Welcome back to the Chronicles of Shazam. After an unscheduled week off last week, we are back with a look at the second arc of “Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam.” This arc introduces an entirely new creative team, but retains a lot of the tone of the first four issues. Let’s dig in.
Written by Art Baltazar and FrancoCover by Mike Kunkel
Penciled by Byron Vaughns and Stephen DeStefano
Inked by Ken Branch and Stephen DeStefano
Colored by David Tanguay
Lettered by Travis LanhamWelcome new series writers Art Baltazar and Franco! When Dr. Sivana escapes from the Fawcett City Penitentiary, he sets out to get revenge on the two heroes who put him there: Captain Marvel and Mary!
One of the best things about this book is that you’re starting in the middle of the adventure. There’s no origin of any major character yet, and aside from some villainous introductions, there is precious little exposition. This may seem counterintuitive to a children’s title, but it shows just how much time superhero comics waste in trying to overexplain every single situation.
Art Baltazar and Franco, of “Tiny Titans” and “Itty Bitty Hellboy” fame, do a great job keeping the tone that Mike Kunkel introduced here. For guys that are so known for comedy, this doesn’t veer into farce often, and when it does, it fits in with the tone. The first three issues of this arc each spotlight a different villain, with all three coalescing in the fourth. Baltazar and Franco do a good job simplifying the origins of these characters without losing what makes them special or unique. King Kull especially is a lot of fun in this arc, and I hope that this isn’t the last we see of him in this title.
The biggest change from the first to the second arc is the artwork. Byron Vaughns handles all but the initial King Kull issue, and while his work is fun and in the spirit of Kunkel’s, there is something lost with Kunkel’s departure. Vaughns’s artwork doesn’t have the same kinetic insanity that Kunkel’s did, and in the issue illustrated by Stephen DeStefano, the initial tone is diluted even further. DeStefano’s work is suited to King Kull, but it stands out among the far more anime or cartoony art that surrounds it. DeStefano’s work is not bad, mind you, it just feels a bit out of step with both Vaughns’s and Kunkel’s art work.
The two biggest character additions are Tawky Tawny and Dr. Sivana, and this interpretation of both are pretty great. The story of Tawny is barely explained – again, this is a good thing – and this arc does a pretty good job of not tokenizing him for being homeless. In fact, the homelessness presented in these issues is relatively progressive for a kids comic. Baltazar and Franco manage to flesh out the roster nicely in these issues, allowing the world of Fawcett to feel a little more lived in.
One of the nice bits about this arc is the emergence of Mary as more than just the annoying little sister. Her smarts are what winds up saving the day in the end, and she is emerging as character just as interesting as Billy, and different enough to make her presence welcome. In a lot of these Shazam stories, you get the sense that the other Marvel Family characters are included to give Billy people to interact with, no because the writers have any idea what to do with them. Thankfully, that isn’t the case for Mary.
Overall, this arc fell a little from the heights of the first, but was still a supremely enjoyable comic. These stories are fun and breezy, but present real challenges to the Batsons, and manages to squeeze a lot of classic Marvel family stuff into a neat package without it seeming overkill or continuity for continuity sake.
