Review: Shazam #15

This issue continues the story.  While Mary and Uncle Dudley and Mr Tawny do their best to fight off the sub-men invading the earth, Freddy in a desperate attempt to get his powers back, goes with they mysterious girl in green to the Rock of Eternity.  Meanwhile, Zeus, disguised as the toga wearing infant, uses psychology to get Billy to talk himself into realizing he needs to become the Captain again.  He does, and is able to quickly defeat all the sub-men.  As The Captain and Mary reunite, King Kull makes a last ditch effort attacking them, but they are saved by .....

 

 

(SPOILER ALERT)

 

Freddy, who now has his powers back.  This issue advances the story, but is nothing special.  The Saturday morning sit-com tone is lessened for this issue.  Overall, this issue earns another C.

Review: Batman '89: Echoes #4

This issue picks up with "Lowery" aka Bruce undercover, being escorted back to his cell after the fear gas treatment with Dr Crane. Bruce tells his guard, who has been working with him, to get a message to Drake. We find out Selina Kyle is a patient of Dr Quinzel's, and she's not happy to learn Harleen is giving up her private practice to host her TV show. Meanwhile, the item Bruce wanted from Drake was an amnesia pill, that Bruce took, and he needs Maynard to fill him back in on the day his forgot, telling him about Kashif (who looks like.... Joel Schumacher???) and Hugo Strange.  

Meanwhile some US Marshalls, including one who looks a lot like Gary Oldman's version of James Gordon, use fingerprints to find out Bruce really isn't the Firefly.  They head to Arkham to interrogate him.  Meanwhile Crane is juicing up Blockbuster (played by... Arnold Schwarzenegger??) and sends him into Dr Q's clown themed group therapy session with Bruce and Maynard.  Blockbuster is triggered by clowns and goes berserk. 

Escaping Blockbuster, Bruce tells the group to head to the roof while he goes to look for a sample of the fear formula and Maynard goes to look for Kashif.  Crane, in full Scarecrow regalia attacks the Police.  Dr. Q decides to pull of a publicity stunt.  Meanwhile Bruce and Maynard get to the roof and meet Drake, in a pesudo-Nightwing costume.  He brought Bruce's Batman costume, and he suits up in a very Iron Man-Tony Stark kind of way.

Again this issue, there is a lot of plot to process.  I think Sam Hamm might be putting too much plot into each issue. Joe Quinones artwork, as usual is great.  This issue earns a B-.

Review: Shazam #14

In this issue, artist Emanuela Lupacchino returns to join writer Josie Campbell. This is an unmemorable issue that continues the recent tradition of having a Saturday morning sit-com tone. We get a glimpse of a backstory for Freddy (no Grandpa Freeman in sight), Billy is still at odds with the Captain and refuses to transform into him, and it's up to Mary to handle all the superhero work, as she continues to fight the monstrous sub-men from last issue. Freddy is with King Kull and his sub-men as he learns of their plans to invade the outside world.  Uncle Dudley is around to assist Mary the best he can.  We get some more of the mysterious girl who opened the portal that sent Freddy to King Kull's realm, as she opens a portal to get him out.  We also see a mysterious toga wearing infant, who leads Billy to a grassy field with one of the sub-men. Again, an unmemorable issue, but at least the Flashpoint kids are no where to be found this time.  This issue earns a C-. 

Review: Batman '89: Echoes #3

This issue opens on a session between Dr. Crane (clearly "played" by Jeff Goldblum) and Maynard ("played" by Martin Short).  Maynard brags about how he was a killing machine in the military.  Meanwhile Bruce and Drake have a secret meeting to discuss Bruce's next steps.  We also get a flashback as to how and why Bruce started this undercover mission.  Essentially, he was bored not being Batman for the last two years. Having picked up clues as to the Firefly in the newspapers, Bruce deduced the Firefly was connected to Hugo Strange.  Bruce went to find the Firefly, aka Robert Lowery, but Lowery went into an unreasonable panic at the sight of Batman, and killed himself.  Bruce went through the Firefly's diaries and manifestos, and decided to investigate by assuming Lowery's identity.  

