Winick on TRIALS OF SHAZAM for Scripps New Service

In November, 2006, Scripps News Service released this interview with Judd Winick written by Terry Morrow, A little spice added to 'The Big Red Cheese'. In the interview, Winick makes several of the same claims that he made to Jen Contino.

Winick says:

"Come on! People call him The Big Red Cheese," ... "Even Aquaman doesn't have a disparaging nickname."

Here, again, Winick is making the claim that "The Big Red Cheese" is a "disparaging nickname." It's a classic example of the straw man argument. Winick proposes an untruth, in this case that the fans and non-fans of Captain Marvel think that "The Big Red Cheese" is a disparging nickname as one of the rationales for his overhaul of the Marvel Family.

Morrow writes:

Nevertheless, when Winick started writing for DC Comics years ago, his goal was to tackle one of the oldest franchises in comics -- Captain Marvel.

And now he's getting his chance with "The Trials of Shazam," a 12-part miniseries that sets out to redefine the character for a new generation of readers. "Trials" has been a hit for DC Comics so far.

At the time the article saw print, 3 issues of TRIALS OF SHAZAM had hit the comics shops and by looking at the sales figures for those issues, the title was already in decline. TRIALS OF SHAZAM had lost a little more than 15,000 copies in sales. Commentator Marc-Oliver Frisch was a bit rosy in his DC Month-To-Month Sales Chart column when he said "Trials of Shazam is performing decently so far," although he was referring to its performance in relation to the other BRAVE NEW WORLD spin-offs. That's a far cry however from saying the title was "a hit for DC Comics."

"There's an inherit geekiness to the character," Winick says.

And therein lies the problem. If the writer thinks the character is geeky, then what chance does the character have other than to be completely overhauled. It would be different, if Winick had said something like, "there are some eccentricities to the character, but I'm going to embrace those and show why they're cool." Alas, he didn't.

Morrow claims:

In fact, his [Captain Marvel's] phrase is so well known that many folks assume "Shazam" is also the name of the character. That's just one of the hurdles facing the character, though.

It's hard to disagree with this. Many non-readers do think that Captain Marvel's name is Shazam but it's hard to imagine that any regular reader of DC Comics thinks so. The point being that the title SHAZAM should be enough to draw the non-reader in and by the end of the issue, he should be clear on the difference between the character and the magic word. That is, if the writer is doing his job.

Morrow says:

While Superman and Batman evolved with the times during the 1960s and 1970s, Captain Marvel did not. In some ways, even today, he's still a throwback to the 1940s, thus the nickname "The Big Red Cheese" among comic-book fans.

You practically expect a "gee whiz!" to come from the character's mouth.

Of course Captain Marvel didn't evolve with the times, he wasn't being published for 20 years. But as I pointed out in my previous blog post, when Captain Marvel reappeared at DC they had the chance to evolve him for a modern audience. Instead, they chose to write and draw his stories as if he never left. Is that Captain Marvel's fault — or DC's?

Winick says:

"He's not going to be stopping bank robberies and stuff like that," he says.

Again with the bank robberies. You'd think that's all Captain Marvel ever did. That he became the most popular comic book character on the planet by foiling bank robbers. One would think that Winick keeps pushing this false line of reasoning to bolster his case for reinvention.

Morrow writes:

Instead, Captain Marvel will take over the role of mentor and the mantle of a wizard named Shazam. Taking over the name of "Captain Marvel" will be his sidekick for decades, the unfortunately named Captain Marvel Jr.

Sure, Morrow gets it wrong, Cap Jr was never Captain Marvel's sidekick. Rather Cap Jr headlined his own title for over 100 issues and anchored MASTER COMICS for almost as long. But to the heart of what Morrow has written — what's the point? If Captain Marvel Jr. were to take over the name of "Captain Marvel," which still remains to be seen, aren't we left we essentially the same status quo albeit with the new "Captain Marvel" boxed in his own "realm"? Given that it is fairly common knowledge that the new "Captain Marvel" will be given the name "Shazam" — it seems that this is really what the change is all about. To give non-readers, a hero with the name they associate him with. Will this drag all those non-readers into the comic shop. Will the Midtown Comics of New York, or the Graham Crackers Comics of Chicago, or the Mile High Comics of Denver see their doors beaten down because non-readers will be able to correctly say the characters' name. What utter hogwash!

