Review: Shazam #6

This issue picks up with Freddy seemingly ready to betray Billy to get the powers for himself.  Only it turns out to be a scam until the Flashpoint kids arrive to save the day.  Yeach.  Just what I predicted, and just what the Captain Marvel character does not need.

Then Billy notices Solomon has stepped away from all this, and he confronts him.  He asks Solomon to make the Captain wiser to be able to resist the other Elders' influences.  Solomon agrees but warns Billy it will make The Captain more separate from Billy.

Meanwhile the alien dinosaurs land in Kahndaq, and face Black Adam.  This issue at least shows that by getting more wisdom of Solomon, the Captain may not act like a goofy kid anymore.  That shows promise, but so did issue #1, and look where we are at now.  This issue earns a C.

Review: Batman '89: Echoes #1

As bad as the first Batman '89 miniseries was, I have to say the first issue of the sequel is so much better. Sam Hamm is starting the down the road to redeem himself.  Let's see if he can stay on it.  Joe Quinones' art is also improved from the first miniseries, where at times it seemed rushed, and the actors' likenesses were made more vague and generic.

The story picks up 2 years after the first miniseries.  Batman has been out of action for 2 years, but a new group of wannabe vigilantes dressed in homemade Batman costumes start start showing up murdered in failed attempts to fight crime.  Barbara Gordon, who is now a captain (remember, Hamm killed off Jim Gordon in the first miniseries), goes to Wayne Manor to see if Bruce knows anything about these fake Batmen.  Bruce isn't home, and Alfred confides in Barbara that he went missing a month earlier.  

Then we cut to TV psychologist Arleen Quinzel, aka "Dr. Q" who unveils The Joker's moll Alicia's surgically restructured face.  Quinones' art for Dr. Q is great, but I can't quite place who he is basing her on.  We get a glimpse of Dr. Q's obsession with the dead Joker.

Then the police go to capture the Firefly, whose alias is apparently Robert Lowery.  Hmmm.  After a well constructed action scene, they capture him.  At the hospital, Lowery asks to see Dr Hugo Strange, but he gets Dr Jonathan Crane instead.  Then we get our first view of Lowery's face.  

It's...

SPOILER ALERT




...Bruce... or a dead ringer for him.

This issue earns a B+.

Review: Shazam #5

Issue number 5 is a slight improvement over issue 4. Dan Mora turns in some really good artwork.  There is more advancement to the plot concerning both the Gorillas and the Elders, and it is Mary Marvel who saves The Captain.  There is a twist at the end where, now that Billy is aware the Elders are manipulating him (although we still don't know why the Elders are acting like bad guys), Billy threatens to give up his powers, only to have Freddy pop up saying he'll take the powers.

What I don't understand is how Mark Waid can be turning in such amazing scripts for Batman/Superman: World's Finest, and World's Finest: Teen Titans, but for this series, after an excellent first issue, the subsequent scripts are so weak.  This issue earns a C.

Review: Shazam #4

It is issue number 4 and things really seem to be going off the rails.  Issue 1 had such promise, such hope this would be a true relaunching of Captain Marvel. But with each passing issue, Mark Waid's writing starts to read more and more like Stanley Ralph Ross. This issue is like a parody of the old Planet of the Apes movies.  Then, it seems like, as the Elders, who for a yet unrevealed reason are acting like villains, take control of the Captain, the irritating Flashpoint kids are positioning to be the ones who save the Captain.  This is not what we need.  The Captain to be the damsel in distress only for the Flashpoint kids to rescue him. This series is really getting bad and this issue earns a D.

Review: Shazam #3

Issue number 3 follows in the steps of issue 2. Once again, many of the positive changes to the new52 Shazam, now known as "The Captain", from issue 1 are missing and the series heads more into the new52 direction.  The plot has Freddy becoming the unwilling spy for the six Elders whom The Captain derives his powers from.  The Elders want to control Billy like a puppet. Billy, concerned about his erratic behavior as the Captain, unaware of the Elders interference, stops saying the magic word. New 52 Mary Shazam, now officially named Mary Marvel, has her own set of Elders, and continues to fight crime.  Billy's Elders manipulate a situation forcing Billy to become the Captain.  He saves a bus load of Gorillas from Gorilla City (yeah, you read that right), and under the Elders' manipulation, they convince the Captain that a race of Moon people are about to attack Earth.  The Captain flies off to the moon to prevent the invasion.

The plot is getting kind of weird, and I just don't get putting the Captain in such sci-fi based scenarios. This seems like a rejected Silver Age Superman story line, and I didn't even mention the scene with the alien dinosaur.  Captain Marvel's adventures, for the most part, were always more Earth bound, with some slight touches of magic.  Not sure where this series is headed. This issue earns another C.