Trials of Shazam #3

Issue three of this twelve-part DC series drops readers right into the deep end of "Magic Gone Mad," with a cover by Howard Porter that makes the stakes immediately clear. A young warrior in green battles a massive serpentine creature inside a glowing, cracked magical orb, while shadowy, red-eyed figures — the ominous Council of Merlin — loom watchfully in the background. Writer Judd Winick and artist Howard Porter are building something ambitious here, and this December 2006 installment suggests the trials ahead are anything but simple.