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    Can Shazam! redeem comic-book culture?

    by Stephanie Zacharek Apr 15, 2019 5 minutes
    Levi and friends in Shazam!, a comic-book movie that takes itself just seriously enough

    BEFORE COMIC-BOOK CULTURE WAS A RELIGION, it was a pleasure, often a forbidden one. Kids used to have to hide their comic-book collections from their parents. Loving comics and their artistry was an act of rebellion.

    Today it’s a kind of tyranny. When we were kids, these stories told in words and pictures may have helped us feel more empowered in the face of bullies; now they’re used to bully others. Don’t ever dare suggest that comic books are supposed to be fun. You must treat comics and their resident superheroes with utmost seriousness, and you must also have the proper enthusiasm for the multimillion-dollar film products they spawn. Critics who disliked Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight got death and rape threats. (I know, because I was one of them.) On Twitter, trolling is a way of life for lowlifes who perceive that their devotion to the

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