Review: Shazam! ( vol. 1) by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank (Illustrator)
Shazam!
Billions of screaming fans go wild with anticipation for the revamped version of Billy Batson!
Fine. It's just me and five other geeks having a nerdgasm.
Whatever.
It counts!
If you don't know much about this title, let me give you a couple of important tidbits of information.
First, the buff character on the cover is not named Shazam. Shazam is the wizard who gave Billy Batson the power to transform into Captain Marvel.
Not much of an improvement in the name department, but still...
Shazam is also the magic word Batson uses to make the transformation.
Second, Billy Batson is a kid. Worse, he was originally an annoyingly perfect kid. See, Batson was picked by the wizard because he was so pure of heart. He was nice and sweet, and always did the right thing. He made Superman look morally deficient.
So, yeah. He was too boring to bother with.
But when I heard Geoff Jonhs was taking on this title for the re-boot, my inner dork did a little dance!
Could the great and mighty Johns make this title readable!?
Answer: Yes!
Batson is no longer a sweet orphan who tries to always do the right thing. Now he's an angry kid in the foster care system.
But he still has a Pure Heart underneath it all, right?
Eh. Not so much.
In fact, he only ends up with the powers of Shazam, because the wizard was out of time. He'd been looking for someone worthy to take the mantle, but surprisingly kept coming up empty handed. Billy accidentally found his way to the magic subway car...seriously, don't ask...and ended up in the right place at the right time. Black Adam had been freed from his prison dimension, and he was currently en route to kick some ancient wizard ass. Poor old Shazam literally has no choice but to fork over the power and hope for the best.
Of course, Batson realized the importance of being given access to such great powers, and immediately set out on an epic quest for...beer.
Oh, come on. What would you have done if you were a teenage boy who found himself suddenly able to turn into an adult?
That's what I thought.
And that's just the beginning.
Now I know that there are a few of you hardcore fans of the original Shazam out there, and seeing your beloved character portrayed in a different light will likely upset you.
Fun Fact: Nobody else cares what you think.
This title needed a kick in the ass to make it more relevant, and that's exactly what happened.
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