Meanwhile Dr. Quinzel ("played" by Madonna) has been monitoring the asylum's security cameras, and wants footage of Lowery. Bruce, as Lowery, meets up with Maynard, who reveals his full name as Edward Nigel Maynard, aka E.Nig.Ma, as he gives Lowery a puzzle he made for him.

Later, at Police HQ, the security footage of Lowery is played on TV, and Barbara Gordon ("played" by ...possibly Winona Ryder?  Maybe Sean Young? Demi Moore? Kind of hard to tell) recognizes Robert Lowery is really Bruce Wayne.  She is about to go to Wayne Manor to confront Alfred about this, but is intercepted by a pair of FBI agents who arrest her regarding a mysterious bank account.

Meanwhile, Lowery is brought in to Dr. Crane's office and is told about footage of him airing on TV.  Crane suspects Lowery isn't who he says he is, and uses fear gas on him to get him to confess.  Lowery admits 'I'm Batman".  But Crane doesn't believe him.

A lot of story packed into this issue, and well done by both writer Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones.  This issue earns another B+

Review: Shazam #12 and 13

Falling a bit behind, so I will be reviewing issues 12 and 13 this time.  Issue 12 has Billy and the Captain becoming separate beings, and they argue with each other.  Mary and Freddy then take Billy to see his real mom, while the Captain tells the Flashpoint kids and Hoppy the Rabbit that Billy is the one who caused this magical leak.  Meanwhile Billy finds out his mom is married and has another son.  That crushes Billy, which causes the magical leak to explode.  Billy changes to the Captain, and in stopping the leak, apparently become obliterated.

Issue 13 is narrated by Freddy, as he and Mary go searching for Billy. Freddy whines about not having powers any more.  Mary as Mary Marvel fights monsters that are attacking a subway station.  Billy is at that station, the monsters coming from the leak he has caused.  Again, Billy and the Captain argue with each other.  Billy says the way to stop the leak is for the power of Shazam to go to someone else. Mary continues to fight the monsters while Freddy attempt to get a runaway subway train under control.  Mary is about to be defeated, when she is saved by....

 

...SPOILER ALERT.....

 

 

 

 

Uncle Marvel!  Meanwhile Freddy's train lands him in King Kull's realm, thanks to the intervention of a mysterious, magical powered girl.

Both these issues, written by Josie Campbell are slightly better than her previous efforts, but still have a Saturday morning sit-com tone to them.  The artwork by Emanuella Luppacchino and Mike Norton in issue 12 is the same as their previous issues, but issue 13's art is by Norton alone, and is a step better.  Both these issues earn a C.

The Three Stooges Blu Ray Collection: A Frustrating Blunder

On July 23, 2024, Sony will release a 20 disc Blu ray set of The Three Stooges. Fans have hoped for the boys' 190 short films to be remastered in high definition for a Blu ray release.  Not to be outdone, the set will also include 14 Shemp Howard solo Columbia shorts, 10 Joe Besser solo Columbia shorts, 4 Joe DeRita solo Columbia shorts, 2 feature films with Curly, 5 feature films with Joe DeRita, and the 2000 biographical TV movie produced by Mel Gibson, all in HD.  Plus more extras like cartoons and TV appearances. 

So why did I title this article "A Frustrating Blunder"?  Because the set will only have 100 of the Boys' 190 shorts!  Even more ridiculous is that all the feature films will be on separate discs, artificially bloating the set to 20 discs. Three feature films could fit on a single disc, while the extra discs could have had the remaining 90 shorts.  

Unless I could get the set at a slashed clearance price, I am making the hard decision not to buy this set.  It is just too asinine to make a 20 disc Blu ray set, but not to include all 190 shorts.  This is being promoted as a limited edition set celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Columbia Pictures, which rationalizes only 100 shorts.  But still... no... it has to have all 190.

