Written by Tim Sheridan
Art by Clayton Henry
Published by DC Comics
Wow, this was fun!
And that’s exactly what any Shazam! (dangit, I still call him Captain Marvel) story should contain.
Along with heart. But they gotta be fun!
Not that I’d expect a trip to hell to be fun, but the second installment in this four-issue miniseries sure is.
How else can I describe things when Billy and his Titans Academy schoolmate Dane arrive in the Underrealm, and they’re at a hellish Las Vegas?
When they enter the casino named Casino de Dante Carlo, and the entertainment on the marquee is Cirque du Agonie?
This is everything I want in this appropriate old-school comic book-y adventure titled “Win, Lose, or Die!” Tell me Jim J. Bullock, Alan Thicke and Paul Lynde are walking through that door. Ah, if only.
Clayton Henry’s big, poppy art style is well served with all the creatures and topsy-turvy framing you want in this setting. And Marcelo Maiolo’s colors more than rise to the occasion; everything just leaps off the page or device screen with depth and dimension.
Of course, the boys get in trouble at the hell casino. Of course, Billy meets a beautiful demon girl. Of course, they run afoul of the big heavy running the place, and that big heavy turns out to be the beautiful demon girl’s dad. And, of course, Dane is hiding the reason he can open portals to hell and feels confident enough to use magic in the casino where it’s not allowed.
But I don’t care when the comic book is this breezy, this fun, and goes down so smooth! The first issue I criticized for the creaky old plot devices, but in this issue they have life. Even the way the heavy speaks in gambling puns, and Billy/Shazam! is absolutely sick of them.
We find out Dane’s true identity, and all I’ll say is, we’re in for a hell of a third issue!
