Shazam! #21: Farewell

Shazam! #21 is the finale issue of the series that started under the creative team of Mark Waid and Dan Mora, and then transitioned over to Josie Campbell, Dan McDaid, and Roberto Poggi. Throughout the series Billy has assumed the role of “The Captain” rather than referring to himself as Shazam, with the series exploring the separation of identities between the two. Additionally, the series switched the focus more so over to Billy’s foster family after the creative change, opting to make the broader discussion about what family means and how individuals deal with hate in the world. This brought back the familiar foe of Mister Mind in the final arc, with that story wrapping up hear along with the series.

This issue does an excellent job of tying up loose ends for the final arc; however, it definitely feels rushed, with it being fairly obvious that the series was cancelled and that the creative team wanted to wrap up all they could in this final issue. This means that the overarching plot regarding Billy being adopted by his foster family is relegated and wrapped up in the manner of a couple of pages, right after the Mister Mind plot concludes. It is great that the team gets this final opportunity to finish up their story, but the rushed manner is hard to overlook, especially with how much content is thrown in here.

This series changed fairly dramatically when looking back on Waid and Mora’s first volume, especially in how it shifted from the greater idea of The Captain’s powers to a more family centric narrative. While this likely made a lot of fans drop off, there is not doubt that the story Campbell and McDaid are telling is worth being told. The main narrative throughline here is very current in today’s politics, especially in response to the recent reelection of Donald Trump. The topic really comes from the core mindset of folks and what mentality leads to fear mongering and power trips versus those who seek a better world. This gets boiled down to those who look out for everyone or just themselves. In more simplistic terms, those who have empathy and those who only care about what they want in the world. The idea of placing these current political topics into a series like this makes a lot of sense, especially as people in the world are struggling to rationalize those who would wish to do them harm.

While it doesn’t get a lot of time to shine in this final issue, the topic of family also comes across as an important message, with Billy revealing to his birth mother that regardless of how she wants to come back into his life, he cannot just walk away from his Foster Family. He identifies them as his real family despite them not being blood related, especially by identifying the way that they look out and care for him. This idea of a found family is also current in today’s politics, where more and more people are looking aways from the members of their family who do not support the sexuality or refuse to accept them. This is a strong message for those who identify family in those who treat them like a family should rather than feeling obligated to call someone family purely based on blood relation.