Shadowman #1 Discussion

[Man Of The Atom]

http://twitter.com/Yaciuk/status/266305 ... 04/photo/1

A left handed handshake?!?!

HaHa, good catch.
Maybe they are boy scouts or maybe it was just because Mr. Burke's right hand was busy holding the manila envelope.

[Dr. Solar]

http://twitter.com/Yaciuk/status/266305 ... 04/photo/1

A left handed handshake?!?!

New Orleans style.

[SJS4]

Just finished reading it (twice). Overall I liked it, but for me its behind X-O, Bloodshot, and Harbinger (but ahead of A&A).

The art is very, very good. Very polished. However...its a little too "superhero-y" for my taste. Even though I think Zircher's art is more technically sound than say, Khari Evans, I prefer the art of Evans because I enjoy the stylistic touches. This is just a personal prefer for me, though, and no knock on Zircher.

I enjoyed the story, but just not into the character (yet?). There is nothing wrong with it, it just didn't hook me. To be fair, I was never a big fan of the orginal (or VH2/3) Shadowman, so that is probably bleeding through in to my opinion.

In any event I am very happy to see VEI with its 5th book on the stands now. Cannot wait to see them continue to expand the Valiant universe!

[Donovan]

I'm not a horror or gore fan. Still, this is the best relaunch valiant has done yet. What a great read!

[pixierosa]

POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!

I just got curious about the location where Mr. Twist is introduced... Club Humbaba.

Then, I found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'In various examples, his face is scribed in a single coiling line like that of the coiled entrails of men and beasts, from which omens might be read. This has led to the name “Guardian of the Fortress of Intestines.”'

Obviously, Valiant wanted someone to "Google it".

It also explains why the amulet has an Egyptian symbol on it... Humbaba is ancient, middle-eastern... and may have been 'battled' throughout all ages...
As evidenced by all those masks in the museum. A story that spans many ages... so an Armstrong connection, perhaps?

Alyssa's tattoo is an alternate version of the amulet symbol, circles, triangle-points, with a Shadowman-ish face-like center.

Slightly off-topic...
Whether it was intended or not, I'm going to say Alyssa's name is a tribute to our own Alyssa Noel Scott.

Don't ask me how, but I already knew who Humbaba was so it didn't even occur to me that he may be or may be related to Mr Twist. Good catch, though

I think we may see some connections between the symbols in Shadowman like the amulet and the Geomancers. I believe FVL said the new Geomancer possesses an amulet, and the brief glimpse of the Book of the Geomancers in the A&A #5 preview seems to show an object embedded in the book.

Perhaps these are also related to the Boon in some way?

First off, amazing debut. Art, story...and the dialogue worked for me. Now about that amulet - I think these amulets are going to be shared throughout the Valiant universe, and we will be seeing more of them and slowly learning their true significance. I know this Shadowman is a new story, but I'm wondering if Master Darque will follow the footsteps of his predecessor and try to claim the geomancer secrets for his own. Similarly, we have Harada and his quest for power and control in his twisted sense of maintaining the balance/safety of the world.

If the amulets are all related in some way, then it makes sense to think they also somehow relate to the boon. But anything is possible...

Man, I really love these Valiant books!

[hawkeyeps]

Yeah really diggin' what all you guys are saying.

I think this book is laying out how magic works and what it is in the new Valiant.

I definetly think Shadowman is going to have a crazy side, I can see the Shadowman spirit actually being from the deadside. Perhaps someone (the first Shadowman?) messed with deadside ages ago and released creatures like Darque and Mr.Twist and the only way to combat them was to allow another (even worse?) deadside entity to possess them (the Shadowman spirit).

That would be pretty interesting, Jack's family history of having released this *SQUEE* storm and struggling to contain it over the generations.

That CBR review was whack, this book was a 4.5 of 5 for me.

[400yrs]

Good issue. Solid 4/5. I can see where things could get interesting, but I'm not feeling the "huge hit" vibe as others do.

The stuff with the family is interesting, but I gotta wonder if it's going to be revisited (which would be cool) or if it's a first issue throw away. Some of the gruesome body pages reminded me of Luther Strode. I thought, "Yep, this is a Justin Jordan book."

I like the design of Twist alot, but his intro by the lady cop was cheesy. I didn't have a problem with his dialogue. I just kind of saw it as a throwback to cheesy 90s villains (like Blister).

I do like this series' Nettie. Having her be young enough to be a romantic interest is a great idea.

The Shadowman costume is awesome, but it was weird how he just changed clothes. My first thought is that I liked how VH1 handled that better, but we'll see how it's explained.

Good first issue, but Bloodshot is probably still my favorite.

[jmatt]

I'm agreeing with most everything that's been said already, especially the Shadowman spirit simply taking control of Jack's body and announcing his presence.

Loved the story, art and overall narrative but I found the dialogue to be a little overwrought and staccato in places. Too many ellipses, imperatives and two-sentence words back to back.

[MarkRoseHFX]

I loved it. I actually thought it was the best #1 issue of the relaunch so far.

