Trials of Shazam

[Ben Morgan]

When does the trade come out?

[BaronV]

It's out, I saw it at a Borders last week. Collected the first few issues up to the trail of Hercules or Achilles I think.

[Ben Morgan]

How many issues is it?

[twoarmman]

I think the series is 12 issues long and the first trade collecting the first 6 issues is whats out...

[TotalWorldDomination]

where did this series go? I keep looking for the next issue, but it never comes. Most dissapointing...

[Ben Morgan]

So the 12th issue was the last one out?

[Thnikkaman]

So the 12th issue was the last one out?

Actually, the last one was #7. The delays on this book are ridiculous.

[BaronV]

It was kinda funky that the trade was only half the series, I wish they just completed the series and released it complete.

[lovefist911]

Why do so many hate this book? The only thing I hate is the fact that Freddy Freeman is going to be called "Shazam", That is SO stupid, why not name him "Captain Marvel" and let him become the Captain Marvel we see in "Titans Tomorrow", blue suit, white cape.

These characters needed a change anyway, since DC doesn't care to use them the way they should be used. I dig "Marvel" and the white costume and "Black Mary" as she's being called too.

[BaronV]

I'm guessing that the reason why Freddy will be Shazam instead of named CM is that they may launch a new series and the legal trouble of having a title "Captain Marvel" would be erased. Plus I'm guessing that certain readers and viewers were always confused if the character was named Captain Marvel or Shazam anyways.

[lovefist911]

Then I feel those "certain" readers need to do some homework and not be so damn ignorant.

[G. Wayne]

Actually, the last one was #7. The delays on this book are ridiculous.

No kidding. And wasn't the newest issue advertised with a different artist too? I was thinking they were trying to tie ToS in with the Black Mary storyline in Countdown, but who knows.

[gideon]

It may be slow, but am still loving this series. It's brilliant, and #8 just set some new interesting roles for the Gods and Shazam

[lovefist911]

Yeah, no more Atlas, now it's going to be Apollo. HUGE change.

S ?
Hercules
Achilles
Z ?
Apollo
M ?

[gideon]

I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic :)

[Lex]

Why do so many hate this book?
Because it is systematically destroying everything good and decent about Captain Marvel and his supporting cast. I find it funny that Judd Winick says he likes the characters because he has thrown out everything that makes the characters great. And it makes me think this is change for change's sake. I mean, he's just changing elements that are perfectly fine.

Some of his ideas are interesting, but I would've prefered Winick explore them as an original concept and not drastically change iconic comics characters.

And I like that this is an attempt to spotlight Freddy, but did it have to crap on everything else to do it?

Thank God DC has put out Jeff Smith's Monster Society of Evil book and the upcoming Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! or else I would be so frustrated I'd boycott DC. I find I'm less angry about ToS now that I have alternatives.

[CYOTI]

Because it is systematically destroying everything good and decent about Captain Marvel and his supporting cast. Yes goddamn it, allowing the characters to grown and evolve is a no-no, everything must stay as they were like in the 50s.

[Rattlehead]

So Black Adam has gotten me interested in the Marvel family. I'm not a big fan of Winnick's though, and I can't really afford Jeff Smith's book. I was wondering if anybody would reccomend the old Power of Shazam book from the 90's.

[Joe Acro]

And it makes me think this is change for change's sake. I mean, he's just changing elements that are perfectly fine.
I think it's change because change is needed. There is supposed to be a New Age of Magic, no matter how little Zatanna seems to be affected.

[Joe Rice]

Yes goddamn it, allowing the characters to grown and evolve is a no-no, everything must stay as they were like in the 50s.

There's a difference between "evolution" and "chucking everything that works intrinsically about the character."

[gideon]

I'm not in a place to talk about the past of the characters, really never read them at all. But, since Identity Crisis and onwards, been reading DC and am really in love with the new age of magic storylines. Maybe they are chucking all of the past elements, but with one of the Marvels in a coma, and the other now Shazam, how much can it stay the same? Freddy has been through a lot, and is now different for it, and undergoing the Trials to become the new Captain Marvel, champion for magic.

I am loving the mini, and really hope it becomes a standard run after the Trials complete.

[itsyaboy]

I'm enjoying the series actually. Just wish it wouldn't be so late. Five more issues to go and nobody's turned out to be gay yet.....come on Winnick you're slippin' (I kid....I kid).

[lovefist911]

I'm really hating the fact that Freddy is going to be called "Shazam". Stupid. "Shazam" was the name of the wizard, why give a person's name to another person? Now a title like "Captain Marvel" or even Shazam's old super hero name of "The Champion" would be far better. Shazam as a name is just wrong.

