Shazam! vol. 2: Moving Day

The Captain vs. Black Adam!  It’s what was promised at the end of the previous volume, and it’s what we get here…  After some shenanigans involving the interstellar regulatory T-Rexes, and his foster family’s new house.  The latter of which hinges on the sale of the old one, which surely won’t be demolished when the two superpowered characters throw down.  Then original writer Mark Waid bows out with – of all things – a team-up between The Captain and The Creeper before new writer Josie Campbell comes in with a three-part story about Billy dealing with some things that his alter ego doesn’t want him to know.  Are they related to the inter-dimensional monstrosities now threatening the town, or a leak in the Rock of Eternity’s magic, and whatever the case is, just how is The Captain able to act against Billy in this way in the first place?

I really enjoyed the first volume of this series.  Vol. 2?  Not so much.  Waid continues to have fun with all of the elements he previously put into play, but the conflict between The Captain and Black Adam never really catches fire.  It feels like your average superhero slugfest only with some nods to the latter character’s position as a head of state to differentiate it.  The story also features art from Goran Sudzuka, who’s a solid storyteller as anyone who has read “Y:  The Last Man” can tell you.  He completely lacks the style and flash of Dan Mora, however, who now seems like the secret sauce that made vol. 1 sing.

That’s not to say Emanuela Lupacchino and Mike Norton don’t acquit themselves well enough in the next storyline, as does incoming writer Campbell.  It’s just that even with the interdimensional threat facing everyone and a new problem with Billy that picks at his origin, things still feel kind of standard issue at the end.  Which is a quasi-cliffhanger involving a big issue that I’m sure will be worked out quickly enough by the start of the next volume.  That’s kind of a bad thing since it doesn’t make me feel like I need to pick up the next volume to see how it turns out.