I hope Sony will eventually reissue the Blu ray set after Columbia's 100th, to include all 190 shorts.  Or license it out to ClassicFlix to get it right.  As far as I'm concerned, the 190 shorts, the 14 Shemp solo shorts, the 2 feature films with Curly, and the Boys' TV pilot Jerks of All Trades, are essential.  Anything less than that is a pass. I could do without the Joe DeRita feature films and most of the other extras. But a box set must include the essentials to be worth buying.

If you would like to make your frustration and displeasure known to Sony about this, you can email them at consumer@SPHECustomerSupport.sony.com and SPE_Feedback@spe.sony.com and to tahra_grant@spe.sony.com

If you would like to contact ClassicFlix to suggest they license the Stooges catalog to reissue the box set correctly, you can contact them at support@classicflix.com or by using their contact form www.classicflix.com/contacts

Review: Shazam #11

Once again, this issue by the new creative team, reads like a 2000s Disney Channel sit-com. The plot deals with The Vasquezes trying to legally adopt the Flashpoint kids, and during the social worker's interview with the kids, a bunch of Man-Bat like creatures attack.  The kids go through hi-jinx to make sure the social worker remains ignorant of the battle. 

For some reason, Mary looks like Daphne from Scooby Doo in this issue. One of the more interesting aspects is that Billy and the Captain are becoming even more separated to the point Billy has no memory of what happens when he is the Captain.  The backstory from the 2017 movie is made canon, where Billy was abandoned by his mom, and now the adoption is put on hold because Billy's mom returns and wants him back. Why the adoptions of the other kids have to be put on hold also isn't explained.  

It is really becoming a chore to get through this series.  This issue earns another C-.

Review: The Three Stooges Centennial

American Mythology is back with another Three Stooges one-shot.  This one features a lead story written by Three Stooges podcaster, and employee of C3 Entertainment, Andy Pagana, and features Curly Howard's real life grandson Brad "Curly G" Server.  For those who don't know, Andy and Brad do a live stream podcast on YouTube titled "StoogeTalk Live", among several other projects. The story is a kind of behind the scenes look at the podcast. They are trying to figure out what to do for this comic book, and as they spitball ideas, it turns into a Three Stooges Greatest Hits type of thing. I would guess this happened for real, and Andy just transcribed it and embellished it a bit, and turned that in for the script. Brendon and Brian Fraim turn in their usual fantastic artwork and also of note is this story marks Joe Besser's very first appearance in the American Mythology series, and probably his first appearance in any Three Stooges comic.

The second story is written by SA Check, with art again by the Fraims, and is a lot more plot heavy, dealing with Larry being mistaken for a pianist who is receiving a lifetime achievement award. And you can just imagine what happens at the banquet ceremony.

The third story is a classic reprint by Norman Mauer and features Shemp as the third Stooge, and there are three text pieces (remember when all comics had them?) including one by Saxon Sitka, the son of long time Stooge supporting player Emil Sitka.  This issue earns an A.

Review: Superman '78: The Metal Curtain

Superman '78: The Metal Curtain, the sequel to the brilliant Superman '78 miniseries from a couple years ago, seems like the idea was to take the basic premise of "what if Superman IV The Quest For Peace was more of a Cold War era action-adventure of America vs the USSR?". There is a Soviet Metallo instead of Nuclear Man.  It also incorporate aspects from the first miniseries, like Jor-El and Lara being alive in the bottle city of Kandor, and some modern DC continuity such as Lois' father being an Army general, and still works in Gene Hackman's version of Luthor.  With such an agenda, somehow writer Robert Venditti pulls it off and proves that he should be the head writer on the main Superman titles.

But where this sequel falters a little is in the art. Gavin Guidry replaces Wilfredo Torres, and while Gavin does a good job, his art can be rough at times, not as polished as Torres. Some panels border on caricature art like you would find in Mad Magazine.  Most panels capture the likenesses of the actors, but there are quite a few panels where the likenesses aren't there, and it is generic superhero faces.

Even so, this is an excellent miniseries, even if both the script and art a bit more workman like than the predecessor.  It earns a B+.

