The Future Of Kahndaq
The power of Shazam is alive and well in our new series for our favorite fallen champion, Black Adam. Now going into this issue I want you to take everything you know about Black Adam and kind of throw it away..... or combine the Pre-Flashpoint Black Adam with his more contemporary version.... or just go with the story that we have here because ultimately it looks like we're going to have a Black Adam in this twelve-issue limited series that's just Priest's interpretation and I guess if we're going to read this book, we're going to have to go with it. Let's check it out.
For the beginning of our limited series we see that Priest is presenting us with a political thriller that's full of assassination and democratic reform when it comes to Kahndaq..... and in that, we'll get Black Adam doing some Black Adam things..... at least for a minute. It's odd though because while our cliffhanger wants us to know that the action portion of this issue, which is the only real Black Adam portion of the book that we get is important, it feels so weird and out of place where Black Adam is dying after a confrontation in space with a fake Darkseid. It's such an out-there premise, especially for what the rest of this book is doing, but it's not weirder than Black Adam transforming himself out of his champion body into a mortal human to be the Lord of Kahndaq..... I mean, I have no idea why he would ever do that and it's not ever brought up in this book.
Now, while a lot of people who aren't familiar with Black Adam and picking this book up because of his recent inclusion in the Justice League or because of his upcoming movie might not have a problem with this depiction, what they might have a problem with, I know I did, is the other important character in this issue, Malik White, who will be very integral to the Black Adam mythos going forward... at least in this series, but the problem is...... he's a walking pop culture dispenser. Nobody can say anything to him without him responding with some pop culture reference and he becomes to me at least, almost as annoying as Ambush Bug and I hope that the character mellows out as this progresses because I found him almost unbearable in this issue.
All in all, I enjoyed the art in this issue, but wish we got to see Black Adam in his human form a bit better. As for the story, even though we're only at the first issue, the story feels all over the place with what it wants to do and how it wants to get there and I truly hope that we do more stuff with the fake Darkseid, why Black Adam was fighting him in space and what Desaad's ultimate goal with this phony actually is and how it is leading to the death of Black Adam...... Yeah, there's a lot of stuff right there that I'm interested in seeing, but the walking pop culture dispenser isn't one of them and a political thriller isn't as interesting to me as other aspects of this book. So yeah, we have a complete mixed bag here but I remain hopeful that this story will be something to remember but as of right now I just want to get to the rest of the story to do that because this first issue left me wanting more.
Make sure to listen to our Weekly DC Comics Recap and Review Podcast to hear us talk more about this book. Just look up "Weird Science DC Comics" anywhere you listen to podcasts or click here for podcast links and more: https://campsite.bio/weirdsciencecomics
Bits and Pieces:
Look, I love Black Adam, love all the Captain Marvel/Shazam Family mythos but I have to say that this first issue really threw me off with what I'm supposed to know about this Black Adam since he feels so far removed from any Adam that I feel I've ever seen. On top of that, the big point of the story seems to be the heir to Black Adam, and I find his heir to be insufferable at the moment so hopefully that changes since I enjoyed the art in this book and love the character overall.
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