Shazam!

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Young orphan Billy Batson has bounced from foster home to foster home, but he's far from the ideal child. Brash and rude, Billy is a troubled teen that just can't seem to find a calling. But after a fateful night on a subway car, that all will change.

Brought to the feet of the magical wizard Shazam at the Rock of Eternity, Billy is imbued with powers beyond any mortal man. By shouting the wizard's name-Shazam!-the young teen is mystically transformed into the powerhouse known as Shazam! Now given abilities that make him Earth's Mightiest Mortal at the utterance of a simple phrase, will Billy make the right choices and do what it takes to become a hero? Or will he succumb to the poor choices of youth-and the villainous Black Adam!

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, the team behind the New York Times #1 best-selling graphic novel Batman- Earth One , unite to re-invent Captain Marvel as a part of DC Comics' The New 52. Collected here for the first time ever is the series of back-ups that ran in the pages of Johns' critically acclaimed Justice League .


CollectsJustice League #0, 21 and stories from Justice League#7-11, 14-16, 18-20.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Once a more whimsical, humor-centered version of Superman, Shazam gets a modern makeover from Johns, main architect of DC's revamped New 52 universe. No longer a smiling, can-do post-Depression era orphan, Billy Batson is now an angry, resentful snot-nosed punk who cons his way into a kindly foster family's care, where he proceeds to alienate his welcoming (and racially diverse) foster siblings. But when an ancient wizard passes on a legacy of power to him, just as an ancient evil from the wizard's past reemerges, Billy needs to embrace not only the good in himself but also the power of family. Johns, always at his sharpest when reimagining and streamlining an origin tale, darkens and deepens some of the character's hokiest elements and does so without tying them to an involved, new-reader-repelling backstory, creating a more palatable treat for longtime readers and superhero novices alike. Frank, among mainstream comics' finest craftsmen, provides standout art that grounds the action in reality and gives it dramatic weight with solid, beautifully expressive character work and gritty, exciting battle choreography.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist