DCU Comic Book Reviews

THE TRIALS OF SHAZAM! #3

Cover Me

December 2006

Written by Judd Winick

Pencils by Howard Porter

Inks by Howard Porter

Cover by Howard Porter

Synopsis

Freddy Freeman (formerly Captain Marvel Jr.) and his guide Zareb that will lead him through a series of trials are being attacked by a giant monster.  Despite not having the power of Shazam, Freddy is able to destroy the creature.  After the battle, Freddy realizes he has gained a slight portion of the power of Shazam:  he no longer needs his cane to walk.  Elsewhere, members of the Council of Merlin are surprised Freddy defeated the creature.  But they have other plans to making Freddy fail the trials so that the power will become theirs.  In Greenwich Village, Zareb leads Freddy to a tattoo parlor so that Freddy can get some protection from magic.  As he gets the tattoo, Freddy recalls how he became Captain Marvel, Jr.  Although he is angry at Captain Marvel for what happened, he realizes that he was given the power to do good, so that is what he will do.  Afterwards, Zareb tells Freddy he passed the first trial:  he spoke the truth about his origin and his feelings and therefore passed the wisdom of Solomon.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

SHAZAM = Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury

After two issues, we finally get to see the first trial and it was no at all what I was expecting.  To be fair, I am not sure what I expected, but gleaning wisdom from a tattoo artist is not on the tops of my list.  I think most people who hear the world trial think of the real-world mythological Hercules who wandered the Earth and engaged in some battles as a series of trials.  I suppose that was what I might have been expecting.  Instead, Winick goes in a different direction and I think the book benefits from it.  And I’m not only talking about the tattoo, but I am also talking about the creature at the beginning.  Now we know that Freddy will essentially be challenged at pretty much everything that he does.  It will be curious to see how he responds to everything that Zareb tosses his way.  Some of the trials will have to be physical in nature, but some will be in a different form and some will happen when he least expects it. 

The weakest part of the series to date has been the Council of Merlin.  I find the concept of evil magicians acting like board members on a major company to be borderline cliché (Oh, look, the evil characters are just like that big named company; see the analogy--corporate entities are bad!).  I really hope Winick has something else in mind than a group of weird magicians arguing amongst themselves about Freddy’s trials.