Shadow Service #6

Shadow Service #6

Vault Comics 2020

Written by Cavan Scott

Illustrated by Corin Howell

Coloured by Triona Farrell

Lettered by Andworld Design

The much-anticipated next arc of Shadow Service begins! Betrayed by one of their own, MI666 takes to the dangerous streets of Rome. But can the traitor be brought back into the fold? The chase is on. Plus, Aashi’s secret past is finally revealed.

If there is one thing i’ve learned over the years its that a secret origin has a secret origin and I have a feeling that Hex didn’t tell Aashi the entire truth when he recruited her as an asset. After we’re talking about Hex and regardless of how old he looks the boy doesn’t lose anything, no he’d let it be taken feign ignorance that it was stolen and watch and see what happens with it, perhaps whispering in someone’s ear about what to do with it. Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me if he orchestrated that Aashi receive that and become what she has and if I were him i’d have done something quite similar. Whether I am right or wrong is not really relevant because either way what I’ve just done is showcase how engaged and invested in the story I am and how well Cavan manages to tell this tale.

I really like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development through how the sequence of events unfold alongside how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. I am impressed with how we see both the present and past working in concert to move the story forward. The character development that we see is amazing as well and to see Aashi’s point of view on what was done to her and how it affects her really does make one feel, empathise, more for her. The pacing that we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story through its twists & turns it generates this crazy good interest and intrigue factors.

How we see this structured with the layers of within the story playing such great roles in this help to set the stage for this new arc beautifully. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is absolutely delightful as just when you think things are settling down for a moment, well think again because this is action packed.

The interiors here are pretty amazing to see. The linework we see and how through the varying weights and techniques being employed really make the detail work shine. Not only that but the trick of the eye that we see is done with such aplomb. When backgrounds are on full display they do wonders in enhancing the moments as well as bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. I am a big fan of the flashback to the army sequence when their convey was attacked and how we see that imagery come to life, with the faces and facial expressions along with the uniforms and vehicles because that kind of level and quality of detail work is extremely impressive. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. I like the colour work we see here as well. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully rendered.

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Betrayal, passion, intrigue and feelings or lack thereof this one has it all, along with some interesting coercion tactics. I like that sometimes working within the shadows requires spending some time in the light as well and we’ll see where this is going to go next. Cavan is a master of writing subtle, intelligent and duplicitous secret agent stories and it’s no wonder why this series is so gosh darn good!