The four of them are on the road. They’re taking a road trip, in fact. They’re in search of someone. Hoppy is afraid of Mr. Tawny. Thinks Tawny is going to eat him. Might sound slightly paranoid and weird, but Mr. Tawny assures him that he wouldn’t dream of it. He’d get blood all over a very expensive suit. Still---Hoppy’s instincts are understandable. Hoppy is a rabbit. Tawny is an anthropomorphized tiger. They’re on the road looking for a very important lost kid in Shazam! #13. Writer Josie Campbell continues a thoroughly enjoyable ride with the power of Shazam as aided by artist Mike Norton.
The lost kid in question is Billy Batson. He’s still ostensibly protected by a tremendous amount of power, so he SHOULD be safe wherever he is, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not in SOME kind of danger. Things could really get crazy too. Mary, Freddy, Tawny and Hoppy are all quite unaware of the fact that Billy’s right under their noses--literally. He’s in the subway. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is visited by an ugly infestation of monsters. Billy is going to want to help out, but what can he do in his currently compromised state.
Campbell alternates between the plight of Billy and the challenges of those who are in search of him. It’s a nice alternation that serves the narrative well. Kind of weird to have the issue feature first-person narration by supporting character Freddy Freeman (Captain Marvel Jr.) who is dealing with suddenly having lost all of HIS power. Campbell takes a couple of opportunities to directly inform the reader that Freddy is something of an unreliable narrator. This is kind of a weird addition as the entire issue isn’t the entirety of the issue. It feels like a bit of a weird afterthought that seems to clutter the narrative a little bit.
Norton has a lot to juggle between weird narrative elements that include a perfect gentleman of an anthropomorphized tiger, a talking rabbit, monsters, superheroes and quite a lot else that all has to be harnessed into a very earthbound and realistic-looking metropolitan area and a similarly realistic-looking highway on the road. It all gets integrated into the visual of the story quite well as the narrative moves from scene to scene in a largely satisfying 13th issue.
The second year of the series begins with a solidly entertaining issue that continues to explore some complexity in a rather large extended cast of characters with a long history that goes all the way back to the Golden Age on this side of the comics page. It’s difficult to find new angles for characters that have been around for as long as the Captain Marvel family, but Campbell and company seem to be doing a pretty good job of maintaining a sense of freshness and originality about it all. While the series DOES seem to suffer a bit from the size of the ensemble, it continues to work quite well.
