| |
With the release of Justice League #21 we now have the ending of the origin of the New 52's version of Captain Marvel. The most impacting change to the character is that now he is known as "Shazam". Also, in the new universe Shazam's powers were granted to him by someone that has come to simply be known as "the Wizard". While this change may upset long-time fans of the character, I actually see this as a positive change. Even though I grew up watching cartoons of Captain Marvel, the cartoon was always "Shazam!" to me. Considering the problems that have gone back and forth regarding the character's name/identity within the DC Universe, once you add issues with Marvel's Captain Marvel, I think this is a change for the better when it comes to identifying the character.
Beyond the personal name change and the one for the point of origin of his powers (the Wizard) Shazam has changed just enough to be familiar, yet not be the same as he was before the New 52. Shazam now appears to be a bit of a hybrid of pre-N52 Captain Marvel and the Flashpoint version of Captain Thunder. I personally really enjoyed the Flashpoint Captain Thunder. It was a "What if?" where Captain Marvel was part Captain Planet and part He-Man. Unlike Captain Thunder this new Shazam is not a composite being. However, it appears that once again there are six children involved with the character, and a tiger.
The first and most important of the six kids involved with Shazam is Billy Batson, of course. Yet, the Billy Batson that becomes Shazam in the N52 is not the Billy of old. The Billy Batson I grew up with was a pretty innocent and inherently good kid. This new Billy Batson has a more rough edge to him. Frankly, he starts out as a pretty rude and selfish child. This change in attitude/identity for Billy was something that immediately irritated hardcore fans of the old Captain Marvel. I wasn't overly upset as I've come to accept that not every DC character will be the same as they were before as they come to be in DC's new universe. Still, it was a major change that I hoped would make "sense" down the road.
As Shazam's origin moved forward we received more of an idea of how Billy's new personality would come into play for his origin. While it's become a bit of a cliché for characters to start dark and lighten up, I think that concept is going to play out in an interesting fashion this time. The variation that helps me accept the concept in this case is the other five kids involved with Shazam (at least in the origin). These kids are Freddy and Mary of course (other pre-N52 Marvels), plus Eugene, Darla and Pedro (brought over from Flashpoint). While these kids are not directly part of Shazam himself, they can be connected to him due to Billy being connected to them through the idea of "family". I would argue it's this connection of family that begins to foster the more caring side of Billy that he likes to ignore. As Billy begins to become more caring it both helps and hinders him, even as Shazam.
During a short battle with the new Black Adam, Billy comes to understand that while he is a primary conduit for the power he has been given, he is not the only conduit. He finds out that his power comes from a "pool" that both he and Black Adam tap into, and that that power can be shared within a "family". It is this realization, and being confronted with the few people he has come to care for being threatened, that Shazam and Billy become something greater than they were at the start of their origin. By accepting that he does have some kind of family Billy is able to share the power he has as Shazam. The other kids become "Shazams too", as Carlos puts it. Billy is even able to share his power with a tiger known as Tawny (closer to his Flashpoint incarnation that the pre-N52 incarnation). However, this sharing of power has its limits and it falls to Billy as a regular kid to end the fight he has found himself in with Black Adam.
I have given some pieces of the story away, but nothing I believe will remove enjoyment of the story for those that haven't read it. How Billy gets to that point of sharing his power has to be read by people that want to understand who Shazam is now. The origin story shows the evolution of Billy from the selfish child he starts out as, to the caring kid he seems to be driven to be. I'm not sure how long this expanded group of "Shazams" will exist. They may not even exist beyond this origin story. However, I believe that for Billy to become the Shazam that the N52 needs and readers want, he will at least be a part of his new family for a time even if he doesn't share his power often, or at all.
Another thing this origin story does is introduce three of Shazam's enemies that have carried over from the pre-N52 universe. I've already mentioned Black Adam, but in this story you'll also be introduced to the new version of Dr. Sivana. Personally, I feel this version is much more fitting to be an enemy of Shazam. In fact, I think this version would have been more fitting for Captain Marvel too. There is one more enemy introduced, but very briefly. What role they will play in the future, I am not sure. However, it appears that all three of these enemies will now be connected directly to the birth of the N52 Shazam.
While the story doesn't come with some kind of thunderous arrival, it is a story that I believe is going to be quite important to the upcoming "Trinity War". There is a definite "magic" corner of the N52 universe, and with the war coming down the road I have a feeling that Shazam will be playing a role in it whether he wishes to or not. How that will then connect him to the "greater" DC Universe I do not know, but I am definitely interested in seeing how he interacts with the established "heavy hitters".
|