shazam!, Winick began exploring Freddy Freeman's quest to prove himself worthy of wielding the power of Shazam in the new age of magic, which began with the end of Infinite Crisis. As Winick felt the Shazam! characters were too light-hearted and not being taken seriously, The Trials of Shazam! series features a much darker tone than earlier DC Comics Shazam! stories, reflecting more of the darker tones of the original Fawcett Captain Marvel Jr. stories. Freddy Freeman is now a young adult, forced to battle various beings powered by black magic, including a new female archenemy named Sabina, a witch who is planning to take the power for herself. The Shazam gods are presented in The Trials of Shazam! in reimagined forms (Solomon is a female tattoo artist in New York City, Hercules a Latino convict, etc.), since they are all hiding from the various evils of the new age.
The first eight issues of The Trials of Shazam!, as well as a prequel written by Winick for Brave New World #1, were illustrated by Howard Porter. Porter broke his drawing hand during the course of production on the series, which led to a number of extended delays between issues. Mauro Cascioli took over the artist's chores for the final four issues.