The Shazam movie comes out next month, and DC Comics has ramped up the main character’s presence in the DC Universe. Only he’s not really IN the DCU, he’s in one of seven magic lands, accompanied by his adopted siblings, who also share in the power of Shazam.

I don’t mind giving writer Geoff Johns credit for world-building, and creating these magical realms for Shazam to safeguard. But at only three issues in, I feel overwhelmed by a dearth of mythology that hasn’t existed before. I believe a better strategy would be to introduce us to the supporting players, fine-tune their relationships to one another over the course of several issues, and THEN tell us, “By the way, there’s a magical realm that needs exploring.

It’s akin to what happened with the Green Lantern film. They tried very hard to compress the entire GL lore into a two-hour film. I think they would have been wise to make it a straight super-hero story, and save the GL Corps for the sequel, thereby upping the stakes.

Since the original Captain Marvel was reinvented as Shazam, much has been made regarding the idea he’s a 15-year-old kid in an adult super-powered body. I appreciate the character dynamic, but we really haven’t seen much in the way of super-heroics. No crime fighting, very little in the way of mad scientists, and whatever happened to the guy who claimed to be Billy’s dad in issue #1? I think that’s too hot an iron to ignore for very long.

I’m eager to see what happens. VERY eager. As in, impatient. So, let’s move things along, sooner rather than later, please. I don’t really care about children eating ice cream and candy.

Rating:04/10