We've covered how weird the copyright for this stuff works (see my entry for Blue Beetle), but for most of this series, I've stuck to heroes that are very much safe to use (even Blue Beetle has seen a comfortable amount of non-DC comics and movies for me to mention them). Today's hero is someone who you definitely can't use.

Billy Batson was just your average boy/radio presenter when, one day, he - no, wait, why am I explaining their backstory, they're Captain Marvel/Shazam, they have a big movie about them and they're a relatively well-known DC character, I don't think I need to explain them that much.

Now, Captain Marvel was originally published by Fawcett under loads of different comic lines, all of which you can just easily find online in a legal way since they are just public domain. As I mentioned earlier, most of the heroes covered here fall into the public domain do so because their copyrights weren't registered or renewed between the late 1920s and early 1970s (do your own research). Now, Fawcett was great at trademarking their comics, but really blew it when it came to registering/renewing copyright, hence why this guy is in the public domain (along with some of their other characters, like Peacemaker).

So, what are the trademarks? Well, obviously Shazam is off the table since that was entirely DC's idea... Captain Marvel can't be used since Marvel Comics now owns that one for their own character... and oh, you can't use the name "Billy Batson" either, since DC also owns that one... basically, if you want to use this character, it has to be a nameless cameo or an expy (the latter of which you could already do with any copyrighted character).

In short: just don't bother.

Between the red sands and the green sun of Hybor-E1 stands an impossibly large stone tower - the Rhino Tower. Locals say it's inhabited by Albrecht D. Whipple, the Mad Wizard.

Jenny Everywhere has a package to deliver to a prisoner in the tower's depths.

Tor the Asgardian sees treasure in the tower and wants it for himself.

The ladder salesman wants to sell a really big ladder.

ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO ENTER THE RHINO TOWER?

Read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49228531/chapters/124216873

(The original Jenny Everywhere illustration - Steven Wintle)

Now, I've been deliberately avoiding open-source characters for this series most of them don't have much beyond their premise, meaning my shallow, semi-comedic summaries would end up very bare-bones. However, since Jenny Everywhere Day is coming up this Sunday, I'll make an exception for our favourite Shifter.

So... where do we start? I suppose we have one paragraph already written for us:

The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.

Okay but who is she exactly? Well, Jenny Everywhere is usually a woman, usually either Asian or Native American, and usually wears at least a scarf and a pair of goggles. Personality-wise, she's usually quite upbeat and carefree. The reason for all these "usually"'s is because Jenny Everywhere exists in every universe with many different forms - which also serves as an easy excuse to take this character and make her into whatever you want.

Well, actually the Scarf and Goggles are also non-negotiable, you have to include those. Even if they're a nudist.

She gained the nickname "The Shifter" due to her ability to teleport (or shift) to different universes, or different parts of the same universe. With a premise like that, it's unsurprising how many of the writers and artists who use her are also Doctor Who nerds.

Through her use in various webcomics, short stories, and at least one short film, she also gained a large cast of supporting characters, like Laura Drake and Lord Grallyx, some of which were released under similar conditions to Jenny (though often they just make the character open source without the paragraph or credit being necessary). This includes a frankly obscene collection of similarly named characters with different premises, like Jenny Nowhere, Jenny Somewhere, Bunny Everyhare, Jimmy Wherever, Jenny Anywhere, Jenny Elsewhere, Karlie Somebody, Sophie Everytime, Jimmy Anytime, and Jenny Over-There (oh hey, that's my one!).

It's amusing to see Jenny Everywhere have such a long list of characters directly inspired by her, considering that Jenny herself was at least partially influenced by Octobriana (a very early example of an open source character who will definitely be covered here some other time because there's a story behind her).

With a character like this, it's difficult to track all their appearances, but thankfully I don't have to bother with that. If you want to find more stories featuring her, there's a very dedicated Jenny Everywhere Wiki where you can see just how much Jenny Everywhere stuff is out there. If you're looking for specific recommendations, Scott Sanford's much more coherent bio for the character lists a few starting points, so I'll also link to that below.

Finally, as I've alluded to earlier, Jenny Everywhere Day is coming up! Yes, Jenny Everywhere Day is on August 13th (aka this Sunday), meaning plenty of people will be sharing their Jenny Everywhere works, whether it be writing, art, comics, and maybe one day we'll get an interactive text adventure. The Tumblr will be linked below in case you want to give it a follow and see all the stories as they come up (including a story of my own).

https://jennyeverywhere.fandom.com/wiki/Jenny_Everywhere_Wiki
https://scott-sanford.dreamwidth.org/53923.html
https://www.jennyeverywhereday.com/

I feel like one thing we rarely see in this series is some real freak behaviour from the women superheroes. I mean, there's Fantomah, a real unhinged queen right there, but are there any others? Well, there is at least one other...

Meet Dianne Grayton, just your average wealthy socialite... or is she? Turns out, she has her own fun hobby - she goes out dressed as a Witch (complete with green mask) and fights crime using her ability to command a hoard of Black Widow spiders that she just has on her at all times. As you do. It's not clear if this ability is magical in nature or if she just trained them at some point,

With this behaviour, it's only natural she attracted an almost equally bizarre boyfriend - the Raven, an anonymous rich man who dresses up in a bird costume and fights crime for no clear reason... possibly they're the first example of an avian-based furry. Good for them!

It's not revolutionary or anything, but at the time their dynamic was quite unconventional - mainly because the Raven (a man) acted as the sidekick to the Spider Widow (a woman). Usually this ended up being the other way around with teams such as Bulletman & Bulletgirl, and the Flame & Flame Girl.

Other fun facts about these characters:

• As shown in the various crossovers with The Phantom Lady, both characters are aware that they're comic book characters, making them a very early example of that sort of meta-awareness.
• Speaking of those crossovers, it's one of the few times you'll see a Golden Age comic crossover with more than one female superhero
• Along with Nazis, the Spider Widow also went up against fearsome foes such as a circus clown, the Tiglon man and... my notes say "Spider Man" but that can't be right-
  
  Huh.

The Spider Widow appeared in 17 comics total but unfortunately has sort of fallen into obscurity, save for a mention on an internet listicle about Badass Golden Age Superheroines. I suppose someone in a Halloween Witch costume isn't exactly the most compelling character design. Still though, hopefully, she does get used again someday...