by Yehudi Mercado (Author) Yehudi Mercado (Illustrator)
Super-heroics are dangerous, but joining the football team is an even bigger problem! Billy Batson's never been a team player, and becoming the superhero Shazam didn't seem to change that much. But his new strength and stamina will make football a breeze.
After skipping school one too many times, Billy is offered a choice: football or detention. The Fawcett Tigers need a new champion--their last quarterback ended up in the hospital, and the coach is pretty sure rival team the Fishtown Atoms are to blame. Between football practice and superhero training, Billy's muscles are getting bigger, but so is his ego.
Will foster dad Victor's wise counsel and memories of his own football triumphs help keep young Shazam grounded? Shazam! Thundercrack is set within the movie timeline--showing Freddy's vlog filled with superhero training montages, family pranks, and the new gig he took to monitor Billy's football practices (the cheerleading squad really needed a new mascot!).
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Gr 3-7--Mercado writes and illustrates this graphic novel that canonically takes place in the same universe as the movie Shazam! The comic opens with scenes that overlap with scenes from the first movie, but then moves into a new subplot wherein Billy plays high school football and, with the helpful advice of his foster father, Victor, learns to value teamwork and accountability to others. Foster brother Freddy becomes the team mascot to tag along, resulting in some humorous scenes of him interacting with the cheerleaders (sadly, the book's female characters are largely one-dimensional background players). Of course, this is a superhero comic, so Billy's alter-ego Shazam must make an appearance and save the day when a rival football team's coach and players develop dangerous powers thanks to Sivana Industries experiments. The art is entertaining and clearly conveys action, with bright coloring and a caricature-esque style. VERDICT While the plot and character arc are simple, fans of the "Shazam!" movie franchise will enjoy this expansion of the first movie, making this a solid gateway into DC graphic novels. --Tammy Ivins
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.It was very good it had a lot of interesting things in it and it's also was very very fun to listen to it.