Captain Miracle Doesn't Impress Me
07/27/2005 17:12 Filed in: Culture Watch
Is he the latest in Christian schlock (if I may borrow a Yiddish word) or a derisive attack against the faith?
Holy Comics (I've never heard of them) is planning to release a comic book based around a new super-hero named Captain Miracle. When Billy Batista speaks the divine name of the God of the Bible, he receives "super powers granted by the Almighty." The website lists a band of villains that Captain Miracle will face including Gaia Rites, described as "a Pagan lesbian who values the earth more than men" (do they mean "men" as in mankind or just men?); Professor Atheos, "a Humanist whose inventions defy God's providence" (I'm not even sure what that means); Sodom al-Mohammed, "an Islamic terrorist slaughtering American soldiers" (note that his name is spelled "Sodom," not "Saddam"), The Anti-Miracle, "the Captain's devil-powered counterpart" and a "Mysterious being who appears to be unstoppable." Let me guess...could this last one be (together in our Church Lady voices, with our fingers on our chins), Satan?
Captain Marvel was conceived by Jason A. Quest (I wonder if that's his real name?). Quest claims on the Holy Comics website that he is neither promoting Christianity or trying to make fun of it. He claims that Captain Miracle "is more of a thinking person's religious superhero [sic], and more "fun" than "fundamentalist."
Okay, see, I'm doubly offended. Not only am I offended by this comic book that, in my opinion, trivializes the Christian faith, but I'm also irritated that one of my favorite super-heroes of my childhood--Captain Marvel --has been ripped off once again.
Let's start with Captain Marvel [warning: rabbit trail alert]. First, his name is not Shazam. "Shazam!" is what Billy Batson says to turn into Captain Marvel. But let me explain why you're confused over this. In 1938 the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1 issued in the era of modern mythology centered around costumed heroes. Fawcett Publications wanted to get in on this by creating a super-hero on par with Superman, but not close enough that they would get sued by the company that would eventually be called DC Comics. So in 1940, Captain Marvel first appeared. Captain Marvel, an adult, was really a young boy, Billy Batson who could say a magic word, SHAZAM!, and transform into "the world's mightiest mortal." SHAZAM was an acronym for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, legendary characters from whom Billy/Cap received his powers (I always thought Solomon was an odd choice to throw into the mix--a Jewish King known for his wisdom alongside gods and demigods out of Greek and Roman mythology).
Anyway, for a while in the 1940's Captain Marvel became more popular than Superman in sales. So DC decided to sue Fawcett claiming that Cap was a rip-off of Superman, although in my opinion, he really wasn't. The lawsuit dragged on for years until finally Fawcett decided they no longer wanted to be in the comic book business and DC obtained the rights to Captain Marvel. Unfortunately for DC, by this time Stan Lee had started a comic book company called Marvel Comics. The folks at Marvel sued (or threatened to sue--I really don't remember) DC saying that DC could not put the word "Marvel" onto the cover of a comic book because it would cause confusion to consumers. To cement this even further, they created their own Captain Marvel (who was very different from the original Fawcett Cap) and printed an ongoing series under the name. Therefore, the agreement has always been that any DC comic book series with Captain Marvel can't be called "Captain Marvel" on the cover. They can call him this inside the comic, though. Therefore, the few times Cap has had a series of his own since DC has had the rights to him, the issues have usually been called "Shazam!" You may even remember the Saturday morning television series in the 1970's by the same name. Rabbit trail complete.
Sorry for the history lesson. So obviously, Captain Miracle is a blatant rip-off of Captain Marvel. This has happened before (in spite of Marvel Comics' own Captain Marvel, their greater counterfeit is The Mighty Thor ).
But my greater offense to Captain Miracle is the trivialization of Christianity that I see symbolized in this new character. Granted, I haven't seen the final product (don't know if I really want to). And I can't tell if Quest is sincerely trying to make a "Christian" comic book or if he is using parody to be antagonistic toward the Christian faith. Even the company, Holy Comics, has a tagline I don't like: "The Leader in Cruci-Fiction" [emphasis added]. In trying to create a clever tagline, they also run the risk of questioning the historical validity of Jesus' death on the cross. That and making Yahweh into a magic word is all a bit too sacrilegious to me, regardless of intentions. There have to be lines of discretion at some point.
And even if I were to give Quest and Holy Comics the benefit of the doubt and say they were being sincere, I believe Captain Miracle is going to be counter-productive to evangelistic efforts and unnecessarily offensive to certain groups. Besides the trivialization of the Christian faith mentioned above, I can see Jews being offended by the way God's name is being used. And the main page of the website would also undoubtedly be offensive to Muslims and homosexuals. I'm not opposed to offending people if it is truth that offends (1 Cor 1:23), but I don't believe it is ever wise to offend through mockery.
