Shazam #20

Recap
Jonathan Kent, son of Superman, is in Philly when something funny happens to the Rock of Eternity. Jon is caught in the lightning and transforms... back into a little boy?! While Jon gets a second chance at childhood, Billy better figure out how to get the grown super son back before the world misses him!
Review
Shazam #20 is a guest writer issue that takes a break from Josie Campbell’s main ongoing story to showcase a one-off story featuring Jon Kent Superman, as the Super Son travels to Philadelphia to spend some time with the Shazam family. As the premise promises, the issue showcases Jon being transformed back into a child, capitalizing on the success of the original Super Son’s iteration that was famously disrupted during Brian Michael Bendis run on the Superman titles.
There’s really no way to say this other than coming right out with it, this issue is bizarre. Its entire premise revolves around Jon, despite being housed within a Shazam book. In fact, the entire Shazam element of the story really just comes in from the initial premise and then utilizing The Captain’s alter ego, Billy, as an avenue for Jon to relate to in some way. In many ways this doesn’t work very well. Jon was aged up to the comic book fan community in a series of issues; however, in the story, he grew up in a volcano while being imprisoned by Ultraman. Shazam #20 even goes as far as mentioning this event, showcasing that the creative team is well aware of how these events transpired. Despite this, the issue proceeds to show a budding relationship between Billy and Jon, pretending like Jon’s rapid aging in the eyes of the readers is in any way similar to Billy’s in-universe transformation into The Captain.
Another odd part of this issue is when Jon and Billy go to Damian Wayne Robin in order to sort out how he can solve the fact that he was transformed into a child. Sina Grace writes a fairly appropriate Damien who is completely disinterested with the problem; however, the inconsistencies come when Jon and Damien’s relationship get’s simplified to “you were annoying as a kid.” Any fan of the original Super Son’s run or even the character’s appearances in other titles will tell you that this feels off and does not capture any of the history between these two characters well enough to justify Damien’s inclusion here.
The saving grace of this issue is the inclusion of Jon’s boyfriend, Jay, who arrives to assist Jon in his journey. This part of the issue showcases how powerful this relationship has been to the DC universe and proves that Tom Taylor’s run really meant a lot to many writers and fans. While this relationship carries the issue, there is still an air of weirdness that this is all taking place in a Shazam comic. Superman has several comics that could feature a story about Jon Kent, so shoving it into a Shazam issue makes it feel like DC doesn’t trust the character enough.
Final Thoughts
Shazam #20 is a Jon Kent story that takes several liberties in the way it understands continuity to tell a tale that should have been in one of the several Superman titles that DC is publishing.
Shazam #20: Not a Shazam Book
- Writing - 5/105/10
- Storyline - 4/104/10
- Art - 7/107/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10