Shazam #3 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

Yeah, it especially works here in the context of a magical character. And of course there would be seven rainbow corps.
If he ever works on Wonder Woman extensively, I wonder if we will see seven lost Amazon tribes. (though that wouldn't be the worst thing to happen).

I would actually expect Johns to give Cheetah her own tribe and include other wearers of the title like Priscilla Rich, Deborah Domaine and Sebastian Ballesteros.

(Or at least that's what I would do).

[SiegePerilous02]

I would actually expect Johns to give Cheetah her own tribe and include other wearers of the title like Priscilla Rich, Deborah Domaine and Sebastian Ballesteros.

(Or at least that's what I would do).

I'm not so sure, I wouldn't like multiple Cheetahs. The current version of Barbara Minerva is a composite of her and Priscilla anyway (she's even blonde now), so bringing Priscilla back may be kind of redundant. I've never had too much use for the other two.

But Queen Clea is an obvious tie in for both another Amazon/pseudo-Amazon tribe combined with Atlantis lore. I kind of feel like she's being held hostage by this "Seven Seas" business that has yet to materialize. Damn, do I wish Johns' run on Aquaman lasted much longer than it did.

[Frontier]

I'm not so sure, I wouldn't like multiple Cheetahs. The current version of Barbara Minerva is a composite of her and Priscilla anyway (she's even blonde now), so bringing Priscilla back may be kind of redundant. I've never had too much use for the other two.

Knowing Johns he would probably create a "Cheetah Family" to contrast with the "Wonder Woman" family if he were on the title...

[Rakzo]

I'm not so sure, I wouldn't like multiple Cheetahs. The current version of Barbara Minerva is a composite of her and Priscilla anyway (she's even blonde now), so bringing Priscilla back may be kind of redundant. I've never had too much use for the other two.

Eh, I'm okay with Johns getting rid of Rucka's Cheetah. That incarnation didn't do her any favors.

[SiegePerilous02]

Eh, I'm okay with Johns getting rid of Rucka's Cheetah. That incarnation didn't do her any favors.

Nah, Johns version sucked. She was a generically evil slasher villain who he himself lost interest in in two issues. When you compare it to the work he did in Aquaman with the villains, it was half assed

Rucka's was true to the spirit of the original, a character motivated by envy and struggling between her good and evil sides. And seems to be the basis if the movie version, which Johns is co writing the script for.

[Rakzo]

Rucka's was true to the spirit of the original, a character motivated by envy and struggling between her good and evil sides. And seems to be the basis if the movie version, which Johns is co writing the script for.

A character that was pathetic and barely presented any agenda on her own, lacking the manipulative essense that George Perez created for her. Rucka's Cheetah let things happen to her instead of doing anything by herself.

Hopefully Johns will create an interesting spin to salvage that.

[Marvelman]

Overall, I like the direction Johns is taking this book. There are still some things that bug me though. The biggest issue remains the number of splash pages in each issue. What also bugs me is how much of a wimp the character has become. Captain Marvel could knock Superman to next Wednesday, but Shazam would get his ass kicked by Ambush Bug. Finally, I'm not sure what the point was of making Mary so old. Again, I like the book overall, but some specific creative decisions confound me.

[HATEISFOREVER]

So are his powers still from the new gods are has that been chamged back to the original ones?

[SiegePerilous02]

A character that was pathetic and barely presented any agenda on her own, lacking the manipulative essense that George Perez created for her. Rucka's Cheetah let things happen to her instead of doing anything by herself.

Hopefully Johns will create an interesting spin to salvage that.

Most fans, even those who disliked the run overall, considered Rucka's Cheetah a salvage job for the New 52 take, which wasn't that well regarded. She wasn't exactly manipulative there. Rucka's at least finally had a motivation to hate Diana, the Amazons and Gods, her hubris screwing her over and projecting blame on others is the whole point. It's not hard to use that foundation to create her own agendas, and she never had one in the New 52 besides being an animal and eating people. Even Perez's wanted to just learn things and not be miserable anymore, and drank her problems away in between transformations. And blamed everyone else for her problems.

It's ok that Johns can't bat a 1000 with every franchise's villains. No writer is going to be able to. He's done wonders for the Flash, GL, Aquaman, JSA, Black Adam and will likely kill it with the Monster Society. But aside from a surprisingly awesome Joker in DC, he can be underwhelming with the Trinity and their villains. His spin in the film might be down to Rucka already salvaging his basic ideas, with input from Jenkins.

Overall, I like the direction Johns is taking this book. There are still some things that bug me though. The biggest issue remains the number of splash pages in each issue. What also bugs me is how much of a wimp the character has become. Captain Marvel could knock Superman to next Wednesday, but Shazam would get his ass kicked by Ambush Bug. Finally, I'm not sure what the point was of making Mary so old. Again, I like the book overall, but some specific creative decisions confound me.

Shazam in his current incarnation doesn't seem noticeably less powerful than the other flying bricks running around.

[WonderScott]

I'm good with Johns's use of seven as it's a "magical" number that's been symbolically used in that way since antiquity.

I like its use in the new mythology, not only for the Magic Lands, but that the Council of Eternity had seven members, the Seven Deadly Sins, and King Kid claiming to be the seventh member of the Shazam family.

It's an interesting counterpoint to six in the mythology with the Shazam powers coming from six gods or people with legendary abilities. Definitely something to play with there... I'd love to see Sivana, his four kids, and his wife become another opposing sextet in the series. (At least that's another family I'd develop alongside Black Adam and bringing back Isis and Osiris.)

[Rakzo]

Most fans, even those who disliked the run overall, considered Rucka's Cheetah a salvage job for the New 52 take, which wasn't that well regarded. She wasn't exactly manipulative there. Rucka's at least finally had a motivation to hate Diana, the Amazons and Gods, her hubris screwing her over and projecting blame on others is the whole point. It's not hard to use that foundation to create her own agendas, and she never had one in the New 52 besides being an animal and eating people. Even Perez's wanted to just learn things and not be miserable anymore, and drank her problems away in between transformations. And blamed everyone else for her problems.

Yeaaaaah, I highly doubt that.

[Güicho]

So are his powers still from the new gods are has that been chamged back to the original ones?

We did have a thread (and poll) about that - https://community.cbr.com/showthread...514-Shazam-set