Return of the Wizard

I know I have spoken of this already here, but now Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil has actually shipped, and I've gotten a chance to read it. And yes, it is everything that I hoped it to be. Jeff Smith is kind of an oddity in the comics world. He's pretty famous, an 8 to Frank Miller's 10, he can work on any project that he wants, he never has to work again if what I have read is right, and he's only written one book. One. Granted it took him well over a decade to do it, and it's kinda of short for that amount time, only 55 issues. But over that time he has honed his craft to a level that is not seen in the comics industry all that often, and in a genre, kids, that hardly anyone works in. That's not to say that his comics aren't for adults also, it's just that they are some of the few comics out there right now that really can be enjoyed by both kids and adults equally, and mostly for the same things.

Just look at many of our classic super-heroes(which, by the way, I just found out is a trademarked word, and has been for like ten years!), Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, all these characters have had their stories become so complex, so "adult" in both story and art, that kids don't read comics anymore. Oh sure, there are books that are made specifically for kids, Justice League Unlimited and Spider-Man Adventures to name some, but, and here's a little secret, I sell more of those to adults then I do to kids. Why? Because kids don't have the money that adults do. And as much as we like to think we do, retailers don't have the control over the industry that the publishers do. And from the publishers stand point it's easier to get the weekly Wednesday buyer to pick up a book like The Boys then it is to convince Mom to bring Jr to the comic store to buy him a comic book thats just the same thing he could be watching on TV at home for free. Sorry, but its the truth.

Alright, so a little off topic, sorry about that.

And I've been trying to sum up just what it is about Shazam: MSOE that really makes me like it so much, and I think I finally figured it out. It's simple. Not simpleton, just simple. There are bad guys, and there are good guys. No shades of grey. It doesn't spend two pages explaining anything, things just are. You just accept it and move on. I like that. And I think lastly, its FUN. When was the last time you sat down with a comic, or even a pile of comics, and afterwards said to yourself "Man, I had so much fun reading that, I can't wait to do it again". Sure, there are books that are funny, PVP, books that suspensefuly draw you in, Powers, but truly, geniunely FUN? Not that many spring to mind, the beginning of Ultimate Spider-Man or Invincible maybe, but even those came around eventually and dumped in the drama by the ton. I mean geez, this books even got secret decoder messages in it! On the back page there's a word scramble that you can put into a decoder on the DC Comics web page for a hint about the next issue.

But if you can't take my word for it(heh, lets see how many of you get that), go to the DC Downloads page for a special sneak preview of the first issue.

-Dan