This issue the newly christened Captain fights not one, but two powerhouses. There is, of course, Black Adam, right there on Dan Mora’s dramatic covers, while in the opening sequence there’s a surprise new character.
While Cap uses his newly boosted wisdom of Solomon to deal with Bizarro Marvel, over Kahndaq Black Adam encounters the space dinosaurs who want to hold Cap to account.
And back in the States, after Cap has dealt with Bizarro and the Silver Age baddie who brought him to Fawcett City, Billy’s foster parents have some big news.
How did they afford it?
Er… hurrah?
This is my favourite issue so far of what’s been a super-fun series. It has two great battles for Cap, one of which foregrounds brains, the other endurance. The subplot involving the new home intrigues me, I’m always pleased to see the space dinosaurs and Cap is finally firing on all cylinders after being held back by his patron gods in the first storyline. I love writer Mark Waid’s consistency – he has Cap try to move the Black Adam fight away from a populated area, just as Superman did in World’s Finest #21.
I also love the humour, whether it’s spoken or in something as subtle as the space dinosaur away team’s outfits.
Waid is one of the few writers who can keep Bizarro logic and speech patterns straight, and he makes the usually obnoxious Black Adam work for this whimsical book by leaning into his pomposity.
And the art is just fantastic. Who is illustrator Goran Sudžuka. Who the heck is colourist Ive Svorcina? Probably guys who’ve been around awhile working on comics I’ve never read. Anyway, here they are and I love the dynamism of the linework, the take on Cap, the power of the villains, the cuteness of the dinosaurs. Honestly, Bizarro Cap is is such an adorable sad sack.
I love the way the colours work together to make me want to jump onto the pages. I don’t know if Sudžuka and Svorcina have any more DC work lined up, but whatever they work on, I’m reading.
The always excellent Troy Peteri provides a pleasing variety of fonts and boxy backgrounds which look good against the art.
This issue ends on a cliffhanger I saw coming, but that’s because Waid is playing fair, and I like that. I also like that a continued story likely means we’ll likely get our guest artists back next time. Fingers crossed!
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Better issue than last month’s, but I don’t see the series continuing much longer. Waid has decided to inject needless internal conflict for Billy, and it’s not sustainable. This series started with a great verve, however, last issue showed a lack of understanding of the gods and heroes that power Billy and why they would do so.
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I thought this month’s pretty much got rid of the infernal internal conflict.
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It traded one for another. No Billy will slowly lose himself in order to possess the full wisdom of Solomon. Why????It’s make you question whether or not Billy should be the Wizard’s champion.
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I’m a bit more optimistic!
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I really enjoyed this issue, as well. Waid is doing a great job bringing back more classic elements and making them work.
Matthew Lloyd
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That he is! Now bring back Billy’s secretary with a suitably Marvel name, Joan Jameson.
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So nice to see Captain Marvel no longer being a skin suit for Billy. I believe it was mostly the Big Red Cheese’s inferior copycats who introduced the adult form retaining the child’s self so to me, it was a regression when Thomas or Ordway or whatever deluded writer decided to make it DC’s status quo too. Think Billy and Courtney can hook up again? Jay wouldn’t have to worry about the Captain showing impropriety now so Billy would be a safe choice for Courtney.
And that cliffhanger just made me sad. Think it’ll get Billy kicked out and that used to pare down the supporting cast?
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I don’t think Billy’s family will ever kick him out. They love him. I think this will wind up being a problem for Captain Marvel to solve, but he’ll do it (perhaps with some help from his fam).
This book is pitch-perfect. I couldn’t imagine a better Shazam book that both fits the whimsy of the original, but exists in this modern age. I love it.
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I can’t see Billy getting thrown out, good foster parents tend to find a workaround for tough situations.
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I can’t believe I liked a comic book story with Black Adam in it!
-Siskoid
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Whatever next? Me enjoying a Venom story? Mind, I’d have to read one.
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