Shadowman #1

New Orleans, present time, all his life Jack Boniface has tried looking for his biological parents, only to find frustrated dead ends wherever he looked. When information about his real parents comes his way, it’s just another disappointment for the troubled young man. What he doesn’t know, is that his father was once the costumed avenger of the mystic arts known as Shadowman. Jack will soon realize that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

The Team

Written Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode Vol. 1) & Patrick Zircher. Illustrated by Patrick Zircher (Red Hulk : Hulk of Arabia, Mystery Men) & coloured by Brian Reber. Cover by Patrick Zircher. Published by Valiant Comics.

The Pros & Cons

Let me start this review by saying I wasn’t really a fan of the old Shadowman series, now grant it, he’s a cool looking super hero and a bad ass mystic with all the voodooism that’s typical of New Orleans, but sorcerers were never really my bag, which also explains my disinterest in Doctor Strange as well. But this is the new Valiant, the Valiant 2.0 if you will and what they’ve done with the revamping of wonderful titles like X-O Manowar, Archer & Armstrong & Harbinger is very impressive. So I decided to embrace Shadowman with an open mind and let the chips fall where they may. The story is about 2 generations of men who have worn the mantle of Shadowman, in fact the story mentions other generations as well, but the story focuses specifically on the Shadowman of the past (Josiah Boniface), his wife Helena LeBreton and the Shadowman of the future, their son Jack Boniface. Josiah’s arch nemesis is a powerful being known as Darque, he’s basically what Dormammu is to Doctor Strange. The most terrifying villain thus far is the twisted creature known as Mr. Twist, he’s part The Thing (not from the FF) and part demon.

The story is written by Justin Jordan & Patrick Zircher, it’s a fast paced action comic with a New Orleans twist with plenty of black magic, voodoo & the dark arts. It reminded me a little bit of Hellblazer, with lots of blood, gore, nightmarish creatures & good vs. evil tones. Zircher’s illustrations are slick, beautiful and have a style that seems to fit in with the other Valiant titles. This is a well written & gorgeous looking comic book unfortunately it’s not what I’m into or what I’m looking for in a monthly title.

The Outcome

This was a hard one to grade, on one hand it’s very ambitious, but I wasn’t feeling it. On the other hand, I have to give credit where credit’s due. Maybe 20 years from now I’ll be reading the third generation of Shadowman and who knows, it might have surprises for me yet.