Elvis Presley, one of the biggest names in the 20th century, was an avid comic book reader. He was even deeply inspired by one superhero in particular.
Comic books became popular in the early 1940s, according to Nerdist. This was also when the character Captain Marvel Jr. was introduced.
He is an alter-ego of Freddy Freeman, a disabled boy saved by Captain Marvel, who shares his powers with the young man. The character is also set to appear in the upcoming “Shazam!” film.
The Captain Marvel Jr. comics ran from 1942 to 1953, featuring more real-world stories that represent the working class.
Presley was an avid reader of these printed pages. In the recent biopic “Elvis,” the singer, played by Austin Butler, is seen reading the pages while wearing overalls with a lightning bolt on them.
“When I was a kid, I read comic books and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies and I was the hero of the movie. So every dream that I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times,” Presley once said in a speech in 1971, according to ScreenRant.
His personal collection of comic books is still preserved at his home in Graceland, but it doesn’t end there.
Presley also had a similar look to Captain Marvel Jr., including his jet-black hair with an exaggerated front curl (his hair was naturally brown), as well as his flashy jumpsuits and vibrant designs with a mini-cape.
While Presley and his designer Bill Belew never confirmed their source of inspiration, they didn’t deny it, either.
But the connection between the two was drawn. In a case of life imitating art, in the 1996 issue of the limited series comic “Kingdom Come,” Freddy Freeman was drawn as King Marvel, wearing a jumpsuit with bellbottom boots and an Elvis-like style.