Oggar | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Fawcett Comics (1946–1953) DC Comics (1972–present) |
First appearance | Whiz Comics #2 (cover date Feb. 1940, release date Dec. 1939) |
Created by | Bill Parker C. C. Beck |
In-story information | |
Team affiliations | Monster Society of Evil |
Notable aliases | Oggar, the World's Mightiest Immortal [1] |
Oggar, the World's Mightiest Immortal, is a fictional character from the publisher Fawcett Comics, whose publication rights were acquired by DC Comics in the 1970s. [2] [3] He first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures # 61 (May 1946, Fawcett Comics). His first appearance in DC Comics was in World's Finest Comics # 264 (August 1980).
He was a major recurring enemy of the Marvels in stories published before the Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity reboot, and has not appeared since then.
In a 1974 interview, writer Otto Binder admitted, "The Oggar serial was really a flop, to be frank. It was again one of my ideas and it seemed to be great in my mind, but when it came to writing and developing the theme, it just sort of went nowhere and it was quickly killed after six chapters. That was how it worked: For every good idea, there were a couple of so-so ones." [4]
Oggar is a former pupil of the wizard Shazam and a member of the pantheon that empowers him. After rebelling against Shazam, Oggar is banished to Earth and learns that Shazam will eventually die and give his powers to Billy Batson. During his exile, Oggar meets the witch Circe and gives her immortality, but in his enmity to her, deliberately did not include eternal youth as well and she suffered the results of extreme age.
After returning in the 20th century, Oggar becomes an enemy of the Marvel Family and joins the Monster Society of Evil. However, the Marvel Family is by this time aware of his magic's inability to directly harm women and so Mary Marvel is assigned to deal with him.
Oggar has divine strength and durability equal to Captain Marvel's. He possesses vast magical powers that enable him to do nearly anything, like fly, create objects, teleport, and generate fire, lightning, and force fields. Furthermore, Oggar can force others to obey him and drive them insane if they refuse.
However, Oggar's magic has two major limitations: he cannot cast the same spell on a target more than once, and his magic is unable to directly harm a female target. The latter limitation is broad in its definition since using it to for something relatively benign like forcibly relocating a woman against her will without otherwise physically harming her is useless. However, a female target can be harmed indirectly like commanding magic lighting to strike where the female target stands.