Morrow continues:

His adventures will have Shazam and the new Captain Marvel tackling the tricky
world of magic-based threats.

and Winick responds:

"This gives him his own 'world,'" ... "I'd rather him have his own realm."

Yep, Winick rather put him in a box as if this is what has been holding Cap back. What DC failed to capitalize on and what Winick fails to see is that Captain Marvel held a unique place in the super-hero community. He was both boy and man and man and god. The young Billy Batson could relate to the escapades of the TEEN TITANS while the god-powered Captain Marvel could stand tall with the members of the JUSTICE SOCIETY or JUSTICE LEAGUE. DC had a character who could relate to both younger and older readers and although they had a few hits with Ordway's THE POWER OF SHAZAM! and Johns' JSA, they had more misses and ultimately failed in execution. Now, they've created a character in the adult Freddy Freeman who has lost that specialness.

TRIALS OF SHAZAM — Looking at Judd Winick's Interviews

Prior to BRAVE NEW WORLD and TRIALS OF SHAZAM, writer Judd Winick gave both written and audio interviews in an attempt to justify his reinterpretation of the Marvel Family cast of characters. In this and a few followup installments, I'll be reviewing and refuting many of his comments before reviewing his Shazam stories in BRAVE NEW WORLD and TRIALS OF SHAZAM.

From JUDD WINICK'S TRIALS OF SHAZAM - Jennifer M. Contino, interviewer (October 10, 2006):

He [Judd Winick] said when Dan DiDio came to DC, DiDio had a list of all the big name characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and teams like Teen Titans and the Outsiders that he felt should be topping the comic charts all the time. "Among the biggest characters Dan felt needed a good kick in the pants was Captain Marvel/Shazam," Winick said. "He was the one sitting there staring him in the face all the time. Captain Marvel is one of the most well-known characters in the world. He has been around forever, but, for some reason, since he returned in the 1970s, he's never exactly clicked with this modern audience. There could be all kinds of reasons: people see him as a rip off of Superman, his absence, his lack of evolution."

Yes, all of those things could be reasons that Captain Marvel never clicked, yet they're all highly unlikely the reason. If people see Captain Marvel as a rip-off of Superman, then that's the fault of the writer. Captain Marvel has a personality that is distinct from Superman. Characters, at the end of the day, are not simply their powers. Characters that resonate with fans are those with personality. It is the characterization that makes hero a fan-favorite. If fans see Captain Marvel as merely a Superman-clone, or the sum of his powers, that failure lies at the feet of DC's writers.

I've also heard it postulated that Captain Marvel's 20 year absence from publishing is one of the reasons he never regained his popularity. Obviously it's a hard statement to argue with as we'll never know how popular he'd be if he were on the stands during that time. But I want to put forward this argument: When Cap returned in the early 1970s, he was essentially a new character for many of the readers of the time. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that DC's readership consisted of readers in the 10-to-20 year-old range. That entire span of readers would have had no idea who Captain Marvel was (unless, of course, they had read hand-me-down issues from older brothers or sisters). To them, Captain Marvel was someone who was brand new, so his absence would have meant nothing to the readership-at-large.

Another argument is Cap's lack of evolution. What does this mean? Certainly when Captain Marvel returned, DC tried to ape the story-telling and art style of Fawcett years. But after a few years, DC did try to evolve Cap. They gave him a more contemporary look and feel — first with Alan Weiss and then with Don Newton. No longer was Cap depicted in the C.C. Beck-style of the Golden Age. Writer E. Nelson Bridwell also gave Cap adventures that were more in tune with the style of the other heroes DC was publishing. Writer Roy Thomas and artist Tom Mandrake also added their own take on Cap, by making him a darker character but that take didn't excite fandom. One could argue that the Giffen/DeMatteis take in JUSTICE LEAGUE devolved the character. But it's hard to say that DC hasn't tried to evolve him. They just never hit on the right combination. DC danced around what Captain Marvel's best traits were and then blamed his failure on the character himself.

