Shazam! #15. Written by Jeff Loveless. Art and Cover by Brandon Peterson.

Last issue. This creative team also handled #12 (which was supposed to be #14 but DC switched things around because of the endless delays by the regular creative team). This was supposed to be the new team going forward but for various reasons DC canceled the series so we only got 2 issues by this team. What a disappointment. This creative team really did a great job in just 2 issues capturing the dynamic of the new Shazam status quo at DC. I wish DC had gone with this team from the start. Then maybe this series would still exist.

After a night fighting robots, Billy finds out not everyone loves superheroes. One of his teachers gives his class a lecture on the problems with unchecked power and privilege. He finally sees her POV when he has to rescue her as Shazam. As a result Billy tries to be a better student.

Again just a great story. Trying to see Billy's POV as a teen stuck in an adult body when he is Shazam. And his growth as a result. Nice story with a good message and some stellar art.

8/10.

Like Hawkman, this is a book I'm long over due to catch up on.

I'd definitely buy that collection

Everything else seems like an uninspired mess in the Bat-Office of late so it makes sense that Batgirl is just as bad.

X of Swords: Creation Written by Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard. Art and Cover by Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia.

So far I've been following Marauders, Excalibur, New Mutants and X-Factor in this X-Men revival. Mostly because I tend to gravitate to team books and then the smaller groups that get a lot of interesting interaction between the team members (New Mutants, Marauders), have a premise I like and explore some characters that could do with fleshing out (X-Factor) or explore the bits of Marvel UK that no one else does (Excalibur).

I picked this one up, even though I've no interest in the whole crossover on the advice of my local comic shop person to get what's happening in the issue of X-Factor I picked up at the same time. Also it's Covid time, so a comic extra is not going to kill me and they can use a bit of extra money.

What went before: Mutants have united and live nearly all on the island of Krakoa. Apocalypse has revealed that this is not the first time a mutant nation was created, he tried it himself thousands of years ago, also on Krakoa. Krakoa was a larger island back then called Okkara and the nation was invaded by aliens/demons/an outside threat. To stop them Apocalypse had to banish half the island, his children the original Horsemen and his wife (exact details are unknown to me, because I've not been reading X-Men itself) to another dimension. Now Apocalypse and Krakoa want to reunite with the missing island, Arakko, but the original Horseman have other ideas.

Plot: Otherworld, nexus of various realities and part of the Faerie Realms: an army of demons lead by the original four Horseman invade the kingdom of Dryador. A messenger of Dryador manages to escape, though wounded, to ask Opal Luna Saturnyne, Omniversal Majestrix and ruler of Otherworld, for assistance. Saturnyne uses a deck of Tarot cards to get a reading on the situation (and we also get a title drop in it: The Ten of Swords is an important card in the reading, so the title is meant to be read as 10 of Swords).
On Earth, the mutant Tarot draws the same cards multiple time as she does a reading and so do several of her friends who are experienced card readers. She notifies Krakoa's Council. An expedition to Otherworld returns to Krakoa. Summoner, grandson of Apocalypse, brings back a severely injured Banshee and leaves behind a captured Unus. He warns the Council that a war is brewing in Otherworld and Arakko is at the center of it.
(this is just the first quarter of the issue, a lot is happening in here and I don't want to spoil it all. I'll get more into some of it below)

The Good: As much as I dislike grand multi-title crossovers, especially ones planned to be going for multiple chapters, disrupting the ongoing titles that I'm enjoying, this issue sets up the main conflict and the motivations of all interested parties pretty well.
We have Apocalypse who feels guilt over abandoning his children, gathering a group of mutants to go back to Otherworld to investigate. Most of the rest of the Council see the gate to Otherworld as a treat and want it closed.
So Apocalypse is taking Summoner (the only one who has been on the other side), Havok (sent by Cyclops to keep an eye on things), Polaris (same, but sent by Magneto), Angel (in his Archangel form, he doesn't trust Apocalypse due to their shared history), Rictor (who has grown to trust Apocalypse over in Excalibur as the latter helped him control his powers), Rockslide (who has become friends with Summoner), Beast (who is there just out of scientific curiosity) and Monet (who is there for her own reasons, which appear to be an interest in this Omniversal Majestrix and how one becomes the next one).
This should be basic storytelling for most comics, but so few comics and books these days to a good job of just establishing the story conflict and main character motivations in the first issue. I think this one did a pretty good job at that, which is the main reason I give it such a high mark.

I also like Opal Luna Saturnyne showing up again in a significant role. She is still not quite the character she was back in Alan Moore's Captain Britain, which is one of my favourite characters ever, but she is more than the background character she has been since then. She has also been appearing in Excalibur for a while, but here she appears as a force to be reckoned with. She has a lot of power now, that she didn't have back then (don't know if they will ever explain that change or if they just think that somebody with the title of Omniversal Majestrix should have a measure of cosmic/magic power herself.) Before her power was always her intelligence, authority and resourcefulness; a small moment I like regarding her is in Excalibur years later, when questioned by his team members if Saturnyne has any telepathic or magic powers, Brian realises that she never had any special powers, but that it never seemed to matter to her.

We get some infograms on how Otherworld and it's vasal kingdoms are now organized, which is quite different from all versions before, but seems to be using the Summer/Winter Court of the Fae as it's basis. I guess this was inevitable as every writer has had their own versions of Avalon/Otherworld and Arthurian myths in the Marvel Universe going back to the original Black Knight. I see storytelling potential for the various realms, so I like this.

And last: I always appreciate some nicely drawn Tarot cards.

The Bad: It's a massive crossover, planned for 22 parts. I'm not going to read all of those and I already expressed my frustration with the second chapter in my X-Factor review. This is my major strike against this issue, but it's a big strike.

And some minor complaints:
Earlier on in X-Men, Xavier and Magneto are manipulating Mystique by promising to bring back Destiny, but they are not intending to do so as they don't want any clairvoyants on Krakoa as they could interfere with their plans. Why is Tarot then on the island?

One of the Otherworld realms is ruled by Jamie Braddock, another by Jim Jaspers. Why have both? They are basically the same character. Claremont turned Jamie into Jim Jaspers-lite, because he was not allowed to use Jaspers.

7/10