DC's Shazam title ending in September

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About "ethics of unchecked power and privilege"

(Image credit: Francis Manapul (DC))

DC's Shazam! title will be ending in September with issue #15. This was announced as part of the publisher's full September 2020 solicitations.

Guest writer Jeff Loveness (screenwriter of the upcoming Ant-Man & the Wasp sequel) and artist Brandon Peterson (Avengers, Justice League) will be wrapping up the run, with their second of two issues - their first, #12, was released on June 3.

(Image credit: Brandon Peterson (DC))

"After a night battling robots across the globe, Billy Batson finds out not everyone loves superheroes when one of his teachers unleashes a lecture on the ethics of unchecked power and privilege," reads DC's solicitation for the finale. "It’ll take more than just the wisdom of Solomon for the teen hero to figure this one out."

If that description sounds familiar, it should; this story was originally solicited for #14 but was pushed back in a re-shuffling of recent issues to accommodate original series writer Geoff Johns and artist Dale Eaglesham's final issues on the title.

(Image credit: Francis Manapul (DC))

"The greatest kid superhero ever faces the worst teen supervillain as Billy Batson and the Shazam family confront Superboy Prime," reads DC's solicitation for their finale in #14. "Superboy Prime has the powers of Superman and none of his heroic morality - can even Shazam stop the most powerful threat he and his family have ever encountered?"

Johns and Eaglesham launched Shazam! in December 2018, with an intermittent release schedule that interrupted the flow of the monthly title. Their finale in Shazam! #14 has been expanded to a 40-page issue.

Shazam! #15 is scheduled to arrive September 22, with a primary cover by Peterson and a variant by Francis Manapul.

Chris Arrant
Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)