''Whiz Comics'' is 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 related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series that was 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 ...

between February 1940 until June 1953. It is widely known for being the comic run in which hugely popular superhero character

Captain Marvel (Shazam) Captain Marvel, later known as Shazam () for legal reasons, is a superhero in American comic books originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics. Artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker (comics), Bill Parker crea ...

made his debut.

Publication history

In 1939, Fawcett Publications was trying to capitalize 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 Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pyg ...

''. Further complicating matters, when they got to issue #3, Fawcett, through either mistake or intent, used the number twice. Whiz Comics 3(A) was released 12 Jan 1940 and Whiz Comics 3(B) was released 23 Feb 1940. 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 Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...

'' #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'' (later retitled as ''Batman 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 ...

'' and ''

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

'') and Superman (''

'' and ''

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

''). With half a dozen spin-offs and the honor of being the first superhero to appear on film, Captain Marvel and ''Whiz Comics'' were outselling Superman by a huge margin. In 1941, DC sued Fawcett Publications, alleging that Captain Marvel was so similar to Superman as to violate DC's intellectual property rights. The lawsuit took 12 years to resolve, with Fawcett having to pay $400,000 in damages and cease publication of all Captain Marvel-related material. 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 a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, 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. Many ''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 fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

characters: * Captain Marvel *

Ibis the Invincible Ibis the Invincible (also Ibis the Mystic) is the name of two fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books first published by Fawcett Comics, then Charlton Comics in 1955, and then DC Comics beginning in the 1970s. In 2022, the characte ...

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 a ...

* 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 series ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in ...

* Lance O'Casey * Scoop Smith

References

Notes

Sources consulted

* * {{Otto Binder 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

Publication history

Recurring features

See also

References

Notes

Sources consulted