The Shazamily has had a rough time of it lately. Not just in the comics itself, but externally thanks to a whiff of a movie, and a character that seems to be struggling with his own name. Credit to the crack team of Josie Campbell and Dan McDaid for ending the current iteration of the DC Comics series with some much life, humor and hope in SHAZAM! #21. But it’s still a bummer to see the title go.
In the closing issue, Mister Mind has successfully taken over the world with the help of the expanded Sivana family. And over the course of the issue, Campbell and company wrap that up (while leaving room for more), as well as Billy Batson’s struggle with discovering his birth mom, and the state of the Shazamily as a whole. It’s a lot to tackle in one issue, but Campbell makes it work; and McDaid keeps the action light and fun. This is, without a doubt, the perfect family book, and I wish there was more of it.
That, unfortunately, is the prevailing feeling here, though… That this book just really didn’t get a chance. The changeover from Mark Waid to Campbell was (mind you, both authors are great) a huge step up in focus and humor. But the past few issues have gone from enormous cliffhanger in SHAZAM! #19, to a pretty great one-shot from Sina Grace in SHAZAM! #20, to the final issue of the title. Rather than setting up a massive arc that might have walked us up to a landmark SHAZAM! #25, we get an entire crossover and change in one issue.
And to take a wider look, DC’s (potentially rights based) allergy to just calling the character either Captain Marvel, or Shazam, has led to generic names like The Captain and The Commander. At least Mary Marvel (who soars every time Campbell writes her) gets to be called a nice, clean name. But the rest leads to a confusion of concept that may be a bar to new readers.
That’s the wide view. The closer view is that this issue is packed with poignant moments. The new Dr. Sivana continues to be a fantastic villain. And thus far, Campbell has been able to follow the Shazamily through various iterations of comics, all of which has been great. This may be the end of this title, but hopefully there’s more to come with Billy, Freddy, Mary, Hoppy, and all the rest. We need more family books in the mainline DC Comics. And who better to carry that torch that the Shazamily — and Campbell and McDaid?
SHAZAM! #21 Rating:
SHAZAM! #21 Official Synopsis:
THE WIZARD AND THE FAMILY SHAZAM! Mr. Mind has wormed his way across the entire world, and it will take way more than a single champion of Shazam to stop him! And finally, will the Shazamily become an official family?
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