The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **ElijahSnowFan** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:58 pm

...but yeah, I have read Justice League #7, the first issue with the Curse of Shazam! backup,

I've tried so hard not to be negative. We're now seven months into the New 52, and I'm not dense. I realize these are different interpretations, different concepts. I get it.

I've tried really hard not to knee-jerk, not to be a roadblock or hater. I've waited for the story, and I realize it's just the first part. Again, I get it: Reset universe. New concepts and interpretations.

But...wow. I'm just...wow.

I posted spoilers in the thread title, but in my posts about books I read on the day of, I tend not to go too deep into the books so people can at least get a quick read of it before they start to comment.

But this one...I don't even know what to say. Somehow, in the months since it was announced that Captain Marvel was going to appear in Justice League, DC has managed to take everything I liked about Billy Batson and Captain Marvel and just make it seem...pointless. Stupid. Childish.

It's like they honestly have looked at the character and said, "Only an imbecile could like this character based on the initial premise."

I guess I'm an imbecile, then. Because I'm disappointed in what I read today. Bitterly disappointed.

by **nietoperz** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:01 pm

I'm going into this with an open mind, but I've always been of the opinion that DC should not have turned to Johns to revamp Shazam. For all his magic touch with characters like GL and Aquaman, Johns has made a pig's ear of the Shazam family every time he has approached the characters, and I'll not be surprised to hear he has done so again.

by **chap22** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:11 pm

I agree, ESF. That's really all I can say without working myself into a rage-frenzy

by **ElijahSnowFan** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:12 pm

If you liked, for instance, the DC Animated Superman/Shazam! from a few months back, truly believed that was the core character of Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, then it's safe to say that you will likely be unhappy with this first installment.

I'm not knee-jerking...maybe at the end of the arc, Billy will be different, be the character that people have enjoyed before. Hell, maybe in this day and age, the characters as portrayed in this first installment is what people see a modern interpretation as being.

And yes, I realize it is the first installment. I acknowledge that.

I acknowledge that, if others can acknowledge that a person who liked the character of Billy Batson the way he was could have gone another 100 years without seeing him written like any other kid would be...because that was the whole point: Billy Batson isn't like everybody else.

That's the whole point.

by **Zechs** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:17 pm

*chalks another notch in the DC rapes The Marvel Family Board*

by **Zechs** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:29 pm

Also I'm glad Lex Luthor now has a part in this new Shazam origin. Wait a minute.. that's not Luthor.. that's Sivana?! But he's so.. So.. TALL.

by **Gladiator X** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:33 pm

That's a bummer for you Capt. Marvel fans. I hate when that happens to characters I dig. (BENDIS!!!!!!)

That bein' said, I didn't buy it and it had nothing to do with the Shazam back up. I have only continued buying this because my daughter LOVES the Jim Lee art. I showed her a preview of the new issue and she said.."yuck" so I didn't get it for her. She's 9 btw.

by **fieldy snuts** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:01 pm

Can some one spoil what is so disappointing?

by **The Bass** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:11 pm

Billy Batson is a prick.

Actually, I kind of liked it. Better than the preceding 20 pages of dross. Gary Frank still draws people who all look totally manic though.

by **Zechs** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:13 pm

fieldy snuts wrote:Can some one spoil what is so disappointing?

SIVANA IS TALL!!!!

by **IvCNuB4** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:15 pm

Yeah, he was a prick. But is that who he is, or is he doing that intentionally to avoid being with some random foster family ? Maybe there's more to this than what was let on so far.

And just the fact that all the other mystical abductees didn't get chosen says that Billy isn't "like everybody else".

by **habitual** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:19 pm

It's ridiculous, it's like somebody wrote a treatise on how not to handle the character.

Hab

by **Cat-Scratch** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:21 pm

Just read the Shazam part.

Sweet artwork. As expected from Gary Frank.

Meanwhile...

DC Comics... seriously go fuck yourselves.

The name is Captain Marvel. Not Shazam. You did this with Freddy. Now Billy.

Fuck you.

You made Billy into a brat. You did that before, to some degree in Power Of Shazam. It didn't work.

Fuck you.

Pay the mouse the money and call the character by the character's real name. CAPTAIN MARVEL.

In an era where one of the biggest film and novel franchise was a generally whimsical tale of a kid learning magic while living with abusive foster parents... you fail to capture this.. the thing that was abundant in Captain Marvel for decades.

DC Comics... once again... seriously go fuck yourselves.

by **Cat-Scratch** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:22 pm

habitual wrote:It's ridiculous, it's like somebody wrote a treatise on how not to handle the character.

Hab

I love you man.

Never have you shown greater intelligence.

by **Cat-Scratch** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:24 pm

Zechs wrote:*chalks another notch in the DC rapes The Marvel Family Board*

Zechs wrote:Also I'm glad Lex Luthor now has a part in this new Shazam origin. Wait a minute.. that's not Luthor.. that's Sivana?! But he's so.. So.. TALL.

My master is intelligent and wise.