Comics Superman vs Captain Marvel

[regwec]

How do they come off? In Kingdom Come it actually seems like Captain Marvel gets the upper hand, which surprised me. But I don't know much about Captain Marvel's background, powers and abilities: could someone fill me in?

Thanks.

 

[Dr. Fate]

Captain Marvel's powers derive from Greek characters. The first letters of their names make up the acronym SHAZAM, which Billy Batson shouts to turn himself into Cap and vice versa.

S - Solomon, granting Cap vast wisdom
H - Hercules, granting Cap vast superhuman strength
A - Atlast, granting Cap vast stamina
Z - Zeus, granting Cap undefined "power"
A - Achilles, granting Cap great courage
M - Mercury, granting Cap vast superhuman speed

So essentially he has some of the same powers/traits as Superman but who's stronger than who is anyone's guess.

 

[punishermax]

Supes is also notorious for holding back, which from what I've seen Captain Marvel doesn't. (Might be wrong with that last thing)

 

[Xzio]

Captain Marvel's powers derive from Greek characters. The first letters of their names make up the acronym SHAZAM, which Billy Batson shouts to turn himself into Cap and vice versa.

S - Solomon, granting Cap vast wisdom
H - Hercules, granting Cap vast superhuman strength
A - Atlast, granting Cap vast stamina
Z - Zeus, granting Cap undefined "power"
A - Achilles, granting Cap great courage
M - Mercury, granting Cap vast superhuman speed

So essentially he has some of the same powers/traits as Superman but who's stronger than who is anyone's guess.

This was taken from another message board that I was on but I believe it gives you an accurate portrayal of both Superman and Captain Marvel. They are said to be virtual equals in the powers department.

17) In Kingdom Come, Superman was assaulted by Captain Marvel with lightning. Many see this as Captain Marvel “almost killing Superman.”, as well as evidence of Superman’s extreme vulnerability to magic. An unbiased look at this event reveals otherwise. First of all, the lightning emanates from Shazam, one of the higher cosmic powers in the DCU. It is Marvel’s very power source and in fact conveys the power of Zeus, another higher power in the DCU. As an example of its power, Billy used it to crack open the Gulag in Kingdom Come. Said Gulag was designed by Scott Free, master escape artist, and constructed using New Genesis technology, which in past issues has been used to travel into the sun’s core. In addition the Gulag was constructed to contain literally hundreds of powerful and dangerous metahumans. Marvel busted open this Gulag with his magic lightning.

Superman withstood at least four (that we saw) of these bolts with the power of ZEUS. He likely withstood a lot more than 4 because it is implied that Marvel was reigning lightning down on Superman off-panel the whole time that the story cuts away to Batman and Wonder Woman’s exchange. Such an assault would have easily killed virtually anyone else in the DCU. Far from being dead, however, Superman required only a couple of seconds pause to gather his wits, used his own superspeed to match the speed of Mercury, and pull Marvel back into the lightning. (And thus win the fight, a often overlooked fact). A battering like that and still he could match the speed of Mercury. From there on, although obviously bloodied, Superman appears fairly intact. In fact, he is still conscious (actually far from out of it), talking comfortably and coherently as he erases the years of brainwashing from Billy, and doesn’t even have the gravelly, uneven word bubbles used to signify serious injuries in comics. He also survives the nuclear explosion, albeit from hundreds of feet away, yet it was still sufficient to kill almost every other metahuman not protected by the Green Lantern.


Just one minor correction, Solomon was actually a Hebrew king from the Old Testament.

 

[YogsVR4]

Anytime that DC wants to push a character out of the ‘B’ ranks, they have a VS Superman tussle. Marvel has always been a second rate character – with the exception of Kingdom Come which is among the best comic stories ever written.

 

[The Leaguer]

That re-post is accurate except for one thing: Superman does not have an "extreme vulnerability" to magic. He is just as vulnerable to magic as any other normal human is, no more.

