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Shazam! Once again, Alex Ross and Paul Dini take a look at the human side of DC's greatest heroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Cap. Marvel). I think that this is the best book of the series, even if it is dealing with one of the lesser known characters of the DC universe.
I had not been a Captain Marvel fan until I picked up Kingdom Come and was introduced to Billy Batson by Alex Ross. This is another great work with the character. I was impressed by the actions and thoughts of the character and I love the human take on him. What would a boy with super powers like Captain Marvel do with them? Being a hero is more then just saving people, it is also inspiring them and giving hope. The most touching moment in any of the books came at the hospital with Captain Marvel and the terminal girl, making her feel safe. Dini and Ross's best work so far, here's to hoping that the upcoming JLA work gets better.
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Being a fan of both Captain Marvel AND Alex Ross, I was at the comic store the day this came out knocking the door down to buy it. This is an excellent story of Captain Marvel as he visits a hospital for dying children and he struggles to realize that he can't save everyone. He meets a young boy who is abused by his father and after the wise old SHAZAM tells him that Marvel will meet someone in need of hope, he feels this boy is that someone. But is it?
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Captain Marvel is the most mythological of the DC heroes- part man and part god, yet also partially a small boy. He is the essense of the best, most noble, and most purely innocent in heaven and on earth. You see, the Captain of the Thunder and the Lightning is a pure knight, there is no guile in him, no blemish to his soul. If anything, you get the impression that his alter ego, Billy Batson, is more worldly than the Captain. Yet, not even Superman is a greater champion of righteousness.
Finally, Alex Ross and Paul Dini have done justice to the Captain's character.
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Captain Marvel deserved his own great story and this is it. Fortunately, for all us SHAZAM fans, Alex Ross has brought the character back in a big way - first in Kingdom Come, and now here. The only drawback for Cap fans in Kingdom Come is that the Big Red Cheese is mostly a pawn of Lex Luthor throughout the book. Here he has own story where he can be the hero. These oversized volumes by Dini and Ross can be quite touching at times. Here, the Captain visits kids at a hospital and befriends an abused child.
The art by Alex Ross is spectacular as usual - especially at the beginning where young Billy Batson visits the Rock of Eternity and the old wizard tells him, "Speak my name!"
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Someone else on here stated that if you could read this book without crying, you were better than he was. Friend - I'm in the same boat. I admit my eyes filled unashamedly when reading of the Captain's work with children and his love for them. We too often forget how the little things we do can touch the life of a person around us, especially a child - and this book, I believe, brings us squarely back to center. If you buy no other books this year, if you never buy ANY book - buy this one. You will be touched and enriched by it.
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