DC Comics reviews 11/6/19 – Justice League #35, Batman #82

The Infected: King Shazam #1

Like so many titles in a holding pattern with Doomsday Clock, The Infected King Shazam suffers somewhat from Geoff Johns’ overflowing plate of responsibilities.

Current events in Johns’ Shazam title don’t make him an ideal candidate to be a member of The Infected especially for a one-shot that focuses on Shazam’s home life.
In this one-shot. Billy dubs himself King Shazam and looks for powerful beings to battle from Atlas, Thor, Rao and more.

Mary Marvel realizes something is wrong, but doesn’t want the rest of the Marvel Family to provide any backup. It’s weird seeing King Shazam saying dope and posse as if they’re modern slang.

Writer Sina Grace basically has Shazam trolling gods who are now no match for him. When Mary arrives, Grace uses an exchange Joshua Williamson recently utilized in Batman/Superman when they fought Shazam.

Artist Joe Bennett provides his reliable style of storytelling with just the right amount of flash in the action sequences. There’s not a lot of substance to this story and is basically one slugfest after another, which Bennett can handle with ease.

The issue ends in more of an incomplete fashion than a cliffhanger as a vague follow the path of The Infected in Batman/Superman and the broader Year of the Villain storyline. Nothing occurs that feels essential or couldn’t be covered in the main story within a few panels.

King Shazam ultimately felt like a slapped together one-off with no strong incentive to pick up.

Rating: 5 out of 10