 

[The Leaguer]

Anytime that DC wants to push a character out of the ‘B’ ranks, they have a VS Superman tussle. Marvel has always been a second rate character – with the exception of Kingdom Come which is among the best comic stories ever written.

He is only second-rate in regards to popularity, nothing more. He has been around for a long time, and has an extreme amount of power.

 

[dpm07]

He is only second-rate in regards to popularity, nothing more. He has been around for a long time, and has an extreme amount of power.

Well said.

 

[goldmill]

This was taken from another message board that I was on but I believe it gives you an accurate portrayal of both Superman and Captain Marvel. They are said to be virtual equals in the powers department.

17) In Kingdom Come, Superman was assaulted by Captain Marvel with lightning. Many see this as Captain Marvel “almost killing Superman.”, as well as evidence of Superman’s extreme vulnerability to magic. An unbiased look at this event reveals otherwise. First of all, the lightning emanates from Shazam, one of the higher cosmic powers in the DCU. It is Marvel’s very power source and in fact conveys the power of Zeus, another higher power in the DCU. As an example of its power, Billy used it to crack open the Gulag in Kingdom Come. Said Gulag was designed by Scott Free, master escape artist, and constructed using New Genesis technology, which in past issues has been used to travel into the sun’s core. In addition the Gulag was constructed to contain literally hundreds of powerful and dangerous metahumans. Marvel busted open this Gulag with his magic lightning.

Superman withstood at least four (that we saw) of these bolts with the power of ZEUS. He likely withstood a lot more than 4 because it is implied that Marvel was reigning lightning down on Superman off-panel the whole time that the story cuts away to Batman and Wonder Woman’s exchange. Such an assault would have easily killed virtually anyone else in the DCU. Far from being dead, however, Superman required only a couple of seconds pause to gather his wits, used his own superspeed to match the speed of Mercury, and pull Marvel back into the lightning. (And thus win the fight, a often overlooked fact). A battering like that and still he could match the speed of Mercury. From there on, although obviously bloodied, Superman appears fairly intact. In fact, he is still conscious (actually far from out of it), talking comfortably and coherently as he erases the years of brainwashing from Billy, and doesn’t even have the gravelly, uneven word bubbles used to signify serious injuries in comics. He also survives the nuclear explosion, albeit from hundreds of feet away, yet it was still sufficient to kill almost every other metahuman not protected by the Green Lantern.


Just one minor correction, Solomon was actually a Hebrew king from the Old Testament.

Exactly. I always looked at it as Superman taking Marvel's best and was still standing there trying to reason with him and eventually he did.

 

[Guyverjay]

That re-post is accurate except for one thing: Superman does not have an "extreme vulnerability" to magic. He is just as vulnerable to magic as any other normal human is, no more.

He should have died in Kingdom come then

 

[The Leaguer]

He should have died in Kingdom come then

Not necessarily. We don't know for sure how Cap's lighting works. Either way, Superman wouldn't "extremely" vulnerable to magic. In the case that Marvel's lighting it exactly like regular lighting, it could be said he is "a little bit" vulnerable.

 

[regwec]

Am I right in thinking that Cap is supposed to be a little kid that turns into an adult when he speaks the magic word?

 

[BH/HHH]

So how many Comics/Graphic Novels have Superman and Captain Marvel fought in: I know they fought in Kingdom Come, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice and JLA: Justice For All.

 

[storyteller]

Am I right in thinking that Cap is supposed to be a little kid that turns into an adult when he speaks the magic word?

Yes but in kingdom come he's and adult that turns into an adult..... with super powers.

Anyway superman isnt extreemly vulnerable to magic. he mostly effected same as a human. Now thats assuming the brute force of the magic isnt actually physical . The lighting bolt has magic properties but is still majorily lightning. But the magic weakens supes defensives by quite a bit.

 

[The Leaguer]

Am I right in thinking that Cap is supposed to be a little kid that turns into an adult when he speaks the magic word?

