Stephen Crowley (stephencrowley) says: There are so many superhero names out there that there's always going to be a big chance there'll be some duplication across concepts. DC and Marvel must generate hundreds a year alone! Since there's a Captain Marvel in both the Marvel and DC universe it can't matter too much! I think the issue is around trademark rather than 'copyright' - as you'd know, Captain Marvel/Shazam came first and DC bought the use of the character off Fawcett but they let the trademark lapse during the 50s,60s or 70s and Marvel spawned their own version and trademarked it - so DC can only publish Captain Marvel stuff under the Shazam banner (or something like that - maybe I'm talking through my hat!). At any rate you probably don't need to be overly concerned about the X-Men Sage, especially since your comic is called Flickeflame. But it is a good idea to have Sage changing names throughout the ages anyway... fits in with his 'relocation' M.O.!