Marvelman: The British superhero created to give a tough fight to America’s Captain Marvel 

What names pop up on your mind when you think of superheroes? Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel, right? One factor that is common between all these extremely popular superheroes is that all of them have an American origin created by two of the most renowned American comic book publishers, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. But today, we are going to talk to you about another superhero who has a British origin. Meet the indestructible Marvelman (also known as Mike Moran), who later became famous as Miracleman.  

The birth of Marvelman 
After World War II, the UK government wanted to promote indigenous publishers. So, it banned the import of American periodicals as well as comic books. So, from 1943 to 1966 a British publisher of periodicals, comic books, and pulp fiction, named L. Miller & Son used to publish black-and-white reprints of many American comics including the Captain Marvel series produced by Fawcett Comics, a division of American publishing house named Fawcett Publications. Unfortunately, after 1953 Fawcett halted the publication of Captain Marvel comics, due to a copyright infringement suit from their rival DC Comics. They alleged that Captain Marvel was a copy of Superman. So, L. Miller & Son also had to cease re-publishing the British edition of the Captain Marvel series in 1954. This is when the British publication house reached out to writer and artist Mick Anglo to create a competitor of Captain Marvel. Thus, British superhero Marvelman was born.  

A peek into the world of Marvelman  
Mick Anglo’s Marvelman was originally a newspaper reporter named Mike Moran. After meeting an astrophysicist, he learns a secret word that grants him brilliant atomic powers to fight crime. Are you curious about what the word was? It was ‘Kimota’, ‘atomic’ spelt phonetically backwards! With this word, Moran assumed the persona of Marvelman, gaining the abilities of flight, super-strength and invulnerability! No superhero story is complete without sidekicks, and Marvelman has two in the comics: Dicky Dauntless (young Marvelman) and Johnny Bates (kid Marvelman). The comic strip ran from 1954 to 1963, but eventually, sales dropped as people’s preferences changed, and the final Marvelman adventure was published in 1963. 

The revival of Marvelman in 1982 
Marvelman was resurrected in 1982 by British comics writer Alan Moore from the Warrior Magazine. In this comic, Mike Moran suddenly recalls the magical word that once again grants him superpowers. Thus, he once again embarks on adventures to battle villains and save the world. Soon, Marvelman became the magazine’s most popular feature gaining popularity in the US too. However, due to several financial, creative and legal issues, the Warrior Magazine was forced to shut down, leaving Marvelman once again without a publisher. 

Marvelman becomes Miracleman 
Following the closure of Warrior Magazine, Dez Skinn (who headed the Warrior Magazine) sought assistance from DC Comics and Marvel Comics. However, both declined to publish Marvelman. Finally, Eclipse Comics, an American comic book publisher, agreed to publish the series, and thus, Marvelman found a new home. But this time, Marvelman was introduced as Miracleman to avoid lawsuits from Marvel Comics. Alan Moore’s new Miracleman hit the shelves in August 1985 and was instantly successful!  

England-born Neil Gaiman, the author of Sandman (1989) and Coraline (2002), took over Miracleman after Alan Moore exited the series. Gaiman worked on story arcs for Miracleman until Eclipse Comics shut down. You might think Miracleman was homeless once more. That was true, but it was destined to find a permanent home this time. Who do you think rescued the indestructible Miracleman? Marvel! Let’s see how that happened. 

Miracleman becomes a true marvel! 
The co-creator of Image Comics, another American comic book publisher, Todd McFarlane, purchased Eclipse’s assets and decided to bring Miracleman back. This resulted in a legal battle over Miracleman’s ownership. Gaiman, and previous owners of the magazine that published Miracleman all claimed ownership of the series. After years of copyright battles, it was revealed that the character’s rights remained with Mick Anglo, who sold the comics to Marvel in 2009. That is how Miracleman became a part of the Marvel Comics universe. A year later, Marvel Comics released a hardcover collection of Marvelman stories from the 1950s. And in the year 2013, it allowed Gaiman to complete his story arc.  

So, where is Miracleman right now? Although not confirmed, there are rumours that Miracleman may be resurrected as part of the Marvel Universe! Do you believe Miracleman will ever join the Avengers? Only time will tell!