Winick went on to say:

I thought there was a lot of silliness around Captain Marvel. I got into a lot of trouble with the hardcore fans at the beginning when I said 'The Big Red Cheese is dead!' I think my comment was misconstrued. I thought there would be a sigh of relief when I said that. I want Captain Marvel to be taken seriously, not become a serious comic book.

Where was all this silliness that surrounded Captain Marvel? One of the charming aspects of the character was his ability not to take himself so seriously (something that is lacking in the majority of super-heroes being published today, the BOOSTER GOLD title is a welcome exception). Yes, I think all fans of Captain Marvel want him to be taken seriously but it doesn't have to come at the expense of the character. Sure Cap's nickname, "The Big Red Cheese", might seem silly on the surface until it's clear that it was bestowed on him by his arch-enemy, Dr. Sivana. For fans, it's a term of affection — so to say "The Big Red Cheese" is dead is to essentially say that you're not interested in keeping the fans of the classic character.

But getting back to the silliness. Sure, Captain Marvel has an interesting array of villains and supporting characters — from the devilish Dr. Sivana to the malevolent Mr. Mind. From the everman Mr. Tawny to the lovable old fraud, Uncle Dudley. Let's even toss Hoppy the Marvel Bunny in good measure. If these characters are what makes Captain Marvel silly, then again it's the fault of the writers. DC has been successful at updating Dr. Sivana (which Winick, himself, had a hand in), Sabbac (Winick again), Mr. Mind (both Ordway and Johns), as well as Uncle Dudley (Ordway, again). All of these writers did away with what could be construed as "silliness." In the case of Hoppy, he appeared probably more times with Captain Marvel at DC than he ever did in his Fawcett days and even then since the CRISIS ON INFINTE EARTHS, only once. The point is this: if a writer feels that a character is silly simply don't write that character. Leave that character alone for another writer to interpret.

Winick said, "That's what we are trying to do, to make it more contemporary, to give him his own realm, so it's not like he's just someone walking in Superman's shoes. I think Dan DiDio said it best when he commented, 'when you have the power of gods, you should not be stopping bank robberies.'"

There are a few problems with Winick's response:

• Winick has fallen into the same trap that some of DC's readers have: that Captain Marvel is a second-class Superman. If DC's writers think that Cap is a second-class Superman, then they'll certainly write him that way.



• Winick also suggests that the solution to Cap's Superman-envy is "to give him his own realm." This is just a fancy way of saying that Cap would be better served by putting him in a box. While the stories might seem fresh at the beginning, the problem with putting a character in a box is that they languish there. The character ends up battling the same types of enemies over and over again until the stories become formulaic and boring. The best approach for a character is to avoid the box and allow that character the freedom of story expression.



• Winick quotes Dan DiDio by saying, in reference to Captain Marvel, 'when you have the power of gods, you should not be stopping bank robberies.' The obvious response to this remark is to ask the question, "then why write stories where Captain Marvel is stopping bank robberies?" The second, even more obvious question is, "why is DC writing stories where Superman is stopping bank robberies?" Is DC saying that it is Superman's realm to "stop bank robberies" and to differentiate Cap from Superman -- stopping bank robberies is something Cap must avoid? What makes Superman with his vast powers, gained from the exposure to Earth's yellow sun, different from the god-bestowed powers of Captain Marvel? This is the question DC's writers have failed to answer and it is why they are side-stepping it by suggesting that the World's Mightiest Mortal needs his own "realm."