[ShadowTuga]

I loved the art and "tone" of the book. I had to re-read the last couple of pages so I could understand what is going on after all (IMO, Shadowman possesses Jack, whit the latter probably having no conscience of it afterward). The costume change, well... I liked how he got his 1st uniform in the old VH1, it was more realistic (albeit kinda "Batmanish"). I hope they have a good explanation for that, though.

Overall, I'd give it a 4/5. Issues 2 and 3 should put some light on some of the unanswered questions- like just how does Magic really works in the VEI universe- and enhance this debut.

I have the feeling that by issue 5 or 6, this book will be one of the top 2 sellers from VEI.

[Newton]

This was a 5/5 for me. Story, lore, action, horror, mystery, bit of character development - all the elements I was looking for in this book. I can't find much to complain about. This will be the book I can't wait for every month now.

[pixierosa]

I don't have my book in front of me so forgive me detail errors...

I loved all the visual story telling and clues, like the club name, the band posters ("corpuscle" - how apropos, lol), even the way they use the art to focus on details to set a mood or put a thought in the reader's mind. Such as the diner scene, as the waitress says something along the lines of "the mystery continues" and the imagery fades out so the emphasis is placed on the amulet. Nice foreshadowing.

It's an excellent story, has me intrigued, but the art (gloriously beautiful and sometimes beautifully grotesque) and how it interplays with the story is a major factor here, too. They're doing so many things right with this. I hope book this takes off in the mass market.

[grendeljd]

POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!

I just got curious about the location where Mr. Twist is introduced... Club Humbaba.

Then, I found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'In various examples, his face is scribed in a single coiling line like that of the coiled entrails of men and beasts, from which omens might be read. This has led to the name “Guardian of the Fortress of Intestines.”'

Obviously, Valiant wanted someone to "Google it".

It also explains why the amulet has an Egyptian symbol on it... Humbaba is ancient, middle-eastern... and may have been 'battled' throughout all ages...
As evidenced by all those masks in the museum. A story that spans many ages... so an Armstrong connection, perhaps?

Alyssa's tattoo is an alternate version of the amulet symbol, circles, triangle-points, with a Shadowman-ish face-like center.

Slightly off-topic...
Whether it was intended or not, I'm going to say Alyssa's name is a tribute to our own Alyssa Noel Scott.

Don't ask me how, but I already knew who Humbaba was so it didn't even occur to me that he may be or may be related to Mr Twist. Good catch, though

I think we may see some connections between the symbols in Shadowman like the amulet and the Geomancers. I believe FVL said the new Geomancer possesses an amulet, and the brief glimpse of the Book of the Geomancers in the A&A #5 preview seems to show an object embedded in the book.

Perhaps these are also related to the Boon in some way?

Just read through that wiki-link about Humbaba, nice find... it would be really cool if there was a link in Valiant's past history with the Anni-Padda brothers. The stuff about Humbaba in the Epic of Gilgamesh makes me think about a connection to the boon, perhaps they encounter him on their journey to the Faraway...

Even if they simply fought Mr. Twist alongside a previous Shadowman in the past, that would be a great story.

[erwinrafael]

The CBR review is nuts. How can he describe a sequence as an overused cliche ("people throwing what once meant most to them into the water") when his reference for the supposed cliche is a movie that was shown way back in the 1980s? How about ending every Avengers big moment with Avengers Assemble, is that supposed to be cliche too?

There was a time when we have really good critics doing these reviews (Augie de Blieck, Randy Lander, Don MacPherson). Now we get people like this Ryan Lindsay fellow and the equally terrible and condescending Hannibal Tabu.

[Blood of Heroes]

I'd like to applaud Valiant for placing the barcode on the back of the black cover. What a great cover!

[erwinrafael]

I'd like to applaud Valiant for placing the barcode on the back of the black cover. What a great cover!

Yes, great cover. That's the cover I got.

[hawkeyeps]

I'd like to applaud Valiant for placing the barcode on the back of the black cover. What a great cover!

YES, pure black. It just demands good handling as I said to the guy at the comic shop when he was handling it, he said "no kidding, that thing scuffs just looking at it."

I have a feeling nice copies of this one are already snug as bug in bags and boards. Also nice that good copies were attainable, kudos to VALIANT for that

[jmatt]

I'd like to applaud Valiant for placing the barcode on the back of the black cover. What a great cover!

+1

In NY, I asked Atom about the barcodes. He said they thought putting them on the back would be an inconvenience to retailers and they didn't want to tick off retailers. I understand, but disagree. Good cover art helps sell books and I think retailers would appreciate bigger numbers.

And speaking of the black covers, I had ordered 25 issues of #1 so I could get the 1:20 and 1:50 (paying $85 for 25 #1 issues and both variants seemed better than shelling out $65 for just the variants).

Anyhoo, I had 13 flawless blacks... he offered to "take a few off my hands" since all of his were instantly gone from the shelf. I declined.

So it looks like my theory about better covers selling more books wins.

[hawkeyeps]

I like the idea of the Shadowman spirit being a seperate entity to Jack that posesses him, in a way I would think this has to be a bad thing hence Josiah giving the amulet to Helena to protect Jack.

