The Trials of Shazam! #2

The Trials of Shazam! #2
Okay, this series has suddenly gotten much better. Apparently, Billy is now the vessel for the power of Shazam, and Freddy must prove himself worthy to be the new Captain Marvel - to be called Shazam. (I guess Shazam will be the servant of Captain Marvel, but nomenclature aside, it's a good idea.) Anyways, Freddy was the lucky one. He wasn't in the air when the power flux occurred. So he's still in one piece. Poor Mary. She's comatose, severely disfigured, and utterly broken, because she was three miles up when she lost her powers. Poor Mary. If Winick kills her, I'll fucking hate him. Women in refrigerators anyone? Winick just loves to crap on the womenfolk. Most be some sort of inferiority complex. Whatever.
That aside, it's a good issue. Freddy is sent by Cap to go on a quest to meet with each of the sponsors: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury; and he must prove himself worthy to each one. Then he will be bestowed with the power of Shazam as Billy was, and the lineage of Captains Marvel will continue. Otherwise, it will be passed on to another lineage.
Why can't it be Mary? Why can't Cap fix her? Poor Mary.
As far as the new status quo for magic in the DC Universe, Freddy sums it up neatly with just one line, where nobody else could even make it coherent before: "it's like H.P. Lovecraft on steroids out there."
And the art is much more solid this time around. A low GOOD this time...but only because I appreciate Freddie as a character and appreciate them trying to do more with him in the way of character development. I sincerely hope that he will become the focus of this book.