WARNING SPOILERS FOR NEW 52 SHAZAM AHEAD

So today I’m covering something a little different. This week we will see Shazam! #1 by Geoff Johns come out and he has mentioned that will be continuing from here he left off with Shazam in the New 52. During the New 52 Justice League run Johns wrote Shazam as a backup story. These backup stories were in issues 7-20 with issues #0 and #21 being focused on Shazam. The story was written by Geoff Johns with art by Gary Frank. My hope with this is that by recapping what happened in this that you will be better prepared to read Shazam’s first ongoing series in almost 20 years. Note I will be calling him Shazam because that is what he is called in this story, I do know the character was originally called Captain Marvel.

The story starts with Doctor Sivana watching screens of people recounting their encounters with the Wizard Shazam, note this is a different character than the superhero Shazam. Sivana states that all these people having experienced meeting the wizard means the old legend of Black Adam must be true. If it is true then magic must be real. Later in the story we find out that he wants magic to help his family, but it is not explicitly stated what is wrong with his family.

Next we move to Billy Batson, a 15 year old orphan. He is talking with two adults, Mr. and Mrs. Vasqueze, who are looking to foster him. After hearing Billy tell them about what he likes and more about himself they decide he would be a perfect fit for their family. Billy appears to be excited about the news and his social worker says how she can drop him off at the Vasqueze’s house later. We find out here that Billy has just been acting this whole time. Really he thinks the couple are idiots and is happy they fell for his act. Really he would prefer to be on his own but there is no such luck as if he ran away it would look bad on his social worker.

Later he is dropped off at his new home, though he is less than enthusiastic about it, and gets to meet all his new foster siblings, Mary, Freddy, Pedro, Eugene, and Darla. Billy, of course, starts his relationship with the other kids, who all appear to be teens of different ages, horribly. He tells them all that they are not actually family, which breaks Darla’s heart and makes Mary very mad at him. The other kids are quick to forgive and forget, as Mary says it’s a waste of time to stay mad, and they all go to school together. At school the foster family gets bullied but Billy steps in and beats up the kids that were bullying his new family. This gets Billy in trouble and his records of his bad behavior get revealed to his foster parents. On his way out of the school Billy stands up to the bullies father who responds with threats to Billy.

That night Billy sneaks out of the house, with Freddy following him to see what’s going on. He finds out that Billy snuck out to a zoo to see a tiger named Tawny. Tawny is the earliest thing Billy can remember besides his mom and dad, it is not stated what happened to his parents but he apparently have a website membership to help find his parents. Freddy informs Billy how all the kids thought he was so cool for standing up for them. They then decide to go to the bully’s house to try to mess with the father’s car. Billy then has Freddy hide and is chased by the father and kids. He escapes onto a train car that takes him to the Rock of Eternity, the home of the Wizard Shazam. The wizard initially doesn’t think giving Billy powers would be a smart idea because he is not completely pure of heart, but he does see some good in the boy and gives him the powers of Shazam. These powers include lightning, flight, super strength, durability, and a few other powers that he can use by saying the word Shazam. When he says the magic word he becomes adult sized with a costume as well. Billy then reunites with Freddy and the two go off and fool around the city, and stop some crimes in the process.

Meanwhile, Doctor Sivana has been bestrode the ability to see magic which led him to be able to awaken Black Adam. Adam, who believes that he is the rightful champion of the wizard, knows that he does not have the full power from the wizard and must kill the other person with powers, that now being Billy. Eventually, Black Adam and Doctor Sivana make their way to Philadelphia, where Billy lives, and awaken the Seven Deadly Sins of Man (Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Sloth, and Lust) which are all personified. This all cultivates in a fight between Black Adam and Shazam where Shazam gets beat easily.

Billy is able to escape the fight by running into a crowd and turning back into his child form. Meanwhile, back with the rest of the foster kids, the father of the bully’s is at the Vasqueze’s house looking for Billy insisting that he destroyed his car, which is true to an extent because Billy did destroy the car as Shazam. The Seven Deadly Sins then possess the father turning him into a giant evil monster, but the foster kids escape. Freddy informs the kids about Billy being Shazam and takes them to the zoo where Tawney the tiger is, assuming that Billy is there. The kids inform Billy that he is not alone and that they are family.

