Convergence - Shazam #1

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I may object to the concept, but darn it if the first issues of the Convergence titles have been a whole heap of fun, like visiting old friends in their comfortable familiar homes, though knowing that those familiar homes might well be bulldozed the following day/issue.

Shazam is a case in point, with great writing from Jeff Parker (writer on Batman '66) and sublime art from Evan "Doc" Shaner.




This is pre Crisis Fawcett City (more or less)



Just look at Billy's face in those three panels as he tries saying the magic word for what must be the ten thousandth time...

But still, he's a reporter for local radio station K-WHIZ and so has a job to do, to keep morale up at a public forum



Oh dear lords, but how I love this art....

We find that Bulletgirl and Bulletman are still active heroes since they are purely tehnology powered heroes (They use jetpacks) and help to keep the peace...

There then follows a fairly byzantine plot by Dr Sivana and IBAC (both classic Captain Marvel villains) allied with King Kull (Barbarian warrior and idiot savant at wepaons design) and Mr Atom, a giant atomic powered robot. They capture Billy, Mary and Freddie (Since Sivana and IBAC know the three heroes ID's) and plan on keeping them prisoner for the usual evil reasons, and take them to a suitably sombre lair....

There the nefarious schemes are challenged, not by the three kids, but by an old friend.



Wow... I mean.... Wow! Seriously, has Mr Talky Tawny EVER looked better? I mean... EVER?

(Anthropomorphised animals are usually not my thing, but this is a candidate for panel of the year!)

Tawny is a great asset but things are still going badly for the good guys when the dome finally drops, and Billy realises what that means...



I LOVE that slightly evil glint in his eye... this is something he's REALLY looking forward to.

My scanner can't capture the awesomeness of this next page, it LEAPS off the page.





Imagine the pummelling that ensues! And it ends with the realisaton that Telos has paired off Fawcett City with the Steampunk JLA Elseworld....

Issue 2 shaping up to be pretty damned impressive too!

(Oh, and there are bonus design sheets in the back of the issue, Evan Shaner can draw these characters FOREVER if he wants to IMHO)

Comments

[ronwar]

A friend of mine on Comicvine loves Captain Marvel. He said this book was his favorite in years so i'll have to check it out.

Okay, I just got on board the Covergence train.

[7dialsmystery]

This looks really wonderful. This is the Captain Marvel/Marvel Family I knew and loved.

[thedocyoshi]

I'm not the only one hearing the fanfare from the Captain Marvel episodes of Brave and the Bold when I look at those last pages am I?

Because the Captain Marvel eps are among my favorites.

[sagrada]

What IS it about Cappy that brings out the best in so many creators? Really, it's like he's more inspiring than Supes a lot of the time.

[jaybee3]

He really can be more inspiring than Superman - because for most of his written history Billy has never lost his sense of idealism and wonder at being a hero and helping people. And unlike Supes he's a kid - a homeless orphan kid at that - who's still not destroyed by his environment and crappy life. That's why the "new 52" version of Billy by Johns is so off tonally.

[jaybee3]

Hands down the best book to come out of Convergence for me.

Shaner's art is drool-worthy. THIS is what the Marvels should look like! And Parker really loves the characters (when is the last time you could say that about anyone at DC when it comes to the Shazam franchise). In one issue, he pretty much mentioned everything he could before he had to get to the editorially-mandated "Arena" fight.

I'm not a huge fan of the "new 52" Shazam reboot (though I recognize they had to do be rebooted because DC messed up the Marvels too much) but I think if we had THIS time (Parker/Shaner) on a Shazam! title with the reboot Shazam! gang I would love it.

The best part - Billy Batson is a HERO, not just as Captain Marvel, but as himself. Not an in-universe joke, not depicted as a juvenile (even though he's a kid) in a man's body, not a punching bag for Superman or any other JLAer de jour but the HERO of his own story. I missed that so much.

[bradygirl_12]

Seeing this vintage Captain Marvel just points up more than ever how ugh the Reboot Billy is.

[alschroeder3]

Now THAT'S Captain Marvel. Bravo!

[zapbiffpow]

This issue was just the best. Just the absolute best.

Also, holy hell, Bulletman? I only know him from Seanbaby! I didn't know he was part of DC Comics!

[dragontail]

This looks wonderful. Might have to pick it up.

Is it just me, or does Billy look like a young Stephen Colbert in some panels? Particularly the one with the blacked-out background...

[silverhammerman]

It's kinda funny that DC's now had two pitch perfect takes on the Captain Marvel mythos (here and in Multiversity) and yet still can't seem to figure out that this is the sort of thing they should be doing in the mainline version of the character.