Did DC do the "Meet Captain Thunder" story in Superman 276 in June 1974?
Captain Thunder (1974)[edit]
In "Make Way for Captain Thunder" from
Superman #276 (June 1974), Superman found himself at odds with "Captain Thunder", a superhero displaced from another Earth and another time. Thunder had been magically tricked by his archenemies in the Monster League of Evil into committing evil himself, which led to his doing battle with Superman. Captain Thunder, whose name was derived from Captain Marvel's original moniker, was a thinly veiled
pastiche of Marvel—down to his similar costume, his young alter ego named "Willie Fawcett" (a reference to Fawcett Comics), and a magic word ("Thunder!"), which was an acronym for seven entities and their respective powers. He got his power from rubbing a magic belt buckle with a thunder symbol on it and saying "Thunder". His powers came from Tornado (power), Hare (speed),
Uncas (bravery), Nature (wisdom), Diamond (toughness), Eagle (flight), and Ram (tenacity). Superman held him while he used his wisdom to escape the effects of the spell.
"Make Way for Captain Thunder" was written by Elliot S! Maggin and illustrated by
Curt Swan and Bob Oskner. At the time of its publication, DC had been printing
Shazam! comics for 18 months, but had kept that universe separate from those of its other publications. The real Captain Marvel would finally meet Superman in
Justice League of America #137, two years later (although he met
Lex Luthor in
Shazam! #15, November/December 1974).