by Superboy » Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:48 pm
Except that it wasn't a significant moment of growth to take Ms. Marvel and rename her Captain Marvel, it was a cynical and disgusting money-grab performed by Disney after they won the court case against DC comics. The first Captain Marvel was the DC one, orginally published by Fawcett comics before DC bought them. That Captain Marvel then was out of print for a little while because DC thought he was too similar to Superman, and Marvel brought out their own version. Then DC brought their Captain Marvel back. For years the two companies shared the name in a fairly amiable relationship, the only stipulation being DC couldn't use Captain Marvel in the name of a book, so DC Captain Marvel titles were called things like "The Power of Shazam." All that ended a few years ago, when Disney's deep pockets were able to pay for enough lawyers to get that changed.
For those that don't know, the real Captain Marvel, the Marvel one at least was a Captain in the Kree military named Mar-Vell, who betrayed the Kree in order to protect humanity. In continuity, people misheard his name, and he was dubbed "Captian Marvel." In a very bold move by Marvel comics, Captain Marvel ended up developing cancer from a nerve agent he had been exposed to yearss earlier, and died from it. It was an incredibly poignant story, and this was long before death in comics became a revolving door. Ms. Marvel's name change, which was only for the sole purpose of making sure that DC can't ever use the Captain Marvel name again, gives a huge middle finger to Jim Starlin and one of the most emotional and powerful stories ever seen in the medium.
There have been other "faux-Marvels" before this (The only one which didn't feel like a complete money-grab was Monica Rambeaux) but none of them lasted. Just like when Lou Gherig's number was retired by the Yankees, nobody wanted to see another character use that name. I hope they change Ms. Marvel back soon, she was a great character before this with an identity all her own. Renaming her just to keep DC from using the name is petty and small-minded. It does damage to her character, and diminshes both one of the greatest moments in comc history and the Marvel brand as a whole.