The Shadow 4 (August 1986)

The Shadow #4 What a terrible comic. Chaykin’s handling of The Shadow reminds of someone trying to catch a hot potato; whenever he does have a hold on it, it’s not for long enough and it always leaves that all right place for an unpredictable direction.

The problem with this issue–besides the big revelations are predictable and idiotic–is the focus on the villains. Chaykin elevates villains maybe deserving of a half issue crisis to a full four issues. All the sex and drugs and violence is supposed to be enough to make up for them not having any depth, but it doesn’t. It’s not even real flash–it’s implied flash.

And Chaykin could try for flash but doesn’t. He doesn’t try with the art. After the art being The Shadow’s single exemplary factor to this point, he gives up for the last issue.

It’s not completely worthless–the art’s still more than decent–but it’s close.

CREDITS

Blood & Judgment, Conclusion; writer and artist, Howard Chaykin; colorist, Alex Wald; letterer, Ken Bruzenak; editor, Andrew Helfer; publisher, DC Comics.

The Shadow 3 (July 1986)

The Shadow #3 With his third of four issues, Chaykin gets around to showing what his Shadow comic is actually going to be like.

Tepid.

Lots of ribald talk, lots of innuendo (both verbal and visual) and not much else. There’s one good action sequence, where Chaykin’s sense of design and the toughness of the comic inform how the Shadow fights criminals. But it’s just one scene. Then Chaykin’s got a pointless montage of all the Shadow’s new contacts–he’s got a finite story he’s trying to tell but he’s also got a checklist of old Shadow references to make.

He also has way too big of a cast and sends around eighty percent of the good guy supporting cast off page because he doesn’t want to deal with them. He needs them for a line in a scene, then he disposes of them. It’s very messy and poorly designed.

But the art’s magnificent.

CREDITS

Blood & Judgment, Part Three; writer and artist, Howard Chaykin; colorist, Alex Wald; letterer, Ken Bruzenak; editor, Andrew Helfer; publisher, DC Comics.

The Shadow 2 (June 1986)

The Shadow #2 So after an entirely forward-looking first issue, Chaykin gets around to the flashbacks in the second. In some ways, since the Shadow isn’t the most familiar character, an origin is necessary. But Chaykin goes overboard. He feels the need to rationalize the magical city where the Shadow, back before he was the Shadow, finds himself. There’s too much confusion around the Shadow’s identity too; it’s too dense. The origin takes a whole fourth of the series and there’s got to be some stuff in there Chaykin doesn’t need.

It’d be worse if he uses it all, considering how stuffed he makes the origin. All that extra material cuts back on the composition possibilities too. There’s a nice visit to Shanghai, but the out of fuel airplane sequence is a waste of visual time. And the magical city? Chaykin’s too cynical for it.

It’s decent enough, but Chaykin handles it predictably.

CREDITS

Blood & Judgment, Part Two; writer and artist, Howard Chaykin; colorist, Alex Wald; letterer, Ken Bruzenak; editor, Andrew Helfer; publisher, DC Comics.

The Shadow 1 (May 1986)

The Shadow #1 Howard Chaykin's The Shadow. He takes an interesting approach to bringing back a World War II era costumed adventurer–he lets everyone age while the Shadow is away. Most of the issue has various agents–people in their later years–getting viciously murdered.

One of the Shadow's agents has had a daughter who works for some crime bureau place and she recognizes the pattern and goes to save her father. There's a fantastic action sequence that time. Chaykin's composition throughout the comic is phenomenal; the comic is always moving, with Chaykin's page layouts helping the reader get through the pages quick enough.

Only the villains get much development–the good guys are either getting killed off or trying not to get killed off. Chaykin's got a certain level of absurdity for the mega-rich villains but he keeps it in reasonable check. It's like an enthusiastic, extremely bloody and mean James Bond movie.

It's awesome.

CREDITS

Blood & Judgment, Part One; writer and artist, Howard Chaykin; colorist, Alex Wald; letterer, Ken Bruzenak; editor, Andrew Helfer; publisher, DC Comics.

Noir 1 (November 2013)

TNNoir01CovSyafNOTFINAL I don’t know why I should keep reading Noir. It’s a perfectly serviceable comic for Dynamite to exploit a couple licenses they hold–The Shadow and Miss Fury–but there’s nothing else going on with it.

The art, from Andrea Mutti, is pretty good. So’s the writing, actually. Victor Gischler does a fine enough job with it. He’s got the Shadow teaming up with some Spanish lady spy to track down some kind of artifact. It feels a little like a pulp, but a pulp with some Indiana Jones type stuff thrown in. Only in the United States instead of Europe somewhere.

Gischler does okay with the Shadow’s narration and with the dialogue. He just doesn’t come up with a reason to keep going on the comic. It’s competent and disposable. I didn’t realize there were still people who blindly bought Shadow comics but Dynamite must think those people exist.

