Comics Weekend "Captain Marvel and the Day That Never Was" by Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart, and Nathan Fairbairn.
With no new Aquaman comic this week, and the Sea King still flat on his back over in Justice League, I thought it would be fun to profile a different new comic on the shelves. And since Shazam!/Captain Marvel has taken more than his fair share of abuse by the Shrine over the years, it's only appropriate to take a look a comic featuring him. Plus that cover is pure awesome!
This story opens at the Rock of Eternity, with Shazam! under attack from...Sivana! Having followed Shazam's lightning back to its original source, the mad scientist has come up with another nefarious plan: by duplicating Captain Marvel's powers, he transforms his three nebbish, but evil, children into muscle-bound superheroes while he messes with the time stream!
Captain Marvel calls members of his family, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel, to help out and take on Sivana's rampaging kids. Meanwhile, Sivana uses temporal energy from other universes to create...an extra day! Teaming up with other alternate universe Sivana, the ultimate plan is to rule the Multiverse! Bw-ha-ha-ha!
The battle continues to rage in Fawcett City, and things looks grim for our heroes when it's revealed that Sivana's kids were just there to distract the Marvel Family while the big guns were called in: The Monster Society of Evil!
Luckily, just at that moment, the Lieutenant Marvels also show up, and together with Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary, they free Captain Marvel to head back to the subway where he was created to stop Sivana's plan. Before he can free Shazam, Sivana uses the magic lightning to transform himself into a Sivana/Black Adam hybrid!
A massive fight ensues, but it takes Captain Marvel to point out the flaw in Sivana's plan: trusting the other Sivanas! The extra day created has a fatal flaw, which ruins Sivana's plan! Soon after, Shazam is freed, the monsters are defeated, and The Marvel Family is read for another adventure:
I have not been following the Multiversity storyline, so I had no idea what world this was, or its greater context, but it only took a page or two for me to realize I didn't care. Other than one throwaway meta line of dialogue, this is a classic Marvel Family adventure, full of humor and action, brought to life by the brilliant work of Cameron Stewart. Sivana's plan is classic Mad Scientist stuff, and Grant Morrison even found a way to make appearances by Fat and Hillbilly Marvel seem cool.
Hey DC--more of this, please!
1 comment:
Okay, I am going out and buying this. THIS is what I want to see from DC. I get Batman 66 every month...but I want more like this. Thanks for sharing, Rob!
Chris
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