Mary Marvel

Character History

History & Public Domain Status

Mary Bromfield (birth name Batson) debuted in Captain Marvel Adventures #18, in 1942. Given her powers to save Billy when he is unable to transform, she becomes Mary Marvel.

Under the Copyright Act of 1909, which was in effect at the time, works were granted an initial copyright term of 28 years. To secure the full protection, the copyright had to be renewed during the last (28th) year of that first term, 1968. No such renewal was filed for her early appearances as far as we have been able to determine. This places her in the public domain.

Current Incarnation (PDSH)

In our version of the charcter, Mary Batson is a young indigenous woman, twin sister to Billy Batson. Where Billy is the adventurous and impetous twin, she is the thoughtful and reserved one. Through the machinations of the villainous and mysterious Victor and his right hand woman, Perdita DeVachron, Mary receives the power of SHAZAM and becomes Mary Marvel.