The New Champion of Shazam! #1 // Review
Mary just got into college. Now she’s yelling at a rabbit and tangling with a super-powered bank robber. Still...it could be worse. Granted: it’s going to get worse. (This is only the first issue of the series.) This is, after all, The New Champion of Shazam! #1. Writer Josie Campbell takes Mary to college with the aid of artist Evan “Doc” Shaner. The first issue of a promising four-issue miniseries has a reluctant hero of great power suddenly thrust into action when she’d really prefer to be somewhere pm campus studying bio-med.
Mary is going to Vassar. (It’s a big deal. She worked like hell to get there.) She’s finally getting out on her own to define herself. She’s even got her new friends calling her “Marina.” Everything seems perfectly lined up for her to start her whole life as hers. Things are going to get complicated, though. She ends up yelling at a talking rabbit in the middle of Freshman orientation. Hoppy (that’s its name) tells Mary that she’s going to have to take over for her brother, who is trapped in a rock. (It’s a long story.) Taking over for her brother in this instance happens to mean taking the full power of Captain Marvel. So y’know: complicated.
Campbell somewhat juggles the standard scenery of a young superhero. Hoppy is a nice touch. The hero doesn’t want to be a hero. A magical rabbit has the unenviable task of letting her know that there’s basically no choice. Mary wants to fit in. Instead, she’s talking to her roommate’s pet rabbit, flying around in a flashy costume and saving lives. Campbell’s humor keeps the action moving along in a very tight procession from beginning to end. The cliffhanger on the last page hits with just the right force to draw the reader along to the second issue.
Shaner is sharp. The artist gives Mary and her world a bright sense of action. The vivid red and gold explode off the page once the action sets in. The more earthbound end of the drama has weight to it. Shaner is using photo references and a sharp sense of realism. This isn’t Riverdale or even Midvale. This is Vassar. The visuals could have gone in a completely different direction that would have clashed with the delicate mood that Campbell is putting together. Given the very firm Golden Age foundation of the character, Shaner’s fusion of superhero power with nuanced drama is quite welcome.
Campbell and Shaner have delivered an appealing introduction. Mary is defined with a novel perspective that could really turn into something special. With the right pacing, a four-issue series could put Mary through Freshman year. Subsequent series with the same creative team could see Mary making it through the rest of her undergraduate years in sixteen issues over the course of the next four Autumns. Odds are totally against this happening, but Campbell and Shaner have delivered an interesting enough opening that it’s easy to want a longer run with the character than the four issues that the cover promises.
