Static: Shadows of Dakota #3 – Shadows and Blood

Everyone has a reason for their actions.

That’s the beauty of Static Season 2 and the story of Earth-M as a whole; everything ties into everything, forming one larger picture that fans can enjoy as each tale unfolds. While this issue slows things down to put all the pieces and players in place for what’s coming next, it serves as a significant bit of introspection into what drives each character despite all having the same emotional state for their actions. Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala play off of each other very well in this regard to create very well-rounded characters; Virgil remains upset at the constant attacks that his friends are subject to and wants to lash out and find the group responsible for hurting them, Ebon leaves a trail of insane people after he reveals their fears to them as he searches for his brother, and Theo, the leader of the mysterious paramilitary group targeting Bang Babies, has an ax to grind with the metahumans after events that occurred in Blood Syndicate.

While this series has a family theme, this particular issue makes it the primary focus, with every main or secondary character having moments or flashbacks dedicated to their loved ones. Much like the first season, Static’s interactions with his family, from his father to his sister and friends, are always a treat to read. There’s genuine respect between them as they maintain his secret and try to help him deal with the other bang babies without disregarding his superpowered autonomy and sense of justice. He wants to do everything the right way, and through the people around him, we see the moral fiber that he comes from. The same can be said for the Blood Syndicate when they show up, and Ebon reveals that Fade and Tech-9’s greatest fears are losing their respective relatives or friends. This is especially poignant given that the Syndicate and the people of Paris Island are also their kind of found family.

Quincy Davis, the young kid Virgil acts as the big brother, also has his moment as his mother and father show up as he wins a project for science. They had been absent in the first few issues of the book, and readers saw how this affected Quincy, with him withdrawing into himself or confiding in Virgil with how upset he had been. The pages between him and his family are hot as Ayala and Draper-Ivey convey their love for their son despite their absences due to work. It shows that love comes in many forms, and though they can’t be there for their son all the time, they will be there for him when they most need it.

Nikolas Draper-Ivey’s art, with a few pages of color by Wil Quintana, is gorgeous to look at and elevates this story by a massive amount. Draper-Ivey is one of the best artists DC has today, as he’s able to make even moments of calm seem stylish and full of life. Given that most of this book is exposition, he focuses on facial expressions and body language to convey emotion further. While using tight, close-up shots, he’s easily able to capture feelings of elation, anguish, and anger – the latter being especially true in Ebon’s case since he doesn’t have much in the way of facial features outside of his constantly scowling eyes. One of the best examples of his use of body language, as well, is towards the middle of the book when Theo goes to see his spouse, who was injured and made comatose in Holocaust’s attack on the Paris Island bridge. These pages are primarily wordless, relying on Theo’s looks of despair and inserting shots of their hands touching to show his love. It helps to humanize him as a villain while not completely absolving him of the pain and heartache he’s caused others due to his anger.

While most of the book is sad and slow, the initial few pages are high-intensity action. Everything is made to be dynamic with high angles and blur effects to show movement and speed and to pose that elicits a sense of fear and terror, shown in an awesome splash page where Ebon throws his shadows into the eyes of Fade and Tech-9. With Bang Babies disappearing from every area of Dakota, the Blood Syndicate finds that a few of their friends have also gone missing, leading them into a confrontation with Ebon as both sides try to find answers. Draper-Ivey lets loose in these pages as Tech-9 summons an arsenal of weapons and fires them at Ebon, only for the bullets to be redirected at him and Fade in a flurry of shadow and sparks.

His lines are thick and inked amazingly, giving a palpable sense of darkness to Ebon’s fury. This is further emphasized by how scratchy and frantic some of the lines in these pages are, bending and crashing through the panels themselves, making things seem heavily chaotic. All of this is uplifted by his and Quintana’s colors, which capture many feelings throughout the book. Draper-Ivey’s cool blues, blacks, and purples give off a sense of cold fear as Ebon shows off his mighty power against the Syndicate. And in the scenes with Theo, the sterile white of the hospital room contrasts with his entirely black attire, showing the darkness that’s consumed him since the incident.

AndWorld Design’s letters are also excellently done in this issue and show various balloons and sound effects. To make someone stand out, they need something that makes them different, and AndWorld does just that by making Ebon’s word balloons black with purple lettering and outlines, showing that his power affects his speech and makes him look cool. The same can be said for Virgil’s thought boxes which are blue with white lettering, looking much more heroic and calm than Ebon’s. And as always, I have to commend the use of sound effects for giving the book a sense of sound with heavy services of BRAKKAs for Tech-9’s guns and repetitious BEEPs for Theo’s spouse’s heart monitor.