• The other question that needs to be asked is where are all these bank robbery stories that DiDio speaks of and Winick agrees with? Certainly there must be a plethera of them since Jerry Ordway's revival of Captain Marvel. Did Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns overuse bank robbers in the various crossovers, team-ups, and in the JLA and JSA? What I've seen is a spectacular use of the World's Mightiest Mortal in Waid's UNDERWORD UNLEASHED #1-3, where one would hardly call Neron a bank robber. Could Joe Kelly's Frog Princess Heqt be called a common crook (as seen in ACTION COMICS #768)? What about Johns's use of Cap in JLA/JSA: VIRTUE AND VICE?

Does This look like a bank robber to you?
From ACTION COMICS #768
(August 2000, DC Comics)

The interview continued with this:

"Vertigo basically took all the cool stuff and did the best comics with unbelievably great stuff," Winick said. "They took all the cool characters tapped into magic from the DCU and what was left in the DCU were guys in robes with torches and dusty old books of incantations - it was antiquated. We are now in the realm of Joss Whedon and Mike Mignola's Hellboy. It's post-modern, self-aware and more fun. The guys don't wear robes. They wear trench coats. The monsters don't roar and talk in rhyme, they sound like regular people and are more frightening that way. A devil in a three-piece suit is a lot more frightening than a half naked guy with a pitchfork. With the DCU, we want Captain Marvel to exist in a world of magic where 'Shazam' is a title."

I can understand that Winick might wish to recapture some of the Vertigo magic for the DCU, which seems to be more important to him than reinterpreting Captain Marvel. But really, demons in three-piece suits — that's supposed to be scary and more fun? Frankly, I'd be pretty terrified if I encountered a half-naked guy with a pitchfork. So be it, but then add those demons to a Dr. Fate, Zatanna, or Shadowpact book or at the very least, use it sparingly in a Captain Marvel book. If post-modern demons are your thing, create a brand new title to be sure, but don't tack it onto Captain Marvel because you think he needs his own realm.

"I'm not trying to concentrate on making any of it darker or more adult. I just want him to be taken seriously. It doesn't mean it is serious. The name 'Big Red Cheese' is not a compliment. It means people view him as a joke, a poorly created and executed character. There's not respect in 'Big Red Cheese.' It's 'Superman light' or a silly cartoon character from the '40s and '50s, not a character with weight or gravity and meaning. I think it's unfair, because he's super cool on so many levels."

Up to now I've tried to cut Winick some slack but this has got to be the biggest line of hogwash ever. Winick is so caught up in Cap's nickname that he bends over backwards to try and turn it into an albatross around Cap's neck. While I agree that there are fans who consider Captain Marvel a Superman-clone — again, the only reason they might consider that way or even as a Superman-lite is if DC's writers write him that way. In no way, does the nickname, "The Big Red Cheese", denote a poorly created or executed character and to prospose that it does shows a lack of understanding of Captain Marvel. Winick is correct, however, when he says there's no respect in "Big Red Cheese" because as I mentiond earlier it was Dr. Sivana's derogatory nickname for him. But that doesn't mean that Cap is a "Superman-lite" or "silly cartoon character from the '40s and '50s" when fans use it affectionately. Yes, Captain Marvel is "super cool on so many levels" and I would have hoped that those levels could've been tapped into without drastically changing the character and by giving him his own "realm".

"We didn't want to do a revamp," Winick continued. "We felt it wasn't going to work that way, so we brought Captain Marvel back in a conventional way. If it was just about Billy Batson and Captain Marvel, we thought it wouldn't be enough to get the readers interested, and none of us had the heart to see Shazam fail again. So we wanted to do something radical to interest old readers in good and bad ways, and bring in new ones. We wanted to open the doors as the story of Shazam. We wanted the story and the characters to pop into 2006 with both feet."

If Winick thought that readers didn't want to read about Billy Batson and Captain Marvel, then he thought wrong. What is sad to read is that he wanted to interest old readers in good and bad ways. Why tick off the old readers? What it says is that he couldn't find the magic inherent in Captain Marvel and so had to create his own.

