Justice League #16

[flint_marko]

Adam punches Shazam into a shopping mall, where his mystical lightning shorts out the electricity. 





Shazam gets punched out of the store and falls into some trees. He says "Shazam" and turns back into Billy.

Comments

[jaybee3]

Black Adam seems awfully generic and I still can't stand the way Johns writes Billy Batson not only as a delinquent but as a dim bulb. A reader shouldn't have to strain to figure out why the all-powerful Wizard is giving his god-like power to his particular kid.

[nefrekeptah]

And they don't. Wasn't there a whole thing about how there's no such thing as a person that's truly pure-hearted, and the best you can do is someone with a good heart? And Billy Batson was able to figure that out?

Also, while he is angry, I don't think I'd categorize him as a delinquent. And I certainly don't see him as dim.

[shadowpsykie]

exactly

i especially liked the fact that Billy was concerned with Adam hurting other people.

[jlroberson]

Well, in this version, Billy was picked because he was the best Shazam could do at this moment.

Which is one reason this is more like a parody than the real thing.

I swear to god, I hate this series.

[servant_iskandar]

It's a matter of personal opinion of course, but this doesn't strike me as nonsensical - remember, Billy more or less just got his powers. He's a newcomer to this game, and mostly in the dark about the true depth of the matter he's gotten involved with.
While your mileage may vary when it comes to Johns' storytelling and the way he handles certain nuances, I can see him going wide-eyed at the prospect of meeting someone just like him - not because he's dim, but because he's a kid and Adam is speaking (okay, mostly grunting) in riddles, as far as he knows.
Bet the whole "Wisdom of Solomon" thing will kick in, but right now I can see him being just that - a kid, scared and confused after being well over his head.

[jlroberson]

Well, it is fair to think naivete can take many forms, and certainly this Billy, while he might be a bit more embittered than we'd like, IS naive in his cynical little way. Certainly in how small he thinks: his first and so far only idea of what to do with all this is to make a few bucks off it.

But the thing is, you can argue(and I am one of the many who is not fond of the way this series is) that in fact that's EXACTLY what a kid would think.

But the thing ALSO is, Captain Marvel was never meant to think like Billy. Up till the last version of the character, they were separate entities with somewhat similar, but distinct, personalities, and the "wisdom of Solomon" makes a big difference in them. This Cap--I will not call him Shazam--can't just have one power that selectively hasn't kicked in.

[arise]

i'm not a huge fan of the captain marvel reboot so far, but "that's way cooler" is a pretty great line tbh.

[mrstatham]

I'm just particularly bored of what seems like Johns fangasming over Black Adam, when for the life of me I can't figure out what makes the character that special, frankly.

[espanolbot]

He was interesting in 52, up until he flipped out and murdered entire countries (something that the JSA etc. stopped looking for him to arrest him a lot sooner than they really should have done).

The idea of someone akin to Dr Doom, who actually wants to do right by his countrymen but is incredibly blunt when it comes to obstacles in his way. In addition there's the fallen hero aspect, which, when written correctly makes him actually seem a bit more complicated than if he was just a power-hungry nutter.

Basically think of him as Namor, but Ancient Egyptian-ish. Which, given Phoenix-possessed Namor's antics in Black Panther's country, actually is a lot firmer comparison than there might have been initially.

[drexer]

Which has no relevance whatsoever in this rebooted setting and with such bland personalities on both the main character and antagonist, so...?

There could be certainly interest there, but here we've been given none other than a rand() villain.

[md84]

Namor and Black Adam even look pretty similar.

[jlroberson]

Most of what we think of Black Adam is actually an invention of the modern age. There was only one GA Black Adam story, ever. He was revived in the modern era and the character was only fleshed out then. In his original and only GA appearance, he was pretty much just a simple "Nyah haha" sneering villain.

Now, one can have a problem with what he is. But not much has been violated because that IS pretty much what the character is, what he is now.

[jlroberson]

Because Black Adam has a cool costume.

That's really about all his true appeal.

[drexer]

Is there any character on panel whose face is not in a grimace? As time goes on and on my dislike for Gary Frank's art only increases and is compounded by his work in a title like this where it is profoundly dis-adequate.

[jlroberson]

Well, to be fair, a lot of the Fawcett art was a lot more articulated than people like to remember. They think that what we saw CC Beck doing in the 70s was how it always was. It wasn't. The "cartoony" Marvel stuff people think they remember was mostly confined to Cap himself, and not even always. There are many stories in which the only characters that look cartoony are Billy & Cap themselves.

But if you look at Mary Marvel, or Cap Jr. stories, not only was the art realistic(by GA standards anyway) but often downright dark.

That said, Frank's art relies too much on certain types of facial expressions, as you say. Which is a shame. I actually kind of(in general) like his art. But he seems to have fallen into a number of habits.