And I also read from other posters some conflict in using the name "Captain Marvel". Why would there be conflict? As long as the name doesn't appear on the cover of any book because of the poo-sies at marvel comics, who cares? It's not the same as the "superboy" deal is it?

[CYOTI]

There's a difference between "evolution" and "chucking everything that works intrinsically about the character." And those things that work are still there despite your insinuations otherwise.

[Joe Rice]

And those things that work are still there despite your insinuations otherwise.

No, they're honestly not. Show it to any child I've taught and they'll see the difference. Read any interview about how "stupid" or "silly" Tawky Tawny is. It's not the same thing.

[Captain_Marvel]

And I also read from other posters some conflict in using the name "Captain Marvel". Why would there be conflict? As long as the name doesn't appear on the cover of any book because of the poo-sies at marvel comics, who cares? It's not the same as the "superboy" deal is it?

Because Marvel Comics has copyrighted the name. DC can still call their character by that name, but they can't title a series "Captain Marvel".

[CYOTI]

Read any interview about how "stupid" or "silly" Tawky Tawny is. Yes I forgot how the talking tiger was so imperative to the comic book that the book was called Captain Marvel not Mr. Tawky Tawny.

[lawman]

Yes goddamn it, allowing the characters to grown and evolve is a no-no, everything must stay as they were like in the 50s.
No: I like growth and evolution of characters. That's what we got in Jerry Ordway's Power of Shazam series in the '90s. This is something else entirely.

I've defended Winick at other times, on other books, but his writing has really slipped these last couple of years, and Trials seems like a new low. It's just bad. It's not "evolution" of characters when you arbitrarily turn them into something visually, thematically, and psychologically unrelated to what they were before: you might as well "evolve" a duck into a platypus.

I'd cut him a little slack if the new versions were at least entertaining, but they don't have even that going for them. The stories so far are painfully formulaic -- Freddy must "earn" his powers by seeking out one "god" after another (all "reimagined" in ways that are apparently meant to seem clever and contemporary, but don't, and which moreover bear no relation to anything we know about DCU gods from past exposure to same), and thus stumbling into one boring combat situation after another, all dictated by some arbitrarily contrived new "rules of magic" that Winick managed to have Billy "explain" without making a lick of sense of them, and which also don't relate to anything we've seen elsewhere in the DCU.

Oh, and throughout it all Freddy's being mischaracterized as completely as Mary is over in Countdown -- they're both being treated as if they have no experience handling great power, making tough moral decisions, or demonstrating an IQ in triple digits, despite plenty of past stories showing them doing such things with no problem.

I don't often drop a mini-series halfway through, but I did with this one. I couldn't in all good conscience keep it on my reading list.

[Joe Rice]

Yes I forgot how the talking tiger was so imperative to the comic book that the book was called Captain Marvel not Mr. Tawky Tawny.

Yes, it is apparent that you did.

[Kal-LReturns]

Now come on....if you don't think the way they handled Atlas was cool....you're obviously just grasping at straws for something to complain about. A great re-working of the concept of holding the weight of the world on your shoulders.

[vazel]

There's a difference between "evolution" and "chucking everything that works intrinsically about the character."Exactly. I can't see how any fan of the Golden Age Captain Marvel and the '90s Power of Shazam! series can like what they're doing to the Big Red Cheese and his ensemble in mainstream DCU continuity. I too dropped Trials of Shazam! halfway through.

[palaeomerus]

The new Shazam Quest fiasco is just another iteration in the usual "magic=diet Vertigo-lite for Dummies" crap that DC has been soaking in since 1988 or so.

It's just more valueless bulk detritus for whatever writers and editors suceeed those of this "era" to sweep up, explain away, erase, or paint over. Put it on the pile with Zero Hour or Emerald Twighlight or Millenium or any other big event that outlived it's novelty.

[LtMarvel]

What really upsets me about it is when I read the latest Justice Society of America hardcover collection. I've really enjoyed the JSA series and its current relaunch, and when they included some aspect of the Marvel Family, about 10 times more.

On the last page is the alternate cover that details an earlier JSA roster that was changed due to characters' lack of availability. In the bottom corner is Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel.

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGH!!!!

[carabas]

I really don't see the problem with anything that Winnick is doing.

The Marvel family as they were never really fit well into the DCU. And superhero who can't even have hos own name on the cover of his own book really should get a name change.

For those who loved the old characters there are projects like Paul Smith's book, plus an entire Earth 5.

A complete rethink is better than the patched together post-Crisis version.

[lawman]

A complete rethink is better than the patched together post-Crisis version.
A good rethink might be worth considering. If you don't see how Winick's take in Trials is considerably more "patched together" than the thoughtful approach Jerry Ordway took in Power of Shazam, though, I can't imagine what your criteria are.