Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)

Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel #29 (November 1973). Art by Jim Starlin.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (December 1967)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Gene Colan (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Mar-Vell
Species	Kree
Team affiliations	Defenders Avengers Legion of the Unliving
Notable aliases	Dr. Walter Lawson
Abilities	Superhuman strength Flight Cosmic Awareness Solar energy absorption & projection Wields Nega-Bands

Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and designed by artist Gene Colan and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (December 1967).

The character debuted during the Silver Age of comic books and has made many appearances since then, including a self-titled series and the second volume of the Marvel Spotlight series. Captain Marvel was ranked 24th in IGN's list of "The Top 50 Avengers" and has appeared in television series and video games.

From 1940 to 1953 Fawcett Comics published comics featuring their popular character Captain Marvel, and thus held the trademark to the name "Captain Marvel". Fawcett ceased publishing the comics in 1953 due to a 1951 copyright infringement suit from DC Comics, and their trademark ostensibly lapsed. Taking advantage of this situation, Marvel debuted its new Captain Marvel character in 1967 and quickly trademarked the name. Marvel was not the first company to try to capitalize on Fawcett's lapsed trademark; in 1966 the small publisher M. F. Enterprises released a short-lived Captain Marvel series.

Marvel's character debuted as the lead feature in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (December 1967), written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Gene Colan. Although usually credited as co-creator, Colan had no involvement with Captain Marvel's conception, and in fact has voiced an intense dislike for the character and especially his original white-and-green costume: "It was awful – just an imitation of any of the other costumed characters I'd ever done."