Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #1- A review. Writing, art and "heart" by Mike Kunkel. Lettering by Steve Wands

First off, sorry that I don't have a picture to put up. No scanner and DC's website was not cooperating.

When I first saw the solict for this in Previews, I had to do a double take. There was Mike Kunkel doing a DC book? And a "kids" title at that? Holy crap! To explain my reaction, let me give you a quick flashback. Several years ago I was wondering thru my comic store and happened upon an indy book called "Herobear and the Kid". The cover reached me for some reason and as I opened it, I was instantly captivated. The art, the style of writing, the characters were a perfect marriage. I became a Mike Kunkel fan on the spot. Since that book many years ago, I have been scanning the comic horizon for more of Mr. Kunkel, but to no avail. The only time recently I had seen him was in the Batman/Superman tribute book to Sam Loeb.

When you pick up this book, you are transported back to a few years ago. Not so much the story right off, but the fact that this book is priced and looks exactly like comics did before the speculator boom. Even though this book is not in current DC continuity, they saddled him with with the story done by Jeff Smith (Bone) a few years ago. Billy is Captain Marvel, his little sister is Mary Marvel. To be honest the first couple of pages are sort of lost to me. It's because the dialogue is written in The Monster Society Code. I am not sure if this is something that Smith came up or if this as old as the original Captain way back when. At least they give you the code up front and let you decipher it. Smith's book has the titles done like this and you had to wait until the final issue to get the code. Don't fault him for that, just sayin'.

After a brief recap of what's happened lately, the story jumps to Cap and Mary flying to save a train with no brakes. The interaction here is what you would expect from a brother and sister. We learn that while they both have the same key word to change, their powers are slightly different. Billy uses Cap to pose as an adult to get them an apartment and to meet the principal of the school they are to attend. As he goes to change, he is summoned to the Rock of Eternity by Solomon. Also introduced is the villain of the book, Theo Adam (Black Adam). Turns out at the end of the Jeff Smith mini, as Cap was tossing the bad guys into a vortex (don't ask), Theo escaped from another dimension, but he returns as a kid. He was placed there by Solomon for some reason. Solomon tells Cap of this threat and that the 7 evils are opening their eyes, which is not a good sign. Theo sees Cap and recognizes him, sort of. He knows there is a word that will give him power, but he can't remember it. He also sees the change from Cap into Billy and knows that he can do that as well, as soon as he remembers the word.

This book has all the things that make Mike Kunkel a terrific creator, in my book. First off, the interaction between the characters is spot on. Cap has Superman powers, yet retains Billy's innocence. Theo acts like a snooty prince talking to kids his own age. Billy and Mary act like you would expect siblings to act. The art is exceptional. I have always thought of Kunkel's work as "storyboard-ish", that is clean and static, but conveys a sense of motion and emotion. His ability to convey the emotion of a character simply by observing their face. The humor both broad and subtle is refreshing.

Now, this is not the perfect book. Several things are somewhat troubling me. First off, since this a "Johnny DC" book, why burden him with current events? Why not let him take off and retell things using his own spin? Also, using the Monster Society code at the beginning and end of the book for dialogue may tax or lose younger readers who don't want to work that hard to decipher it.

Still, this is a very, very good book. It's something that old Captain Marvel fans would enjoy as well as the younger set who the book is aimed at. I hope that DC gives Mike a good chance to create some stories that will entice and entrance you as he did me.

Grade: A minus (sorry, they lose a point for the code)