Shadowman #2

Shadowman #2

Valiant Entertainment 2021

Written by Cullen Bunn

Illustrated by Jon Davis-Hunt

Coloured by Jordie Bellaire

Lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles

The hellscape known as the Deadside has pried open a doorway to Earth in Enoch, Arizona! And our only chance at survival against the awakening desert beasts is SHADOWMAN.

The opening here is utterly fantastic! I honestly hadn't seen this playing out the way it did, I mean I got part of it right but dang I love being surprised and between Cullen and Jon they took me right to church here. This is precisely what this book should be about and that its long overdue is no surprise to me. Shadowman with his powers and the Deadside should’ve always had a heavy horror influence to it and that Cullen is making this straight up a horror story that just happens to have a hero who is the guardian against those who pierce the veil is icing on the cake. Then of course there’s the Lao of Death who travels with him and that adds the element of levity and sarcasm to the book that creates a dynamic similar to the Odd Couple in so many ways.

I am in love with 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 exceptionally well. The character development is bloody marvellous. How we see the dialogue, character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter continue to flesh them out perfectly. I’m serious about how mindbogglingly brilliant the conversations between Samedi and Jack truly are. I could read endless pages of the two of them going back and forth with one another, it’s just that good. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story as well as the twists & turns along the way draws the reader in perfectly.

I am a huge fan of the way that we see this being structured and with how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. These layers are where the depth and complexity appears in usually he most unexpected of ways. Our mystery woman for instance swirls around the outer edges for now and it’s brilliantly done. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceptionally well.

The interiors here are sensational! The linework we see is stupendous and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create such a high level of quality detail in the work leaves me gobsmacked. That backgrounds are utilised as they are and that they have this way becoming a character in their own rite is spectacular to see. How they work within the composition of the panels to bring us this depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is amazing. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely exquisite! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows such a mastery of colour. The greens and how we see the ghostly images are so expertly rendered and mind numbingly gorgeous to behold.

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These folks are so incredibly talented individuals and to see them be able to take these character and breathe life into them in a way that thrills all the senses, well except smell, is utterly delightful. This is so thoughtfully and intelligently written and the interiors will leave you gobsmacked to the point where you when its done you just sit there as your mind works overtime to process what you’ve just read.