Captain Marvel has always been a favorite of mine. I especially love the way Gary Frank draws him as a beefy powerhouse. I'm a tad concerned that he's going to be making wise cracks and saying things like "sweet" in the middle of fights. That sort of thing is way too 90's. I've loved how Johns has handled the character, but I just hope they don't continue down the "i'm kind of a prick" road. Batson needs to grow to understand what he's dealing with and that there is much more to the world than his immature perception of everything. I hope he doesn't expect for people to give him money after he helps them out every single time. Perhaps after Teth Adam smashes him around a bit, he'll realize how serious things are.

This is the "new beginning" for the character, so don't get too worried yet.

At his core, Captain Marvel is a child's power fantasy, he's a boy who gets to be "Superman". As such, Billy, particularly at first, is going to talk like a kid when he's Captain Marvel. There's a learning curve there, it's not easy to fake being an adult. Captain Marvel is a child's interpretation of what an adult is like, so he's not going to behave the same was a Superman or Green Lantern.

True. I just hope the "wise as solomon" still has a place. Too bad all the magic kings are dead. They had a very cool and interesting desgin. I was also surprised that Shazam turned out to be black.

Billy as a jerk is unacceptable.

He's always been and should still be one of the most respectful characters in comics.

@PowerHerc: While I agree, I can't say I don't like how this story is unfolding. Yes Billy isn't the NICEST kid out there in this, but he DOES give off the impression that he wants to do good. To back this up so far he's been shown protecting his foster family from the bullies, feeding Tawny, and a scene where we see him telling a young girl outside her widow, "They won't hurt you again, Jenny. I'm getting you out of here". Granted this isn't much, but it shows that deep down he DOES care about people. I think they're going for a kind of "Heroes Journey" angle where he's not really a true hero to begin with and has to earn the right to be called such.

After all, there are cases in mythology where this is the case. Hercules slew his wife and children, granted this was manipulated to happen by Hera, but he still endured his labors as a means to redeem himself and became a real hero. I think given how this new take is even MORE tied into the magical aspect of the Captain Marvel/Shazam mythos it's fitting if that IS the case.

Yeah I saw how they did have him doing good here and there. I really have no problem with the new Billy Batson as it's more realistic to how an orphan would probably view the world. (cynic) I just hope that as Captain Marvel, he's not spouting off one liners constantly.

@PowerHerc said:

Billy as a jerk is unacceptable.

He's always been and should still be one of the most respectful characters in comics.

glad im not alone on this.

you know, being a jerk doesn't mean you are not a good person.

Billy is an orphan. He has never been adopted and doesn't have a familly (yet). the only thing life gave him are foster home.

Give him a break. he isn't bad. He is not a bully. He even help people when they face one.

Maybe interacting with good people for a change (is new familly; the Justice League) will change him.

I do like that even though they're making him a bit of a prat, they're still making him adorably naive while doing so.

"She gave me TWENTY DOLLARS!"

@Lamenoire said:

you know, being a jerk doesn't mean you are not a good person.

Billy is an orphan. He has never been adopted and doesn't have a familly (yet). the only thing life gave him are foster home.

Give him a break. he isn't bad. He is not a bully. He even help people when they face one.

Maybe interacting with good people for a change (is new familly; the Justice League) will change him.

Thank you.

With so many people talking about "realistic" you would think they would appreciate this approach more.

Why would they ever want to make a child Superman who says/think/does no wrong?

"I loved Billy back in the day because he was sooooo sweet and sooooo nice"

Is anyone like that all the time? How far would this character truly get if he just acted like a perfect 9-10 (however his exact age is) year old kid 24/7.

I like Billy growing up because he was a kid that was written with god-like powers and managed to do the right thing and not let them corrupt him...not because he picked flowers in the park or because he didn't frown as often.

@Kallarkz said:

Thank you.

With so many people talking about "realistic" you would think they would appreciate this approach more.

Why would they ever want to make a child Superman who says/think/does no wrong?

"I loved Billy back in the day because he was sooooo sweet and sooooo nice"

Is anyone like that all the time? How far would this character truly get if he just acted like a perfect 9-10 (however his exact age is) year old kid 24/7.

I like Billy growing up because he was a kid that was written with god-like powers and managed to do the right thing and not let them corrupt him...not because he picked flowers in the park or because he didn't frown as often.

This.

Now, admittedly I am a new DC reader as of the New 52, but Billy's new personality seems to be fitting. Comics should be a reflection of the times they are written in and times have changed (wasn't this the point of the New 52 reboot?) It's not easu being a kid these days with all the things we know these days between school shootings, cyber bullying, drug dealers, and predators and it has to be even harder on a kid in the foster care program and this is reflected in the new Billy Batson, not some idealized version of what no one can really live up to. It makes him more relate-able, which seems to be a major issue that Superman has ("How can someone be THAT good?").

The way things are going in the books I believe that something is going to happen with either Freddy or Mary that's going to make Billy return to the nice guy we all know and love.

So far i love the new Captain Marvel.

And all that is quoted and written here:

@JordanDrake said:

@Kallarkz said:

Thank you.

With so many people talking about "realistic" you would think they would appreciate this approach more.