After trying to get back to the Rock of Eternity, Billy decides that he needs to fight Black Adam and says the magic word to turn back into his superhero persona. When Adam threatens the other members of Billy’s family though, Billy learns he is able to give some of his powers to the rest of the kids, turning them into the Shazam Family. The kids go and try to help people in need in the city while Billy fights Black Adam. During this fight Shazam learns that his power is not limitless because when he grants Tawney some power to help him defeat Adam the rest of the family starts to lose power. Billy decides the one way to fight Black Adam would be to turn back into his kid form and goad the tyrant to turning back into his human form. Adam falls for this and turns back into his human self and quickly ages, because he was from ancient times and the only thing protecting him from aging was being Black Adam, and dies. With that the Seven Deadly Sins flee from the father’s body and the day is saved.

We see the next day Billy waking up and coming downstairs to be greeted with a Merry Christmas. When the other kids ask him if he is going to stay, he happily responds with “Where else would I go?” We cut to Doctor Sivana who has returned to where Black Adam tried to enter the Rock of Eternity. He is begging to be let in and hoping that magic could save his family, despite the fact it has started to eat away at his body. He is greeted by a magical bug monster named Mr. Mind who says he can help Sivana in an ominous way.

There you have it! That was the story of Shazam from the New 52. It is a very different Shazam story I think, at least compared to the pre-new 52 Shazam/Captain Marvel. I do enjoy seeing Billy get a little growth in this story and I understand trying to make it more modern to reflect a child that has experienced trauma in his life. I do miss some of the sweetness Billy used to have before the New 52, but I think I could get used to this Billy. Also of course Gary Frank’s art was amazing so that was a big plus for this story.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

Welcome back to the Great Damian Reading! I am very excited for the book I got to review for this. This time I read Batman & Robin: Batman vs Robin. This trade collects Batman & Robin issues 7-12 and was written by Grant Morrison with art by Cameron Stewart, Andy Clarke, Scott Hanna, and Dustin Nguyen.

Some context to start this off the first 3 issues of this book are called “Blackest Knight”. This is not a tie-in to the massive event titled Blackest Night. The reference is here to be just that, a reference. You do not have to read Blackest Night to understand this story at all, though I do recommend reading Blackest Night it is a good book.

So the first story of the trade jumps right in where Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn left off. Damian is currently out of commission due to being paralyzed from his fight with the Flamingo, but more about that in a bit. The main focus of this is Dick going to London to find a Lazarus pit. He is hoping that if he puts Bruce’s body in it that it will bring him back to life. If the plan would work then the original Batman would be back. Dick puts this as his duty because he and Bruce always had an understanding that they would save each other. Too bad the plan doesn’t work that well. Turns out the dead body they have is a clone of Bruce that only has his bad memories, which are extremely fractured, and is as unstable as they come. Teaming up with Knight, Squire, and Batwoman, Dick fights the revived imposter Batman. This doesn’t work the best as this Batman gives them the slip and kills Batwoman.

Meanwhile, we see Damian’s spine being replaced by Talia’s scientists. Though she is not pleased with the route he has decided to go down, being a hero and working with Dick Grayson, she remarks this must be a phase he is going through and that soon he will be back to being on the side of the Al Ghul’s. Once Alfred brings Damian back, now with a new spine but wheelchair bound, he discovers that the body of Bruce is missing and comes to conclusion that Dick must have done the unthinkable, tried to bring him back to life. Soon his suspicion is confirmed as the imposter Batman shows up and promptly gets the best of him and Damian. Luckily, Dick and Batwoman, who was revived in the Lazarus pit, come and save the day putting an end to the fake Batman. Dick mentions that this means Tim Drake was right, Bruce Wayne is still alive.

So these three issues are fun, but I do have a small problem with. Despite giving his reasoning of needing to save Bruce, Dick recently had just taken issue with Tim wanting to revive someone in the Lazarus pit back in The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul. Not only does Dick try to revive Bruce but he succeeds in reviving Batwoman and the imposter Batman. I get that some time had passed and not all of that story was written by Morrison, but this does make Dick seem to be hypocritical in this story. I do understand that they needed to reintroduce Bruce somehow but this just feels wrong to me.

