Justice League #21

DC Comics regrettable reboot of Captain Marvel's origin concludes her with the new dickish and rather dim (seriously, where's the wisdom of Solomon when you need it?) Captain Marvel, I'm still not calling him Shazam, fighting it out with Black Adam and evil of the Seven Deadly Sins possessing a guy who was once mean to Billy (who, let's face it, this a-hole version of the beloved character who defined purity, grace, honesty, and wonder for more than 70 years probably deserved it).

The issue is only really memorable for the introduction of the Marvel Family. Wait, are we supposed to call the the Shazam Family now? Can anyone really say Mary Shazam or Shazam Jr. with a straight face? Anyway, Black Adam (being the dullard that he is) teaches Billy to share his powers and give them to his adopted foster family and Tawky Tawny (sadly transforming him into the Battle Cat Flashpoint version (the alternate reality so gritty it had to be destroyed... insert your own ironic joke here), not the classic awesomeness of a talking tiger in a well-tailored suit). Also, no Hoppy. Sigh.

Fans of the new direction of the character, devoid of all his original charm and magic or a character that no matter how dark or cynical the world got around him never lost sense of responsibility and his antiquated notion of right and wrong, might enjoy this one as there is plenty of action - even if the unnecessarily rushed ending is totally cribbed from old Captain Marvel adventures (and not all that well). At least Mary Shazam (God, that's a stupid name) gets to kick a little ass, although the panels we get are much more focused on characters preening about to jump into battle, not actually in action (or as I like to call it Jim Lee inspired-art). Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $3.99]