‘Infected: King Shazam #1’ (review)

Written by Sina Grace
Art by Joe Bennett
Published by DC Comics

Captain Marvel has been infected by the Batman Who Laughs and it has led to a whole mess of problems. T

his is a one shot dedicated to showing us the struggles Billy Batson has to go through. It is a pretty decent comic book and there is a lot going on, but it is well handled here for the most part.

The opening sequence has Billy at dinner with his parents. He cops an attitude. They all get into a fight. He runs across Mary Marvel and basically tells her to mind her own business. He then goes and says the magic word and transforms into the Shazam Who Laughs.

After this, the villain for the story gets a little bit of a scene.

Then, we get a rousing scene with Mary Marvel who isn’t taking things lying down. She is going after Billy and is determined to figure things out and solve the mystery in front of her.

The Shazam Who Laughs meanwhile is creating  havoc everywhere he goes.  We see a bit of him fighting and beating the hell out of people. That is when Mary Marvel makes her move! The two of them both face off against each other!

Mary tries to reach Billy. She tries to see if there is still good in him. This leads to an error on her part that is pretty shocking. And that error is where we end the issue. And it may be the most awkward endings of all time.

Mostly it is because the issue is dreadfully short. It feels like the story was just starting and then it just ends. I wanted more. A lot more!  Instead we get a short story that is incredibly and noticeably short. And that is okay. Unfortunately, there was potential for so much more here, especially with the great artwork that this book has.

RATING: B