Today’s Comic> Billy Batson #21

Captain Marvel is pretending Black Adam is whomever canceled this comic.

Billy Batson & The Magic of Shazam! #21

FINAL ISSUE

DC Comics (December 2010)

With his full powers restored, Black Adam becomes impossible to beat. He restored Mary Marvel’s child form, but finds even his new abilities do not work on Captain Marvel. With a new surge of confidence, Cap is able to tap new strength and gain some ground on Adam, but it takes the full power of the Wizard for the hero to finally take his opposite number down once and for all. Captain Marvel is invited to join the Justice League but decides to stay with the Marvel Family.

What they got right: It must be tough trying to tap all of their plans into a quick series end, but Art and Franco do it better than some other I’ve seen (Buck Rogers, I’m looking at you). The art is as good as usual.

What they got wrong: I liked seeing what I assume are the writers and artist Mike Norton waving goodbye to the Marvels, but I’m thinking that if he wasn’t one of the three that Mike Kunkel should have been in the group. After all, he was responsible for this series and only left because of outside situations. Having Cap join the league could lead into the Young Justice comic (this version adapting the upcoming cartoon), the only place we’ll be able to see him in the future.

Which of course leads to the complaint you’re expecting from me: WHY ARE THEY CANCELING THIS SERIES? Were sales really that poor? What did you do to promote it, DC? WHAT? I’ve constantly referred to this series as the most pure classic superhero comic on the shelves, and considering the Marvels’ treatment in the main line, this was the place for fans of the character to go. And now they don’t have that.

Recommendation: Maybe if there’s a last-minute run on this comic that forces it into second printing, DC will think twice about this absolutely wrong maneuver and restore this comic.

He's going to feel that for months.

Tomorrow’s Comic: The Incredibles #15