Reddit reviews Shazam! Vol. 1 (The New 52): From the Pages of Justice League

DC collected all of the Shazam New 52 Justice League back-up stories into one book. It's great. It's the best way to read it.

Yep

It's as simple as picking up a book and reading. If you want something new and classical, I suggest picking up the Shazam Vol 1 trade paper back.

Old stuff is fun, a lot of the best stuff is old stuff. Try Batman: Hush, it's from 2003.

And you're free to think that. You just gotta recognize that he was created in the 1930's (back then he was Captain Marvel) to appeal to children, who's other options were purely adult heroes. Obviously the child at heart hero was pretty popular, and for a while his comics actually outsold Superman and Batman. He's the thing that every kid dreams about being (fuck, I still dream of it), a strong leader, with the power to rip the world in half if he wants to, and beat down all the baddies.

He's still a really cool character, you just gotta take his powers with a gain of salt, just like every other good thing in comics, they're sorta wacky. I recommend checking this out. You may still think it's silly, but it might give you more respect for the character, and why he's so popular.

Animal Man by Grant Morrison. Either the three individual volumes or the omnibus. Just be warned, it's pretty depressing stuff. It is however also a brilliant tale, intelligent and imaginative, it's also a run that dared do what others didn't or won't ever and foreshadows the "dark days of comics" that came after.

At its most convenient, Animal Man is a story about a superhero with animal powers who one day decides that he needs to fight more for animal rights. On the other hand, you have a critque on the medium of comics and an in depth look on what comic books and comic book characters really are.

Also, I'm gonna recommend something more on the light side too, Shazam. It is a modern take on the big red cheese, a tale with lots of heart and even more funny innocent moments that's in essence, a story about the bonds of family.

He doesn't show up in Justice League, he is in back up stories which will be collected here

Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern should be easy enough. Just pick up the first trade for those characters. New 52 Shazam has no book of his own (he's been sharing it with Justice League as a back-up feature) but there will be a collection of all those stories coming up in October.

I would also say give Aquaman and Wonder Woman a try.

Shazam and Black Adam are featured in the backups of Justice League. Next week in Justice League #21, Shazam's origin story concludes.

DC is releasing a hardcover collecting all of the Shazam backups, but it won't be out until September.

Edit: Also Shazam is making an appearance in Constantine #5 coming out next month and Black Adam is getting his Villains Month one-shot in September (numbered as Justice League of America #7.4).

Depends how patient you are. In Justice League they have been telling an amazing back up story with Shazam, but it won't be collected in trade until October.

Probably the best thing to set yourself up would be either Comixology Unlimited, or go for the DCUniverse App* since they are adding more and more comics there. Just understand it's hard to specifically suggest 1 or 2 since there is so much. You could honestly start anywhere, but it's good to know a few authors that do stand out. One thing that I will argue that DC does better than Marvel is different takes on heroes and villains. You can read almost any Elseworlds, or "what if" tale, and have a great time. Even the Earth One titles.

For Shazam! specifically, I highly suggest what the movie was based off of. The movie changed the main villain, but added a bit more to Billy Batson that I wasn't expecting. Overall, I was pretty content with Shazam! that I wanted to re-read this again. Which brings me to...

...Almost anything by Geoff Johns, especially Aquaman (new 52), JSA, The Flash, and even Superman. His stuff before the New 52 relaunch was quite good. Reading almost everything of his Green Lantern run and even stuff before Flashpoint is worth your time. Check out Batman: Earth One.

I'm personally more of a fan of Grant Morrison since his stuff is getting highlighted more than ever in live action* now. I keep this amazon link handy for anybody who wants to read the arguably best Batman run ever created. His JLA run helped get JL out of the typical 90s. Animal Man and All-Star Superman are freaking legendary. And if somehow you are invested, I personally think understanding Final Crisis and going into Multiversity* was a mind blowing experience.

For both Morrison and Johns, 52 is literally one of the best comic book series I've ever read, though you might need to understand a few events that happened prior (this is why Wikipedia or youtube is great). What it did great was highlight some B-C list superheroes & villains wonderfully where I would love a live action series based on this.

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*So far the Doom Patrol TV series is killing it. It's even better if you actually read Morrison's run of Doom Patrol for the references and jokes.

https://www.amazon.com/Shazam-Vol-New-52-Justice/dp/1401242448

You'll wanna get this. The best thing about it is that the hardcover is cheaper than the paperback. Great story! Like others said, not exactly a solo but collected backups from the JL title.

All the New 52 Shazam backstory excerpts have been arranged into its own TPB. Reviews of it are pretty good and I actually just ordered it myself a few days ago. I imagine that would be a good place to start.

Shazam! Vol. 1 (The New 52)

I highly recommend you read the comic. It's fan-fucking-tastic and it's written by one of the greats.

https://www.amazon.com/Shazam-Vol-New-52-Justice/dp/1401242448#immersive-view_1521581030060 I prefer this logo.

Plus ffs DC U needs color!