Shazam! #5 – Mark Waid, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Since the start of this series, Mark Waid has been focused on one question—what happens when the Gods who give Shazam his powers turn against him? As one of only two members of the Marvel Family still connected to the power, Billy has been increasingly overwhelmed by his responsibilities—and the Gods have decided to take them off him, influencing him more directly and often having him act in severely out of character ways. That’s led him to the moon, where Queen Bee and a cartoonish dictator are pulling a massive plan together and his gorilla allies are scheming against him. When we last saw Billy, he had found himself floating in deep space, unable to speak his magic word and seconds away from death. At least he was, until Mary showed up and pulled off an impressive move to restore his powers—and now, the siblings are ready to take back control of the fight.
Unfortunately, Billy isn’t in full control of himself—and this time, it’s Mercury’s turn at the wheel. One of the younger and more unpredictable Gods, Mercury is known for his tricks and pranks—which means he treats the villains more like batting practice and ignores the larger threats. When he’s betrayed by his Gorilla ally and a massive crisis emerges that threatens to throw the moon out of orbit, he finds his inner fortitude and saves the day—just in time to finally confront the Gods who are the architect of his misfortune. He knows they need him, they know he needs them—and it’s a standoff, until an unexpected figure steps in with a shocking statement. This book has been doing a good job of combining the best of old-school Shazam with the new-school status quo, but I’m hoping that when this story is wrapped, we get back to the entire Shazam family teaming up again.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
