Review: Shadowman #7
Creative Team:
Writer: Justin Jordan
Artist: Neil Edwards
Color Artist: Brian Reber
Inker: Matt Ryan
Cover Artists: Patrick Zircher, Dave Johnson, and Matthew Waite.
How We Got Here: When Jack Boniface was a kid his Mom put an amulet around his neck, and left. Dead from an apparent accident on black ice. Now as an adult and with plenty of questions about his origins he moved to New Orleans and hired a private investigator. The PI returned with reports of his parent’s criminal past. Angered by this he threw away his amulet. What seemed like was a simple act of anger would change Jack’s life.
On his way home he was handcuffed by two police officers. The cops, possessed by the demonic Mr. Twist, then shot Jack in the back. Jack knelt down sure that death was awaiting found his salvation by bonding with the Shadow Loa, which stated that it found him due to his losing the amulet.
Without his amulet Dox and Alyssa, the last of a resistance force known as Abettors, also located him. They filled Jack in on his past. Revealing that he is the latest in the long line of Shadowmen, a power that has been passed down from father to son for generations. Now thrown in the middle of a war between the Abettors and the Brethren, a group of businessmen with ties to an entity known as Master Darque, Jack has to learn everything on the fly.
In a battle with Mr. Twist, Jack unable to call on his power escaped into the Deadlands with Alyssa. As he is lead through the Deadlands he meets his father for the first time. His father gives him the option of whether to take on the Shadow Loa or not. If he refused it he can save himself, but if he accepted it he could save her while taking on the burden of the role. Without thinking Jack becomes Shadowman despite his what his father wanted.
With one attempt to return to Earth stopped, Master Darque simply moved onto the next one. He approached the Baron Samedi, Lord of the Dead, who was now a dying god with few worshippers. He gave him the power to use the body of one of his worshippers as a host.
As he returned to Earth, Samedi came with the bargain that he would destroy the Shadowman. Instead he arrived with an offer for Shadowman: help him take down the Brethren and stop Master Darque from returning to and destroying the Earth.
The Issue: Shadowman ponders Baron Samedi’s proposition despite the yells of Dox and Alyssa. They attempt to warn him off because Samedi can’t be trusted, but he is left to measure if it is worth siding with what seems to be the lesser evil. When Dox and Alyssa tell him they won’t help Samedi take the war to the Brethren he goes anyway.
Samedi hunts down Devereaux, liason between the Brethren and Master Darque, at the Brethren Stronghold. Just when Devereaux thought he was free Shadowman stops him.
Figuring out that Master Darque is merely using Samedi as a distraction, Dox uses a devilheart to bring him to the Deadlands. Where Shadowman can enter as himself, the devilheart leaves the body on the verge of death while sending the soul to the beyond. He goes to see what Darque is up to. When he arrives in the Deadlands he sees the army that Master Darque is building. Just as he tries to escape he is speared and placed on a pyre with the other souls that were roaming.
What I Liked: It takes a bit to get used Shadowman. I am on the record of saying it is the worst of the Valiant titles. I’d like to rephrase that and say it is the “least best” title, and I say that because it is quality. The difference that exists between it and the other books are obvious in its tone. Shadowman is a darker book and it deals with magic, and the occult. It is also clearly on another part of the Valiant Universe. But what seemed stale at first reveals itself to be more understated. Each Valiant title touches on a different genre within comics: Bloodshot is action, X-O Manowar is sci-fi, Harbinger is superhero, Archer & Armstrong is adventure/mythology, and Shadowman is the occult. When put in that context it makes sense.
I think Justin Jordan is doing a great job of establishing Master Darque while not giving him much exposure on page. We don’t know what he is capable of yet, but we do know he is powerful. He is so powerful that he could give an old god the power to return to Earth. So feared that the deadlands are void of any souls between living and death. There have been several attempts to get over, but these attempts being stalled hasn’t slowed the momentum down at all. Instead it has picked it up.
In this issue we see Jack, who is the first Shadowman to not learn under his father, make a decision others might not have. I think it’s exciting, albeit not new, to work with an assumed lesser evil because Jack really has no idea what he’s getting into. Even Dox, who was trying to advise Jack to rethink his decision, made a horrible himself which left him vulnerable to Master Darque.
Overall this was the best issue of the series. There were two extremely haunting moments and they both involved the pyre of souls. Also the scene of the guy being left behind by Devereaux was a little haunting as well. More moments like this would be appreciated. As the darkest Valiant title, I want to see them really get down in it.
What I Didn’t Like: The communication between Devereaux and Master Darque seemed like it took place just for Baron Samedi to take control of the body used as a medium. Neither told the other anything that didn’t already know. It did look cool and setup a scene where it showed how Devereaux was willing to leave his own people behind.
Grade:
Coatesvillain
Just a guy who was into this nerd stuff before it's popular. Now that is I'm just happy I have people to talk about it with.
