Well, we’ve reached the end of “Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam,” in what feels both a little rushed and also quite satisfying. No more dilly dallying, let’s get to it.
Written by Art Baltazar and FrancoCover by Mike Norton
Illustrated by Mike Norton
Colored by Zac Atkinson
Lettered by Travis LanhamClose encounters of the ghoulish kind! It’s up to Billy and Mary to uncover who or what is stealing all of Fawcett City’s cows—and to figure out why this strange villain is so obsessed with dairy products!
The final five issues of this series spend about half of their time acting as if the series is continuing, which was likely the idea, and then quickly tying together up the loose ends of the series. The two issues that exist outside of the endgame are really fun, and involve aliens who are just looking for cheeseburgers and an ancient mummy that is holding a grudge against the Wizard. Both of these issues have elements that would never get resolved, one of which is the mummy’s gripe against the Wizard for essentially punishing him for thousands of years for no real reason. It’s the first time that the Wizard is presented as anything but benevolent. That could’ve been a nice place to take the series after this, and to present the Wizard as a more ambiguous character.
The other dropped plot point has been building for a few issues, which is the mystery of what happened to Mr. Morris, Billy’s boss at WHIZ. He’s been essentially hidden in his office for six months now, with a secretary who won’t let anyone in. This is mentioned in #17, but is dropped when the series has to tie up all of its loose ends. This is far from an important ingredient, but I like when the series offers a little about Billy’s life outside of being Captain Marvel.
Mike Norton has a lot of fun with the aliens and mummy, but really gets to show off his chops when dealing with the last three issues, which sees every villain from the series’ run show up, and so he gets to just go nuts with some really fun characters, from giant robots to tiny caterpillars. Norton does a great job of evoking emotion in not just his characters’ faces, but also in their body language and how they carry themselves on the page. A large plot point of the final three issues is Billy getting his confidence back, and Norton’s Captain Marvel looks noticeably different once the confidence is in full swing. He achieves this through small touches, but ones that work really well. When Norton draws Superman in #21, his confidence and comfort in his own skin is evident from the first time we see him.
Norton also manages to make the action feel exciting but never chaotic, allowing for lots of fun moments to happen within big battles. In a very appreciated move, Norton also gets to draw a grown up Mary Marvel, and doesn’t overly sexualize her, which I know is an odd thing to say about an all-ages comic. But, in my defense, look at any Mary Marvel appearance since 1998 or so and you’ll see what I mean.
A ton of mythology finds its way into these final issues, like a reference to Billy’s white costume when he takes over for the Wizard, but none of it feels shoved in or unnecessary. There’s a real concise and fun tone to all of these issues, allowing the story to unfold as naturally as it can, even when it is incredibly rushed.
The most ‘important’ piece of this arc is the emergence of Freddy not as Black Adam Jr., but as Captain Marvel Jr. He makes a selfless choice and gives his Black Adam powers to save Billy, and in turn, is rewarded with some of Billy’s powers (don’t think too hard about the physics of it). But seeing a fully functional Marvel Family is pretty great, even if hinted at characters like Hoppy or absent ones like Uncle Dudley, never quite got the chance to bloom. Given another 10 or 15 issues, this series could have grown into something really special, but it just ended too quickly.
That is, however, not to say that the book was anything less than a success would be false. This is a fun and special book, both as a Shazam title and as an all-ages book. I’m trying to track down the issues to give my kids right now. So, as I decamp to eBay, get set for next week by reading Jeff Smith’s “Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil” and we’ll see you next week for the final all-ages title for the foreseeable future.
