Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Shazamily Matters Special is published by DC Comics. The book features stories written by Shazam! cast members Zachary Levi, Adam Brody, Faithe Herman, Grace Caroline Currey, Ross Butler and D.J. Cotrona. Director David F. Sandberg and script writer Henry Gayden also pen stories in the collection.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Shazamily Matters Special is available now, in print and on digital, where all good comic books are sold.
Synopsis
This 96-page giant features stories starring all of your favorite Shazam! characters as written by the actors who play them! Actor Zachary Levi takes the reins on writing Shazam, and Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, and Faithe Herman wield the mighty pen for their Shazamily superheroes! Battle zombies, befriend dinosaurs, try to get a phone signal in a world of barbarians, explore glitter land, and more just in time for the release of the brand-new feature film Shazam! Fury of the Gods! Made with all the love and fun of a superhuman family cookout!
Review
What better way to tap in to the core of the characters in the upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods movie than to approach its cast to pen stories for a new anthology? DC has done just that by assembling members of the both the adult and kid casts for Shazamily Matters, a book which arrives just in time for the upcoming sequel to David F. Sandberg’s 2019 Shazam!.
Clocking in at a whopping 90-pages, Shazamily Matters offers readers a neat insight in to the minds of each of Shazam! Family members minds. Set between the two movies, each of the stories approaches a core member of the cast as well as examining their place within the wider family. There’s a tendency to prioritise their super hero alter-ego but the book does still catch us up on some of the status quo for the group of high school kids.
Up first is a story co-written between cast members Zachary Levi and D.J. Cotrona. To two pair up with Colleen Doran and artist Freddie Williams II for “Door to Death”, a story which puts a heavy focus on the family as a unit. It feels right that Levi, as the leader, would tell a story which focusses on the whole cast and not just himself. Tonally, it sets the scene for the rest of the anthology well by mimicking the light-hearted nature of both Shazam! movies.
From there the book saunters through the minds of each of the family. Levi and Cotrona are followed Faithe Herman who plays the young Darla in the films. Herman teams with Amanda Deibert and artist Erica Henderson for the brilliant “Darla’s Keepers”. Whilst the story maintains the tone of the films it is truly set apart by its brilliant range of visual styles. “Darla’s Keepers” is easily the most vivid in the collection. Evoking the bright, childlike nature of Darla’s view of the world. Herman and Diebert tap in perfectly to the rest of the Shazamily and their drive to protect the youngest member of the family.
D. J. Cotrona returns for the next story, pairing up with Tim Seeley for “The Big Game”. The focus shifts to Pedro, seemingly feeling like the odd one out in the family. Many of the stories in the anthology bring us back to the idea of the magic doors on the Rock of Eternity. Many of the stories find members of the family exploring new dimensions via the doors and “The Big Game” is much the same. Again the story succeeds thanks to Cotrona’s deep understanding of the character he’s played in two movies.
From here the book sidesteps to pick up on actual events from the original Shazam! movie. David F. Sandberg, director of both films, teams with writer and artist Scott Kolins for “Crocodile Catastrophe”. That title alone is probably enough to let movie fans know the moment the story picks up on. The story jumps back in to Shazam! as the kids are trying to escape from Doctor Sivanna on the Rock of Eternity. As they frantically open magic doors looking for a way home, they open a door to a group of poker playing Crocs. One of which was played by Sandberg himself. For the remainder of his story, Sandberg fleshes out those characters and even pits them against the Shazamily.
It’s through Sandberg’s story that we learn some potentially important information for Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The story reveals how The Wizard (played by Djimon Hounsou) is still part of the cast. It’s great to see the book (potentially) actually having an impact on the story of the film. Something which will pick back up on later. These types of tie-ins do have a tendency to sit adjacent-to rather than direct impacting on the film they spin-off from.
The next three stories return the focus to members of the Shazamily. We have stories by Ross Butler, Grace Caroline Currey and Adam Brody, all of which continue the sentiments expressed in previous stories. Each gives an insight in to their character and provides the reader with some harmless fun in another of the magical realms. It does become a little repetitive but the anthology nature does allow you to skip around and read each character individually.
Shazamily Matters wraps up with a story that focusses on Billy Batson and is written by Henry Gayden, writer of both the films. It seems the story of “Leadership Qualities” may indeed lead directly in to Shazam! Fury of the Gods, giving it some extra validity. Gayden’s insight in to Billy’s character sets up the story perfectly, tackling his anxiety at becoming the leader of the family. It seems he’s struggling both as a hero and a teenager to keep the family together, putting too much pressure on himself to succeed. There’s more emotional weight to “Leadership Qualities” than other stories in the anthology and it stands out as a really solid story which could easily be expanded upon.
Verdict
Shazamily Matters offers a level of insight in to each of the Shazam! Family characters which a film script just can’t deliver. It’s great to spend time with each of the characters individually as well as glimpsing more of family life. Though the stories are similar in tone, the anthology is elevated by a dramatic and dynamic set of visual styles.
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