CREDITS

Writer, Victor Gischler; artist, Andrea Mutti; colorist, Vladimir Popov; letterer, Rob Steen; editors, Molly Mahan and Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Shadow 6 (October 2012)

Eh.

Ennis doesn’t have a good finish for the arc. He goes for the funny finish with a joke about something not particularly amusing. He hasn’t really established the Shadow making jokes along those lines–I think he did mention a foul sense of humor at one point, but it wasn’t enough. The end flops. It’s like Ennis wanted to write as little as possible.

Even with some bloodshed, the comic feels like Indiana Jones again, especially with Cranston and Margo ending up in British India. Ennis’s history is fine, he’s simply not applying it well.

The arc might have gotten more mileage as a standalone series; as the starting arc of an ongoing, though, it’s a misfire. Ennis’s most interesting characters are the bad guys, the Shadow’s magic is unclear and Margo’s a wasted character.

Still, it’s component and Ennis’s wartime intrigue makes it somewhat worthwhile. It’s just disappointing.

CREDITS

The Fire of Creation, Conclusion; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Aaron Campbell; colorist, Carlos Lopez; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Shadow 5 (September 2012)

Ennis brings the Shadow in–he didn’t show up last issue–and it doesn’t work out. The issue works, for the first half, because it’s the wartime intrigue book. The Japanese villains have their machinations and Cranston and Margo have some stuff going on too. Then Cranston gets into costume and it all goes to pot.

Well, not all to pot. The scenes without the Shadow in them are fine. But the scene with the Shadow–he only has one big one–is pointless. Ennis works towards something, but never gets to it and starts working toward something else. And never gets to it either.

Margo and the American agent disappear after a few good scenes. Ennis just can’t feign the interest in them, which is too bad. There’s another really good Margo scene this issue.

Campbell’s art is probably the best so far.

The Shadow remains a mixed bag.

CREDITS

The Fire of Creation, Part Five; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Aaron Campbell; colorist, Carlos Lopez; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Shadow 4 (August 2012)

I don’t think Ennis has a good handle on Margo and Cranston’s relationship. He’s trying to figure it out in the story, which is fine, but it’s a minor subplot and it ought to be more. He keeps insinuating things, but never clarifies. It’s a bewildering approach.

Or it would be if he weren’t doing a war comic. It’s not a battle comic, but it’s a war comic–The Shadow, under Ennis’s pen, is about wartime intrigue and he’s great at writing it. There’s a long scene with the Japanese and their Chinese crime boss associate and it’s better than any scene with Cranston or the good guys.

Ennis doesn’t even have to demonize the Japanese villains here, his other material is so strong. He’s able to demonize the Japanese entirely, however.

So while it’s an excellent comic for the most part, it’d be better if it weren’t The Shadow.

CREDITS

The Fire of Creation, Part Four; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Aaron Campbell; colorist, Carlos Lopez; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Shadow 3 (June 2012)

I wonder if Ennis is going out of his way to demonize the main villains–he ends on with reminder of their atrociousness–as a way to curb the Japanese being the main villains of the story.

When it comes to World War II, the Germans get the most emphasis from Western storytellers. Ennis avoids that route. When Germans do show up, they’re disposable morons.

There’s a little more intrigue this issue. A bunch of different nations are trying to get magic rocks from China (it could be plutonium, couldn’t it?). Ennis handles the espionage quite well, which is good since he doesn’t handle Margo Lane well here.

He lets her character contract; he’s using her as Lamont Cranston’s arm candy. It’s boring.

Campbell does okay for most the issue. Except he draws Cranston rather aged. It’s a bad couple panels.

Ennis still hasn’t taken the book above basic competence.

CREDITS

The Fire of Creation, Part Three; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Aaron Campbell; colorist, Carlos Lopez; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Shadow 2 (May 2012)

Ennis plays The Shadow like a really tough Indiana Jones picture. Indiana Jones with some magic and the bad guys are worse. They’re not just villains because they’re Japanese, they’re also villains because they do really bad things.

While the issue’s entertaining–and it’s nice to see Ennis give Margo Lane some personality–he hasn’t introduced any real danger for Lamont Cranston yet. He’s not just a guy with a little magic, he’s a guy with a lot of magic and it’s hard to imagine him not getting out of a tough situation.

Besides the assassination attempt on an airship–it’s cool, not thrilling–Ennis spends a lot of time with the evil Japanese guys and their American counterparts. As usual, his passion is in the war history. Cranston and Margo are just along for the ride.

Campbell’s art is better in some places than others.

It’s a serviceable comic.

CREDITS

The Fire of Creation, Part Two; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Aaron Campbell; colorist, Carlos Lopez; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.