The next story in the volume is a small detective romp. Now that Dick has discovered that Bruce is alive the mystery is where he is, or when is he? Dick mentions that the Justice League has a theory that Bruce was displaced in time when hit by the Omega Sanctions, see Final Crisis for more information. During this story the mystery of Bruce’s location is put on full display. Damian and Dick search Wayne manor assuming that if Bruce was displaced that he would have left clues in the manor for them to find. During this we get one of my favorite interactions between Dick and Damian. Damian is noticeably upset because he knows that if Bruce returns the partnership between the two would be over. He wonders if Bruce would even let him stay as Robin. While Dick does joke about this it gives us a chance to see the real human side of Damian, who is visibly upset.

While looking for clues, Damian almost attacks Dick for no reason. Luckily, the two get separated. Dick finds some more clues and Damian goes outside where he gets into a fight with some bad people trying to take a book from the manor. Damian is shocked though because he finds that he is not in control of his body. He quickly realizes that this is mother’s doing. During his last visit with her he decided he would not be her weapon against the batfamily. She did not appreciate this and put a controlling device into his spine so he would have to obey her commands. Talia got Deathstroke to pilot the boy and had him fight against Dick. Through his force of will, and electric overcharge, Damian is able to break out of his mother’s control. He and Dick then go pay her a visit, which ends with Damian telling her that he has decided to become a hero permanently. She tells him that he is now an enemy of the house of Al Ghul. Towards the end of this issue it is confirmed that Bruce is time displaced, and now the dynamic duo must wait for his return.

So the first major strength that I have to point out about this trade is the art by Cameron Stewart. His art injects the comic with most of life. The emotion that he is able to display is so sincere yet obvious enough to where anyone can understand it. Honestly, until I had reread this trade his art wasn’t on my radar, but now I have to say he may be one of my favorite Batman artists. Simply beautiful.

One negative, for me, is the pacing of the detective story. I find it drags at points and moves too quickly at others. The action is so fun and intense but I wish it could have been fleshed out more. I do think some of the looking for clues could have been cut back on because it is a bit of bore during. Despite this, Grant Morrison’s mission in the story he was telling was continuing which I can appreciate.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Finally! We have arrived to Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn. I have been looking forward to reading this! This book is writen by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quietly and Philip Tan with Jonathan Glapion. The trade paperback I read of this contains Batman and Robin #1-6.

Some context for people, after Batman was thought dead by everyone DC had their Batfamily books all have the moniker Batman Reborn. This helped cement the idea this was a new status quo for the batbooks and created some cool new dynamics and titles. One major new dynamic was a refresh of the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. At the end of Battle for the Cowl we saw Dick Grayson take the mantle of Batman and now we see that he has chosen Damian Wayne as his Robin. This was a great way for the typical brooding Batman and cheerful Robin to be turned on it's head. Instead we have the chipper Dick as Batman and the brooding Damian as Robin, changing some of the fundamental elements of the duo.

The stories in this volume are pretty great. It starts with the duo taking down some baddies in their new batmobile, which I will get to in a minute. After catching Mr. Toad they end up having to go to the GCPD to protect him from henchmen of Professor Pyg who sent them to kill him before he could tell the police anything. This is the first time we really see the new Batman and Robin fight baddies together and it doesn't go well. Dick expects Damian to listen and respect him while Damian thinks he has a clear understanding of how things work. Mr. Toad ends up croaking and neither see who did it. Dick yells at Damian telling him he is expected to listen and have limits. This causes Damian to run off.

Meanwhile, at the B plot, Professor Pyg captured a man and his daughter. Now Pyg is a messed up man. He takes people's faces and attaches them to someone else, then proceeds to brainwash them, effectively making them a new person and a perfect doll. While the man did succumb Pyg the daughter was not yet mind controlled, though she did get a new face which is hard to remove. Where the girl just so happens to be is where Damian went off to deciding he could stop Pyg on his own. He obviously couldn't. Though while there he does talk to the girl and promises her to get her out. While trying to escape with her he ends up getting into a fight with Pyg and gets separated from the girl. Just before Pyg can finish Damian Dick arrives and saves him and stops Pyg. The two agree to work together again, but the young girl was picked up by Jason Todd the Red Hood.

