Uncle Marvel
Encyclopedia
Uncle Marvel is a fictional
comic book
character originally created for Fawcett Comics
, and today owned by DC Comics
, who appears in stories about the Marvel Family
team of superheroes. Created by Otto Binder
and Marc Swayze
, Uncle Marvel was created primarily as a supporting character of Mary Marvel
and first appeared in Wow Comics
#18 in October 1943.
, saw right through Dudley's mechanations, but since he was, in their opinion, such a "lovable old fraud", they allowed Dudley to join the team as their manager, Uncle Marvel, and humored his pretense of having Marvel powers. When asked to make use of his supposed superpowers, Dudley would always complain that his "shazambago" was acting up and was interfering with his powers, though the Marvels always knew better. In Marvel Family #1 he defeats the rogue Marvel Black Adam
by tricking him into turning back by saying Shazam wrong, causing Black Adam to correct him, but mostly he was just comic relief. In Mary Marvel #7, after Mary stops some thugs, he makes Mary promise not to turn into Mary Marvel until midnight, to show she is helpless without Mary Marvel. He then sends two men to rob the office, which she stops with her own fighting skills but his own blunder allows them to escape, then kidnap her for a joke, not realising they are real crooks and plan to hold her to ransom. She is kidnapped from her bed, bound and gagged, and taken to Uncle, who reveals it was a joke, at which point the criminals reveal their true colours. He ungags her, but it is three minutes till midnight, so she cannot transform, making Uncle regret the promise he made her make. Finally, as the criminals tell Uncle to write the ransom note, Mary sees a clock strike midnight and transforms, defeating the crooks. Dudley/Uncle Marvel was modeled after American
actor
W.C. Fields.
Uncle Marvel continued to appear in the Marvel Family stories through 1948, at which time the character was quietly dropped. He returned to the Marvel Family comics when DC Comics
began publishing new stories and reprints under the title Shazam! in 1973, he was put into suspended animation along with many Fawcett characters by and with the Sivanas it was explained. He again takes over Shazam Incorpotated. After forty years of appearing in the Marvel Family comics, Uncle Dudley was revamped in 1987 along with the rest of the Shazam! franchise. In Roy Thomas
and Tom Mandrake's four-issue 1987 miniseries Shazam! The New Beginning, the character became Dudley Batson, an actual blood uncle of young Billy Batson, Captain Marvel
's alter-ego.
A second revamped version of Uncle Marvel was introduced in Jerry Ordway
's Power of Shazam! graphic novel
in 1994 and a resulting ongoing comic book series of the same name, rendering Thomas and Mandrake's version non-canon
ical. In Ordway's stories, Dudley H. Dudley is the janitor at Billy Batson's school, who looks out for the homeless boy and inadvertently learns that Billy is also the alter ego of Captain Marvel. This revelation leads Dudley to be involved in a number of Marvel Family adventures, including one story (The Power of Shazam! #11 and #12) in which Dudley temporarily gains superpowers (and the "Uncle Marvel" costume of the original version of the character), thanks to Ibis the Invincible so he can help round up the escaped Seven Deadly enemies of Man. Dudley continued to appear in The Power of Shazam! for the duration of the series as a recurring supporting character, often paired with Tawky Tawny
, an anthropomorphic tiger
friend of Captain Marvel's who becomes Dudley's roommate.
Following the cancellation of The Power of Shazam! in 1999, "Uncle" Dudley virtually disappeared from DC Comics publications, save for a short cameo in 52
#16 at the wedding of Marvel Family related characters Black Adam
and Isis
and two brief cameos in Jerry Ordway-illustrated issues of Justice Society of America
in 2009 (Vol. 3, #24 and #28).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
character originally created for Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
, and today owned by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, who appears in stories about the Marvel Family
Marvel Family
The Marvel Family is a group of fictional characters, a team of superheroes in the Fawcett Comics and DC Comics universes. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and Fawcett artists C. C...
team of superheroes. Created by Otto Binder
Otto Binder
Otto Oscar Binder was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books...
and Marc Swayze
Marc Swayze
Marc Swayze was an American comic book artist from 1941-53 for Fawcett Publications.He is best known for his work on Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during the Golden Age of comic books for Fawcett Comics, and is the co-creator of Mary Marvel with writer Otto Binder...
, Uncle Marvel was created primarily as a supporting character of Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine, originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 in...
and first appeared in Wow Comics
Wow Comics
Wow Comics was a monthly ongoing comic book anthology series, which was published by Fawcett Comics from winter 1940 to March 1952. From issue #9 to #58, the book's cover features were the solo adventures of Fawcett's Mary Marvel character...
#18 in October 1943.
