Did you know Billy Batson's friend, Whitey Murphy, was a character that had his origin outside of Captain Marvel comics?
The Whitey Murphy character was introduced in the 1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel movie serial in which Whitey was a friend of Billy Batsons. Murphy was played by actor William Benedict.
Whitey makes his first appearance in Whiz Comics #22 (published September 5, 1941) in the story "Captain Marvel and the Temple of Itzalotahui." Whitey stops by Billy's office at W.H.I.Z. and the two young men are reunited after working on the Captain Marvel movie together and go on a wonderful adventure!
Billy and Whitey would have further adventures in the pages of Captain Marvel's comics. For example, Cap helps Whitey get a promotion in Captain Marvel Adventures #12.
Even though Whitey Murphy was first introduced to us in the Captain Marvel movie, I'm glad they incorporated him into Cap's comics. He's a great friend of Billy's and a great character who appears now and then on the pages of both the golden-age comics and the Shazam! comics of the 70s.
Did you know that there was a tie-in between the Adventures of Captain Marvel movie serial and Whiz Comics? Whiz Comics #22 has the story of Captain Marvel and the Temple of Itzalotahui (I love that title!!). In this story, Cap and Billy team up with two characters featured in the movie: Professor Malcolm and Whitey Murphy. Betty Wallace is another character from the movie who was featured in Cap's comics, but she does not appear in Whiz Comics #22.
Holy Moley - this really blew my mind! I had previously posted how the movie serial had changed Cap's origin and now to read that Billy worked on making the movie just adds a whole new level of excitement...and confusion! It's pretty incredible to me that they would tie-in the comic with the movie and even more so when the origin of Captain Marvel has been changed.
That's my 'Did You Know' for this post - hope you've enjoyed it!
(Spoiler Alert! This post contains spoilers for the 1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel serial - if you haven't watched it, continue reading at your own risk!)
I thought that the origin of Captain Marvel (as told in Whiz Comics #2, 1940) hadn't been tampered with or tweaked until 1973 and after with the multiple reboots and reintroductions of Cap. That thought was dashed when I watched all 12 episodes of the Adventures of Captain Marvel. Holy Moley - they tampered with Cap's origin in episode 1 and in episode 12! I won't go into all the details of the plot, etc., but below are the details of how Cap's origin was changed.
In episode 1, we find Billy Batson with the Malcolm Archaeological Expedition in Siam trying to discover the lost Scorpion Dynasty. It is here that Billy meets Shazam. Shazam tells Billy that it is his duty to see that the curse of the Scorpion doesn't fall on innocent people. He, as Captain Marvel, is to protect the golden scorpion from falling into evil hands. Shazam declares, "It is the duty of Captain Marvel to protect the innocent from its evil use. You must never call upon this power except in the service of right. To do so would bring the Scorpion's curse upon your own head." Billy says, "Shazam!" and turns into Captain Marvel and Shazam disappears.
Episode 12 is the final episode in the serial. Here we have Captain Marvel destroying the golden scorpion by throwing it into a volcano. Once it has been destroyed, you hear a deep voice say, "Shazam!" and Captain Marvel turns back into Billy Batson - never to become Captain Marvel again! Captain Marvel could only be around while the golden scorpion existed and now that it has been destroyed, there is no need for Cap!
I was simply amazed that they had altered the origin of Captain Marvel so soon after he was introduced in Whiz Comics #2! I wonder if there was any outcry from fans because of this? As a fan of the original Captain Marvel I'm often disappointed at the various iterations that have been printed about Cap's origin post 1973. But now I see that it isn't a new thing - it's been tweaked from the very beginning!
_13.jpg)