“Because even the courage of Achilles won’t get me through this next part.”
Remember that feeling as a kid you’d get when you realized you forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer before your mom got home like she asked? What about that time as a teen you trashed the house partying and forgot to clean up the next morning? Okay, how about when you demolished your house in a fist fight with an immortal superpowered head of state who was mad at some alien dinosaurs who were holding your talking tiger hostage?
Not that last one?
This month’s Shazam! – Mark Waid’s penultimate issue – sees the Captain dealing with the ramifications of Black Adam coming back into his increasingly complicated life, thus concluding a satisfying two-parter that starts bridging the gap between the series’ opening arc and the era to come. After going toe-to-toe with the wizard’s former champion, Billy faces the disappointment and worst fears of his family.
Unlike previous issues, there is very little in the realm of action sequences, however it makes up for that by emphasizing a key trait that the first arc was keen on returning: the Captain’s wisdom. After having been pushed around by gods and space dinosaurs for seven straight issues, he’s right to be frustrated. Unfortunately, that frustration got the best of him–and understandably so–once his archnemesis showed up on his doorstep; in his regret, the Captain rebukes physicality or immaturity, and instead tells off everyone who isn’t taking the situation as seriously as he is. He uses Solomon’s enhanced gift in a way that gives his heroic persona an edge that has resolidified his mature demeanor in heroic form, a factor sorely missing from the character for far too long. There is, after all, a certain wisdom in telling people what they need to hear.
The character also apparently getting his true DC “Rebirth” after eight years is more than welcome, and also better late than never.
Waid’s scripting is as clever as ever, something I’ve been happy to say since the first issue dropped, but what makes this issue particularly engaging is his characterization of Teth-Adam. The character received a big push from DC following the *ahem* hype for his movie, and once again following Christopher Priest’s maxiseries he is brought back to his Shazamtagonistic (sorry) roots. His portrayal lends itself incredibly well to the Captain’s return to form as they once again are two sides of a coin that favors them being on equal footing rather than one being less experienced–and broody–than the other.
As previously said, there is little action here, so Goran Sudžuka and Ive Svorcina instead put focus into the zany visual ridiculousness, and weight into more serious and contemplative moments, which aids in selling the narrative themes despite the arc being briefer than the last. Troy Peteri’s letter work, particularly on the interchangeable narration between Billy and the Captain, also flows excellently with the paneling.
Of course, one last thing I’d like to emphasize in a special shoutout, the first two pages of the title encounter here are just fantastic.
Though it subverts any extended gravitas it would’ve had in a longer arc, the creatives instead use all that’s been built up so far in the series to formulate a thematic pseudo-conclusion to Waid’s tenure, all the while still planting key seeds and making new waves for the next creative team to ride along, and to make bigger. Either way, it’s safe to say that with next month’s issue’s tango with the Creeper will be a fun sendoff to what has been a short but quite impactful run on the Big Red Cheese.
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