A few Marvels they won't be following are the Marvel Bunny, Mr. Tawny, The Hillbilly Marvels, the other Lieutenant Marvels and Kid Eternity. Although Mary Marvel does appear in the series, Winick said he's not sure if Isis or others will appear. "We touch upon the fact that there are no more Marvels - their powers are gone," Winick said. "It doesn't work now to have all those other Marvels. Only Captain Marvel has his powers now. If you read the first issue, you'll see we have subtly pointed out Captain Marvel's powers have changed, and, within the Rock of Eternity, he can control magic and do more than he ever did before -- things are changing. At the end of the issue, you'll see a change in Captain Marvel, but all will be explained in the second issue."

Again Winick doesn't get it. Hoppy was never part of Cap's adventures. Mr. Tawny's adventures were his with Cap as a guest star. There were no Hillbilly Marvels just the one who was a member of the Lieutenant Marvels (a group who never reappeared in the post-CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS DCU). Kid Eternity also was never directly connected back to the Marvels after the Crisis. So to throw all of these characters into the dirty water bucket and then throw them out the window is overkill at best. It suggests that Winick knows little about Cap's post-Crisis adventures.

Winick goes onto say that TRIALS OF SHAZAM will be about Freddy reclaiming the Shazam power and taking on the name of Shazam. That day will be a sad one for fans of the classic Captain Marvel looking for a contemporary retake.

It appears that Winick let the cart lead the horse in thse statements as the means to bolster his case for his reinvention of the Marvel Family. It's a shame really. Captain Marvel and his cast of characters have a rich lore that's been begging for mining by the right writer. It seems, unfortunately, that Mr. Winick wasn't the right one to be given the job.

Mauro Cascioli Does the Art on TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10

With issue #10 of TRIALS OF SHAZAM, Mauro Cascioli provides both the interior and cover art. The question is this... is he a permanent replacement for Howard Porter (as permanent as 2 remaining issues can be) or is he simply giving Porter some breathing room to finish up the last two issues of this long, drawn-out (pun intended) story?

Porter has been the shining star of TRIALS OF SHAZAM, an ill-conceived updating/continuation/adultification of the Marvel Family mythos. Judd Winick's story provides little excitement as Freddy Freeman tries to prove himself worthy of the title of Shazam. Winick's Freeman is bland. I can't imagine that even the fans who claim to enjoy this story can find Freddy very appealing. He is a one-dimensional character who, incredibly, is out-shone by the equally bland villainess of the tale.

Perhaps that is about to change as Cascioli's cover conveys a sense of real menace to Freddy's opposite number, Sabina. Cascioli's cover of Sabina has eschewed Porter's suburban Mean Girls persona of the character into one that looks genuinely frightening. And that's an unfortunate criticism of Porter's work as there wasn't anything truly scary in TRIALS OF SHAZAM up to this point (well, other than the trampling over of the Marvel Family cast of characters).

If Winick's intent was to Vertigo-ify the Marvel Family mythos with monsters and goblins, Porter's artwork seemed to work against that. It seems like Cascioli may bring that unease to the series.

That's not to say that I'm hoping for that. I would prefer nothing better than for TRIALS OF SHAZAM to fade away like a bad dream in the light of day. Because really, the Marvel Family were born to be bright, shining stars ... super-heroes ... not characters who could give John Constantine a run for his money.

The solicitation of TRIALS OF SHAZAM #11 will reveal if Howard Porter is coming back to the title. I don't know what caused the long delay between issues, perhaps he couldn't find inspiration in Winick's script or maybe he misjudged how long it would take him to complete each issue but if it is illness or personal problems, I certainly hope that Mr. Porter recovers.

TRIALS OF SHAZAM! #10 (OF 12)
Written by Judd Winick; Art and Cover by Mauro Cascioli

Sabina and Freddy race to find the hidden Mercury…as this test is about gaining his speed ability! And if Sabina finds him first, she'll be equal to Freddy in the ultimate Trials for Shazam's power!

