While there are times when looking at the pile that I do see a series that I’ve been waiting to finish piling up, I remember that there are others just beneath that pile that have finished without my noticing. How often has this happened? Hey, man, don’t even worry about that. And why would we need to worry when we have the first few issues of a relaunch of a beloved, iconic character that I originally covered two years ago? The me of two years ago is probably still worrying about something, but at least we have Shazam by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sánchez, Troy Peteri, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Trish Mulvihill.

Billy Batson is having a time. He and his foster family are trying to stay afloat. Being able to transform into an avatar of magical justice doesn’t pay. While he can save as many people, dinosaur aliens, and pieces of art that he wants, there’s something else he hasn’t considered. Why does he need to fill out piles of paperwork after helping those nice alien dinosaurs repair their ship and head home? How much does he need to pay in order to fix the museum he may have wrecked while retrieving the Mona Lisa? How is he able to balance being a kid and a hero while being a decent step-brother to his siblings who’ve lost their own powers? It may be manageable, but the gods that give him their powers are real upset that the people he saves aren’t giving them their proper deference. 

That latter point is something that does make this run of Shazam stand out from many of the other modern tales. Ever since his inception by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck in the 40s, the six gods that make up the Shazam anagram have always just been the names attached to the various aspects of his powers—they’ve never been present enough in the story to actually influence it. There’s a more concrete source for Shazam’s powers than most other heroes, for the most part, but it isn’t often that we really dive in to see what that source is, let alone talk to them to see how they’re doing. And seeing the pantheon frat house in the Rock of Eternity gives figures like Solomon, Hercules, Achilles, Zeus, Atlas, and Mercury a more grounded feel despite their mythic origins.

The ways the creative team here are able to balance so many story elements happening concurrently within a nine-issue run while also ensuring that everything ends up tying together—or lends itself to a set-up for the next writer to take over—and providing some fun adventure comics shows how quality comics can come about. It’s a skill honed over years to ensure that the audience is continually hooked. Sometimes all you need is some space dinosaurs, angry siblings, miffed gods, and gorilla terrorists to make a satisfying story. 

Get excited. Get magic.

Drew Barth (Episode 331, 485, 510, 651, & 674) resides in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida.