SHAZAM!

• Title: SHAZAM! #13
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Geoff Johns
• Artist: Dale Eaglesham

Billy Batson is forced to face some hard truths and choices in SHAZAM! #13 as the Monster Society of Evil has been unleashed on the world and Mr. Mind reveals he’s been controlling the actions of Billy’s estranged father all this time (and now has the power of one of Shazam’s champions).

All of the Marvel Family is in action here against a wild assortment of villains including King Kull, the Crocodile Men, Jeepers, Mr. Atom, and others. With the perfect hostage, Mr. Mind forces Billy to break down the magical barriers between worlds leading to a tease of what writer Geoff Johns has in mind to allow the comic to go out with a bang before ending its run with issue #15.

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• Title: SHAZAM! #12
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Jeff Loveness
• Artist: Brandon Peterson

SHAZAM! #12 is a throwback to the kind of one-off stories that used to be commonplace before writers and artists started almost exclusively creating arcs for graphic novel collections. After beating Crocodile Man and getting some shit from Freddy about the quality of his rogues gallery, our hero heads to Gotham for a team-up with Batman (who he’s thrilled to learn also has a crocodile-themed villain).

Featuring Billy getting in over his head against the Scarecrow, facing his fears, and finding some common ground with the Dark Knight Detective (who knows a thing or two about teaching young heroes), SHAZAM! #12 is the kind of story I wish we were getting more of nowadays. Would I like to see more of the pair together? Sure, but the simple team-up works well within the pages of a single comic.

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• Title: SHAZAM! #9
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Geoff Johns
• Artist: Marco Santucci

SHAZAM! #9 reveals the final choice of champions as Billy Batson shares his power with… his father? I’ll admit to being disappointed that the comic didn’t seize on the opportunity for Billy to offer his power to one of the creatures from the other lands the family has visited over the past eight issues (like say a bunny).

That said, I will admit that the choice of C.C. Batson was one I didn’t see coming and Billy’s choice to choose to share is his power with both his foster family and his birth father, against the wizard’s wishes, offers a nice moment as well as finally reunites the family after being separated across the various magical lands for most of the series.

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