I don't like anything about this website's preview of Captain Miracle. Heck, I don't even like the cover of the first issue. Notice that Captain Miracle's third and fourth fingers are bent. This is a traditional sign of blessing used by clergy in some denominations, especially the Catholic Church. And Captain Miracle's costume looks like a cross between Captain Marvel's and a character from SNL's Ambiguously Gay Duo. The more I look at it, the more I am convinced it must be an antagonistic parody, but if it's not, that's a pretty sad indictment against what the creators are communicating thus far.
So that I might end this with a positive note, let me recommend a rather well-done blending of Christianity and the super-hero genre. A friend of mine, Tim Wise, has written the first two volumes in what will hopefully be an ongoing series of stories about a group of heroes known as The Intrepid Force.
The Intrepid Force is described as "an elite fighting team in an age of bionics, genetic engineering, and interplanetary travel." I haven't read the second book yet, but the first was a good science fiction tale that while written from a Christian worldview, was never preachy or trite. If you like the X-Men or Legion of Super-Heroes, you should check out The Intrepid Force and Intrepid Force: Invasion . Both are available from Amazon.com or your local bookseller.
Captain Marvel was conceived by Jason A. Quest (I wonder if that's his real name?). Quest claims on the Holy Comics website that he is neither promoting Christianity or trying to make fun of it. He claims that Captain Miracle "is more of a thinking person's religious superhero [sic], and more "fun" than "fundamentalist."
Okay, see, I'm doubly offended. Not only am I offended by this comic book that, in my opinion, trivializes the Christian faith, but I'm also irritated that one of my favorite super-heroes of my childhood--Captain Marvel --has been ripped off once again.
Let's start with Captain Marvel [warning: rabbit trail alert]. First, his name is not Shazam. "Shazam!" is what Billy Batson says to turn into Captain Marvel. But let me explain why you're confused over this. In 1938 the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1 issued in the era of modern mythology centered around costumed heroes. Fawcett Publications wanted to get in on this by creating a super-hero on par with Superman, but not close enough that they would get sued by the company that would eventually be called DC Comics. So in 1940, Captain Marvel first appeared. Captain Marvel, an adult, was really a young boy, Billy Batson who could say a magic word, SHAZAM!, and transform into "the world's mightiest mortal." SHAZAM was an acronym for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, legendary characters from whom Billy/Cap received his powers (I always thought Solomon was an odd choice to throw into the mix--a Jewish King known for his wisdom alongside gods and demigods out of Greek and Roman mythology).
Sorry for the history lesson. So obviously, Captain Miracle is a blatant rip-off of Captain Marvel. This has happened before (in spite of Marvel Comics' own Captain Marvel, their greater counterfeit is The Mighty Thor ).
But my greater offense to Captain Miracle is the trivialization of Christianity that I see symbolized in this new character. Granted, I haven't seen the final product (don't know if I really want to). And I can't tell if Quest is sincerely trying to make a "Christian" comic book or if he is using parody to be antagonistic toward the Christian faith. Even the company, Holy Comics, has a tagline I don't like: "The Leader in Cruci-Fiction" [emphasis added]. In trying to create a clever tagline, they also run the risk of questioning the historical validity of Jesus' death on the cross. That and making Yahweh into a magic word is all a bit too sacrilegious to me, regardless of intentions. There have to be lines of discretion at some point.
And even if I were to give Quest and Holy Comics the benefit of the doubt and say they were being sincere, I believe Captain Miracle is going to be counter-productive to evangelistic efforts and unnecessarily offensive to certain groups. Besides the trivialization of the Christian faith mentioned above, I can see Jews being offended by the way God's name is being used. And the main page of the website would also undoubtedly be offensive to Muslims and homosexuals. I'm not opposed to offending people if it is truth that offends (1 Cor 1:23), but I don't believe it is ever wise to offend through mockery.
I don't like anything about this website's preview of Captain Miracle. Heck, I don't even like the cover of the first issue. Notice that Captain Miracle's third and fourth fingers are bent. This is a traditional sign of blessing used by clergy in some denominations, especially the Catholic Church. And Captain Miracle's costume looks like a cross between Captain Marvel's and a character from SNL's Ambiguously Gay Duo. The more I look at it, the more I am convinced it must be an antagonistic parody, but if it's not, that's a pretty sad indictment against what the creators are communicating thus far.
The Intrepid Force is described as "an elite fighting team in an age of bionics, genetic engineering, and interplanetary travel." I haven't read the second book yet, but the first was a good science fiction tale that while written from a Christian worldview, was never preachy or trite. If you like the X-Men or Legion of Super-Heroes, you should check out The Intrepid Force and Intrepid Force: Invasion . Both are available from Amazon.com or your local bookseller.