Yeah, but it doesn't really have an effect on him when he's Cap, if that's what you're getting at. His Wisdom of Soloman makes up for any mental shortcomings he might have by having the mind of a kid.

 

[BH/HHH]

So who knows what Graphic Novels or comics they have battled in besides the ones i mentioned in my above post.

 

[coreyjay09]

Kinna wierd how they were so wishy washy back in the days..SHAZAM Has a completly differnt accronym meaning for Capt Marv's Little Sister

http://www.marvelfamily.com/WhosWho/whoswho.asp?castid=4

Try this link which includes picsfrom the actual comics. FYI Superman could beat Captain Marvel in most any situation written or thought up.Thats why Supe was and has remained DC's Main Squeeze for the past 60 something years.

But Yes!!! Superman has a more prevelant weakness to Magic than otrher heroes according to Joe Shuster & Jerry Siegel..the Creators of CK & Superman. He has infact a greater weakness to magic than kryptonite whis is his most known. The use of magic as a deterrant against Superman has admitadly been sponged from several possible storylines in DC according to its past and current writting staff because the exploration of such an issue would allow a loophole to eventually cease its favorite Brainchild. (Superman)

Yall have a good N

 

[The Question]

Yeah, but it doesn't really have an effect on him when he's Cap, if that's what you're getting at. His Wisdom of Soloman makes up for any mental shortcomings he might have by having the mind of a kid.

Plus, he's not a "little" kid. He's 17.

 

[Dr. Fate]

Just one minor correction, Solomon was actually a Hebrew king from the Old Testament.

My bad.

 

[The Leaguer]

Plus, he's not a "little" kid. He's 17.

I wondered why I couldn't remember saying that, then I noticed it was from a year-and-a-half ago. Nothing over a week old is worth remembering.

 

[ssj wolverine]

I will always feel it is kind of lame that Marvel has to depend on yelling Shazam to bring lightning from the sky instead of his own strength to try and take down Superman.

 

[Andy C.]

Well, remember, this is Superman he's fighting. The guy who's taken nuclear missiles head-on, flown through the cores of stars, etc etc etc. If you had a surefire way of gaining the advantage in a fight against someone that powerful (even if you're just as powerful yourself), wouldn't you use it?

 

[The Question]

I wondered why I couldn't remember saying that, then I noticed it was from a year-and-a-half ago. Nothing over a week old is worth remembering.

Sorry. Didn't notice the thread had ben resurected.

 

[Arach Knight]

I will always feel it is kind of lame that Marvel has to depend on yelling Shazam to bring lightning from the sky instead of his own strength to try and take down Superman.

Well, some theorize that even though Superman and Captain Marvel have the exact same level of power, that Captain Marvel's blows, actually do more damage to Superman, because of their magical nature. But that is still some what, debatble. Without that howeer, he and Superman are an exactly even match. Them throwing down down would do nothing more than cause tons of collateral damage. Using the Shazam lightning bolt has always been Billy's fight tactic against Clark. He did it in Justice League Unlimited, he did it in Superan/Batman public Enemies, and apparently he did it in Kingdom Come as well (I never read that book). It's the only edge he has on Superman. So it's not lame. It's smart. Who wants to have two beings that are equally and godly powerful, go at it for hours, without tiring out. That would result in one of those boring fights that people fear, come with Supeman being so strong.

Kinna wierd how they were so wishy washy back in the days..SHAZAM Has a completly differnt accronym meaning for Capt Marv's Little Sister

The rules differ between most of the Marvel's. The acronym means something different for Teth Adam (more popularly known as Black Adam) as well. And the one with polio...or something like that...he doesn't even yell Shazam. He yells Captain Marvel to get his powers.

 

[Dr. Fate]

Well, remember, this is Superman he's fighting. The guy who's taken nuclear missiles head-on, flown through the cores of stars, etc etc etc. If you had a surefire way of gaining the advantage in a fight against someone that powerful (even if you're just as powerful yourself), wouldn't you use it?

YES!!!