Review: Shadowman #9
Creative Team:
Writer: Justin Jordan
Pencilers: Neil Edwards, Roberto De La Torre, Diego Bernard, Rocco Martellacci, and Lewis LaRosa.
Inkers: Matt Ryan, Roberto De La Torre, Alejandro Sicat, Andrea Cuneo, and Lewis LaRosa
Color Artist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
The Issue:
Jack Boniface only wanted to know more about his parents. But this search led him to New Orleans where he discovered that he was the next in a long line of Shadowmen. Despite being new to his role he doesn’t have the luxury of a preseason. Instead he’s thrown right into battle with Master Darque who has been preparing his return to Earth since Jack’s father, the last Shadowman, trapped him on the Deadside. Now stronger than ever Darque is making his attempt to strike using the necromantic energy of the dead to help him cross over into the realm of the living.
Jack alongside, long forgotten god of the dead, Baron Samedi have gone to the Deadside to help save Dox and the world as well. Their plan is a simple one: Shadowman attacks Darque head on while Samedi brings the dead with him as a surprise attack. Shadowman attacks repeatedly only to be swatted away. It is not until the dead come closer that they have a shot at winning. In a last gasp Dox uses the necromantic energy to fight back against Master Darque.
When Dox falters, Jack is left alone and his fight as he has to listen to the Shadow loa inside of him. Still new to this role he has to just act because it already knew what to do. He then grabs Master Darque and pins him on the very creation he made to suck powers from the dead. With no one to save him he found himself trapped siphoning his own power on a loop.
What I Liked I:
The entire series has been building up to this point. Master Darque has been built up to be quite an adversary and the odds seemed to be stacked against Jack and the gang. There was a lot of darkness here.
There were various artists on this issue but the art really fit the tone best on pages 22-27. It was really gritty, and really dark. I’m not sure who that artist was but I wish he was the regular guy.
What I Didn’t Like:
I came around on a lot of things with this book but this issue really let me down. They spent the past three issues showing how powerful Master Darque was. He was so strong that he was able to lift up a god and empower him again just to be a diversion. He has taken the power from all these souls and he is virtually unstoppable. Then this issue happens. And it feels like if that’s all it took to beat him then maybe he’s not all that we thought he was.
If you’re going to make someone seem like a world beating threat you can’t wrap it all up in one issue. There seemed to be a chance that Darque would have crossed over to Earth to cause problems, but once the fight began between him and Shadowman it never felt like he would win. It was a formality and it really fell flat. Jack Boniface is new to the role and easily beats what has been built up as his greatest threat. Without being in danger. I don’t get it. We should have seen him struggle.
The book had five different artists stretched across the pages and it was distracting. I understand that sometimes this is necessary to get a book out on time, but I wish they worked more to try and match styles. If not match styles at have certain people handle certain settings. This was just all over the place. There was no cohesion to the look or feel and it also took away from the story.
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.
