Shazam! emerged as part of Mark Waid’s World’s Finest revival of Silver Age fun with top-notch modern aesthetics and storytelling, in spirit if not name. It was no surprise to see the series enchant fans of the character, old and new, given that Waid and artist Dan Mora were attached – both darlings of direct market comics. Shazam! #10 marks something of a restart, with both Waid and Mora departed, as the creative team of writer Josie Campbell and artists Emanuela Lupacchino and Mike Norton join the series. Transitions often prove messy, if not disastrous, but this one is outstanding. The new team maintains the fundamental joy found in the pages of Shazam! but doesn’t hesitate to craft their own approach and it’s one likely to delight many readers.
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Shazam! #10 continues the series’ narrative seamlessly as the family moves into their rebuilt home from the conclusion of Shazam! #9. The framework of a moving day provides the characters an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of this ritual and place, which offers numerous opportunities to flavor the cast. Josie Campbell’s narrative captions—playing upon different characters’ voices—and dialogue both offer distinctive personalities and the internal conflicts at play. It’s no minor feat to write children well and Campbell certainly does.
This day also provides the opportunity to introduce new characters (i.e. a girl next door) and new challenges with long-term mysteries seeded throughout, but the focus is on a problem with the house itself. Zeus’s magical remodel comes with a few too many portals, which creates an increasingly dangerous problem. The issue as a whole reads like a whimsical adventure, but the stakes and tension when reading the issue are ratcheted high with some fun meta-textual tricks and genuinely monstrous antagonists.
The inclusion of other-dimensional portals provides an outstanding artistic team-up between Lupacchino (the series newest ongoing artist) and Norton (this issue’s guest artist). Lupacchino establishes the series’ new look on the family’s front lawn and her style makes for a graceful transition from Mora’s work with expressive characters and dynamic layouts making Shazam! a consistently fun reading experience. There’s no doubt by the ominous cliffhanger that Lupacchino can deliver upon this series’ best elements.
However, the issue’s wildest components are largely reserved for Norton who delivers many of the alternate dimensions woven into the house, which largely play upon tropes of antiquity aligning with the gods in SHAZAM. These realms (and even the inevitable antagonists who arrive as a result) are filled with detail bound to delight re-readers. Together Lupacchino and Norton make for a knock-out team in this largely heartwarming story of move-in day.
Shazam! #10 would be an outstanding issue on its own; it delivers a succinct treatise on the fantasy of Billy’s family, reminding readers why they treasure so many of their collective adventures. But it’s even more promising as the start of a new spin on an already excellent ongoing series. There are too few series with naturally long runs and the current incarnation of Shazam! certainly merits one, especially considering the obviously good hands now at the helm.
Published by DC Comics
On April 2, 2024
Written by Josie Campbell
Art by Emanuela Lupacchino and Mike Norton
Colors by Trish Mulvhill
Letters by Troy Peteri
Cover by Dan Mora