DC Universe 32pg. Color $2.99 US

On Sale November 28, 2007

BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #1

*** CAUTION - MINOR SPOILERS ***
With one issue, writer Peter Tomasi and artists Doug Mahnke with Christian Alamy & Norm Rapmund have blown Judd Winick and Howard Porter's TRIALS OF SHAZAM clear out of the water. This first of a six issue mini-series has more story to it than the 7 issues of TRIALS OF SHAZAM combined.
Tomasi wastes no time getting us introduced to Teth-Adam — the mortal host of the villainous Black Adam who was left depowered by the end of 52 at the hands of Captain Marvel. Adam's a wanted man for the genocide he committed on the country of Bialya. His despiration and mental imbalance is evident from the very first page as he endures a brutal beating so that he can walk the streets of his adopted country, Kahndaq, unmolested. It's clear that Adam doesn't fear the reprisal of the country and citizens he embarassed and abandoned. He is a man with a mission and for that he must be unrecognizable.

Adam's mission is to retrieve the remains of his dead wife, Isis. It is a mission fraught with danger, intrique, death, and self-relience. Tomasi, a former DC Comics editor, has written a page-turner that contains very little lolly-gagging - the most notable being the scenes with the JSA on his trail.

Fortunately, DC paired Tomasi's story with an artist that could do it true justice. Doug Mahnke has a unique style that stands out from the rest of his peers. I've been a admirer of Mahnke's work since discovering it on Dark Horse's THE MASK with writer John Arcudi. Mahnke also paired with Arcudi on DC's MAJOR BUMMER — a wonderful little comic that was, unfortunately, short-lived. Here in Adam's tale, Mahnke takes us to the darkest corner's of a man's soul. Mahnke doesn't shy away from some of the grittier scenes provided by Tomasi: brutal beatings, gun-shot wounds to the head, and cannabalism. But Mahnke's beautiful last page more than makes up for the carnage that preceeded it.

The gore-level isn't for everyone but this is Black Adam at his baddest and teen-agers should eat it right up ... pun intended!

BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #1 is a perfect primer for how a comic book should be written. It draws you in with its compressed story-telling and marvelous artwork. It's a shame, however, that although DC understands Black Adam so well, after 7 issues of TRIALS OF SHAZAM still doesn't get the magic of Captain Marvel.

---

BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #1
Written by Peter J. Tomasi; Pencils by Doug Mahnke; Inks by Christian Alamy and Norm Rapmund; Cover by Mahnke; Variant cover by Alex Ross

Spinning out of the weekly series 52 comes an epic 8-issue mini-series that follows Black Adam, the new über-villain of the DCU!

With the power of the gods stripped from him, Teth-Adam is on a quest to find not only the magical word that will restore him as Black Adam, but also the one thing that always kept his heart from turning completely black with rage.

Black Adam is a man responsible for the deaths of thousands of Bialyan citizens and wide spread destruction across the globe. He is a man on the run from Earth's heroes, who want to see him brought to justice. Some want him tried before a world court, while others want retribution; to exact a pound of flesh for the lives he has snuffed out. And some simply want him dead as quickly and as quietly as possible.

DC Universe • 32pg. • Color • $2.99 US

On Sale August 8, 2007

TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10 - Missing in Action Part II

As you probably guessed, yesterday's solicitation for TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10 was a joke at the expense of artist Howard Porter. I don't know if the blame lies at his feet for the delays in getting TRIALS OF SHAZAM to market, but I hope he has a sense of humor and that there are no personal issues or illnesses that are holding him up. If so, I apologize right now! Howard's artwork is the bright spot in the otherwise banal and insulting morass that is TRIALS OF SHAZAM.

