Trials of Shazam! #10
AWFUL. This series shouldn't have been much more than 7 issues, and definitely never should have been this late. As it is, the timing really doesn't matter, because this is one of the worst books I've read in a long time. Sure, it's cool that Tawky Tawny turns into a real magical tiger, but then he gets killed? This entire issue is basically Freddy and company trying to prevent a series of murders and always getting there just a bit too late. It's really dumb. This evil Shazam is one of the dumbest ideas ever, especially since she hasn't shown up in the rest of the DCU, which has already moved on, which means that whatever the ultimate outcome of this book will be, its events will remain entirely inconsequential. So, if the writing's not good, the story's not good, and it has zero impact on the rest of the DCU, then why, pray tell, should you read it? Exactly. You shouldn't.
Showing posts with label The Trials of Shazam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Trials of Shazam. Show all posts
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Trials of SHAZAM! #8
Trials of SHAZAM! #8
Um, OKAY, I guess, but really, when is this finally going to be over? How long has it been delayed for, now? It's lost any sort of forward momentum that it could have possibly had, and it's just barely keeping from sliding back down the drain into the land of mixed metaphors, like I just did.
Um, OKAY, I guess, but really, when is this finally going to be over? How long has it been delayed for, now? It's lost any sort of forward momentum that it could have possibly had, and it's just barely keeping from sliding back down the drain into the land of mixed metaphors, like I just did.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Action Comics #853
Action Comics #853
This book is just so good! After months of wondering why Jimmy Olsen apparently knew who Jason Todd was, it's this comic that answers the question: knowing things is one of his powers. As is:
Turtle Boy! Flame Breath! Geiger Counter? Even with all these powers, Jimmy remains the everyman character, wondering about the dynamics of superheroing, such as how they get around, how they prevent cowl cap, where they keep their clothes, etc.
All this and the triumphant return of Krypto!!!
Plus a cameo of sorts for Scipio Garling of the Absorbascon (and Devon Sanders too)! (See the articles on page 4.)
Pure brilliance. Pure EXCELLENCE.
Oh, and guess what? The editors have finally admitted that they weren't fooling anyone last time when they told us that we had to read Countdown to keep abreast of this story. Sure, there's an editor's note saying that this issue occurs on the heels of Countdown #39, but in small print they tell us that they'll fill us in if we missed it. So now, even the stories that were originally central to Countdown are merely scenes from other books. How about that? Could Countdown suck any harder? In fact, the editors mention to us that we should read issue #37, but NOT issue #38! See? It's become, for the most part, irrelevant. I really wonder how it'll finish out the year with the quality just being so bad, and sales dropping off so sharply.
Eventually, I can see this being the book DC publishes that nobody reads. It's just there to provide an avenue for them to get from point A to point B in their Universe, but nobody actually cares. I believe that even Manhunter at its lowest sold better than Countdown is. So why did we as fans constantly have to save that series from the chopping block, and are currently being forced to go without? Why is Catwoman in danger of cancellation? Tell DC to chop away the dead weight. Migrate the Jimmy Olsen story entirely to Action, the Atom story to All-New Atom, the Holly Robinson story to Catwoman or Wonder Woman, the Trickster and Pied Piper story to Flash, the Karate Kid story to JSA, the Mary Marvel story to an ongoing Shazam! title (if Winick can ever get around to finishing Trials), the New Gods story to Superman and/or their own series. Do that and DC can increase the readership of those titles while simultaneously allowing each story to function as its own entity. It's a good idea. So I can't be the only person who's thought of it, can I?
This book is just so good! After months of wondering why Jimmy Olsen apparently knew who Jason Todd was, it's this comic that answers the question: knowing things is one of his powers. As is:
Turtle Boy! Flame Breath! Geiger Counter? Even with all these powers, Jimmy remains the everyman character, wondering about the dynamics of superheroing, such as how they get around, how they prevent cowl cap, where they keep their clothes, etc.
All this and the triumphant return of Krypto!!!
Plus a cameo of sorts for Scipio Garling of the Absorbascon (and Devon Sanders too)! (See the articles on page 4.)
Pure brilliance. Pure EXCELLENCE.
Oh, and guess what? The editors have finally admitted that they weren't fooling anyone last time when they told us that we had to read Countdown to keep abreast of this story. Sure, there's an editor's note saying that this issue occurs on the heels of Countdown #39, but in small print they tell us that they'll fill us in if we missed it. So now, even the stories that were originally central to Countdown are merely scenes from other books. How about that? Could Countdown suck any harder? In fact, the editors mention to us that we should read issue #37, but NOT issue #38! See? It's become, for the most part, irrelevant. I really wonder how it'll finish out the year with the quality just being so bad, and sales dropping off so sharply.
Eventually, I can see this being the book DC publishes that nobody reads. It's just there to provide an avenue for them to get from point A to point B in their Universe, but nobody actually cares. I believe that even Manhunter at its lowest sold better than Countdown is. So why did we as fans constantly have to save that series from the chopping block, and are currently being forced to go without? Why is Catwoman in danger of cancellation? Tell DC to chop away the dead weight. Migrate the Jimmy Olsen story entirely to Action, the Atom story to All-New Atom, the Holly Robinson story to Catwoman or Wonder Woman, the Trickster and Pied Piper story to Flash, the Karate Kid story to JSA, the Mary Marvel story to an ongoing Shazam! title (if Winick can ever get around to finishing Trials), the New Gods story to Superman and/or their own series. Do that and DC can increase the readership of those titles while simultaneously allowing each story to function as its own entity. It's a good idea. So I can't be the only person who's thought of it, can I?
Friday, September 29, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The Trials of Shazam! #1
The Trials of Shazam! #1
This wasn't a particularly good book. Not awful, just not particularly good.
Basically, now that magic has been restructured, Billy is living in the rock of eternity, he has magical powers when not the Captain, he can call down physical lightning as well, and he basically has a magic pool wherein he scryes what should be his next task.
And apparently, although long-time magic-users are now lost in the new universe's magic, Cap knows all.
This has been a contention of many writers since Day of Vengeance - that magic is different. But every writer seems to be doing something different with it, and besides that, magic was never very clearly defined before Day of Vengeance. So, I understand what they're trying to say, but they're really just not selling me on it.
And that being the case, this comic loses much of its appeal.
The art is certainly nice, although it is difficult to interpret at times. Cleaner brushwork is a must for battle scenes, and I'm just not seeing it here.
Overall, EH. I'll check out the next issue, but I'm really not interested. All I want to know is what happened to Mary Marvel when she fell from the sky in Brave New World. She's altogether more interesting than Billy anyways. Or maybe it's because she's freakin' hot!
This wasn't a particularly good book. Not awful, just not particularly good.
Basically, now that magic has been restructured, Billy is living in the rock of eternity, he has magical powers when not the Captain, he can call down physical lightning as well, and he basically has a magic pool wherein he scryes what should be his next task.
And apparently, although long-time magic-users are now lost in the new universe's magic, Cap knows all.
This has been a contention of many writers since Day of Vengeance - that magic is different. But every writer seems to be doing something different with it, and besides that, magic was never very clearly defined before Day of Vengeance. So, I understand what they're trying to say, but they're really just not selling me on it.
And that being the case, this comic loses much of its appeal.
The art is certainly nice, although it is difficult to interpret at times. Cleaner brushwork is a must for battle scenes, and I'm just not seeing it here.
Overall, EH. I'll check out the next issue, but I'm really not interested. All I want to know is what happened to Mary Marvel when she fell from the sky in Brave New World. She's altogether more interesting than Billy anyways. Or maybe it's because she's freakin' hot!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)