The Angst Shell Game

Recently, I picked up the better part of the run of Power of Shazam, and I found it to be generally enjoyable.

I already picked up a bit of a dislike for Freddie *L* not entirely sure why.

Anyway, one thing that did aggrivate me a bit was when they pulled out the tried and true "angst shell game."

I don't have the issues in front of me, so I don't recall the number, but at one point, Mr. Mind* sends the robot Mr. Atom to Billy and Mary's hometown and he blows the whole town up in one big nuclear explosion. While Billy and Mary were out of town, their adoptive parents (and they'd just brought Billy in not too long before that) were in town. Well, as you can expect, Billy and Mary go practically nutso with grief. Even more pathos since they were already orphans of course.

So, you go an issue or two, with Billy and Mary in deep, deep mourning, when suddenly they find out their adoptive parents were actually out of town (looking for them) at the exact moment.... awwwwww, all is good, Billy and Mary are happy.

Now, first of all, considering that even if their adoptive parents were still alive, their town, school and friends (especially for Mary, since she had roots) were gonegonegone. But, as soon as Billy and Mary heard the good news, they were thrilled, and the mourning/guilt trip was gone. (Guilt because Billy blamed himself, Mr Atom was trying to get him).

Second, that's an example of an all too common shell game. How many times have we thought a character was dead, only to find out that they are really alive? I'm not talking about bringing a character back after a long absence (Hi Hal!), but within an issue or two, voila! Often it is the cliffhanger from an issue. That trick can be very, very effective on occasion, but frankly, it is so badly overused that it carries very little weight any more. Indeed, most comics readers are so jaded that they go by the philosophy "They aren't dead unless you have the body. Even if you have the body, they probably still aren't dead for good."

I realize that with dozens of books coming out a month between DC and Marvel, much less the indies, it's hard not to overuse things like that, but it would be nice if they dug a bit deeper into the well.







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* By the Way, just imagine how much use that little worm would be for Retcon-o-mania. "Why did Jean Loring go nuts? Mr. Mind was in her head!"