Sunday, June 12, 2016

GUEST BLOG: THE POWER OF SHAZAM #27

A HUGE thanks for Jeff Farnham of The World's Mightiest Mortal blog for writing this post while I am away. An amazing book with amazing coverage for all of you.  





"The Tenants of Time"
Writer:  Jerry Ordway
Pencils:  Pete Krause
Ink:  Mike Manley
Color:  Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza
Associate:  Frank Berrios
Editor:  Mike Carlin

Synopsis:  The story opens with Captain Marvel in the time stream.  But this is not the Captain Marvel you may be thinking of.  This Captain Marvel is C. C. Batson, father of Billy Batson!  C. C. Batson and his wife, Marilyn (Lyn) have become the Captains Marvel  because Dr. Sivana meddled with the time stream several issues earlier.  Because of Sivana's meddling, the time stream has changed and Billy's dad and mom have been granted the powers of Shazam!


Captain Marvel (C. C. Batson) has entered the time stream voluntarily, his mission is to go back in time and correct the alterations Sivana created.  He knows that when he completes his mission both he and Lyn will fade away and cease to exist.  Unbeknownst to Cap he is under the watchful eye of Rip Hunter and Waverider.  They are watching to ensure Captain Marvel executes his mission without making any further changes to the time stream.




Meanwhile, back in Fawcett City, Captain Marvel (Lyn Batson) rescues a crowd from a careening car driven by Sterling Morris, owner of WHIZ radio and TV.  Morris is in a heated race for Mayor of Fawcett City with Dr. Sivana.  Sivana's had his henchman tamper with Morris' car, causing him to lose control.  

Lyn flies to the Rock of Eternity to seek Shazam and find out what has happened with C. C.  Shazam tells her the truth - that Billy and Mary should have been given his powers and that C. C. has entered the time stream to put things right.  Lyn realizes that if he is successful, both C. C. and her will fade away, so she decides she needs to spend her remaining time with Billy and Mary.  

Back in the time stream, C. C. has decided to do a little tinkering, but he is stopped and confronted by Waverider.  Waverider shows C. C. all the aberrations that could take place if he touches the time stream - showing him different iterations of Captain Marvel from Hoppy the Marvel Bunny to Captain Thunder!  C. C. asks Waverider if Billy and Mary suffer needlessly due to his and Lyn's death.  Waverider shows him the day when C. C. had entrusted his brother Ebenezer with his and Lyn's wills, and that Ebenezer never filed them, thus setting up the sequence of events Captain Marvel readers are familiar with.  C. C. asks Waverider, "Why can't we somehow affect the future?" - hoping to prevent the tragedy that will befall his children.  Waverider responds, "Complete this task, and I will find a way to help your cause...but if you alter course one iota -- I will personally send you to oblivion."






C. C. finds the exact location he's looking for in the time stream and catches Sivana, dumping him off at the Fawcett City police station.  Sadly, both C. C. and Lyn fade away and we come back to where the story left off back in Power of Shazam! #24, with Billy, Mary, and Shazam speaking with their old family friend, Alan Armstrong - the Spy Smasher!  The time stream has been corrected successfully, but with a little twist courtesy of Waverider!  Mary's adoptive parents show up with a letter that was found in the basement of the post office - the letter is C. C. and Lyn's will, giving custody of Billy and Mary to the Bromfields!

The story ends with Shazam returning to the Rock of Eternity which he had left in the hands of Ibis the Invincible.  Shazam checks the Historama and sees Sivana is still and jail and Billy is preparing to move in with Mary and the Bromfields.  Waverider appears and Shazam asks him if it was him that made the lost will turn up.  Waverider responds, "Who is to say whether this turn of events was not meant to be, Wizard?"  In closing, Shazam says, "Do not misunderstand -- I do not question your actions, Waverider...I applaud them." 

My Thoughts:  I love this story and the whole alternate time stream story of C. C. and Lyn Batson as the Captains Marvel.  For Captain Marvel fans, it gives you some new Captain Marvels but keeps them in the Batson family.  You also have Sivana, Shazam, Sterling Morris and the Rock of Eternity!

The cover by Jerry Ordway is fantastic.  It is colorful and really sets the tone for what you'll read inside the pages of the comic.  I would buy the Power of Shazam! series for the cover art alone!

The story moves along quickly and really takes you on an emotional journey.  You see the true heroism of C. C. Batson, willingly giving his life for the sake of his children.  You see Lyn Batson, knowing her time on earth is short and spending it with her beloved children.  I like how Shazam is portrayed, giving the hard truth to Lyn and truly feeling sorry for what will soon befall her.  And Waverider's benevolent alteration of the time stream is a nice touch to the story.

The only negative I have about the story concerns Rip Hunter and Waverider, but let me explain!  I really don't know who Rip Hunter is or the Linear Men (who are briefly mentioned).  If it wasn't for the Armageddon 2001 blog, I wouldn't have any idea who Waverider was!  And let me just say, I really enjoyed reading about Waverider and the stories on that blog - it helped make sense of what was happening here in the Power of Shazam! #27.  Since I don't know the importance of Rip Hunter, it leaves a bit of a gap for me in the story line.  Although it's a negative for me, it doesn't have any significant impact to the story.

The Power of Shazam! #27 is a great read, I hope you've enjoyed this review of it!  I want to thank Coffee and Comics Blog for allowing me to write a guest post.  I've learned a lot about many different comics from the blog and look forward to reading each new article on Monday mornings!

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