No matter what the cause, it still remains that TRIALS OF SHAZAM is notoriously late. Sure, it's not as late as ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, ULTIMATES, ULTIMATES 2, DAREDEVIL: FATHER or CAMELOT 3000 to name a few of the famous laggards, but it continues to be late by missing shipping dates and failing to show up in solicitations. By anyone's measure, it's unofficially a bi-monthly book. As it stands as of today, TRIALS OF SHAZAM #8 is scheduled for release Wednesday, August 8. TRIALS OF SHAZAM #9 is scheduled for release a mere three weeks later on Wednesday, August 29. If TRIALS OF SHAZAM #9 holds to the schedule then it will be at least two months before TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10 is released because as mentioned in my previous post that issue was neither solicited for the months of September or October 2007.

At this point, DC should hold the release of TRIALS OF SHAZAM #9 until at least mid-September to prevent an even longer lag between issues 9 and 10. These delays are, of course, a sshame for fans of the series because each new delay causes the title to lose momentum and traction in a fickle comic book marketplace. Regardless of what you think of TRIALS OF SHAZAM, it is the best selling title of the wave of titles that followed the wake of INFINITE CRISIS and washed ashore with BRAVE NEW WORLD. But it is slipping in sales, losing 4K of its readership with issues 5 and 6. If DC's goal with TRIALS OF SHAZAM was to bolster the popularity of Captain Marvel, it appears headed for failure especially if the readership decline continues over the next few issues.

TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10 - Missing in Action!

OK, I promised that this blog entry would be on INFINITE CRISIS but instead I want to talk about the long delays between issues of TRIALS OF SHAZAM. If you're a regular reader of TRIALS OF SHAZAM or even if you just wish the series would finish up and go quietly into the night, you've probably noticed the wait time is increasing between issues.

There have been various rumors concerning the delays from Judd Winick's slow delivery of scripts to having had all the scripts in the can months ago to Howard Porter's underestimating how long it would take to apply his new computer-enhanced style to his art.

On Monday, DC released its solicitation information for product it will publish in October 2007. For many fans of TRIALS OF SHAZAM, it was cause for concern as it was the second straight month without a solicitation for the book. It looked like TOS, as its known to fans, had stalled with issue #9.

But that's not the case. In what looks like a happy coincidence, it appears that the script for #10 calls for much of the issue to take place in the frigid no man's land of Antartica. Since most of the sequences are snow bound, there will be plenty of pages that are essentially blank with only Winick's script to fill the reader in on the action. Porter is hard at work on #11. Word is that #11 takes place mostly at night in a subterranean cave with Freddie trying to acquire the power of Zeus.

So fear not regular readers of TOS! Although TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10 won't ship until December, the Trials of a Shazam Reader brings you an exclusive look at the cover and solicitation text from the December 2007 DC Solicitations...

TRIALS OF SHAZAM #10
Written by Judd Winick; Art and Cover by Howard Porter

In the blinding wasteland of Antartica, Freddie must defeat Sabina and the angry inhabitants of the coldest level of hell ... or lose his bid to gain the speed of Mercury!

DC Universe • 32 pg. • B&W • $2.99 • US

On Sale December 26, 2007

The Purpose of this Blog

So what does this image have to do with Captain Marvel, or Shazam if you will? It's the thing that's prompted me to sit down and start writing about DC's perpetual failure in reviving Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family.

What you see is DC Comics' teaser image for FINAL CRISIS -- due to hit stores in May 2008. It's a striking image and it's made ever more so by its total lack of any Marvel Family character. Over the past year and a half, DC Comics has made a lot of noise of their plans to increase the popularity of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family and bring them back to promience in the DC Universe. From the looks of the teaser image, DC hasn't hit its goal. Surely no universe-crackling teaser image would be complete without DC's Holy Trinity: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman and I have no issue with Green Lantern and Flash being there either. But where is Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, or even the new Shazam, Freddy Freeman? Who knows? All that's important is that none of them are in that teaser image. It appears that Captain Marvel is not one of the "legends [who will] live forever," instead that would be Hawkman!