Why would they ever want to make a child Superman who says/think/does no wrong?

"I loved Billy back in the day because he was sooooo sweet and sooooo nice"

Is anyone like that all the time? How far would this character truly get if he just acted like a perfect 9-10 (however his exact age is) year old kid 24/7.

I like Billy growing up because he was a kid that was written with god-like powers and managed to do the right thing and not let them corrupt him...not because he picked flowers in the park or because he didn't frown as often.

This.

Now, admittedly I am a new DC reader as of the New 52, but Billy's new personality seems to be fitting. Comics should be a reflection of the times they are written in and times have changed (wasn't this the point of the New 52 reboot?) It's not easu being a kid these days with all the things we know these days between school shootings, cyber bullying, drug dealers, and predators and it has to be even harder on a kid in the foster care program and this is reflected in the new Billy Batson, not some idealized version of what no one can really live up to. It makes him more relate-able, which seems to be a major issue that Superman has ("How can someone be THAT good?").

I just hope they don't try to go all dark and edgy, I always liked the fact that he, even more than Superman could always be the one bright spot of a book. Theirs too much grey area in comics now, it was nice to see one guy who kept things black and white. Not saying I wanted all heroes to be that way, just that having one or two "Pure" heroes in the current mess of moral ambiguity is a nice change of pace from time to time.

@Kallarkz: I am so sick of hearing kids say how hard it is to be a kid now days, when I was a kid it was still legal to hit us with belts, we didn't have 24/7 tv networks dedicated to us, we had just as much crime and violence to deal with but without the constant media attention it gets now days. I'm sorry if liking seeing one pure good guy was something I liked seeing in fiction cause genuinely good people are few and far between in this world.

The fact that kids today are even allowed to bitch about how their parents treat them in public without worrying about their parents kicking their asses for it is a sign of how much easier kids have it now.

Yeah children getting beaten is so rare. Yes there are more laws to protect kids (a good thing by the way) but they hardly have less problems. Congrats that the kids on your block get to watch nickelodeon and amc whenever they want to now...unfortunately it's not like that everywhere. Problems of today's youth do not begin or end with domestic abuse.

Physical abuse isn't the only abuse, after all. But let's not turn this into a completely off-topic debate. Honestly, the New 52, as I understand it (I've only just started getting into comics, and haven't read many) is about reinventing classic characters, so let's just see where this Captain Marvel takes us.

This revamp of Captain Marvel is awful. This is Heroes Reborn bad.

I don't know I like the idea of him rising to the occasion, becoming worthy of the power.

@PowerHerc said:

Billy as a jerk is unacceptable.

He's always been and should still be one of the most respectful characters in comics.

It's just a facade.

@Kallarkz: Kids do have it easier now, just as I had it easier than my parents, or my grand parents. The fact that anyone even gives a crap how easy a kids life is now days is a huge step up from when my grandpa was a kid and 12 year olds were working 80 hour weeks in factories for slave wages.

@joshmightbe said:

@Kallarkz: Kids do have it easier now, just as I had it easier than my parents, or my grand parents. The fact that anyone even gives a crap how easy a kids life is now days is a huge step up from when my grandpa was a kid and 12 year olds were working 80 hour weeks in factories for slave wages.

what does this have to do with anything? Who creates the easiness meters? And if I find someone who has an harder life than mine...I should be all smiles then?

What kind of logic are you using?

@Kallarkz: I'm saying that the mere fact that kids today have the ability to complain about their lives and actually have someone care enough to listen is proof that their lives are easier than the would have been 30 or 40 years ago, let alone when our Grandparents were children. Not saying life is all sunshine and smiles now, just saying that now is probably the best time in history to be a child. You currently have more child protection laws than ever before, there are entire industries that exist for the sole purposes of catering to children. Yes some kids still have a very hard life but on the average kids today do have it pretty good. And I say this knowing full well that my parents said the same thing about my generation and guess what, They were right.

Now is the best time to be a child? Smoky because of child protection laws? Kids are suffering just as their parents due to the economy. Yes they have people to listen to them but the system is still flawed. Drugs, poverty, rape, etc. Tell the child currently being sold into sex slavery that he had better chances to be happy than his parents.

@Kallarkz: You're talking about the extremes I'm talking about the average non 3rd world child here. I never said life was perfect I just said that on AVERAGE children have it better now than ever before. Child sex slavery has been around for literally thousands of years as have poverty, rape and yes even drugs so you can't really claim that those are problems specific to this generation.

@joshmightbe said:

@Kallarkz: You're talking about the extremes I'm talking about the average non 3rd world child here. I never said life was perfect I just said that on AVERAGE children have it better now than ever before. Child sex slavery has been around for literally thousands of years as have poverty, rape and yes even drugs so you can't really claim that those are problems specific to this generation.

So because they are ongoing...they don't count as specific problems for this generation?

........

@Kallarkz: They do count as problems for this generation but by definition no they aren't problems specific to this generation because specific implies that only this generation has ever been affected by these things. That's what specific means.

@PowerHerc said:

Billy as a jerk is unacceptable.

He's always been and should still be one of the most respectful characters in comics.