Shazam has gone through some changes recently. Billy has spent some time stuck in hell, he's been the guardian of the Rock of Eternity, the Rock of Eternity merged with him and lives inside his chest, Mary became the new champion, Billy's powers were corrupted by the wizard before being fixed, and Mary gave her power to Wonder Woman before having them replaced with powers from a group of goddesses. But now we have a new costume, a new creative team, and a new issue one for the character; and it's a wonderful jumping on point for readers new and old.
The book starts with the Captain (love that they're getting close to going back to calling him Captain Marvel as best they can, riding a t-rex through the rain forest. This isn't just an ordinary dinosaur, however, as it turns out its the kid of a family of alien dinosaurs who crash landed on Earth. The Captain managed to find the missing child, and brings them home to to their family. From there he fixes their ship with super-speed, and gets to have tea with the alien dinosaurs. There's something absolutely ridiculous but hugely charming about this whole intro sequence. Billy is having a ton of fun, he's riding a T-rex, he's having tea in giant tea-cups that have been made by space dinosaurs. What's not to love about the whole things. And it's wonderful to get to see Billy just enjoying himself, and getting to have fun being a super hero.
The book also gives a good explanation as to why Billy ever changes back from his super hero persona. He talks about the wisdom of Solomon, and how it doesn't make him a super genius, but does give him a voice in his head telling him things like eat healthier, and to play less video games when he's between missions; which is the kind of nagging parent stuff a teenager won't want to hear inside their own head. This is a fun reasoning for why Billy isn't the Captain all the time, and makes sense for his character. The book also brings back one of the best members of the Shazam mythos, with Tawky Tawny living in his house, being a butler for the family for free room and board. I love Tawny, he's ridiculous and just the kind of silly that a character like Shazam needs to stop from becoming too dour and serious. I'm really hoping that we at some point get to see him interacting with my other favourite Shazam family talking animal, Hoppy the rabbit.
There's obviously something sinister going on here, and those shadowy figures who were badmouthing him earlier in the book are more than likely behind things. If it is the wizard, and possibly Zeus based on the look of the other guy, then it could be them corrupting the Captain's powers, and causing him to turn on people like he did. Whatever's happening, it's kind of a bummer to see. The first half of the book did a wonderful job at showing how much fun Billy is having, and how much joy being a hero brings him, that to see this turn, to see his reputation so quickly harmed, is a really sad and shocking moment.
The art on the book is also worth noting. Waid and Mora have been working really well together on Batman / Superman: World's Finest and its great to see the creative team here again. It feels like the two of them have a really good working relationship, and that Mora is able to put across Waid's writing in really dynamic, and interesting ways. Mora's characters always look fantastic, and getting to see characters like Shazam riding a dinosaur is just fun. The full page splash where we see all of the things that the Captain has done inside the shape of Billy is one of the stand out visuals of the book, and a hugely creative choice.
This is a fantastic start to this series, it's showing us how fun this character is, why reading his book is worth it, and it's teasing some interesting things to come in the rest of the series. If you've not really given Shazam a chance in the past this is the perfect jumping on point.
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