Billy Batson is a homeless orphan, who befriends a hobo and taken to meet an old wizard, who wants to pass his powers onto him. When he utters the word ‘Shazam’, he turns into a muscle-bound righter of wrongs who has the combined powers of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.
Jeff Smith made his name as creator of the award-winning Bone series, bringing life and humour to a whole menagerie of creatures. He successfully does the same with Billy Batson and the whole family of characters. His narrative is simple and similarly he keeps the panels clean, uncluttered and refreshingly dynamic. He shows a great love for his characters and affection for the source material.
Considering the character emerged in the wave of the 40s superhero boom, he has endured surprisingly well, even if he has never been regarded as a major league player. While Smith maintains the simplicity, he also imbues the story with warmth and wit. Billy and Mary are rendered with all the button-nosed characteristics of Charlie Brown’s gang, but they have great energy and optimism. Likewise, the presentation of Tawky Tawny shares similar imaginative flair and warmth as the irrepressible Calvin and Hobbes. He keeps all the elements of the original in place but still makes it feel fresh and vibrant. More importantly, he returns a sense of fun to the proceedings, the more traditional elements of cartoons and the comic book funnies.
Buy Shazam! at Forbidden Planet
