Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #2 – G. Willow Wilson, Writers; Cian Tormey, Emanuela Lupacchino, Artists; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: It’s the second issue of this event series, and after Wonder Woman took the lead in the first issue, she surprisingly doesn’t appear at all in this one! She’s still missing in action after barely escaping the wrath of Hera in her own series’ tie-in, and that means we need another new hero. Into the breach steps Shazam—whether he wants to or not. Just returned from the Rock of Eternity, Billy Batson is still trying to slip back into everyday life and is finding it difficult. Mary, now the only other person who shares his powers, does her best to help—with some classic sibling teasing along the way. But it soon becomes clear that not only are the God-borne villains more powerful than they can handle, but the strange effects caused by the Gods’ presence on Earth are affecting their powers as well. Billy gets a vision telling him to head to Washington, D.C.—to meet with a guide to the Gods who looks a lot like Yara Flor.
DC seems to still be struggling to figure out what to do with Yara in the aftermath of Future State, as she didn’t get the natural landing that Jon Kent or Jace Fox did. Here she mostly teams up with Cheetah to fight off monsters, makes some sarcastic comments towards Billy, and prepares to break into Olympus. The mysterious visitor who has greeted the Amazons, Diana, and now Billy continues to drop intriguing hints towards his true identity, but no bombshell reveals just yet. Of course, the big elephant in the room that we know but Billy doesn’t is that the Wizard is working with Hera—and that gives him leverage over Shazam that he doesn’t see coming. It’s unfortunate that this issue comes right after the Shazam movie’s… struggles, but I think this issue captures what makes the character work nicely. He comes off as a true everyman (or boy) in the middle of a larger-than-life story.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
