And what's the story with Captain Marvel Junior? He can't say his name or else he turns back into Freddy Freeman, is that it?

Can he not say his real name, or his superhero name, or both? And doesn't he have to say his superhero name to *become* Captain Marvel Jr.?

This is a children's cartoon, not The Sopranos).

Shh. The kids have enough superhero cartoons.

Dude, Teen Titans has a pretty dark arc this season, with Raven/Slade/Trigon issues. I like, but it really skirts the edge of being a kid's cartoon.

This is a children's cartoon, not The Sopranos).

Showing at 9 p.m. It's not for little kids, anyway.

I've dl'd the next few eps, and they're a direct story arc. They really ought to say "To be continued" at the end of each.

My love of the Teen Titans comic proved too big a barrier to me getting into the cartoon. I can't get from Perez to the anime -- but I admit some distrust of their ability to handle things like Terra.

Maybe from Netflix one day I'll catch up.

My love of the Teen Titans comic proved too big a barrier to me getting into the cartoon. I can't get from Perez to the anime -- but I admit some distrust of their ability to handle things like Terra.

Would it help to know that Marv Wolfman himself wrote a couple of the episodes? Earlier this year at a con, I heard him say he was impressed by how much of the Terra story was captured in the 'toon version - with obvious changes made for a younger audience.

And what's the story with Captain Marvel Junior? He can't say his name or else he turns back into Freddy Freeman, is that it?

Captain Marvel is the character's name. Shazam is simply the magic word that changes him back and forth. However, there are some legal issues involving the name since Marvel Comics also has the a Captain Marvel, so sometimes he's called "Shazam" instead. Or something. (I also recall DC owns the rights to the character because they successfully sued his creator way back in the day under the grounds he was a rip-off of Superman.)

Captain Marvel is the character's name. Shazam is simply the magic word that changes him back and forth.

My question wasn't about Captain Marvel (Billy Batson); it was about Captain Marvel *Junior* (Freddy Freeman).

Ah. My mistake. I wasn't aware there was a "junior". Now I feel all stupid and stuff.

DC can use the name "Captain Marvel", but they don't have a trademark on the name, so they can't use it as the title of a comic book or anything.

DC sued Fawcett over Captain Marvel, claiming he was a blatant rip-off of Superman (which he is: he flies, he has a cape, he's super-strong, his alter-ego, Billy Batson, is a boy-reporter). However, DC was losing the court case. The judge had ruled that as long as Fawcett didn't directly steal any storyline, there was no copyright violation. You can't copyright an idea.

During the lawsuit, however, Fawcett decided it wanted to get out of the comic book business, so it settled with DC and sold the rights to the characters to them.

During the lawsuit, however, Fawcett decided it wanted to get out of the comic book business, so it settled with DC and sold the rights to the characters to them.

I didn't realize that's how the judgement worked. I thougth DC won.

It's probably worth noting that in its time, Captain Marvel was one of the best selling comics ever. Back in the 40s a top selling comic sold massive numbers. Much much higher than today.