Shadowman Volume 1: Birth Rites (SHADOWMAN (VU) TP)

I first discovered Shadowman as a Nintendo 64 game wherein a Mask Of Shadows caused a man named Micheal to become Shadowman and travel between Deadside and Liveside dispatching Voodoo justice and collecting Dark Souls. However, this is not the same Shadowman. This is actually better and makes more sense; think Spawn meets Constantine with a Dr. Strange twist but better. Jack Boniface is just one man in a long line of Shadowmen that has been reluctantly, and a bit haphazardly, tossed into the life of a Shadowman, an avatar/champion/sentinel for the planes Deadside and Liveside able to transfer between the two planes without dying or any other means as well as innately imbued with all arcane and preternatural knowledge that his new mantle as Shadowman may require him know. He also has a scythe but I honestly preferred the gun and Dark Soul thing from the Nintendo 64 game. All in all, it's been a good read and I feel I'm in it for the long haul.

As always there is spoilers in this review, continue with this in mind... What got me back into reading Valiant when it was announced for a relaunch wasn't Harbinger (which I enjoyed the original pre-unity/unity issues, I wasn't too fond of the later run up to and past #25) or fan favorite X-O Manowar (I did enjoy the series until Birthquake), Bloodshot (great character who never realized his full potential) or even the "Square pegs in a Round World" duo of Archer and Armstrong (who after 12 issues, never found their way back to the greatness that Barry Windsor Smith established), even with those books being launched I was apathetic toward the line, wished them luck and paid a little attention, but not a great amount...so back to my original question after my long winded intro, what did bring me back to valiant after all of this time? One answer...Shadowman. As per my other Vol. 1 releases, let me go back and talk about the original series a bit and why Shadowman is my favorite character. I'll be the first to admit, Valiant in the early 90's went way past my radar, I'm usually not the first person to check out a new book unless there is a creator or concept I like behind it. So my first experience with Shadowman was issue #8 as it was a hot book in Wizard and my friend was heavily into speculating at the time (he like to read them, but he was always on the lookout to make a quick buck, and as a result of that, I got to read things I normally wouldn't have picked up since unlike him I didn't get an allowance and had to work summer jobs for my spending money) So after looking through his box of hot books, he had picked up some of these new Valiant books, and the one I gravitated to most was Shadowman (I was always a bigger fan of darker books, like Ostrander and Mandrake's Spectre or Mackie and Texiera on Ghost Rider) so after flipping through this issue of Shadowman and one or two more, I was hooked, this was just when Bob Hall had taken over writing duties on the book and the character had not found his voice yet (sounds like a trend that continues to this day with certain new VEI properties) and was still ripe for development without too much baggage. Other than the Lost Land, Unity and Elya, Jack was a blank slate to work with, and did Bob Hall ever take that concept and run with it. Throughout it's all too short 43 issue run (45 counting yearbook and zero issue and related stories in Secrets of the Valiant Universe #2 and the Chaos Effect, and guest appearances elsewhere) Jack was pretty much written by one man Bob Hall, when this happened something happened to the character, instead of being a Jazz musician influenced by unknown events and forces into donning a mask at night and being shadowman, he instead talked like a new yorker, had a different tone and character and had a voice, I would infer the voice of Bob Hall. This was a voice that you knew was not there for fill-in issues by guest writers notably in Shadowman #25 and #36, written by Tony Bedard and Mike Baron (respectively) I knew it was not Bob's work, nor in Jack's voice, as that essential something was missing. So in essense Bob Hall was Jack Boniface vis-a-vis Shadowman. The book focused on one man who was given a strange power by a voodoo coven to fight the terrors of the night and most especially the most evil villian Master Darque (in his most impressive incarnation so far) a Necromancer who wants to control life, death and everything who will stop and nothing and has no boundaries he will not cross to accomplish his goals, Darque was being setup as one of the main villians in the Valiant Universe as he crossed paths with the Eternal Warrior, X-O Manowar, Archer and Armstrong, Dr. Mirage, Solar, and had affected most every one in the valiant universe at some point, his reach was that immense and machinations that wide that he did in fact reach that stature of being Valiant's big bad guy. Sadly, due to internal politics, poor planning, etc. the character basically languished in the supernatural section of valiant, and he really could have been so much more. However with that, Bob Hall was given carte blanche to use the character as he saw fit and shaped him as he needed him for