THE WORLD'S MIGHTIEST MORTAL ON SCREEN by Dave Goode

 THE WORLD'S MIGHTIEST

MORTAL ON SCREEN

by Dave Goode

GOODE STUFF BLOG

I was first introduced to the Captain Marvel not through comics. His comics ceased publication some years before I was born. It was in the pages of that wonderful one-shot magazine On The Scene Presents Super Heroes from Warren Publications in 1966 that I learned about Captain Marvel, arguably the most popular costumed crusader from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Or should I say I learned about THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (1941) from Republic Pictures. Considered by many to be the greatest movie serial of all time.

Based on the comic book feature from Fawcett Comics,  created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, the 12 chapter serial was directed by John English and William Witney. It starred Frank Coghlan Jr. as Billy Batson and B-Western hero Tom Tyler as his alter ego Captain Marvel, the World's Mightiest Mortal. The story had young Billy Batson on an archeological expedition in Siam being given the powers and abilities of one biblical king and five characters from Greco-Roman mythology by the wizard Shazam played by actor Nigel De Brulier. This was a departure from the good Captain's origin. And I wonder if the fan-boys of the day were up in arm.s about this change. Or were they just happy to see their favorite hero live on screen. The serial finds our hero using the wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles and speed of Mercury to thwart the masked villain the Scorpion.

As you may already know artist C.C. Beck had originally modeled Captain Marvel after actor Fred MacMurray. But you cant help but notice a resemblance between actor Tom Tyler and Beck's original  drawings of Captain Marvel. Born Vincent Markowski, Tyler set the amateur record for the right-handed clean & jerk with 213 pounds. And in 1928 he won the National AAU heavyweight championship with a 760 pound total. A record that would stand for 14 years. Not quite the "World's Mightiest Mortal". But certainly a claimant to the title of the "Strongest Man In The World". Tyler was even considered for the title role in MGM's TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932) that would eventually star Olympic swimming champ Johnny Weissmuller.

As for Fred MacMurray who C.C. Beck modeled Captain Marvel's facial features from. Well he portrayed a superhero himself in a dream sequence from the romantic comedy NO TIME FOR LOVE (1943).