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
Captain Marvel (DC Comics) of their 1953 settlement. Looking for new properties to introduce to the DC Comics line, DC publisher Carmine Infantino decided to bring the Captain Marvel property back into print, and in 1972 he licensed the characters from Fawcett. Because Marvel Comics had by this time established "Captain Marvel" as a comic book trademark for their own character, created and first published in 1967, DC published their book under the name "Shazam!" Infantino attempted to give the "Shazam!" book the subtitle "The Original Captain Marvel", but a cease and desist letter from Marvel Comics forced them to change the subtitle to