Shazam! #13 – Josie Campbell, Writer; Mike Norton, Artist; Trish Mulvihill, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Josie Campbell has done a great job with this series so far, but this might be the issue that captures the spirit of the Shazam property the best. After his meeting with his estranged mother and his showdown with The Captain, Billy is on the run – with the Captain thinking it may be best to take charge of things from here on out. Mary and Freddy are going after him, with Tawny and a terrified Hoppy along for the ride. Freddy narrates this issue, as the oldest of the Vasquez kids who lost their powers and the one who is having a harder time dealing with it. He’s putting on a brave face, but it’s clear his self-image has taken a big hit – and it only gets bigger when he finds himself in the middle of an unexpected superhero adventure. There are horrible monsters crawling around the subways, seemingly inspired by the famous Morlocks of HG Well’s “The Time Machine”, and they’re out for blood.
With these creatures swarming around eating passengers – and the conductor of a speeding subway – Freddy breaks from the group and takes over as conductor of the train, finding a way to play the hero despite his lack of powers. But is this an act of heroism, or a way to compensate for losing his powers? He steals the issue, while Mary gets to jump into action with her own abilities. Campbell finding a way to get Mary back in action as Mary Marvel without having to undo the plot twists that stripped the powers from the crew was great, although I continue to find the way she’s written – in every single run outside of her solo series by Campbell – to be kind of limited by the status quo that Johns put her in way back when. Mike Norton is a great choice for this series, especially with the reveal of the main villain – he has an old-school edge that’s a lot of fun to see.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
