Shadowman #11
Recap
Jack Boniface aka Shadowman is a dude strapped to a living voodoo nuke known as the Shadow Loa. In times past it has made him a begrudging hero, a “Parallax”-esque villain but now he has a harmony with the Loa making the man and the magic both stronger than ever. The “Rag and Bones” arc sees him facing off against his greatest enemy: Nicodemo Darque and his mysterious yet no less villainous sister Sandria Darque. With the revelation that Sandria Darque is responsible for cursing the Boniface bloodline with bondage to the Shadowman entity and the extreme might of the currently deceased Master Darque on the verge of resurrection there’s only one thing he can do, take them both down.
As it stands at the beginning of this issue Shadowman and his girlfriend/voodoo sorceress partner Alyssa Myles are in a heated race with Darque’s human cronies “The Brethren”, a clandestine group of rich, power hungry, demon worshippers that make even the darkest Illuminati theories look like children’s bedtime stories. In issue #10 Shadowman was trapped in a dark dimension a miniature version of Limbo (or more commonly called the Deadside in Valiant comics), Jack has to figure out how on Earth he’s gonna get free and somehow manage not to get himself killed by Sandria Darque’s immense magical might in the process as she is also trapped with him.
Review
With very few options on his hands Jack utilizes the one edge he has over Sandria, the ability to travel to and from the Deadside at will. A major screw up The Brethren overlooked when attempting to trap him in said dimensional prison. To keep it spoiler free let’s just say when Shadowman returns to the land of the living things get really bloody, really fast. If ever being an uptight rich douche was a bad idea facing down a really pissed super voodoo juiced hardass is probably it, Shadowman isn’t screwing around here….at all.
While the climatic final battle between Shadowman, Sandria Darque and The Brethren wraps up in short order, this swiftly bring us to the next era of Shadowman and the implications of Shadowman and the other various humans of the Valiant universe using magic for their own ends, heroic or not, causing some serious waves and pissing off a bunch of deities who are definitely listed in the “bad idea to anger them” category. The long and short of it, the Valiant heroes are about to be in for a rough time particularly Shadowman and the ever lovely Doctor Mirage and Punk Mambo from the ominous warnings of voodoo entity Baron Samedi. Between that and the new status quo of harmony between Jack and his Loa unlocking new levels of power it’s an exciting time to be a Valiant reader.
Final Thoughts
In traditional Valiant form the story does wrap up in the 4 issue structure but in this instance it feels a bit rushed which is unusual for the brand. The addition in the last issue or so of another artist to fill in some pages is also somewhat detracting from the INSANELY beautiful color pencil inspired art of Renato Guedes. That being said if you’re a Shadowman fan, enjoy mystery and mysticism or a reader of comics like Doctor Strange, Curse of Brimstone, or even the Punisher then this action filled tale will have something for you in it. Andy Diggle’s writing is solid even when it feels like he’s being forced to push things forward faster than you’d usually see in a story like this and Guedes art will make your eyes gluttonous wanting to devour more of it as you absorb each panel.
Shadowman #11: “Sucks to be Evil”
- Writing - 8.5/108.5/10
- Storyline - 9.5/109.5/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 8/108/10