Captain Marvel vs Captain Marvel
When the original Captain Marvel, created by writer Bill Parker and artist C. C. Beck, premiered in February 1940, their Kryptonian inspiration was undeniable: the bright, primary-colored tights (red rather than blue); the insignia (a lightning bolt rather than a big red “S”)); the cape; the boots; the secret identity; the chiseled chin and rugged good looks. On the cover of Superman’s first appearance, in Action Comics #1 (published by the company that later became DC), the Man of Steel is shown lifting a car, and is presumably about to throw it; on the cover of his debut in Whiz Comics #2 (published by Fawcett Comics), Captain Marvel is hurling a car and the bad guys in it against a brick wall.
There was a lawsuit between DC and Fawcett Comics, which DC won (read the who story elsewhere).
Thus the first Captain Marvel hung up his cape and tights.
Then,
Except for a couple of fits and starts, the name Captain Marvel was then barely heard for almost 15 years. In the interim, the publisher known as Timely Comics in the 1940s and Atlas in the 1950s rebranded itself as Marvel Comics in 1961. In 1967, Marvel’s chief auteur, writer-editor-publisher Stan Lee, decided to come up with another character who would use the Captain Marvel monicker. He and artist Gene Colan envisioned an alien soldier named Mar-Vell (get it?)
Not to mention competition. In 1972, DC decided that the original Captain Marvel was too great a comic-book character to remain in limbo, and the company that once tried to squash Captain Marvel 1.0 acquired the rights to the character from Fawcett. The only drawback was that since Marvel Comics now owned the Captain Marvel trademark, DC was now importuned to call its new title Shazam! instead. The revived character, who would himself eventually be re-christened Shazam, proved popular enough he starred in his own live-action TV series that lasted three seasons, from 1974 to 1976.
Only later did Marvel Comics decide to give captain marvel a sex change.
Mar-Vell himself was a bit of a snooze, and found himself gradually eclipsed by his one-time love interest, Carol Danvers. In the first Captain Mar-Vell stories, Danvers was a pilot and security officer, and thus already considerably more empowered than your typical comic damsel in distress. In 1977, Danvers was revived as one of first major costumed heroines of the post-Gloria Steinem era; her early issues proclaimed, “This Female Fights Back!” Ms. Marvel
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