Captain Marvel (DC Comics) Marvel's protégé, Captain Marvel, Jr., who was the alter-ego of Billy and Mary's best friend, the disabled newsboy Freddy Freeman. Before DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" comic book miniseries in 1985, the Marvel Family also included part-time members such as Mary's non-powered friend "Uncle" Dudley (Uncle Marvel) and three other protégés (all of whose alter egos are named "Billy Batson") known as the Lieutenant Marvels. A pink rabbit version of Captain Marvel, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, appeared in his own stories featuring a funny-animal cast. The current-continuity version of Shazam has a Shazam Family made up of his five foster
Excalibur (comic book) Excalibur (comic book) Excalibur is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team Excalibur and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original "Excalibur" comic book series which debuted in 1988. "Excalibur"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s original creative team, writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, incorporated elements of two Marvel properties: the X-Men and Captain Britain. The resulting superhero team Excalibur first gathered together in "Excalibur Special Edition" #1 (1988) and were soon featured in a monthly series. Davis left with "Excalibur" #24 (1990) and Claremont with "Excalibur" #34 (1991), leaving a number of various plot points unresolved before his departure.