"Capt. Ripoff" outsold Superman, and was the best-selling book in the USA for ten years in the 1940's, before Superman's publishers closed him down - a move that wouldn't happen today.
Don't show your ignorance for another person's choice of preference by making insults. Both characters have their place. It just took DC a LONG time to start moving Captain Marvel to the forefront, post-crisis.
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"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison
Look at all the characters much closer to being Superman clones than Marvel - Gladiator, Supreme, Sentry, to name a few. They haven't had their publishing house closed, or been sued in court. Times are different.
It would actually be nice to have Shazam at Marvel - he'd get a better shake.
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"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison
Superman is better, he's done more, is more respectable, and blah blah blah. Plus he's also cooler...I mean, Superman acts like a total *** way too much, but I just hate the idea of a kid becoming a superhero like that, and I'm not a fan of magic, and then on top of that, look at Marvel's costume...lol. Kal-El is a lot cooler than Billy in a lot of ways, and has had more popularity (and thusly, more amazing and heroic feats), and therefore wins lol.
Superman is not stronger than Capt. Marvel. Whoever thinks that does not know their comics. Capt. Marvel has always been written to stand toe-to-toe with Superman on equal footing.
capt marvel does stand toe to toe with superman, but his strength dwindles and supermans gets stronger, thats the difference, hence why the man of steel beats CM if he stays in close quarters with SM.
actually SM has said he doesn't like to go toe to toe with Cap due to his magic doh I cannot remember the comic but uts batman and sm vs hawkman and cap
Capt. Ripoff is a Superman clone and whoever picked Capt. Ripoff isn't very knowledgeable or completely ignorant to the fact the Superman is the better Superhero by 10 times.
Capt. Ripoff is a Mortal from earth. Superman is an immortal planetary and galactic Superhero. nuff said"
Its the same as saying Superman is a Doc Savage/Hercules rip off.
Oh wait....
This question will never be answered due to the fact they are always show and always will be as rougly equals.
I personally like Marvel more. Has that fantasy part going for him.
What ZephroCarnelian said concerning their stats is true. They are matched well in different ways concerning their powers. They both have everlasting power sources. I think it was said somewhere that as captain marvel/billy grows in age/time having power and experience with the power of shazam, that one day he would no longer need the wizard to become captain marvel and that he doesn't fully tap into the power of shazam due to lack of maturity with it. Superman and captain marvel are virtually immortal, captain marvel doesn't age and superman won't age due to solar power which fills his cells and fuels his bio-matrix/kryptonian physiology. The more sun light supes absorbs, the more constant his power and life attributes become and he will stop aging and it will be very difficult for him to lose power when away from a yellow star or if someone tries to absorb his power. Also, captain marvel has powers that many people are unaware of, most people think that he's just superman level in strength, speed, and invulnerability. However, he has the ability to see through illusions and sense magical entities/disturbances cause by use of magic/magic beings and a few other powers due to the power of shazam.
Sad stuff. Supes can fly instead of just leaping tall buildings because of Cap'n Marvel. CM's better than Supes(all the "superman ripoffs" are). Only reason Supes is more famous is because DC put CM on the backburner so he wouldn't continue to outshine Supes. You know you suck when your imitators appear and become more popular than you are.
Lame costume. No personality. Too many powers @ too high of a degree. The "glasses" thing. Actually getting even more powerful. Given preference over characters that should logically hand him is @$$ merely because he's an icon. Just some of these problems'd have been bad. All of them in one is horrible.
His costume isn't that bad. He could use a new one.
No personality? Most will disagree. Have you made an attempt to read his comics? If he had no personality, he wouldn't be selling comics.
Too many powers? Silver Surfer has too many powers. He's the most over powered character, ever, but he fights people more powerful than him, so it's okay.
Glasses? They're just glasses.
Getting more powerful? I don't think he should get more powerful, but he's still not over powered in the DC universe.
Preference over characters? He's been defeated before. Every character has a jobber aura. Look at Wolverine. He shouldn't last long against the Hulk. Even Spider-man made a fool out of the Hulk.