Shadow Doctor #4

Shadow Doctor #4

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Peter Calloway

Illustrated by Georges Jeanty

Coloured by Juancho!

Lettered by Charles Pritchett

The attempt on Capone’s life ignited a bloody battle between the Italians of Chicago. With war now raging, Nathaniel was realising what he was: a tool. One to be used to patch up the gangsters he knew would kill again. He wants out, wants to undo what he’s done…until a knock on his door changes everything.

This is one of the best books on the stands today. I do like how we see the opening here with Nate talking to his son while in the hospital as he lay dying. There are some things that are great to get off your chest whether you want to tell someone or not. What Nate had to deal with and live through just to be a Doctor is as amazing, stressful and rewarding as it gets. There are some great insights into this as well what with the black community not understanding what a doctor really is and their viewpoint on what he was. Part of me is amazed by the revelations and another part of me is completely and utterly impressed with his tenacity and drive to be a doctor in that world.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented perfectly. The character development is phenomenal to see through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. There is some great humour injected into this as well and in some of the most amazing places. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more the reader feels like a part of this family’s story.

I am really impressed with the way we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. You’d think that some of these layers being what they are they’d fighting one another but they don’t they compliment each other beautifully and tie together everything about Nate’s life so we get a more complete picture. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as moving the story forward is achieved to perfection.

The interiors here are utterly beautiful. The linework is sensational and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to bring out this quality of detail work that we see is astounding. Backgrounds are actually utilised really well and that page where he goes home to home with the rickety stairwell and how we see the bricks that’s just exactly what we should be seeing. How we see them work within the composition of the panels bringing us this depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is so well rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is phenomenal. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work showcases a master colourist at work.

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Nate’s drive, desire and determination to be whom he wants to be is not only admirable but it’s infectious as well. You read this and you see him doing what he needs to do and you think if he can do this while having to deal with that then I can do anything as well. I love Nate and what he shows he’s capable of doing and the kind of man that he is as he tries to establish himself to make a better life for his family. I want to be a part of his family at this point as I’m immensely proud of what he’s able to accomplish and I don’t even know him or his family. This, this is the power of storytelling folks through immaculate writing and impressive interiors this is among the best of the best.