Shazam #1 Spoilers and Discussion

[sifighter]

Wow I can't believe it....A teen titans academy related book with no mention of Red X! Personally I don't mind that plot but for those who may have been concerned, don't be as this issue is all about Billy and his current situation that he finds himself in because of Future State.

For those who may not be in the know let me give you a recap as all of this will be important; *ahem* In the future of DC one million Raven has been corrupted by the Horseman of the Apocalypse and has become the unkindness (yes its a teen titans go reference). She attempted to destroy all reality so the only way to stop her was for Black Adam to trap her in the rock of eternity, unfortunately it trapped that version of Black Adam, the unkindness, and the rock of eternity in hell and Adam and the Unkindness want out. All this is throwing Billy's powers off now in the present day. Oh and remember that Darkseid killed the Wizard Shazam back in Infinite Frontier #0. Alright that should be everything you need to know.

Alright so this issue opens with the main problem, Billy can transform into Captain Shazam but his powers are kind of flickering on and off without his permission and the thunderbolt isn't coming down reliably. By the way as for the Captain Shazam thing I think that's what they are calling him now, they reference Captain and earlier in Titans Academy they called him that but its all uncertain at the moment. But Billy is running scared, he has no idea what's happening or if he can even rely on his powers, and he's afraid he could get trapped in the body of the Captain. But that's why he's going to private classes with Professor Raven, hopefully she can help him as a teacher. Oh and we meet more of a fellow student named Dane who is also studying with Raven; remember Dane he may be a new character but he's important for later.

Of course problems abound, Billy doesn't really get along with people besides Miguel (Dial-H) and Dane, and he gets into a fight with Brick. Things probably aren't going to get better now that his identity leaked. See because Billy's powers are on the fritz he basically turns into Shazam and then turns back to Billy in front of the whole school. And his day only gets worse because he's then saved by Jon Kent Superman which bothers him, but all in all he's having a rough day.

However its not just Billy whose effected by this, its also his family and in fact it looks like its caused a major problem that adds to his troubles. See it appears that Freddy (the new 52 version with crutches) has only deteriorated in his medical problems because apparently the power of Shazam was keeping him healthy and now that its on the fritz he's getting worse in fact he might actually die if Mary is to be believed. However then we learn Doctor Fate (Khalid Nassour) is in the building and that's when the big plot kicks in.

Fate relays to the adult Titans that along with everything else wrong with the multiverse/omniverse the Rock of Eternity is in Hell and the JLD and the Titans are going to go...without Billy because he might get hurt. Of course Billy hears this and knowing that a member of his family is dying he's going to go to Hell and fix the rock of eternity. Of course getting there is a problem, one does not simply go to hell. I mean Billy's initial plan is to go to Themysicra and go through their Hell Door, so yeah definitely a problem. Or it was a problem until Dane gets there and teleports them to Hell with a wave of his hands. See I told you Dane would be important.

All in all I think this is a decent first issue that starts us off on the path to hopefully cleaning up the mess with Shazam's life right now. Although I will say that this is not new reader friendly, you basically have to know a wide array of things happening specifically to Shazam in these past few years. Heck if you didn't read Future State suicide squad back ups you wouldn't even know why the Rock of Eternity is in Hell. But I'm not sure how big a problem that is considering Shazam's long history of reality changes and history in the DC universe, which does exist here as he mentions he knows Wonder Woman. But yeah we really have to wait and see what happens as Billy makes his way through Hell, it's a good first issue but lets wait and see if its a good miniseries overall.

[Digifiend]

He wants to go to the home of the Amazons? Can't see Nubia letting him do that. It's meant to be women only. Ordinarily he could just send Mary and Darla in his place, but his current problem makes that impossible (since he can't reliably use the power himself, he certainly can't share it, so the rest of the family is depowered).

Billy joined the New 52 Justice League, that's how he knows Diana. That line doesn't indicate the return of any old continuity.

Looks like going to Titans Academy instead of seeking help from the League just proved to be a major blunder. His secret identity is basically gone now because everyone at the Academy either saw him untransform in midair or will hear that Billy is the Captain.

[sifighter]

He wants to go to the home of the Amazons? Can't see Nubia letting him do that. It's meant to be women only. Ordinarily he could just send Mary and Darla in his place, but his current problem makes that impossible (since he can't reliably use the power himself, he certainly can't share it, so the rest of the family is depowered).

Billy joined the New 52 Justice League, that's how he knows Diana. That line doesn't indicate the return of any old continuity.

