Transition L. Miller & Son's
Captain Marvel #24 featured the title "Captain Marvel—The Marvelman" on the front cover; inside the editorial revealed that Billy Batson had decided to retire and lead a normal life with his place being taken by Micky Moran as Marvelman. Thus
Marvelman took over the numbering of the
Captain Marvel series, leading to the character debuting on 3 February 1954 in
Marvelman #25, which contained the stories "Marvelman and the Atomic Bomber" and "Marvelman and the Stolen Radium". A similar transition took place in sister title
Captain Marvel Jr., which soon became
Young Marvelman.
Content Like its predecessor,
Marvelman was a weekly comic. In order to cut expenditure in resizing or modifying artwork from American publishers, L. Miller & Son retained the same dimensions as US comic books. Each issue was 28 pages long, and the interiors were printed in black and white on newsprint, with only the covers in colour. and would briefly feature as a back-up in
Marvelman. The title's most lasting villain was evil scientist Doctor Gargunza, a reinvention of Captain Marvel's arch-enemy
Doctor Sivana, given a new look that involved a black
widow's peak,
spectacles and an exaggerated
overbite, a distinctive "Hak! Hak!" chuckle and a name invented by Anglo's brother. While Gargunza would invariably lose and be bought to justice as each scheme failed, the character would always escape and return on numerous occasions. Another recurring antagonist was the fictional
Eastern bloc country of Boromania, agents of whom were defeated by Marvelman on numerous occasions. Other story opportunities were opened up when Marvelman gained the ability to fly fast enough around the
Earth to travel through time, usually into the past but occasionally into the future. This allowed him to visit periods such as England in the
Elizabethan era or the
Middle Ages, the reign of
Louis XIV, the
Wild West or
American Civil War, and also meet historical figures including
Hannibal,
Hippocrates, and
Charles II. His adventures also saw him cross paths with fictional or mythical characters such as
King Arthur,
Icarus,
Scheherazade and
Dick Whittington.
Success Marvelman was a success, exceeding the sales of
Captain Marvel, and, later, birthday cards in exchange for a
Shilling.
Marvelman annuals were also produced by L. Miller & Son; these 96-page hardback books featured a mix of strip adventures (some of which featured coloured art, the only material from the original run to do so), illustrated text stories and activity pages. Two "Magic Painting" books were also produced—these featured pages pre-coated with watercolour paint, which would be revealed when a wet paintbrush was applied. Among the series' fans were
Tommy Cooper, who would mention the series in his autobiography
Just Like That, which referred to a story in
Marvelman #267 where the hero was transformed into 'Cooperman'.
Decline and cancellation British sales however began to fall after the ban on importing American comics was lifted in November 1959. In 1960 they had dropped to a degree where L. Miller & Son switched the title to a monthly status and the contents to reprints, while the annuals would shrink in size and quality. As a result, Mick Anglo left the title, turning down an offer from Arnold Miller and instead setting up his own
Anglo Features, using material created for
Marvelman for the short-lived
Captain Miracle. Original cover-art was still created, though a lack of reference material meant the new artists frequently depicted the character as having brown hair, while Captain Marvel's cape even made a reappearance on cover for the 1961 annual. Even this was not enough to keep the comic profitable and—with the publisher in dire financial straits—the final issues of
Marvelman and
Young Marvelman—#370 of each—were dated February 1963. The annuals would also end publication the same year. ==Ownership==