use in stories and story arcs that Jack given his limited, yet expanding abilities a challenge, tested him as a hero and almost managed to kill him time and again. By the end of the run, valiant as an entity was falling apart due to Acclaim's aquisition of the company, the book was getting uncerimoniously cancelled and Bob Hall wasn't having any of it, his last definant act was to have Jack leap to his death as the sun rose on the horizon with a big ? in the last panel. When Acclaimed relaunched Shadowman Jack was back, but this wasn't Shadowman how I remember him or how I wanted him. Garth Ennis had essentially took the basic framework from the original series and cut everything else away and trashed it. The new Shadowman was Zero a amnesiatic assassin, who would eventually regain his memory, be able to go into a place called the Deadside and fight evil. Well to say the least, I hated it, read about four issues and ignored the series and the rest of Acclaim's Valiant until it died when Unity 2000 was released and I completed my collection of the original valiant titles. So that brings us to 2012 and the relaunch of Shadowman by Justin Jordan and Patrick Zircher. Jordan took an alternate approach to Ennis take on Shadowman and that was to take both old series smash them together and keep the best bits from both series. So while Shadowman is again, Jack Boniface, he also gets Deadside, a Master Darque who looks like the real deal, plus a overhaul and refresh of the character twenty years hence. However we do loose a few things, no Jazz, saxaphone, Jack's house keeper Nettie (which is the biggest loss to me), and no pony tail, which I understand it was a 90's thing, but it worked for the character. So is it any good? Mostly yes, but some no, here's why. We start out the story by meeting Jack's parents (the current Shadowman and his pregnant wife) he goes off to fight Darque from bringing the Deadside to Earth, and she leaves him to keep their unborn child safe as she cannot deal with this life anymore. Fast forward 20 years and Jack is trying to find out who he is, (which wasn't unusal from the original story) but more than that, Jordan is trying to find a voice for Jack too, gone is the fast talking, Jazz playing saxaphonist Boniface, replaced by a self proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades drifter coming back to where he was born trying to find his roots. Jordan and Zircher collaborated on creating this character and you can see the potential in him, but like X-O Jordan seems to be focusing on the overall story arc, and getting all of the key figures into place before we worry about actual you know characterizing them. (which other VEI titles have no issues with, only X-O and Shadowman it seems) We know Jack is the good guy, we know Master Darque is the big baddie, but we know more about Mr. Twist in this volume and have a better feel for the arbitors who seem to have taken the place of Nettie and her mysterious Voodoo cult that creates the Shadowmen. The art is great to look at as Zircher (who sadly left the book not too long after this arc for greener pastures at DC) has a good feel for the dark and supernatual feel of the Shadowman mythos and had a hand in the main creation of the new look for Jack and Darque and most, if not all of the other characters in the series. The story goes between the past of how things started, to the present and Jack looking for answers to who he is and where he came from, and leads to his becoming Shadowman (the Loa is a living entity this time) and basically knowing what he has to do, even though he's been thrown into the zany and weird world all in one night. By the end of the first arc, Twist has allowed Darque access to the Deadside, Jack and the abitors are preparing for battle and we are wondering what's coming next. Again I think this is a 3.5 star title, but I am giving it four stars unlike X-O Manowar Vol. 1 it has deeper characterization of the secondary cast unlike that book, but I still think the main character needs a few issues of development time so we know who Jack is and we know who he is when he's Shadowman and the difference between both of them. One personal gripe is with the introduction of Master Darque, I would have been happier if he would have been more of a behind the scenes villian as in the original series and only finally introduced when Jack became too much of a nusicance for him to ignore any longer and for him to squash before he got out of hand. Instead we get a full introduction within the first few pages, armageddon already upon us and Darque manipulating Jack's father into becoming a portal to where Darque wants to go for more knowledge. It was probably a well thought out idea by VEI's editorial staff, Jordan and Zircher, but so far what has been shown it seems to be a misstep for what I've already mentioned with one of Valiant's preeminant villians. Hopefully Jordan will not be against using the best concepts from VH1 (Valiant Heroes 1) and building his mythology with some of those connections in mind (Armstrong, Eternal Warrior) to not have New Orleans and Shadowman feel so isolated this time in this brave new world, and this new VEI universe.

