Captain Marvel is out...Shazam is in

I recently learned that one of the new changes in the DCnU involved a name...

The Big Red Cheese that was Captain Marvel is now Shazam.

A significant change surely, but necessary...?

This is really DC's fault. They bought up the character after suing the original Fawcett Comics in the 1950's for copyright infringement saying he was too much like Superman. That's why he's been called The World's Mightiest Mortal since the character's re-introduction and inclusion in the DCU in 1972.

But Marvel Comics came out with Captain Mar-Vell in 1967.

Because of that, DC hasn't been able to publish their Captain Marvel under that name. They resorted to calling the comic Shazam starting in 1973. Even the live-action television show went by that name.

So now, to (re-)re-introduce the character in the DCnU, they're calling the character Shazam outright.

In other words, if DC Comics (then National Comics Publications) let it slide in the first place and worked harder to make Superman a better character, or changed the character's name when they first brought him into the DCU back in 1972, this would be a non-headache inducing issue.

Stupid DC...

I do think the name change is a good idea, just 40 years too late.

And that DC was built by money-hungry bean counters who cared more about sales than characters...but that's another story.