Mark Waid on Shazam's new nickname, the legacy of Kingdom Come, the Shazam Family, and more

gamesradar.com:

Shazam! By now just about everyone is familiar with the magic word that turns young teen Billy Batson into a superhero, and that magic word will also be the title of his new ongoing Shazam! series from writer Mark Waid, artist Dan Mora, and colorist Fernando Sanchez.

But the new title, part of 'Dawn of DC,' will bring some changes to the Shazam Family, with Billy Batson front-and-center, a new nickname for his superheroic alter ego, and a focus on returning to the most classic elements of the Shazam! mythos while also bringing Billy and his friends further into the 21st century.

Before Shazam! #1's May 2 release, Newsarama got a chance to speak with Mark Waid about his plan for making Billy Batson a fully-formed hero with real stakes while preserving his long legacy, and even how Waid's portrayal of Billy Batson in Kingdom Come factors into the relaunch.

Newsarama: Mark, I'm very excited to talk about Shazam! today because Billy Batson is one of my favorite characters of all time. You and Dan Mora are bringing Shazam back in his own title for Dawn of DC. What does that mean for you as a creative team and for Shazam as a character?

Mark Waid: Being part of 'Dawn of DC,' it means following the same principles that we have for Batman & Superman: World's Finest, which is, taking it back to the core versions of these characters and then expanding it from there. 

That's not to say that other Shazam Family characters won't be showing up - they will. And it's not to say we'll be ignoring anything that's happened in the past, but that's the tone. It's a way of approaching the characters that feels clean, and honors the past without feeling beholden to it, so you can pick up the first issue and get in on the ground floor.

Nrama