Shazam! #11 – Josie Campbell, Writer; Emanuela Lupacchino, Artist; Trish Mulvihill, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: One of the things I’ve liked about this new run of Shazam is how it neatly combines big-scale superhero action with the smaller-scale character pieces about the diverse group of kids living in an adoptive home. Josie Campbell, taking over for Mark Waid, seems to be doubling down on that with a clever issue that finds the kids trying to do everything they need to to ensure the final steps to have them formally adopted go off without a hitch. There’s just a few problems. For one thing, an army of creepy giant bats have descended on the town. And even worse, this may be a red flag with the CPS interviewer, a priggish social worker named Mrs. Sharma who is going over the house with a fine-toothed comb to look for even the slightest sign of trouble. While the Vasquez parents and Mary (who is 18 and relegated to fighting monsters outside) wait, things inside the house start to descend into chaos.
There are a lot of great visual gags here, including the characters finding Talky Tawny and pretending he’s a mannequin, but there are a lot of surprising themes hidden under the surface. An opening flashback to Billy’s childhood reveals one of his last interactions with his dysfunctional, abusive mother who eventually abandoned him—and may be trying to get back in contact with him now. And in the middle of this is The Captain, Billy’s alter ego, who has been asserting himself more and more in a callback to the earliest Captain Marvel comics when they were actually two different characters. And as it becomes clear he’s acting independently, Darla and Hoppy investigate—with the Captain seeming more and more like a sinister figure with every page. The stories here seem slightly lower stakes than the first run, but with higher emotional stakes, which is a great combo so far.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
