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The 2005 Proposal To Bring Back The Real Captain Marvel by Alex Ross Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck [Alex Ross has made a career out of rekindling his childhood enthusiasm, beginning with his part as the artist/painter of the 1990s series Marvels, which has since been followed up by such DC series as Kingdom Come. It is no exaggeration to say he is today one of the bestknown people in the comics field. As both a long-time fan of the original Captain Marvel and something of a modern-day advocate for that hero’s rightful and prominent inclusion in high-profile projects, he continually reinterprets the World’s Mightiest Mortal for today’s world. While others have essentially buried the Beckinspired version, with the recently rejected/ignored pitch of Ross’ Say My Name – Shazam!, unveiled here for the first time, the artist reveals that he still shares with many others the hope that a classic rendition of Captain Marvel will soon return. —P.C. Hamerlinck.]
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n early 2005, many changes were bouncing around the DC Universe, particularly around the continuity-redefining Infinite Crisis series. As part of this, there would be many characters killed, rebooted, and/or created from whole cloth. (Earlier in the year, fan favorite Blue Beetle was murdered for the sake of just such a reboot.) I was working at the time on my largest project to date, the 12-issue series Justice. Maintaining a very focused work schedule of painting 14 pages a month (a bi-monthly comic book) didn’t allow me much time to collaborate on other projects. It was around the time leading up to my book’s, and then Infinite Crisis’, release, that I was contacted about Shazam! DC was looking for a costume
Father To The Man (Left:) Alex Ross at work. (Above:) Concept drawings of Billy Batson and Captain Marvel done by Alex Ross to accompany his proposal for Say My Name—Shazam! And yes, the above title logo for this piece was also designed by Alex. When he’s enthusiastic, he’s enthusiastic! [Shazam! characters & phrase TM & ©2008 DC Comics.]