Shazam! #2 Review

Fun Is Fun

Written By: Geoff Johns

Art By: Marco Santucci, Mike Atiyeh, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 23, 2019

Alright, after a bit of a delay we can finally get back to having some fun with our Shazam! Family and last we left our group of kids, they were exploring the Rock of Eternity, where Eugene had discovered a train to different lands of magic.  Hopefully the kids don't get into too much trouble because back at home, Billy Batson's biological father came to the Vasquez' home looking for his orphaned son and I don't know if our kids will be able to explain why they were out of the house........ or hell, how will the Vasquez' explain how and why all their foster kids up and disappeared.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

When we crack this issue open we see our Shazam! Family discussing where they're going to go since they have six lands to choose from........ or five because one of the worlds is boarded up.  Yeah, let's hope that land stays closed.  Nothing good can come from something called "The Monsterlands".  Anyway, our kids are going to go exploring because that's what kids do and thankfully, for their first jaunt, they decided that "The Funlands" were the place to be.  Too bad that it immediately reminds you of Pleasure Island in Pinocchio and we all know that everyone who goes there are jackasses.  

While I am disappointed that we don't actually get our kids all powered up in this issue, that certainly doesn't take away from any of the intrigue because Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind seem to working their way to creating the Monster Society of Evil and even though that seems like it will be far off, since we still have a bunch of magic lands to discover, I liked that we are getting are villains thrown right out in the open right away and the idea gets me really excited.  The only real problem I have with this bit though is that even with us getting a full page spread of who Mr. Mind is, I don't know if new readers who didn't read the Shazam backups in the New 52 Justice League will understand who Dr. Sivana is since this is a direct continuation of that. 

All in all, I'm still really excited about this title and even though I was initially disappointed that Dale Eaglesham wasn't doing the art this issue, Marco Santucci does an amazing job here and quickly made me hope that he's one of the permanent artists on this title as well.  Yeah, Geoff Johns may be biting off more than he can chew with our Shazam! Family in the Magic Lands, Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind creating the Monster Society of Evil, while also having Billy Batson's father show up, but right now I'm staying optimistic that it will all work out in the end.  I'm just hoping that we don't have to spread too many stories per issue too thin to get to them all because with the appearance of a new and mysterious character by the end of this issue........ We have a lot going on in a small amount of time.

Bits and Pieces:

While we have more characters than we can shake a stick at in this issue, there's a pretty decent balance to everything that's going on in this book, but I'm worried that things could get out of hand fast.  I'm still having a fun time with this series and love what Marco Santucci brought to the table with his art this issue and hope to see him put life in these heroes again.

8/10