Looks like going to Titans Academy instead of seeking help from the League just proved to be a major blunder. His secret identity is basically gone now because everyone at the Academy either saw him untransform in midair or will hear that Billy is the Captain.

Well his initial plan was to go to Themyscira, because the magic door to hell there was the only way that he knew. He honestly didn’t have much of a plan and was really just scrambling since Freddy is dying and he knows where the rock of eternity he is. Normally he’d have called the wizard but he’s dead and the Titans don’t want him to come because they think He’d die. He’s genuinely just lucky he made friends with Dane who knows magic to get to hell.

Also yeah I forgot about the new 52 league.

[sifighter]

You know what I do truly fear is that this won't do well because Future State directly impacts it because of its time travel elements. Like other series are supplemental in nature, like Next Batman or Wonder Woman where they give you taste of new characters or Green Lantern where they tease at story arcs too come, but this is like Midnighter where we directly have an influence from Future State mucking with the present.

[Marvelman]

How can Victor and Rosa afford a hospital for Freddy?

[K. Jones]

Billy being stuck at fancy super-hero boarding school with things not working right and it affecting his family back home has some novel allegorical elements that are okay. The art is okay. This isn't a quintessential "Captain Marvel Story" but feels like a fine "Billy as part of the young generation in the current DC Universe status quo and this is the arc he's dealing with in it" angle. Far more of a spin-off Titans Academy book than a Shazam Book. I think that's okay at the moment. The most interesting bit for me wasn't the tropes, secretiveness of the Titans talking to Fate about it, or any of that ... that felt like a writer writing with the idea that if we're seeing it through Billy's POV and his confidence is shaken things will seem a bit paranoid and cagey and he'll want to exert some agency.

But the most interesting angle for me was frankly just that Dane can open portals to Hell. I know who Captain Marvel is and that Billy will overcome his problem and it'll tie into Infinite Frontier and blah blah blah save the Rock of Eternity, family, friends, good vibes. What's the deal with this Dane kid? HELL POWERS? Who is he? Do they all have to be connected to anyone? No. But it's Sidekick Academy and there's definitely cool HELLISH characters he might relate to. Neron? Blaze? Satanus? Etrigan? Lucifer Morningstar? So on, so forth. Kid can just go to hell. I'm intrigued by that.

[sifighter]

Billy being stuck at fancy super-hero boarding school with things not working right and it affecting his family back home has some novel allegorical elements that are okay. The art is okay. This isn't a quintessential "Captain Marvel Story" but feels like a fine "Billy as part of the young generation in the current DC Universe status quo and this is the arc he's dealing with in it" angle. Far more of a spin-off Titans Academy book than a Shazam Book. I think that's okay at the moment. The most interesting bit for me wasn't the tropes, secretiveness of the Titans talking to Fate about it, or any of that ... that felt like a writer writing with the idea that if we're seeing it through Billy's POV and his confidence is shaken things will seem a bit paranoid and cagey and he'll want to exert some agency.

But the most interesting angle for me was frankly just that Dane can open portals to Hell. I know who Captain Marvel is and that Billy will overcome his problem and it'll tie into Infinite Frontier and blah blah blah save the Rock of Eternity, family, friends, good vibes. What's the deal with this Dane kid? HELL POWERS? Who is he? Do they all have to be connected to anyone? No. But it's Sidekick Academy and there's definitely cool HELLISH characters he might relate to. Neron? Blaze? Satanus? Etrigan? Lucifer Morningstar? So on, so forth. Kid can just go to hell. I'm intrigued by that.

Im not 100% sure where I read this, I think it was a solicitation for either Shazam or Titans Academy, but somewhere I read that Dane is supposedly the anti-Christ or something to that effect. Not sure if I’m remembering correctly or not.

Of course we’ve seen covers of him with Angel wings so maybe that plays into something.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I liked the orange sweater vest uniform Titan Academy has in this book. It feels odd that it pops up here rather than in the main book. Shootouts to the Bat Pack for helping out against Brick.

Dane is probably the most interesting character here. I'm curious what his deal is.

[Marvelman]

Maybe Dane is the new Kid Eternity?

[Digifiend]

How can Victor and Rosa afford a hospital for Freddy?

Would they get some sort of state subsidy due to them being foster parents?

Come to think of it, is the writer American? Because some other countries don't charge you for being in hospital (for example, the UK's NHS).

[dswynne]

Read the first issue. Still mulling it in my head, but, so far, as set ups go, it's alright. I do want to see Billy Batson being more resourceful, rather than just head-strong about his predicament.