The New Champion of Shazam! (2022) #1 by Josie Campbell


The New Champion of Shazam! (2022) #1
Title : The New Champion of Shazam! (2022) #1
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
Language : English
Format Type : Kindle Edition
Number of Pages : 30
Publication : Published August 2, 2022

Mary Broomfield has always struggled to determine who she is outside her family…kinda hard to do when you’re all superheroes! Now, after Billy Batson’s heroic sacrifice, the power of Shazam has vanished, and she’s been left powerless. Most heroes would be distraught, but not Mary. It’s finally time for a voyage of self-discovery as she prepares for her freshman year of college and a civilian life. But nothing is ever truly normal for this young hero, because she’s just been chosen as the new champion of Shazam! (At least according to a talking rabbit sent by her estranged brother Billy.) Will she embrace the power? Or will it die along with this world’s hope of survival against the mysterious magical forces waiting to take control? Find out in Mary’s first solo miniseries brought to you by up-and-coming comics writer Josie Campbell (Future State: Green Lantern) and fan-favorite Shazam artist Evan “Doc” Shaner (Strange Adventures, Convergence: Shazam!)!

The New Champion of Shazam! (2022) #1 Reviews

  • Brent

    Great restart for Mary Marvel, who deserves this tale of going off to college (Vassar!)
    Recommended.

  • Murphy C

    A very strong start! Who needs Captain Marvel??

  • James

    This was great! It's about time someone gave Mary some character development and this issue delivered. And you can never go wrong with Doc Shaner art, which really brings back a Silver Age feel to the story and that only adds to its charm.

  • Jennifer Baratta

    I'm angry for Mary!

    She got into one of the toughest college Vassar.
    So of course Billy Batson decides to take this away from her and force her to become Shazam.
    How selfish can you be Biily Batson?
    Artwork is outstanding and the writing is great.

  • Clay Bartel

    Just read issue 1 of 4 and found it to be really fun and exciting! And Hoppy the magic bunny was great. I hope Bianca and Cassidy are well featured so we get fun friendship stories as well as a focus on Mary's school life.

    Highly recommend this!

  • Burton Olivier

    Doc Shaner is so good, it's stupid.

  • Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews

    The Shazam family has always been a fun, slightly cheesy side of the DC universe, no matter how many writers try to make it more serious or dark. The best stories that involve Shazam seem to know that you've got to bring a little silliness to proceedings in order for it to really work well, with the only member of the expanded Shazam mythos able to really go gritty and dark being Black Adam.

    Josei Campbell seems to know this with The New Champion of Shazam!, which follows Mary Bromfield, Billy Batson's older sister, as she sets out to enter college life and make a path for herself. She's put being a hero behind her, and with Billy being in the Rock of Eternity, it seems like the powers of Shazam aren't really going to be a thing for a while.

    However, when Mary arrives at college her new roommate's rabbit, Hoppy, sneaks into her bag and starts giving her a message from Billy telling her that she will become the new champion of Shazam, it starts to unravel her carefully made plans. Especially as the entire hall sees her talking to a rabbit.

    Whilst Mary is dead set against becoming a hero again Hoppy gives her access to the powers of Shazam, though without it being split between her and her siblings Mary now has more power than she's ever had before. Mary helps Hoppy to foil a bank robbery, but refuses to do more. However, she soon receives some terrible news, her adoptive parents have gone missing.

    The New Champion of Shazam! is a book that's really lovely to read. The story is interesting and engaging, and gives Mary a lot of character, and it's filled with some delightfully funny and endearing moments. Hoppy in particular steals the show, and I hope he ends up not just sticking around, but gets to become a super powered rabbit like in the cheesy days of things like super-horse and all of the other powered pets.

    The main story, of Mary wanting to forge her own path, of becoming a new person, feels earned; especially with what DC has done with the character in recent years. She, just like the other members of the Shazam family, has grown up, and been through a lot, and her just wanting to put her days as a hero behind her so that she can be a normal person makes a lot of sense. She doesn't want to be the champion, and it seems like her coming to terms with that particular destiny and finding a balance between her personal life and her obligations as a hero is going to be a big part of the series going forward.

    The artwork on the book, provided by Evan Shaner, is really nice, and absolutely suits a Shazam book. It's bright and neat, and has a kind of simple feel that suits the Shazam characters, and seems to nod back to their somewhat simplistic and silly origins. Everything in the book looks great, and Mary has never looked better.

    This looks set to be a fairly short series, but hopefully it will lead on to bigger things, and this will be the first book of many that feature Mary as the new champion of Shazam.