A boy becomes an army of Gods! No longer does Billy Batson have access to the powers of the Old Gods. Now, he commands the combined might of Highfather, Mantis and other New Gods. But these Gods are not passive. And they will sooner destroy Billy than give up control of their power.

Tied in to the “Darkseid War” story currently running in Justice League, Justice League: Darkseid War: Shazam shows us where Shazam was flying off to, and when the issue is over we’ll see where he’s going in Justice League #46.

The overall story has a lot to do with gods, and Shazam is an interesting character since his power comes directly from some. Writer Steve Orlando has some fun with that as things are shaken up for the character and done in a somewhat fun way. A lot of it feels like been there in a way as we are told where Shazam’s power now comes from, but what makes it fun is how Orlando works in what he does. Out of all the tie-ins, his is one of the tougher ones, and he does a good job making it work. The comic is basically an origin story with a battle mixed in. But, there’s a lot revealed in some cool ways.

I like the art by Scott Kolins which is very much in a “house style,” but is done in an exciting way with some solid action scenes and rather cool character design. It’s solid art, with some interesting panels that piqued my interest and got me to pause.

It’ll be interesting to see where this all goes, and how much will be explored down the road. Maybe we’ll see an ongoing Shazam comic with Orlando at the helm. After reading this, it’s something I could get behind.

Story: Steve Orlando Art: Scott Kolins
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review