History
An old, rotund man named Dudley, Uncle Marvel did not have any real superpowers. He found Mary Batson's good deed ledger which she kept to record her good deeds but had dropped and read it, learning her secret. Claiming to be the uncle of Mary Batson, Mary Marvel's teenage alter-ego, from California, Dudley attempted to con his way into the Marvel Family. The Marvels, possessing the wisdom of SolomonSolomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, saw right through Dudley's mechanations, but since he was, in their opinion, such a "lovable old fraud", they allowed Dudley to join the team as their manager, Uncle Marvel, and humored his pretense of having Marvel powers. When asked to make use of his supposed superpowers, Dudley would always complain that his "shazambago" was acting up and was interfering with his powers, though the Marvels always knew better. In Marvel Family #1 he defeats the rogue Marvel Black Adam
Black Adam
Black Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
by tricking him into turning back by saying Shazam wrong, causing Black Adam to correct him, but mostly he was just comic relief. In Mary Marvel #7, after Mary stops some thugs, he makes Mary promise not to turn into Mary Marvel until midnight, to show she is helpless without Mary Marvel. He then sends two men to rob the office, which she stops with her own fighting skills but his own blunder allows them to escape, then kidnap her for a joke, not realising they are real crooks and plan to hold her to ransom. She is kidnapped from her bed, bound and gagged, and taken to Uncle, who reveals it was a joke, at which point the criminals reveal their true colours. He ungags her, but it is three minutes till midnight, so she cannot transform, making Uncle regret the promise he made her make. Finally, as the criminals tell Uncle to write the ransom note, Mary sees a clock strike midnight and transforms, defeating the crooks. Dudley/Uncle Marvel was modeled after American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
W.C. Fields.
Uncle Marvel continued to appear in the Marvel Family stories through 1948, at which time the character was quietly dropped. He returned to the Marvel Family comics when DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
began publishing new stories and reprints under the title Shazam! in 1973, he was put into suspended animation along with many Fawcett characters by and with the Sivanas it was explained. He again takes over Shazam Incorpotated. After forty years of appearing in the Marvel Family comics, Uncle Dudley was revamped in 1987 along with the rest of the Shazam! franchise. In Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and Tom Mandrake's four-issue 1987 miniseries Shazam! The New Beginning, the character became Dudley Batson, an actual blood uncle of young Billy Batson, Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
's alter-ego.
A second revamped version of Uncle Marvel was introduced in Jerry Ordway
Jerry Ordway
Jeremiah "Jerry" Ordway is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining classic Crisis on Infinite Earths , his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and...
's Power of Shazam! graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
in 1994 and a resulting ongoing comic book series of the same name, rendering Thomas and Mandrake's version non-canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
ical. In Ordway's stories, Dudley H. Dudley is the janitor at Billy Batson's school, who looks out for the homeless boy and inadvertently learns that Billy is also the alter ego of Captain Marvel. This revelation leads Dudley to be involved in a number of Marvel Family adventures, including one story (The Power of Shazam! #11 and #12) in which Dudley temporarily gains superpowers (and the "Uncle Marvel" costume of the original version of the character), thanks to Ibis the Invincible so he can help round up the escaped Seven Deadly enemies of Man. Dudley continued to appear in The Power of Shazam! for the duration of the series as a recurring supporting character, often paired with Tawky Tawny
Tawky Tawny
Tawky Tawny is a character in DC Comics and a supporting character of the Marvel Family. He is a humanoid and well mannered tiger who wishes to be a part of human society and is a close friend of the Marvel Family.-Pre-Crisis:...
, an anthropomorphic tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
friend of Captain Marvel's who becomes Dudley's roommate.
Following the cancellation of The Power of Shazam! in 1999, "Uncle" Dudley virtually disappeared from DC Comics publications, save for a short cameo in 52
52 (comics)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
#16 at the wedding of Marvel Family related characters Black Adam
Black Adam
Black Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
and Isis
Isis (DC Comics)
Isis is a DC Comics superhero, as well as a separate Egyptian goddess also living in the DC Universe. The recent superhero character is modeled closely after the main character of The Secrets of Isis, a live-action American Saturday Morning television program that served as the second half of The...
and two brief cameos in Jerry Ordway-illustrated issues of Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
in 2009 (Vol. 3, #24 and #28).
Television
- A live-action Shazam!Shazam! (TV series)Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....
television series, which aired on CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Saturday mornings from 1975 to 1978, featured Captain Marvel and his young alter-ego Billy Batson, accompanied by an old man known as "Mentor". The Mentor character was loosely based upon Uncle Marvel, who in concurrent 1970s issues of the Shazam! comic book began sporting a mustache to resemble Les TremayneLes TremayneLes Tremayne was a radio, film, and television actor. Born Lester Tremayne in England, he moved with his family at the age four to Chicago, where he began in community theatre. He danced as a vaudeville performer and worked as amusement park barker...
, the actor who appeared as "Mentor" on the Shazam! TV show.
- Uncle Marvel appeared alongside the rest of the Marvel Family in The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! voiced by Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
.
- Uncle Dudley appears in the Young JusticeYoung Justice (TV series)Young Justice is an American animated television series created by Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's Young Justice comic series, but rather an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young...
episode "Alpha Male" voiced by Corey BurtonCorey BurtonCorey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
.
Film
- An evil, alternate version of Uncle Marvel, with a full set of Marvel family superpowers, appears as a villain in Justice League: Crisis on Two EarthsJustice League: Crisis on Two EarthsJustice League: Crisis on Two Earths is a 2010 original direct-to-video animated film released on February 23, 2010. It is based on the abandoned direct-to-video feature, Justice League: Worlds Collide, which was intended as a bridge between the then-concluding Justice League animated television...
. According to the credits, he is named "Uncle Super" and voiced by Bruce TimmBruce TimmBruce Walter Timm is an American character designer, animator and producer. He is also a writer and artist working in comics, and is known for his contributions building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, the DC animated universe.-Animation:Timm's early career in animation was varied; he...
.