Jack finds himself the inheritor of the horrible legacy but must except it none the less, that amulet probably shouldn't have been tossed.

At any rate it looks like a great story is about to unfold, I agree that past Shadowman and Ani-Padda brother interactions would be great universe builders.

I think it was an excellent launch and for me the Shadowman blackout is the new Solar 10, I love it

[Carson]

I like the idea of the Shadowman spirit being a seperate entity to Jack that posesses him, in a way I would think this has to be a bad thing hence Josiah giving the amulet to Helena to protect Jack.

Jack finds himself the inheritor of the horrible legacy but must except it none the less, that amulet probably shouldn't have been tossed.

At any rate it looks like a great story is about to unfold, I agree that past Shadowman and Ani-Padda brother interactions would be great universe builders.

I think it was an excellent launch and for me the Shadowman blackout is the new Solar 10, I love it

Loved this issue. Epic start to what I joe will be a great series. A few thoughts:

1. The Shadowman spirit taking over a wounded and desperate Jack Boniface totally took me back to Ghost Rider (90s Danny Ketch). I'm thinking Jack doesn't control the spirit, it simply takes over his body and fights the evils of dead side.

2. Really wish he hadn't magically gotten into costume. I liked how the original Jack was just running around with a mask in jeans and a shirt for the first couple issues. Maybe this will grow on me.

3. I loved the spirit scene where he took over Jack and recited the lineage. Chills. Such a cool new way to explain what shadowman IS.

4. Art = amazing. Darque looks perfect. Can't wait to see more!

5. So far this book is squarely in the middle of the pack for me.

Favorite to Still Damn Good:
Harbinger, XO, Shadowman, A+A, Bloodshot

[Man Of The Atom]

Loved this issue. Epic start to what I joe will be a great series. A few thoughts:

1. The Shadowman spirit taking over a wounded and desperate Jack Boniface totally took me back to Ghost Rider (90s Danny Ketch). I'm thinking Jack doesn't control the spirit, it simply takes over his body and fights the evils of dead side.

I think that Jack will be able to take control of the spirit, or at least learn to work with it. I say that because in the beginning of the book Josiah seemed to be speaking for himself.

[Blood of Heroes]

Loved this issue. Epic start to what I joe will be a great series. A few thoughts:

1. The Shadowman spirit taking over a wounded and desperate Jack Boniface totally took me back to Ghost Rider (90s Danny Ketch). I'm thinking Jack doesn't control the spirit, it simply takes over his body and fights the evils of dead side.

I think that Jack will be able to take control of the spirit, or at least learn to work with it. I say that because in the beginning of the book Josiah seemed to be speaking for himself.

Isn't he wearing the amulet in that scene?

[SJS4]

Loved this issue. Epic start to what I joe will be a great series. A few thoughts:

1. The Shadowman spirit taking over a wounded and desperate Jack Boniface totally took me back to Ghost Rider (90s Danny Ketch). I'm thinking Jack doesn't control the spirit, it simply takes over his body and fights the evils of dead side.

I think that Jack will be able to take control of the spirit, or at least learn to work with it. I say that because in the beginning of the book Josiah seemed to be speaking for himself.

Isn't he wearing the amulet in that scene?

Nope, I checked for that on my second read through. It never shows Josiah wearing the amulet (just holding it in his hand while he gives it to Helena).

[Carson]

Loved this issue. Epic start to what I joe will be a great series. A few thoughts:

1. The Shadowman spirit taking over a wounded and desperate Jack Boniface totally took me back to Ghost Rider (90s Danny Ketch). I'm thinking Jack doesn't control the spirit, it simply takes over his body and fights the evils of dead side.

I think that Jack will be able to take control of the spirit, or at least learn to work with it. I say that because in the beginning of the book Josiah seemed to be speaking for himself.

Isn't he wearing the amulet in that scene?

Nope, I checked for that on my second read through. It never shows Josiah wearing the amulet (just holding it in his hand while he gives it to Helena).

Could he have BEEN wearing it and took it off when he decided to let Shadowman take over so he could stop Darque?

Maybe the amulet kept Shadowman at bay whenever he wore it.

[grendeljd]

Loved this issue. Epic start to what I joe will be a great series. A few thoughts:

1. The Shadowman spirit taking over a wounded and desperate Jack Boniface totally took me back to Ghost Rider (90s Danny Ketch). I'm thinking Jack doesn't control the spirit, it simply takes over his body and fights the evils of dead side.

I think that Jack will be able to take control of the spirit, or at least learn to work with it. I say that because in the beginning of the book Josiah seemed to be speaking for himself.

Isn't he wearing the amulet in that scene?

Nope, I checked for that on my second read through. It never shows Josiah wearing the amulet (just holding it in his hand while he gives it to Helena).

Could he have BEEN wearing it and took it off when he decided to let Shadowman take over so he could stop Darque?

Maybe the amulet kept Shadowman at bay whenever he wore it.

Interesting idea... we'll see if Jack goes on a hunt to fetch it back from the beach, or perhaps when the others catch up to him they'll give him another one?