Red Hood makes the girl his sidekick and she becomes known as Scarlett. The two terrorize the streets of Gotham, killing the criminals. They end up confronting the new Batman and Robin while trying to kill the Penguin. Dick and Damian save the villain but not before the other criminals in Gotham could call in a greater threat. Later, the duo are caught by Red Hood and Scartlet, stripped, and are gonna be revealed to the world who they are. Luckily the boys get out of their ropes before they are revealed. The team of the Red Hood and Scarlet are ambushed by the greater threat mentioned above, named Flamingo. Flamingo is a skilled fighter who easily takes care of Todd and Scarlet. When Damian and Dick get outside to fight him they are able to subdue him but Damian is shot in the spine paralyzing him from the waste down. Jason then takes the chance to kill Flamingo and is then arrested. At the end we see Damians now paralyzed body being taken by Talia to fix him up. We also see Scarlet driving off, the new face finally falling off so she can start anew.

The art in these issues are good. I have to credit to the fact that in these 6 issues the first 3 were handled by Quietly and the second 3 were by Tan with Glapion. It is seamless between the two arts. Also Tan makes someone as ridiculous as Flamingo actually intimidating.

I wanna talk about the new batmobile. I love this thing. It was a vehicle that Bruce did not finish before he died. Damian then finished it. The thing is the perfect batmobile for me. I know it's not as iconic as other ones, however this is distinct and can fly. It has a lot of room and is able to fly itself back to the cave and hover. Perfect for chasing criminals.

Downsides of this story? Well I don't much enjoy Jason's costume change back to the suppository looking helmet that the classic Red Hood wore. I personally think the biker gang costume works better. Additionally, I dont like his hair being red and saying that the only reason it was black was because Bruce made him dye it to look like Grayson.

Honestly, this story is good. It has great team building moments for Dick and Damian. It also moves them from Wayne Manor to the penthouse in the city. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat. It is an easy read that is just pure fun.

As stated in my Great Damian Read I am reviewing everything Damian. My reviews are not structured in any way. I will just be writing what I think is good bad and I between. I just finished reading the first major Damian book Batman and Son by Grant Morrison with art by Andy Kubert, John Van Fleet, J.H. Williams III, and Tony S Daniel. Batman and Son collects Batman issues 655-658, 663-669, and 672-675.

WARNING POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD

So this was one of the five books in this read through that I knew I was not excited for. Everything in this book is setting up the rest of Morrison’s Batman run, which I actually enjoy quite a bit. From Bruce’s new fling with Ms. Jezebel Jet to The Club of Heroes to the Black Glove to the 3 evil Batmen to Talia and, of course, Damian, Morrison crafts a very busy book. Some of this will pay off pretty quickly, but some of this takes a few books and a crisis to get to. While this is a good read, mostly, it does feel disjointed at points which makes it something I had to read slow to ensure I was getting all of Grant Morrison’s unique flare. Morrison is known for playing with continuity quite a bit and making reference to much older stories. He does this a lot in his Batman run in regards to older stories and cases Batman took on, which he refers to as Batman’s Black Casebook. The casebook stories are not essential for reading but can be an interesting look through some fun stories of Batman’s past. As long as you don’t mind Morrison playing with continuity and are willing to go a little slow this is a fun read.

Next thing I want to mention is the art in this book because it is beautiful beyond all reason. My personal favorite in the book is Andy Kubert’s work. What I believe set Kubert apart in this work from his colleagues is his attention to detail when doing both close ups and full rooms (see the image below to see a full Kubert room).

He constantly gives a high level of detail and shading that is rarely so masterfully used in comics. The other artists, pencilers, and inkers do a good job but do not live up to the quality that Kubert establishes in the initial part of the book. Despite saying this, the art does main a quality that is breathtaking and beautiful.

There is an issue in this book that I am unsure how to feel about. Batman #663 titled The Clown at Midnight is an issue that is is completely written in prose. While the subject of the issue is extremely interesting it can be a daunting read. Couple this with the terrifying artwork by John Van Fleet and you have a short story that can be difficult to read and very unsettling.

A lot of this issue does feel like it is harkening back to Morrison’s older work titled Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (this is not required for reading but is a creepy and disturbing Batman book worth anyone’s time).

Some noteworthy issues in this are Batman #655 the first appearance of Damian Wayne and Batman #666 which is the first appearance of future Damian Batman.

Overall this is just an okay read as a book. It does a lot of set up for the future but can feel too disjointed for a comfortable read. This isn’t book I would tell you to rush out and buy, but I do believe you should read it.