After months of hype and speculation, the debut of DC’s “New 52” version of Captain Marvel, excuse me, Shazam has finally been unveiled. Via the New York Post, we got our first glimpse this morning. Honestly, it’s not that bad, apart from the cape, the belt, and the attitude behind it. I’ll elaborate on what I mean in a second, first let’s take a look at the outfit itself.
"Captain Marvel: #1 in the hood, G."
At first glance, there isn’t anything incredibly different, silly looking hood aside. The gauntlets look a bit more mystical, and the belt is metal rather than a sash. He’s definitely still recognizable as Cap–Shazam, which is a definite plus. On the negative side, much of what has been changed are the design elements that set “Captain Marvel” apart from other heroes, namely the military-type styling of his original outfit…
The original ashcan appearance of Captain Marvel
I love this costume. Not only is it clean and simple, the squared shoulders, front flap, sash, and to the side cape give a very “regal” feeling. This is a character that exudes power with presence, not a bunch of willy nilly lightning leaking out of his body. As I said before though, I am mostly OK with the new duds, and still want to give the new take on my favorite character a chance. Then I read the DC Source Blog today, mainly the comments from editor Brian Cunningham:
“You’ll notice that SHAZAM! looks different from many of the other heroes we’ve seen in DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. That was definitely intentional. His powers come from a different place, and we wanted to see that reflected in the design. We’ve removed the “circus strongman” elements from his costume. Rather than a traditional cape, he wears a cloak with a hood; there’s more of a mystical, magical, fantasy feel to that.”
I’m half tempted to go into an even longer rant about how people just don’t “get” Captain Marvel, but here I’ll just say that as shown above, his cape wasn’t traditional to begin with, and if you want to get away with “circus strongman” elements, you always had the military stuff to fall back on. Oh well. I get it now, this isn’t the character I grew up with, and that’s OK too. And I’m still going to read it, because if nothing else, writer Geoff Johns makes it sound compelling.
“With SHAZAM! Gary and I will be focusing on the magic hero instead of the super hero. For centuries, science has ruled the world, but now magic is returning. We’re telling the story of the hero’s young alter ego, Billy Batson, a foster kid at a crossroads in his life. The question is, how does the emotional journey of this troubled teenager collide with the fate of the world? The Rock of Eternity and the legacy of SHAZAM! will be explored in a different way as the extent of Billy’s connection to the magic world around him is greater than ever before. The story will have a profound impact on Justice League later in the year and you’ll see new characters, locations and creatures along with the classics from the SHAZAM! universe. Billy’s friends and enemies will be along for the ride.”
So yes, while (some of) the names and locales will be the same, this is going to be a decidedly different version of my favorite hero. It’s cool. I wish DC , Johns, and Frank all of the best. They have a story in mind, and time will tell if this is the take that finally relaunches the Shazam franchise back into the mainstream. And for those of you who are focusing on the hood, there’s a precedent for that, too.
