Review by Win Wiacek
The runaway success of Jeff Smith’s reinvention of the original Captain Marvel (see The Monster Society of Evil), ensured this latest iteration won its own title. The stroke of sheer genius was to place the new Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! under the bright and shiny aegis of DC’s all-ages imprint. Here, slightly askew of the mainstream DC Universe, these frantically ebullient and utterly contagious tales play out in wild and wooly semi-isolation hampered by nothing except the page count.
Billy Batson is a homeless kid with a murky past and a glorious destiny. One night he follows a mysterious figure into an abandoned subway station to meet the wizard Shazam, who gives him the ability to turn into an adult superhero called Captain Marvel. Gifted with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury, the lad is sent into the world to do good as an immature boy in a super man’s body.
Accompanied by the talking tiger-spirit Mr. Tawky Tawny, Billy tracks down his missing little sister, but whilst battling evil genius Dr. Sivana (US Attorney General and would-be ruler of the universe) he impetuously causes a ripple in the world’s magical fabric through which monsters and ancient perils occasionally slip through. Now, the reunited orphans are trying to live relatively normal lives, but finding the going a little tough.
Firstly, without adults around, Billy often has to masquerade as his own dad and when he’s not at school he’s the breadwinner, earning a living as a boy-reporter at radio and TV station WHIZ. Moreover little Mary also has access to the Power of Shazam, and she’s a lot smarter than he is in using it, so a real pain in Billy’s neck.
Mike Kunkel, inspired creator of the simply lovely Herobear and the Kid, leads off this collection writing and drawing a breakneck, riotous romp reintroducing the Marvel Family to new readers and, by virtue of that pesky rift in the cosmic curtain, recreates the Captain’s greatest foe: Black Adam. This time the evil predecessor of the World’s Mightiest Mortal is a powerless but truly vile brat: a bully who returns to Earth after millennia in limbo ready to cause great mischief – but he can’t remember his magic word!
This hilarious tale has just the right amount of dark underpinning as the atrocious little thug stalks Billy and Mary, trying to wheedle and eventually torture the secret syllables from them. It’s pitched perfectly at the young reader, with equal parts danger, comedy, sibling rivalry and the regular outwitting of adults.
It’s followed by new writing team of Art Baltazar and Franco and penciller Byron Vaughns detailing how convict Doctor Sivana unleashes the destructive giant robot Mr. Atom to cover his escape from prison. The stories conclude with another funny and extremely dramatic battle, this time against primordial super-caveman King Kull, who wants to reconquer the planet he ruled thousands of years ago. Older fans of gentle fantasy will be enthralled and delighted here by the singular art of Stephen DeStefano.
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! is a perennial bestseller, most recently issued as Family Affair. It’s funny, thrilling, beautifully, stylishly illustrated and perfectly in tune with what young minds want to see.
