The New Champion of Shazam #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

A new beginning for the Shazam franchise is here... which was pretty unnecessary considering that the one that Geoff Johns created was pretty much perfect. I'm still pretty disappointed that they were no plans to further expand the premise of the Shazam family and even more disappointed that what launched this particular book was Tim Sheridan's overall atrocious work that handled the idea of death as poorly as humanly possible. However, I always think is fair to judge a book for its own merits and not really for what it frustrated so as a story itself, how does this new series fare?

Well, pretty poorly too sadly.

The story is written by Josie Campbell who doesn't even bother to explain what actually happens in the new status quo for Shazam (aside from a few panels halfway the issue) and instead decides to present Mary as a girl who always had a temper and likes to hit fast so it was not only enough for her to be smart, now she also needed to be overly strong in that regard as well. Is easy to make accusations and complaints here but at least when Geoff Johns changed Billy's personality early on it was to subvert expectations and didn't make him any more perfect than he was in the past.

But okay, characterization is a bit derivative and lacking, how about that plot then? Well, Mary is in college now and receives a message from Hoppy the Marvel Bunny (who is the best part of this honestly) who tells her that she is the only inheritor of Shazam so forget about Mary having to actually earn the power like Freddy Freeman did in Trials of Shazam (which could have brought actual worldbuilding), now she just gets the magic without having to really work for it (and over her siblings for some reason) which of course, also makes her stronger than any other version of Shazam.

This... this is just too much.

And the rest is not really good either since she just has to fight a generic new version of Master of Disaster and the issue quickly ends just like that. Worst of all is that the writing can be overwritten despite that there's very little actual content.

Doc Shaner's artwork is what actually makes this shine thanks to his expressive, semi-cartoony style that makes the characters look great, if only he had more creative stuff to work on.

Yeah, this is not promising at all and I have no hope for the future. Another waste.

[HsssH]

Sad to hear.

I haven't read series where Freddy was Shazam so maybe it is similar here, but why exactly Mary is the inheritor? I thought that someone had to give you that power.

[Rakzo]

Sad to hear.

I haven't read series where Freddy was Shazam so maybe it is similar here, but why exactly Mary is the inheritor? I thought that someone had to give you that power.

Trials of Shazam was written by Judd Winick and it was all about Freddy meeting different deities connected to the Shazam mythos that slowly made him gain the full power of Shazam. It had pretty solid worldbuilding and it was very underrated honestly.

Here, well, there's barely any explanation about why Mary gets the full power (and even more power to boot), it just happens.

[Mantis-Ray]

The story is written by Josie Campbell who doesn't even bother to explain what actually happens in the new status quo for Shazam (aside from a few panels halfway the issue) and instead decides to present Mary as a girl who always had a temper and likes to hit fast so it was not only enough for her to be smart, now she also needed to be overly strong in that regard as well. Is easy to make accusations and complaints here but at least when Geoff Johns changed Billy's personality early on it was to subvert expectations and didn't make him any more perfect than he was in the past.

Huh is it me or is that a notable thing? Now that its mentioned I feel like that happens a lot but I can't think of any examples off the top of my head other than Wonder Woman.

[Triniking1234]

That explains why Shazam was Freddy when I read Final Crisis. What happened to Billy at that time?

(I'll read this Mary book some other time)

[Zagre]

Huh is it me or is that a notable thing? Now that its mentioned I feel like that happens a lot but I can't think of any examples off the top of my head other than Wonder Woman.

Supegirl also got this kind of characterization, though I enjoy it.

I actually liked this chapter, though, felt very "Magical Girl" to me.

[Rakzo]

That explains why Shazam was Freddy when I read Final Crisis. What happened to Billy at that time?

(I'll read this Mary book some other time)

Billy became the new Wizard (Then called "Marvel") while Freddy was the new champion. It was an overall pretty interesting time for the franchise because I think Freddy's disability makes him a more compelling protagonist than Billy (Unfortunately, this direction was also frustrated by editorial mandates).

[Frontier]

I feel like Mary being Billy's biological sister would make the inheriting thing make more sense, because that's part of why she's the female lead of this franchise, but I guess they can't do that now.

[millernumber1]

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about Shazam as OP, so I appreciate all the context (especially for the Teen Titans Academy stuff, since I noped out of that really, really quick. I actually liked the 4 part Shazam series that Sheridan did, but didn't know he'd screwed with the family status quo more after that). I am really bummed that they've depowered the family - that seems so incredibly unnecessary and rude. I hope that the arc of this series is to repower them.

I'm not super excited about the college setting here - the way Mary seems to be handling it is very cliched and a bit annoying, but I am intrigued by the final tease for where the plot is going. And as OP says, the art by Shaner is really gorgeous. I just hope that DC will give Shazam a new ongoing with a different creative team who can actually 1) keep a schedule, and 2) take advantage of the Shazam family instead of depowering them again.

[Digifiend]

There's nothing that would prevent Mary from repowering her other four foster siblings, sharing the power the same way Billy did.

And I'm pretty sure that "Marina" is done with college after just the one day. She'll be going home because of the Vasquezs disappearance.

Mary did actually have a good point, modifying her name to sound cooler. How many 18 year olds are called Mary in the year 2022? lol. The name Mary definitely sounds old fashioned and not cool.

[D.Z]

Feels like more throwing out Nu52 concepts.

[Frontier]

There's nothing that would prevent Mary from repowering her other four foster siblings, sharing the power the same way Billy did.

And I'm pretty sure that "Marina" is done with college after just the one day. She'll be going home because of the Vasquezs disappearance.

Mary did actually have a good point, modifying her name to sound cooler. How many 18 year olds are called Mary in the year 2022? lol. The name Mary definitely sounds old fashioned and not cool.

Really? I feel like Mary is pretty typical. It's no "Dinah."

[D.Z]

Better than the crappy made up names some parents give kids these days.

[Digifiend]

Really? I feel like Mary is pretty typical. It's no "Dinah."

Typical if you was born before 1970! The only Mary I know is a lady in her 80s. Kids aren't given that name nowadays. It made sense when Mary Marvel was first published. But she wouldn't have been called that if she was a new character launching today.

I feel like Mary being Billy's biological sister would make the inheriting thing make more sense, because that's part of why she's the female lead of this franchise, but I guess they can't do that now.

They can't make them twins, but I think they can retcon them back to being blood related. Billy's Dad, CC Batson, abandoned him. Maybe he'd previously done the same with Mary and her mother (maybe CC was having an affair with Mrs Bromfield?), and the guy who Mary thinks is her real father wasn't, and instead CC Batson is? Neither CC nor Mary would've known this, hence why it didn't come up when CC came to see Billy, and of course, it's not like CC actually cares anyway, given he only came to see Billy while mind-controlled. It would explain why Mary felt unwanted (maybe her "father" realised she wasn't his kid) and ran away, which led to her entering foster care. That would make them half-siblings at least, which is the best they could do without another reboot.

[HsssH]

https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi

It is not very popular, but doesn't look to be obscure either.