I always love characters like Shadowman and the fact that the first story was based in New Orleans was awesome. Love that this series has a focus on the Deadside in Valiant Comics and I love the magic side of this character. Gives me Doctor Strange vibes and it was written well. Definitely am a big fan of Shadowman now. Read this in an hour so I loved it a lot.

Shadowman is another of the newly released Valiant TPB, part of the re-imagining of the Valiant Universe from the 1990's. Disclaimer - I was a big Valiant fans then, and have been buying all their material now. I was especially a big Shadowman fan, it was probably one of my top three or four comics books in the 90s. I had high expectations when I started this series. Shadowman (1990s version) was probably one of the constantly good books that Valiant put out. But I found that when I started reading this TPB, I felt something...lacking. The story was okay, but it didn't really go anywhere. The characters were never really explored - I never got a real feel about any of the people in the book. The artwork was good (and fit the "dark" tone of the book quite well, but it still felt somehow incomplete. Like the story was only being half told. Perhaps that what the authors wanted, but I wanted a voodoo/mystical story that I could get into, and that would be fun to read. I felt like the authors were throwing all this stuff at us, hoping something would stick (which we would enjoy). Instead the book just read as sort of a mess. It wasn't bad, and it did have some funny lines, but I felt like it left more questions that it answered. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if that can be used to draw you into the book, but I never felt invested in the characters, so I never felt like I really cared what happened next. Of all the new Valiant books, I would say Shadowman is the weakest. I hope the next story arc picks up somewhat, but at this point I would say read it only if you really want to read all the Valiant titles.

The art in shadowman is so sick. From the first page to the last. The story is slow moving but you will not wana miss its beginning. This trade is well worth its price tag here. Get it now! The valiant universe is very well connected to its other books so if u like the others dont miss our on this one or anyothers. Your going to love this book!

Arrived in excellent condition the seller really went the extra mile to make sure the book remained undamaged through shipping I highly recommend this seller & they have a new lifelong customer here

The new Shadowman is the fifth title to be reintroduced by the new Valiant. The third incarnation of the character, Shadowman is arguably the most famous of the Valiant properties based on the successful videogame based on the concept back in the late ‘90s. This new version seeks to meld what was successfully about the prior two versions - both the costumed vigilante of the original series, and the mystic defender against the realms of the dead from the second. I appreciate the attempts to be inclusive of the prior visions, as I thought they were both strong points, and this title starts to fill in a long vacant supernatural corner of the Valiant Universe. Jack Boniface was orphaned as a young boy, and spends most of his life in and out of foster-care till eventually getting out on his own. He knows little about his original parents; aside from an amulet his mother gave him with the instructions to always wear it. What is unknown to Jack is that his family line is cursed/blessed with the birthright of the Shadowman, mystical voodoo protector of the realm of the living against incursions from other realms, most notably – The Deadside, a horrible realm where dead souls can be trapped and all the nasty things that go bump in the night dwell. A horrible sorcerer named Master Darque, long thought banished by jack’s father, is making a play to return to reality, and part of that play is making sure there will be no Shadowman to oppose him. This is the first Valiant title that I had mixed feelings towards. I’ll start off with what is truly awesome… the art. Patrick Zircher draws this entire first arc, and does an amazing job. Unfortunately, the story itself is the weaker aspect, which is what is so surprising for a Valiant title. Alas, too much of this was predictable, super-hero cheesy, or just downright bad scripting. While the story itself is compelling, the scripting surely suffers. But, as many have said before… the worst Valiant script is still leagues above some of the other junk that is available in the comic-book marketplace. I do consider this volume of Shadowman to be an important purchase if you are a fan of the Valiant Universe. The VU is an interconnected place of many different flavors and genres, and Shadowman begins to flesh out an important one.

It was a good book But it did have some confusing sequences in a little bit of Gore but for the most part I loved it