Apparently, I'd lumped that in with many of DC's other wanton acts of brutality against its characters, so many of which were perpetuated by Johns. Marvin's death and Wendy being crippled by Wonderdog took place in Teen Titans #64 by Sean McKeever as it turns out.
Johns is one of those fans turned pro who thinks that his bad fan ideas are "cool" and therefore he interjects them into the comics that he writes for DC and Marvel instead of leaving them at the door.
Sometimes. But I've enjoyed a lot of what he's written. And I admit I haven't read his entire output. I've heard that his AQUAMAN run is stellar, but I haven't read it.
Someone knows what they are doing!!!
Hearing good things from those who have seen it already.
I saw it last night and thought it was OK-to-good. I had the same observations as Kevin about the powers, tone, and Sivana. The audience seemed to enjoy the film and had a much bigger reaction to the scene before the credits than the one mid-credits.
Having previously read the new Shazam #1 helped me understand some of the changes since the Jerry Ordway graphic novel in the 90s. After reading the new #1 again this morning, the comic reads as a continuation of the movie. So your reaction to the trailers and the current series should tell you if you will like the movie.
This one is high on the list of 2019 releases that my two youngest want to see. And as someone whose earliest TV memory is of watching the '70s "Shazam!" Saturday morning TV show on a dinky black & white television, sometime around 1975, I'm very much looking forward to (finally!) seeing a big-screen version of one of my favorite childhood superheroes.
There will be nitpicks, I'm sure, but I have a good feeling I'll be grinning ear-to-ear.
This is a fun superhero movie. I expect it to do well with general audiences. It's a complete 180 from the grimdark MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN VS SUPERMAN. It's funny and celebratory of the superhero genre. It very much reminded me of 80s kids' adventure movies, in a good way. BIG being the obvious one, but also shades of GOONIES, GHOSTBUSTERS, and GREMLINS. DC has finally figured out the right tone to set for their superhero movies.
Your mileage may vary, depending on how much you liked Geoff Johns' new 52 reboot of "Shazam". It's pretty much a direct adaptation of his new 52 origin, with Sivana serving in a combined role of both his and Black Adam's roles in that story. Billy is less of a punk than he was in the comics, but still troubled. Like in the comic, he acts like a teenaged idiot once he gets his powers, to the point where you wonder why the Wizard chose him in the first place. In the comics, Billy convinces the Wizard that the kind of worthy person he's searching for doesn't exist and the Wizard decides to choose Billy based on his potential. They try to go for something similar in the movie, but it's not communicated well. They do come up with a reason why Billy was chosen, which is kind of perfect for an 80's family movie, but kind of "eh" if you are a fan of the character.
More spoilerly comments once the movie goes into wide release.
to bring along some "fun" into the origin.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing it now.
But a kid trapped in adult body does seem to bring along some "fun" into the origin.
Just ignores the original intent.
A kid in adult body also seems to cast aside the "Wisdom of Solomon". A teenager doing typical teenager things doesn't come across as very wise. Solomon is the first letter in SHAZAM!
But, really, how "wise" WAS Solomon?
Just bought my ticket and am heading out to see it!
Saw it last night. It was definitely a kid's movie so I was not the target audience. If you have 10-15 year old kids, they might love it.
This was one where the first trailer I saw ended up being pretty much how I felt about the actual movie after seeing it: I really enjoyed it and my (12yo) son loved it.
Some good action, characters you want to root for, subtle and not so subtle pop culture references here or there (Philadelphia and Santa Claus aren't really made for each other and a nice "Big" reference) as well as a lot of laughs.
I don't mind the general approach. If they're going to differentiate SHAZAM! from the 100+ superhero films of the last 30-odd years (let alone most of the previously dour DC entries), this looks like the way to do it.
Might try to make a showing this Saturday or Sunday... my two youngest have been eager to see this one since the first trailer.
Saw it. I had fun!
I've not seen this yet, but I plan to. Good heavens, if it's a DC movie that's fun, that's probably a first over the past couple decades. I'll surely give it a a shot.
N.B. - Might it be time to add "SPOILERS" to the subject of this forum?
I had a lot of fun watching it and so did the kids.
Really loved the ending when Billy turns his foster siblings into the Marvel family to fight the Seven Deadly Sins. Definitely looking forward to a sequel.
I had a blast! The real Captain Marvel movie is by far better than the other one.
I will never forgive this movie for not getting me a Jerry Ordway Power of Shazam Omnibus. How dare it.
I saw it yesterday...it was good (I haven't seen AQUAMAN, so I can't compare it to that), but of the DCEU movies I've seen, it's the one I've enjoyed the most.
Does that sound like damning with faint praise?
Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, FYI) train or the Philly PD uniforms or squad cars.
5 months old. He is now a teenager and we are in the process of searching for the woman who completed our family, because our son needs to know his heritage. We know that it won't diminish his love for us or ours for him.
On the whole, I think I liked Marvel's CAPTAIN MARVEL better than this, your mileage may vary.
Not great but fun. Fun is a good thing in the DC universe. Sad no mention of Captain Marvel by name or the Marvel Family characters but oh well. I was rooting for this more than Marvel's Captain Marvel movie. Revisiting how DC (National) treated Fawcett and the characters made me feel a bit melancholy. I agree with the idea that it would have been fun to see Billy become Captain Marvel more than feel trapped inside an adult's body but us old timers need to recall that Big is probably something a large part of the movie going audience never saw or heard of, so the appeal of the kid trapped in the adult's body was probably an easy lay up for DC, also knowing only the older comic fans even know of the character in the first place. Points for making a "Marvel movie" more fun than recent Marvel movies too.
I saw it and liked it. It wasn't great, but there was a lot of fun and charm in it.I'm glad they didn't make Black Adam the villain in this one. That would have seen too Marvel-like by having the hero in their origin story go up against their evil counterpart.
Heck, the movie even opens with a fake-out of sorts, where it appears to those knowledgeable of Captain Marvel's comic book origin that the boy first show in the car with his family will be Billy Batson. It reminded me of a similar fake-out in 1989's BATMAN, with the family of tourists that were mugged echoing what happened to Bruce Wayne and his parents.
I did enjoy it overall, but I was left wondering how Black Adam can be done when Sivana's new origin is that he was chosen as a possible recipient of the wizard's powers.