Review: Shazam #10

Issue 10 starts a new arc and introduces a new writer, Josie Campbell.  After Mark Waid's underwhelming and disappointing run, one would hope Campbell would be an upgrade. But it's not to be. This issue reads like a Disney Channel sit-com from the early 2000s.

The plot deals with the foster family moving into the new house Zeus magically created for them in the previous arc.  Only Billy and Mary find out it has multiple portals to different realms, and hi-jinx ensue. Also, Freddy gets his driver's license and buys a van (but not a Winnebago), and Billy and the Captain continue to develop different personalities.  There is a mistake where Billy says Shazam to Mary but does not change. The artwork by  Emanuella Luppacchino and Mike Norton is good, and has an animated quality to it. Despite the new creative team, it's still more of the same from this series.  I am officially predicting this series will be cancelled before its 25th issue, unless DC can find a writer that really gets Captain Marvel. This issue earns a C-.

Review: Batman '89: Echoes #2

Issue 2 opens with the revelation that Bruce is on an undercover mission, with the assistance of Drake Winston. Bruce is impersonating the Firefly, intentionally getting caught, so that he can be sent to Hugo Strange.  He gets sidetracked by getting Jonathan Crane assigned to his case instead.  Harleen Quinzel finds out about the capture of the Firefly and wants him to be the focus of the first episode of her new weekly TV show about the criminally insane.  There is a nod to Lewis Wilson, Tim Burton himself makes a cameo as an inmate, Jess Ventura's guard from Batman & Robin, and a character named Maynard who may actually be Edward Nigma, and looks like Martin Short.

Where as the first miniseries had the first few issues with no plot advancement, this issue has a lot of plot advancement and sub plots.  So far, writer Sam Hamm is delivering the goods, and Joe Quinones' art work is also top notch, although the main cover featuring Batgirl is either a spoiler for what is to come, or meant to be the cover of a future issue mistakenly assigned to issue 2.  This issue earns another B+.

Review: Shazam #9

Issue 9 feels like a fill in issue, with no real connection to the previous issues.  And ironically, its one of the best issues so far in an otherwise underwhelming run.  Both the story, by Mark Waid, and art, by Emanuela Lupacchino, have a distinct, classic, 1970s-80s DC team up flavor. 

The Creeper is the special guest hero, and despite this, the Captain gets far more panel time than most of the previous issues, where those needless Flashpoint kids suck up all the spotlight.  

Jack Ryder, the Creeper's true identity, and a TV journalist, invites aspiring podcaster Billy Batson on his show.  Ryder has deduced Billy is the Captain and asks him to help on a case where the Shadow Thief has nefarious plans for a speeding passenger train. 

One of Waid's better efforts and the art is great, also. I hope we get more done-in-one team up issues like this.  I'd love to see the Captain team up with Plastic Man.  And a team up with Power Girl. This issue earns a B.

Review: Shazam #8

This series... I just don't know.  This issue continues from the last issue, focuses on the alien dinosaurs and the fight between the Captain and Black Adam, but it just seems like a bad Saturday morning cartoon. There's one moment where writer Mark Waid leads us to think he may be getting rid of the Flashpoint kids and foster parents (which would be very welcome) but it's all a swerve only to be magically solved by the end of the issue.  The only good thing about this issue is that Goran Suzuka is back on art duties.  This issue earns a D for script, a B for art, averaging to a C.

Review: Shazam #7

Issue 7 opens with the Captain fighting Zazzo, who Waid rebrands as Bizarro Captain.   Then we go to Kahndaq to see the alien dinosaurs encounter Black Adam.  It leads to more dinosaurs trying to find Billy, and there is a big fight between the Captain and Black Adam.  Overall this issue is just one big slapstick mess.  The best thing about this issue is Goran Suzuka's art, who steps in for regular artist Dan Mora. Suzuka is actually a better fit for the character. So it is obvious DC won't let him do another issue.  This issue gets a D for story and a B for art, averaging to a C overall.