Current Events
In the New 52, Hoppy is now Mary‘s pet rabbit who she rescued from the Puppy Mill Pet Store. She claims that he was going to be another casualty of cosmetic testing.
Origin
Hoppy was originally just a normal rabbit in the little town of Animalville. He is a fan of Captain Marvel, so he intimates his hero by saying the words “SHAZAM!”. He is transformed into Captain Marvel Bunny!
Hoppy has a love interest named Millie. Much like Lois Lane, Millie despises Hoppy, but worships Captain Marvel Bunny. She does not know they are the same person.
Creation
Hoppy was created by Chad Grothkopf for Fawcett’s Funny Animals #1. He got his own series in 1945. Charlton took over Funny animals when Fawcett became defunct. They changed his name to Magic Bunny or simply Happy. Later, When DC comics purchased Captain Marvel and the whole Marvel Family, they also bought Hoppy. He has appeared sparsely for several years, but more recently he has appeared several times in Tiny Titans along side other “super-pets” (although technically he is not a pet).
Powers
According to E. Nelson Bridwell‘s story in The Oz-Wonderland War, Hoppy receives his powers from a different set of gods than Captain Marvel.
When he says the magic word he receives:
- The wisdom of Salamander
- The Strength of Hogules
- The Stamina of Antlers
- The Power of Zebreus
- The Courage of Abalone
- The Speed of Monkury.
When Charlton was in charge of Hoppy, his magic word was not “Shazam!” but rather “Alizam!”