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| Marvelous Marvin Hagler, dressed as Captain Marvel (Shazam), in homage to an original 1981 Ring magazine cover by Jack Goodman. Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and Copic marker on 9" X 12" Strathmore Art Bristol Board |
As a pup, I was always thrilled to see a new issue of The Ring in the local grocery store or 7-11's magazine section. As an extremely young boxing fan, that was as far as my enjoyment went because whatever scratch I saved up was used on comic books and action figures. (I did start buying The Ring when I was around 12 or 13 however.)
But one particular cover stuck out like a sore thumb. When I was nine, the April 1981 issue of The Ring hit shelves and it caught my eye for more than one reason.
The subject: Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a man who became my favorite middleweight and favorite middleweight champion of all time in a quickness, thanks to his drive, work ethic and undisputed championship (then just the WBA and WBC titles) win over Alan Minter in September of 1980. (Look that one up. A doozy with a shameful aftermath.) Its accompanying headline: "'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler: Boxing's new superhero."
The other variable that jumped out made my heart leap...well kind of, once I fully examined the photo.
In the image (photographed by Jack Goodman, I believe. If there's anyone out there who can correct me, please do!) Hagler is dressed in tights evocative of my absolute all-time favorite (it seems this is a recurring theme!) superhero Captain Marvel (not the female version published by Marvel Comics but the original Cap created by CC Beck and Bill Parker for Fawcett Publications in late-1939, then published once again by DC Comics under the title "Shazam!" in 1973).
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| The original Ring magazine cover, dated April 1981, featuring Marvelous Marvin Hagler dressed as a version of Captain Marvel/Shazam. Photo credit: Jack Goodman |
At first, I thought, "I get it!!" Then it hit me that I got it but those creatively responsible didn't get it. I mean, the costume looked like something out of "The Electric Company" (that'll give you an idea how old I am...) not DC Comics. Sure, the costume was red and there was a lightning bolt but there was an "M" covering the lightning bolt (like we didn't know "Marvelous," "Marvin" or even "Marvel" started with an M. It immediately reminded me of an old Cooper Halloween costume of Spider-Man I had that featured the words "Spider-Man" right above the spider emblem on the chest), no golden wrist-to elbow coverings and the cape was black - with no golden cord!
Nine-year-old me was bummed, man. It further compounded my feelings and opinion that Captain Marvel was continually being done wrong. And now my other hero, Captain Marvelous Marvin, was also being done wrong because he wasn't allowed to wear the correct suit! I swore someday, when I became an artist - someday - I would fix this catastrophe and make everything right for Hagler and Captain Marvel (who most folks thought was Shazam due to DC not being allowed to use the name "Captain Marvel" on any of its covers featuring the hero).
But let's go back to the aforementioned phrase, "...DC not being allowed to use the name 'Captain Marvel'..." As I grew older (and maybe a little wiser...maybe not), I realized that perhaps The Ring and Goodman might not have been allowed to use a suit that was more faithful to Captain Marvel. After all, this magazine was for sale and making a profit off an idea for which permission wasn't given would have been detrimental for all involved on The Ring's - and Goodman's - end.
I get it.
Likeness rights and copyrights have always been very touchy subjects. Consider the WWE's Braun Strowman. Superman's "S" shield is tattooed on his right shoulder. His action figures and artistic renderings have this very small feature omitted, likely so DC Comics' copyright isn't violated.
Getting back to "Shazam," in last year's film version (which, as a hardcore fan of the original Cap, I loved), Shazam (no longer known as Captain Marvel) is emitting lightning from his hands, while singing about it in the style of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" (also clever since the story was based in Philadelphia). The film's 11-inch talking action figure, however, speaks a similar line about "lightning from my hands" without the song styling. Another example of reasonably avoiding potential litigation. It's a good move.
But I set out to fulfill my promise anyway, to artistically update Captain Marvelous Marvin Hagler's marvelous Captain Marvel/Shazam suit. Kind of.
See, if I truly updated his suit, it wouldn't really gel with the Captain Marvel aspect of the original image and its intent. Unless you dig 2015's "Convergence" event's take on Cap (which I ate up big time. Thank you, Doc Shaner and Jeff Parker!), there is no Captain Marvel in the current DC universe - just Shazam. So in order to get as close to the original Captain Marvel as I could in re-rendering Captain Marvelous Marvin Hagler, I combined elements from Jerry Ordway's "The Power of Shazam" revival, starting in 1994, and Alex Ross' "Kingdom Come" mini-series from 1996 (both my favorite modern versions of Cap other than Shaner's). It made sense to me because these were the last two truly significant renderings of Cap that would stand out in the imaginations of old and (then) new readers alike. So now you have a proper lightning bolt, cape and even a military-inspired jacket with the single-button chest flap.
To me, this is what The Ring and Goodman meant but just weren't allowed to pull off. It's cool. I get it. The best thing now, however, is this new image (Micron pen, Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and Copic marker on 9" X 12" Strathmore Art Bristol Board) is free for all to enjoy, so I'm not going to wind up in court!
More importantly, I hope you fight fans, CaptainMarvel/Shazam fans and Marvelous Marvin Hagler fans get it too.
SHAZAM!!
Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at artofthepaw@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @CoyoteDuran, on Instagram @CoyoteDuran and on Facebook @CDCreationNation.
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