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| Two thumbs up, Cap? Not by a long shot. |
Chapter 7 of
Curse Of Shazam in JUSTICE LEAGUE #14 begins with Sivana and Black Adam atop the Empire State Building, looking down at New York City. Sivana explains to Black Adam he needs him to bring magic back into the world in order to save Sivana's family. They witness workers striking against their company, which spurs Black Adam to kill their "Pharaoh", setting the "slaves" free. The workers, instead, flee in terror at the sight of the murder, confusing Adam, who thinks he has saved them. Black Adam takes Sivana to the Rock of Eternity, where the powerful magic begins to have a whithering effect on Sivana's body, since he is not enchanted to channel it. Black Adam cannot enter the Rock, but sees the Wizard's lifeless body on the ground, so he deduces the Wizard created a new champion. Cut back to Freddy and Capt... er, Shazam. Freddy buys a $10 trench coat at a second hand store to cover Capt... er, Shazam's costume, only to have him look like Jethro Bodine, with the coat too small. Cut back to Black Adam and Sivana, who recruit Sloth, who has been imprisoned in human form, to take down the new champion, reclaim the Rock, and rebuild Earth.
This chapter is an improvement over the disappointing origin sequence. However, for Freddy and Cap...er, Shazam's only brief scene, its still goofy dufus time. As speculated, it looks like magic will be the cause of big, strong Sivana transforming into the short troll like character we all know. Black Adam's murder of the business owner, and Adam's belief that he was saving the workers and setting them free was the highlight of this chapter. It just a shame Johns can only seem to portray Cap... er, Shazam in such a goofy man-child way. This chapter earns a C+.
2 comments:
The more reviews I read of the current Captain Marvel, the MORE I realize I want DC's Showcase of the 1970's version of Captain Marvel.
The stories may have been goofy, and the artwork cartoonish, but it was all done in good fun without making one cringe at the "heroics" of the main characters.
I've gotta make sure the wife knows I want that book! :)
Gernot, the only bad thing about the Showcase volume is its in black and white. Those 1970s issues of "Shazam!" and "World's Finest" are the Capt Marvel stories I find myself bringing out and re-reading the most often.
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