Written by Tim Sheridan
Art by Clayton Henry
Published by DC Comics
Captain Marvel….er…Shazam returns in this new four-issue miniseries that appears to link his exploits from the Teen Titans: Future State and Teen Titans Academy.
This Billy Batson has come to the Titans Academy looking for answers while keeping his Shazam identity a secret from his classmates, many of whom have metahuman abilities.
See, his powers keep fizzling out.
So far no one has gotten hurt, but they could be. We first meet Shazam as he comes in to assist the Titans battling Chemo at the Statue of Liberty. But just as hes ready to deliver the blow to take down the behemoth, Shazam experiences a vision of the Rock of Eternity exploding, and he loses his ability to fly.
Billy’s relationship to Shazam’s powers is weakening.
His family already cannot access the power anymore, and Billy has isolated himself from Mary and Freddie. He can’t reach The Wizard, either, let alone the Rock of Eternity sitting at the heart of the multiverse.
And then Billy overhears the Titans talking with Doctor Fate: the Rock of Eternity is displaced, in the underrealm. A temporal entity is wreaking havoc throughout space-time, and while it’s not Crisis-level yet, Justice League Dark and the Titans must investigate.
If only Tim Sheridan didn’t rely on the creakiest of plot devices to set this up: the Titans deciding to keep this development secret from the person most intimately involved, and Billy literally with his ear the to the door of the Titans’ chambers. Oh well. Can’t have everything.
Billy is ready to go off half-cocked into hell, with basically zero plan about how to get there, how to get the Rock of Eternity (and himself!) out of there. That’s when mysterious student Dane shows up and does the “there’s not enough time to explain” (another creaky device) routine before flashing his powers to take them right to the underrealm.
This is confidently drawn book by Clayton Henry, with his clean lines and strong facial expressions that you’d want when drawing kid Billy. A splash panel with the Jonathan Kent Superman is especially beautiful.
I’m intrigued to see where this one goes, if we don’t encounter too many more old plot devices to set things up.
