Rating: 
Summary: Deserves more than 5 stars!
Review: "Shazam! Power of Hope" is a exciting book to read and look at. Alex Ross' drawings are really lifelike and the story by Paul Dini really hits you in the heart. The book shows how human the World's Mightiest Mortal, Captain Marvel, can be when faced with situations just like the ones in the book, especially the one dealing with child abuse. It deserves ten stars.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves more than 5 stars!
Review: "Shazam! Power of Hope" is a exciting book to read and look at. Alex Ross' drawings are really lifelike and the story by Paul Dini really hits you in the heart. The book shows how human the World's Mightiest Mortal, Captain Marvel, can be when faced with situations just like the ones in the book, especially the one dealing with child abuse. It deserves ten stars.
Rating:
Summary: With One Magic Word...
Review: What can I say about this book? I've been a Captain Marvel fan all my life, literally. I've always cringed when I've heard the unknowing masses call the poor Captain "Shazam". The comics the character appears in are titled "SHAZAM!" for legal reasons that I won't cover here. On to the book: "SHAZAM!: The Power of Hope" is the third in a series of four oversized comic-graphic novels by Paul Dini and Alex Ross. The stories are simple, focusing on a single aspect of each character: Superman's attempt to bring "Peace on Earth" for a single day. Batman's "War on Crime" and Captain Marvel visits a children's hospital for a weekend, trying to instill the "Power of Hope" in the patients there. The story is, again, simple, clean and unsurprising not bad at all. The real star here is Mr. Ross's stunning artwork. The Captain has never looked so good! Alex Ross uses massive full page spreads to their best advantage, For the first time, you get a glimpse of what living in that wonderful, colorful universe must really be like. There, right before your eyes is Captain Marvel in all his blazing red and gold glory! That's all you could ask for, and you get it, in abundance. For the length of this book, Captain Marvel -lives-. And for the time you spend turning those pages, you're 10 again, or 8 or 16 or whatever...the memories come flooding back. "Good to see you again, Cap'n, don't be a stranger."
Rating:
Summary: With One Magic Word...
Review: What can I say about this book? I've been a Captain Marvel fan all my life, literally. I've always cringed when I've heard the unknowing masses call the poor Captain "Shazam". The comics the character appears in are titled "SHAZAM!" for legal reasons that I won't cover here. On to the book: "SHAZAM!: The Power of Hope" is the third in a series of four oversized comic-graphic novels by Paul Dini and Alex Ross. The stories are simple, focusing on a single aspect of each character: Superman's attempt to bring "Peace on Earth" for a single day. Batman's "War on Crime" and Captain Marvel visits a children's hospital for a weekend, trying to instill the "Power of Hope" in the patients there. The story is, again, simple, clean and unsurprising not bad at all. The real star here is Mr. Ross's stunning artwork. The Captain has never looked so good! Alex Ross uses massive full page spreads to their best advantage, For the first time, you get a glimpse of what living in that wonderful, colorful universe must really be like. There, right before your eyes is Captain Marvel in all his blazing red and gold glory! That's all you could ask for, and you get it, in abundance. For the length of this book, Captain Marvel -lives-. And for the time you spend turning those pages, you're 10 again, or 8 or 16 or whatever...the memories come flooding back. "Good to see you again, Cap'n, don't be a stranger."
Rating:
Summary: With One Magic Word...
Review: What can I say about this book? I've been a Captain Marvel fan all my life, literally. I've always cringed when I've heard the unknowing masses call the poor Captain "Shazam". The comics the character appears in are titled "SHAZAM!" for legal reasons that I won't cover here. On to the book: "SHAZAM!: The Power of Hope" is the third in a series of four oversized comic-graphic novels by Paul Dini and Alex Ross. The stories are simple, focusing on a single aspect of each character: Superman's attempt to bring "Peace on Earth" for a single day. Batman's "War on Crime" and Captain Marvel visits a children's hospital for a weekend, trying to instill the "Power of Hope" in the patients there. The story is, again, simple, clean and unsurprising not bad at all. The real star here is Mr. Ross's stunning artwork. The Captain has never looked so good! Alex Ross uses massive full page spreads to their best advantage, For the first time, you get a glimpse of what living in that wonderful, colorful universe must really be like. There, right before your eyes is Captain Marvel in all his blazing red and gold glory! That's all you could ask for, and you get it, in abundance. For the length of this book, Captain Marvel -lives-. And for the time you spend turning those pages, you're 10 again, or 8 or 16 or whatever...the memories come flooding back. "Good to see you again, Cap'n, don't be a stranger."
