Written by Tim Sheridan
Art by Clayton Henry
Published by DC Comics
Uh-oh! It’s never good when Neron shows up!
Like any kid who read 1990s DC, I have a vision of Neron forever shaped by the 1995 crossover Underworld Unleashed. Neron makes deals with various supervillains to enhance their powers and such in exchange for their souls in a bid to take over Hell.
The climax of that story came down to Neron’s quest to capture a pure soul. And that pure soul happened to belong to Billy Batson, the boy inside the magical being known as Captain Marvel – well, fine, Shazam.
But when Captain Marvel gives up Billy Batson’s pure soul to Neron to save the world, it undoes Neron and all his deals because the pure soul, given altruistically, cannot be retained.
Not that Shazam! #3 references any of that history between the characters, but when Neron appears, the issue still plays upon their knowledge of each other. Shazam’s open mistrust of the demon is matched only by Neron’s thirst for Billy’s soul.
But we’re getting ahead of the story. Billy, stuck in Shazam’s currently powerless body, and his Titans Academy classmate Dane, revealed to be Nevermore, the literal son of the Devil himself, are running away from another demon. They hop through portals in Hell, Rick and Morty-style, until Neron appears and promises them safe passage to the Rock of Eternity.
Of course, it’ll be for a price. But we’ll have to wait for when Neron employs that double-cross.
Tim Sheridan continues to write a fun, comic book-y story that breezes along with snappy dialog but also has its serious consequences attached to characters’ actions.
He writes Neron with the flamboyant, over-dramatic personality you expect from the deliciously, gallantly evil. He’s basically Skeletor, and ain’t nothing wrong with that.
Dane aka Nevermore continues to manifest more abilities the longer they stay in Hell. It’s clear he’s on the path of some Hellboy-bringer of apocalypse kind of destiny, based on the foreboding words from Neron.
Clayton Henry’s art remains fun and dynamic, able to marry the dialog to action well with flowing panels. My only complaint is that, for whatever reason, this time he keeps drawing Shazam with this gigantic superhero body and a tiny head. It’s distracting because the art overall is so good.
After a quick save by Raven, Shazam enters the Rock of Eternity in an attempt to solve its woes, leading us to the next cliffhanger. And it’s a doozy!
What a fun miniseries. Get into it!
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