Josie Campbell

I find it hard to enjoy Shazam comics as I continually grit my teeth in annoyance with every page turn due to the name problems the franchise has suffered for the past couple decades as DC has tried to move away from the "Captain Marvel" moniker. I mean, it was stupid enough back in the olden days when Captain Marvel, Jr. (Freddy Freeman), couldn't say his own hero name because it included the magic word that triggered his transformation, so DC tried at various points to rename him CM3 and Shazam. But now everyone in the old Marvel family -- and a whole new family of foster kids to boot -- is Shazam, including the former Mary Marvel who stars in this mini-series with a title that awkwardly tries to sidestep the naming issues.

So now no one in the family can drop their hero name into casual conversation without bringing down a thunderbolt. And how is the general public -- characters in the comic and people reading the comic -- suppose to talk about the various Shazams without coming off as sexist or racist?

I suppose if the story in this book had been good enough, I might be willing to look past all the above, but it is a pretty safe, simple, and predictable story that does little to distract. Mary is looking forward to finding herself at college but is immediately called back home for a family emergency and spends much time whining about what she's lost and sniping at everybody. But -- gosh 'n' golly -- maybe she'll still find what she's really looking for after all, hyuk hyuk.

After the main story, there is short story entitled the "The Price of Eternity" that is reprinted from Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods #1 in which Mary has to team up with a guy named Malik to save Billy Batson. I was unfamiliar with Malik, and the story did little to introduce him. Apparently, he is Malik Adam White, the heir to the power of Black Adam, and he goes by the code name White Adam. (Maybe all the Shazams will be referred to by the color of their suits, like the Power Rangers? But wait, Mary and Billy both wear red . . . ) The story is all prelude to a Lazarus Planet tie-in that brings back the Wizard Shazam, who was revamped a while back under the name Mamaragan.

Boring, bland mess.… (meer)