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: Being a fan of both Captain Marvel AND Alex Ross, I was at the comic store the day this came out knocking the door down to buy it. This is an excellent story of Captain Marvel as he visits a hospital for dying children and he struggles to realize that he can't save everyone. He meets a young boy who is abused by his father and after the wise old SHAZAM tells him that Marvel will meet someone in need of hope, he feels this boy is that someone. But is it?
Rating:
Summary: Holey Moley!
Review: Captain Marvel deserved his own great story and this is it. Fortunately, for all us SHAZAM fans, Alex Ross has brought the character back in a big way - first in Kingdom Come, and now here. The only drawback for Cap fans in Kingdom Come is that the Big Red Cheese is mostly a pawn of Lex Luthor throughout the book. Here he has own story where he can be the hero. These oversized volumes by Dini and Ross can be quite touching at times. Here, the Captain visits kids at a hospital and befriends an abused child. The art by Alex Ross is spectacular as usual - especially at the beginning where young Billy Batson visits the Rock of Eternity and the old wizard tells him, "Speak my name!"
Rating:
Summary: Holey Moley!
Review: Captain Marvel deserved his own great story and this is it. Fortunately, for all us SHAZAM fans, Alex Ross has brought the character back in a big way - first in Kingdom Come, and now here. The only drawback for Cap fans in Kingdom Come is that the Big Red Cheese is mostly a pawn of Lex Luthor throughout the book. Here he has own story where he can be the hero. These oversized volumes by Dini and Ross can be quite touching at times. Here, the Captain visits kids at a hospital and befriends an abused child. The art by Alex Ross is spectacular as usual - especially at the beginning where young Billy Batson visits the Rock of Eternity and the old wizard tells him, "Speak my name!"
Rating:
Summary: My personal favorite of the Alex Ross/ Paul Dini books
Review: Captain Marvel is the most mythological of the DC heroes- part man and part god, yet also partially a small boy. He is the essense of the best, most noble, and most purely innocent in heaven and on earth. You see, the Captain of the Thunder and the Lightning is a pure knight, there is no guile in him, no blemish to his soul. If anything, you get the impression that his alter ego, Billy Batson, is more worldly than the Captain. Yet, not even Superman is a greater champion of righteousness. Finally, Alex Ross and Paul Dini have done justice to the Captain's character.
Rating:
Summary: The Quintessential Shazam Story
Review: I had my reservations when I read that Paul Dini and Alex Ross wanted to do this story with an emphasis on the innocence of the character. I've always preferred the modern take on the Captain Marvel as opposed to the usual whimsical tone of the golden age comics, but thankfully the talents with this book have struck a wonderful balance. The childlike nature of this character defines him and seperates him from the previous Dini/Ross books, especially with the fact that this character has the benefit of a mentor, Shazam, to guide him and make his life and career considerably less lonely than Superman and Batman's. Hence, there is a feel of comfort and security that cushions the drama of the story, while not undercutting its impact. That is certainly needed considering that the last time Cap was rendered by Ross in a story was in Kingdom Come and his smiling presence was designed to be disturbing admist the apocalyptic tone of that tale. Now, we can see that Captain Marvel as it should usually be, the stuff of optimism and joy while reasonably tempered with just enough drama to give resonance as a story about Cap providing joy to needy children should be. Combine this with Paul Dini's wonderful script and you have a superhero story at its finest.
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