Warning: SPOILERS for Shazam #8
Believe it or not DC Comics fans, the final member of the Shazam family has been chosen. And the best part is, absolutely no fan of Billy Batson or his foster family would ever guess who was picked to receive the magic of Shazam as the Seventh Champion. Mainly because up until now, nobody was even looking for him.
Both on film and in DC Comics, the fact that the Rock of Eternity contains seven thrones -- with only six members of Billy's adopted Shazam Family -- stuck out as a story waiting to be told. In the newest comic series from Geoff Johns, it finally has. But not before revealing the true purpose of Shazam, the need for explicitly seven champions... and the return of Billy Batson's biological father. Just in time to fulfill his own destiny, too.
That final twist came on the last page reveal of Shazam #1, showing Billy's father arrive at the foster home of the Vasquezes. While most readers would instantly suspect treachery or a villainous deception, C.C. Batson has seemed a normal man in the issues since, primarily concerned with meeting his son (and making p for the time lost thanks to his prison sentence).
But as C.C. has waited for the children to return home, the actual adventure being lived by the Shazam Family is all-new levels of fantasy. But as they have traversed the Seven Magiclands previously unknown to them or anyone else, they have been defeated, divided, and left in serious need of help. That comes thanks to the Wizard Shazam, who appears to Pedro and Eugene. But he also gives them the secret they've been looking for:
Yes, Billy Batson is the chosen champion. The leader of the Seven Champions to be. Each one of you is destined to sit on one of the Seven Thrones. To protect one of the Magiclands. To bring them back together. So that they will survive the return of the ancients. But you all remain vulnerable... Until the seventh member of your family is found.
The missing family member hasn't actually been a secret, since the first current ruler of a Magicland they encountered ("King Kid") asked if he might fill the role. And while the decision to have Billy reveal he's Shazam to his foster parents might have suggested one of them would fill the missing throne, the events of Shazam #8 have delivered a far more shocking turn. That's thanks to Black Adam and Dr. Sivana, who seek to defeat Billy once and for all with help from the Seven Sins. Their first job? Kidnap Billy's father, lift him hundreds of feet over Philadelphia... and then drop him to break Billy once and for all. But they forget the true nature of Shazam's magic...
When Billy witnesses his father dropped to the street before he can rescue him, he once again recalls the Wizard's words: "Family is what it can be, not what it should be. That is your secret spell." Realizing it was that spell that allowed him to share his power with his six siblings to being with, and seeing the only solution to saving his father's life, Billy instructs his father to speak the magic word. And just that quickly, a bolt of lightning transforms Billy's dad, C.C. Batson, into the new -- and FINAL -- member of the Seven Champions. So, is C.C. truly as he seems to be? Will this send the Shazam Family onto their next chapter as standalone rulers of the Seven Magiclands? The plot synopsis for Shazam #10 confirms a battle is coming... but for now we'll leave the speculation to fans.
The magical superhero adventure continues as the seventh member of the Shazam Family is finally chosen-and it will change Billy Batson and his brothers and sisters forever! But can this new family come together to stop the deadly all-new Monster Society?
Shazam #8 is available now from your local comic book shop. The first chapter of the story including Billy Batson's father as the Seventh Champion will arrive in Shazam #9, coming on December 18th, 2019.