“Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam” brings in “Battlepug” and “Revival” artist Mike Norton for the remainder of its run, and Mike fits the tone of the book instantly.
Written by Art Baltazar and FrancoCover by Byron Vaughns
Illustrated by Mike Norton
Colored by Zac Atkinson
Lettered by Travis LanhamAll the area kids are in for a day of fun at the museum when Billy and Mary run into none other than Theo Adam! Does he remember the magic word? No—but let’s just say there’s a good chance he’ll be back in black before the day is done!
This arc sees Baltazar and Franco take on Black Adam for the first time, as he was covered in the early, Mike Kunkel era of the book. But they don’t stray far from Kunke’s characterization, and do a nice job present a confused Theo Adam, but with enough residual paranoia to make it not seem like a total “Identity Crisis” mindwipe situation. Black Adam can be a complex character, but for the purposes of an all-ages book, this is about as nuanced as you can get about an anti-hero.
The most interesting thing that this arc does is introduces Freddy Freeman, but not as Captain Marvel Jr. In this story, Freddy’s apartment building came down and Captain Marvel didn’t stop it in time. So, he falls under the influence of Theo, helps discover the secret word, and shares some of his power, becoming Black Adam Jr. For a series that isn’t trying to do anything necessarily innovative in terms of the Marvel Family mythos, this is actually a really clever and well done twist.
Freddy’s character is conflicted and searching for someone to pin his anger on, which is an absolutely relatable trait. This Freddy has more nuance to his characterization than a lot of the Freddy stuff we’ve seen before, and that is just in his first four appearances. His relationship to Captain Marvel is tenuous at best, and he’s trying to go his own way. I hope that the series addresses Freddy in the final arc.
Mike Norton’s work here is fantastic, and does a nice job continuing the work that Kunkel and Byron Vaughns did on the book. The book also continues its tradition of having the outgoing artist do the first cover after his departure, which is a fun idea more books should adopt. Norton ever so slightly amps up the ‘superhero comic’ vibe, but never loses the zany, kid friendly tone the series adopted to that point. Norton does an especially good job giving each of the Marvels a distinctive look that feels tonally unique from the others. Sometimes, the only difference between Black Adam and Captain Marvel is the coloring, but here, each of them has a very unique design. And Freddie as Black Adam Jr, too, looks different enough from his namesake, despite matching costumes, that he is given a visual personality, too.
Making Freddie Black Adam Jr. also puts him and Mary on, more or less, the same level for the first time, both in terms of power, and also ranking. Freddy oftentimes feels like an also ran alongside Mary and Billy, so this gives him a little more substance in his characterization.
These issues also see Tawky Tawny have a more prominent role, as he poses as the Batson’s uncle (similar to the role Dudley played in the past) for their landlord. The landlord not so subtly checks him out and lets him know she’s happy to have his big hunk of cat man in her house. Norton’s Tawny is both physically impressive and gentle looking, perfectly capturing the weird being that he is.
The arc ends on a close to a cliffhanger as we’ve seen, with both Black Adam and the Wizard disappearing when the lamp at the Rock of Eternity is snuffed out. It’s a great place to leave the story, as it’s both a pause and a pivot point. Knowing that there are only five issues left makes it a little unsure if we will ever see the conclusion to this particular beat, but I hope that we do.
As has been the case with every arc, these stories are super fun and never feel slight or pandering. It also highlights just how perfect the Marvel Family is for an all-ages title, and it’s shocking that DC hasn’t done more of these.
