Written by: Josie Campbell
Art by: Emanuela Lupacchino, Mike Norton
Colors by: Trish Mulvihill
Letters by: Troy Peteri
Cover art by: Dan Mora
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: April 2, 2024
Shazam! #10 catches up with the Shazamily moving into their rebuilt house, but they discover asking Zeus to do contractor work comes with a costly upgrade.
Is Shazam! #10 Good?
Shazam! #10 is weird, and not in a good way. Josie Campbell takes over the title from Mark Waid as writer, and while the story is certainly wacky in the same Silver Age way as Waid's run, things happen that don't make sense, and the issue as a whole is completely devoid of Waid's charm and wit.
When last we left the Shazamily, Billy Batson convinced Zeus to work on his public image and enhance his chances at regaining the power of worship by rebuilding the house destroyed during the Captain's fight with Black Adam. Zeus complied, but it was clear Zeus added a few secret extras.
Now, Zeus's unrequested upgrades become clear. Zeus used the magic from the Rock of Eternity to create a pocket dimension attached to the Shazamily house, accessed through a hallway door. Stepping through leads to a Grecian paradise where Zeus's creative powers are free to do as he sees fit. If that wasn't bad enough, Zeus let slip his plans to the rest of the gods, who decided to repeat Zeus's plan by creating pocket dimensions in nearly every room of the house.
If that still wasn't bad enough, the preponderance of pocket dimensions overlapping in a single space somehow opened the door for world-eating snakes to enter our dimension and begin attacking the family. Only Freddy, who happened to be outside chatting up the new, pretty neighbor, was safe. When Freddy gets a call from one of Zeus's nymphs to open the outside door, he rams through the locked front door with his newly bought van to save the family and the day.
Oy!
What's great about Shazam! #10? If you're a fan of Silver Age wackiness, there's plenty of it in this issue. Plus, Campbell wastes no time paying off the tease Waid planted in the previous issue about Zeus's changes to the family's house.
What's not so great about Shazam! #10? All-out wackiness without heart, charm, wit, or style is just chaotic messiness. Plot points come out of nowhere, the action feels loud instead of purposeful, and by the end, you think less of almost everyone in this story. And then there's the art...
How's the Art? Lupacchino and Norton deliver a perfectly serviceable set of visuals as long as you're not paying attention or looking closely. There are panels where two characters are conversing but looking in opposite directions. There's a panel where Freddy gestures toward his new vehicle with pride while looking over his shoulder to see his family's reaction, and his head is turned almost completely backward. It's as if Lupacchino and Norton don't know where the readers or characters should be looking or how sight lines work.
Again, if you gloss past the art quickly, it's not a big deal. Once you stop to consider the art, the compositions are clearly off.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Shazam! #10 continues the Silver Age take on the Captain with a brand new creative team. Unfortunately, the title suffers from the change on almost every level. This isn't the worst comic I've ever read, but the drop in quality, in writing and art, is hard not to notice.
Is Shazam! #10 Good?
Shazam! #10 is weird, and not in a good way. Josie Campbell takes over the title from Mark Waid as writer, and while the story is certainly wacky in the same Silver Age way as Waid's run, things happen that don't make sense, and the issue as a whole is completely devoid of Waid's charm and wit.
When last we left the Shazamily, Billy Batson convinced Zeus to work on his public image and enhance his chances at regaining the power of worship by rebuilding the house destroyed during the Captain's fight with Black Adam. Zeus complied, but it was clear Zeus added a few secret extras.
Now, Zeus's unrequested upgrades become clear. Zeus used the magic from the Rock of Eternity to create a pocket dimension attached to the Shazamily house, accessed through a hallway door. Stepping through leads to a Grecian paradise where Zeus's creative powers are free to do as he sees fit. If that wasn't bad enough, Zeus let slip his plans to the rest of the gods, who decided to repeat Zeus's plan by creating pocket dimensions in nearly every room of the house.
If that still wasn't bad enough, the preponderance of pocket dimensions overlapping in a single space somehow opened the door for world-eating snakes to enter our dimension and begin attacking the family. Only Freddy, who happened to be outside chatting up the new, pretty neighbor, was safe. When Freddy gets a call from one of Zeus's nymphs to open the outside door, he rams through the locked front door with his newly bought van to save the family and the day.
Oy!
What's great about Shazam! #10? If you're a fan of Silver Age wackiness, there's plenty of it in this issue. Plus, Campbell wastes no time paying off the tease Waid planted in the previous issue about Zeus's changes to the family's house.
What's not so great about Shazam! #10? All-out wackiness without heart, charm, wit, or style is just chaotic messiness. Plot points come out of nowhere, the action feels loud instead of purposeful, and by the end, you think less of almost everyone in this story. And then there's the art...
How's the Art? Lupacchino and Norton deliver a perfectly serviceable set of visuals as long as you're not paying attention or looking closely. There are panels where two characters are conversing but looking in opposite directions. There's a panel where Freddy gestures toward his new vehicle with pride while looking over his shoulder to see his family's reaction, and his head is turned almost completely backward. It's as if Lupacchino and Norton don't know where the readers or characters should be looking or how sight lines work.
Again, if you gloss past the art quickly, it's not a big deal. Once you stop to consider the art, the compositions are clearly off.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Shazam! #10 continues the Silver Age take on the Captain with a brand new creative team. Unfortunately, the title suffers from the change on almost every level. This isn't the worst comic I've ever read, but the drop in quality, in writing and art, is hard not to notice.
5.5/10
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