Heh, Heh, Heh for Dr. Sivana!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Simply put, Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is Captain Marvel's arch-enemy. He was the featured villain in Captain Marvel's very first adventure in Whiz Comics #2 and proved to be Captain Marvel's most popular adversary.
While most of Captain Marvel's villains lasted an issue or two, the wiley Sivana was brought back time and time again to battle the World's Mightiest Mortal. A typical Sivana story would follow the mad scientist in his pursuit to get rid of the Big Red Cheese — often by capturing and attempting to kill Cap's alter-ego, Billy Batson.
Sivana's co-creator, C.C. Beck, claimed in several interviews that he based Dr. Sivana on his local Long Island druggist. One can imagine that same druggist stocking the first issue of Whiz in the comics rack and, perhaps, innocently flipping through that first story and saying, "Hey, wait-a-minute — that's me!"
Shazam! Fun Fact Text
The very first issue of Whiz Comics featured the villainy of the World's Maddest Scientist... Dr. Sivana!
Thaddeus Sivana quickly became Captain Marvel's arch-enemy and constantly and wickedly battled the Big Red Cheese!
Artist and co-creator, C.C. Beck, claimed that he modeled Dr. Sivana on his neighborhood Long Island druggist whose name was Horne!
Legendary Cap fan, Dick Lupoff, suggests that Dr. Sivana was modeled after the look of Max Shreck from the movie, Nosferatu!