Review: Shazam!

Quick Summary

Pros: Billy’s character growth and development is great to witness. The magic and action keep the story exciting throughout. The artwork looks fantastic.

Cons: The collection’s subplots feel like a distraction rather than being interesting on their own.

Overall: Shazam’s debut in the modern DC Comics landscape is a success. The story of Billy Batson’s growth from a bratty child to a true hero is wholesome and touching to witness. Plus, epic battles and magical adventure fill this journey with excitement. Some of the book’s subplots are lackluster but these are definitely overshadowed by the book’s positives. If you are a fan of comics about younger heroes then you will like this book.

Story

Shazam! sees the return of Captain Marvel, now going exclusively by the name Shazam, to the DC Comics landscape. This version of Billy Batson is course and unrefined, in a way that is jarring at first but ultimately ends up making his character more sympathetic. This personality then becomes the canvas upon which a story of personal growth and development is told. Part of this is done through an action packed superhero adventure and part of it is done through a wholesome story about a family coming together. These two parts work together well and make an entertaining tale about a young superhero finally accepting his new life.

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The Billy Batson side of the story begins when he is adopted by a new foster family. At first, Billy is cold and distant; he doesn’t want to become too attached in case he loses this family like he lost his parents. While, at first, I didn’t care much for this interpretation of Billy, I actually found it to be a more realistic approach to his character. This is a boy who has been betrayed or forgotten by most people in his life, so building a rough exterior would be a necessity.

What is great about this as well, is that, as the story develops, readers slowly begin to see this rough exterior start to crack. He sticks up for his sister when she is being bullied, he befriends his new brother, and he ultimately sacrifices his own safety in order to save all of them. Readers get to see a lot of growth and character development from Billy as this story progresses, which proves to be a wholesome and entertaining story to see play out.

The book’s second storyline follows the fight between Black Adam and Shazam. At the same time Billy is growing into his powers, Black Adam is awoken and sets out to destroy Shazam. Along the way, readers discover his backstory and learn about his time as a slave. At first, readers are lead to believe his was a child like Billy, however, a twist later reveals that he was this child’s uncle who then killed the child in order to gain power. It is a dark and twisted story that gives more weight and meaning to the book’s final showdown.

This showdown is where both storyline’s converge in a wonderfully satisfying manner. Black Adam and Shazam go head to head, forcing Billy to make a decision about his role as a hero and as a member of his new family. He chooses to accept his new life and embraces his powers and the people who are currently supporting him. He also defeats Black Adam through his own cunning, rather than physical prowess, which ended up being an unconventional, yet well executed, ending.

My only major complaint with this volume is that the subplots are extremely lacking. One follows Dr. Sivana’s quest to obtain magic for himself and the other follows the Seven Deadly Sins effort to regroup. Both of these stories lack explanation and depth. Their origins are vague while their purpose is only barely related to everything else that is going on. Their presence seems shoehorned in to setup other storylines. To make matters worse, despite ending on a cliffhanger, the Sivana storyline does not directly continue anywhere.

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Art

Gary Frank has a reputation for putting out fantastic artwork in every comic he works on. This collection is no different. Here readers are treated to a book where characters and locations are all realistic and packed with detail. Specifically, I was a big fan of Frank’s use of Kirby Krackle to show magic, especially in scenes that were packed with magic. Plus, character designs were great and really made the Shazam Family feel as if they were a part of the future.

The only problem with the visuals in this collection is how a few extremely small sections of art seem to be poorly chopped into the book. There are a few lines of lightning that end in oddly abrupt ways, making them seem as if they were cut in an inorganic manner. In one instance, it looks like this was to crop the end credits out of the page, since end credits are included in individual issues and not comic collections. Despite not being very noticable, this does feel a bit sloppy and is a black mark on an otherwise great looking book.

Continuity

Shazam! is the first Shazam (Reading Order) story in the New 52 continuity (Reading Order). It doesn’t take place after any specific comic.

The storylines within this volume continue in several places. Shazam’s adventures continue directly in Trinity War (Review) (Reading Order). The general narrative of this volume is picked up again in Shazam and the Seven Magic Lands (Review). The plotline involving the Seven Deadly Sins continues in Trinity of Sin: Pandora Vol. 1: The Curse (Review).