Shazam, who is now known to be actually not made by DC but by Fawcett Comics with C.C Beck and Bill Parker as the main creator, at that time Shazam was named Captain Marvel. This superhero comic published in 1940 turned out to have sales of comics higher than Superman (first published in 1932).

In 1953, Fawcett Comics was sued by DC because Captain Marvel had a lot in common with Superman and was considered to have violated copyright, this made his comics unpublished. After some time passed, DC Comics gave Fawcett Comic a license to republish Captain Marvel in 1972 before buying the character in 1991.