Shazam! #1 serves as a textbook example of how to launch a new series. Whatever surly meanness Billy Batson might have had in the New 52 has largely melted away. Johns' current take still retains a bit of the previous darkness in terms of the rough background for characters like Mary and Freddie, but he also shows an increased willingness to embrace the campy Golden Age roots of the franchise. If anything, Shazam #1 reads like a comic that could only exist in the relatively more lighthearted DC Rebirth era. Like so many New 52 projects, Shazam had an unnecessarily harder edge, one that really doesn't suit a character as goofy and all-age friendly as Billy Batson. As solid a foundation as those Shazam! backups laid, there was also something slightly off about the portrayal of Billy Batson and his supporting cast. It's probably just as well that the new series didn't debut sooner.
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