So, when I began this Summer Comics Binge, I had no real idea what the end point would be. I had said in the first column that, perhaps, I’d end with “Shazam: The Power of Hope,” and that seemed reasonable, but I think I’ve found a better place to wrap up this year’s iteration of this column. We’ll get to all of that after discussing “Zero Hour,” a book that had so little Captain Marvel in it, I should have just included it in the miscellany of last week. Oh well!
Written and pencilled by Dan JurgensCover by Dan Jurgens
Inked by Jerry Ordway
Colored by Gregory Wright
Lettered by GasparWritten and pencilled by Dan Jurgens (CONVERGENCE, THE NEW 52: FUTURES END) and inked by Jerry Ordway (THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN), ZERO HOUR chronicles the discovery by DC’s greatest heroes of a tidal wave of temporal disruption, as they band togheter to combat chronal chaos.
When all of his family and friends were killed by the attack of a super-villain, the once heroic Green Lantern went insane and became the immensely powerful Parallax. Hoping to save his loved ones, the mad Hal Jordan decided to recreate the universe by unraveling time. Now as realities and time lines converge, dinosaurs walk the Earth again, deceased heroes are resurrected, and half the population has suddenly vanished. With Parallax on the verge of success, Superman, Batman, Robin, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the rest of the world’s heroes must find a way to stop their former comrade or cease to be as all existence ends.
So, let just say off the bat: there is almost no Shazam business here whatsoever. You might be able to make the argument that the effects of “Zero Hour” are what allowed “The Power of Shazam” to, again, reshape Cap’s origin and early life, even if the OGN that preceded the ongoing series was released six months before “Zero Hour.” But, fuzzy continuity has never been a problem for DC, and this series keeps the look of Captain Marvel consistent from his ‘Panic in the Sky’ appearances: button over uniform, more classic styling.
This book continues to use him in the same way he’s been used ever since 1988, which is both sparingly, and as a visual representation of his importance, with very little actual substance. At least by this point, it was probably understood that he would be getting his own ongoing in the following year, 8 years after the miniseries that was supposed to launch a Roy and Dann Thomas penned ongoing.
Outside of Captain Marvel, “Zero Hour” is an odd event, as it has to do a bunch of things, and does them quickly enough, but offers almost no resolution. It is the catalyst for some of the most important (as well as my favorite) stories of the 90s and early 00s, but it’s an odd duck. For instance, the series begins with Wally West essentially doing the same thing Barry Allen did in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and disappear into the Speed Force. But, that wasn’t what really happened, and in subsequent issues of “The Flash,” that was explored. That’s all and good, but it is presented here as “oh, Wally’s gone forever” with no hint that isn’t what’s happening.
I’m not trying to imply that you need to dot every i in every event, but it seems like “Zero Hour” is a crossover that truly existed in its time, with no consideration given for people jumping on during the crossover, or for folks reading it later (again, not that it should consider hypothetical trade readers, but I think you get my point). Due to Captain Marvel being so tangential here, I didn’t read all 20+ tie-ins, and because of that, the event reads like a piece of Swiss cheese. At one point, Guy Gardner talks about having just watched the woman he loves die, and there’s not an editor’s box in site, nor does he say “Ice, the woman I love.” The reader is just supposed to know who Guy’s main squeeze is. Luckily, I knew who it was, but there was no help from DC in that regard.
Continued belowSimilarly, the series ends with the entire world thinking both Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner are dead. Again, that’s not the end of the world, but with so many questions like that just left hanging – does the new Hawkman remember all his past lives? – that it feels very unsatisfactory as a self-contained reading experience. But as a catalyst for things to come, it establishes so many important pieces of the DC Universe.
The most impactful thing this series did was redefine the Justice Society of America which, indirectly, is something that affects Captain Marvel. Extant restores all (except Alan Scott) to their ‘real’ ages, killing Hourman, the Atom, and Doctor Mid-Nite, and pushing many of the others to retire. This would lead into “Starman” by James Robinson and Tony Harris, which just so happens to be my favorite comic of all time.
But it also sets up “JSA,” which would launch 5 years later, and introduce a fair amount of new legacy iterations of the Justice Society characters. Just 6 issues in, Black Adam becomes a major player in “JSA.” 20 issues later, Captain Marvel joins him. So, we’re going to stop our Summer Comics Binge right in August of 2001, a month before Captain Marvel joins the JSA.
The majority of this back-half of the read will focus on the Jerry Ordway-helmed “Power of Shazam” series, which we will start by covering the OGN that preceded the series by a year. Then, we’ll be reading the full series, 47 issues and an annual (we will save the “Blackest Night” tie-in #48 for when we eventually get to 2008). There are a lot more appearances post-“Zero Hour” than there were before, so we’ll do a few more check ins on those, plus this is where Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr pop up again, so we’ll likely do check ins on those characters, as well as a special “JSA” installment, to discuss Black Adam’s involvement.
The plan is to get through all of this by the end of September, before taking a break for at least a few months, if not for the full year before next summer. We’ll see. But, regardless, stay tuned next week for the start of “The Power of Shazam!”