So, what's the problem, you might ask? Captain Marvel is a C-Lister at best, you could add. Anyone who knows even a tiny bit of Captain Marvel lore knows that the Big Red Cheese, as he's fondly called by his fans, was THE number one best-selling super-hero of the 1940s. Yes, that was a long time ago; so long ago that I hadn't even been born yet, but the fact remains that the World's Mightiest Mortal was the number-one superhero around the world.

So what happened? Captain Marvel's fame was cut short in 1953 by a decade long legal battle with National Periodical Publications (DC Comics' former corporate name) and a dwindling-audience for super-hero fare. In 1973, DC Comics revived its old rival superhero in a thirty-five issue long series titled SHAZAM! due to Marvel Comics swooping and snatching up the Captain Marvel name. While the title was ultimately cancelled, our hero took it on the chin and was awarded the clean-up spot in WORLD'S FINEST COMICS for a roughly 30 issue run when it went dollar-size.

And then he was off the newsstands only to make occasional guest-star spots before getting a quick shot at fame in both the LEGENDS mini-series and the four-issue SHAZAM!: THE NEW BEGINNING as well as an insulting six-issue stint as a member of JUSTICE LEAGUE. It wasn't until 1994 that Cap would get a shot again in Jerry Ordway's THE POWER OF SHAZAM! graphic novel and a series the following year. Ordway's THE POWER OF SHAZAM! monthly series ran 48 issues before succumbing to cancellation.

Captain Marvel's star started to rise again when David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns added Cap's old foe, Black Adam, to the membership of the JSA and ultimately Cap was awarded a role as well. With his popularity on the rise and his frequent appearances in the DC Universe there were rumblings that Cap might be in line for another series try. In fact, a mini-series by acclaimed writer/artist Jeff Smith was announced in 2003 but remained on the back burner until this year and just finished its four-issue run today.

During the long years between the Smith announcement and mini-series, Cap kept making appearances around the DC and talks of another series started to rise again. Captain Marvel appeared in a successful three-issue crossover in the Superman line of titles by Judd Winick and Ian Churchill and also co-starred his Superman in the well-received SUPERMAN/SHAZAM!: FIRST THUNDER four-issue mini-series by Winick and Josh Middleton. Again there were rumblings of on ongoing series to spin out of DC's hugely popular INFINITE CRISIS company-wide crossover book. But the excitement was short lived as the old wizard Shazam was destroyed along with the Rock of Eternity. Fortunately, the Rock of Eternity was put back together but the same couldn't be said for Shazam. Captain Marvel took Shazam's place on the Rock t act as its guardian and to prevent the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man and the Three Faces of Evil from escaping its prison.

Shortly thereafter a twelve issue mini-series was announced that would feature Captain Marvel. It would follow close on the heels of a special preview in the $1 80-Page Giant titled BRAVE NEW WORLD.

On August 31, 2007 DC Comics launched the twelve issue mini-series titled TRIALS OF SHAZAM - an attempt to modernize and popularize the Marvel Family cast of characters. The intent of this blog is to both criticize and review the series and the decision making that guided the launch as well as DC's recent handling of the Marvel Family as a whole. The next blog entry will focus on INFINITE CRISIS and its crossovers while subsequent entries will tackle BRAVE NEW WORLD and the TRIALS OF SHAZAM series itself. Along the way, assorted entries will also focus on the individual characters that make up the Marvel Family.

The criticism will focus on the missteps DC has made with the Marvel Family post-INFINITE CRISIS. Unfortunately, a lot of that criticism will fall on the shoulders of self-proclaimed Captain Marvel fan and TRIALS OF SHAZAM writer, Judd Winick and DC Comics' Senior-VP Executive Editor, Dan DiDio.

Perhaps the FINAL CRISIS of the teaser image will be a massive reboot of the DC Universe and wash away the aftertaste of TRIALS OF SHAZAM and that we get a renewed and invigorted Captain Marvel. I would like to hope that this blog will provide a small resource to any new writer taking on a SHAZAM project so that the mistakes of TRIALS OF SHAZAM can be prevented in a future series.