Re-reading: Shadowman #3
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
Re-reading: Shadowman #3
I thought we could do a book a day (that way people can read one every day or catch up on weekends), talk about it on its own, in the context of whats next, in regards to what expectations it creates and vote on how good it is. I don't have to be the one that posts everyday. If I miss a day or if someone wants to take over please do
For voting think of your single favourite comic book (not just VALIANT) as the benchmark - thats a 10 - and grade according to that.
The voting (I'm hoping) will help new readers make more educated descisions. If this turkey files maybe we can even do a list of the books according to average voting grade.
Make sure to mention what you like'd about the book, what you didn't, what you wish they would have done, your favourite panels, lines of dialogue, little bits of trivia etc.
Shadowman #3
For voting think of your single favourite comic book (not just VALIANT) as the benchmark - thats a 10 - and grade according to that.
The voting (I'm hoping) will help new readers make more educated descisions. If this turkey files maybe we can even do a list of the books according to average voting grade.
Make sure to mention what you like'd about the book, what you didn't, what you wish they would have done, your favourite panels, lines of dialogue, little bits of trivia etc.
Shadowman #3
- Todd Luck
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This issue provides a blue print for Pre-Unity Shadowman issues (and even a few post-Unity ones). Sosa is a great villian. A guy who builds up too much electricity in his body and gets off frying people with it seems resonable enough (ofcourse soon they'ld change Sosa's power). The horror here is played well. Shadowman's a total bad *SQUEE* and the fact that he was willing to put the girl in danger to get the "demon" made it interesting. Nice ominious ending. Wonderful art. I like it.
The only flaw is that Sosa hunting Shadowman for a challenge felt a little chliched and just an excuse to get our two enemies together in the limited pages we had. But still a great issue. An 8.
The only flaw is that Sosa hunting Shadowman for a challenge felt a little chliched and just an excuse to get our two enemies together in the limited pages we had. But still a great issue. An 8.
- Unblessed
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I liked this issue better than issue #2. Sosa was a great villan. Not only is he evil, he preys on children. Which makes this book REALLY dark, IMHO. I like how this builds on Jack and Nettie's relationship (their friendship beyond that of a housekeeper and housedirtier (?))..
I gave it an 8 because I think Sosa should have died in the end or had a more violent end battle sequence.
I'm liking Jack's mysterious powers and Nettie's Voo Doo fear.
~Unblessed
I gave it an 8 because I think Sosa should have died in the end or had a more violent end battle sequence.
I'm liking Jack's mysterious powers and Nettie's Voo Doo fear.
~Unblessed
Sosa is a strange villian. One of the few early valiant bad guys with super powers that arent based in real life. We are introduced to him withour an origin which is okay because this book is more about shadowmans first real fight. The use of night and day to effect Jack's superheroing is good but the dialogue is bad - especially netties. Its far too on the nose. A nice read but disappointing when you consider how few shooter directed Shadowman books we get. Lapham as always is great, especially on the first page splash where the detail is better than the cover - not a favorite cover of mine.
A 6
A 6
- Todd Luck
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Actually, Lapham did the cover and Morretti did the interior pencils. I'm convinced they use fill-in artists just to confuse readers .xoken wrote:Sosa is a strange villian. One of the few early valiant bad guys with super powers that arent based in real life. We are introduced to him withour an origin which is okay because this book is more about shadowmans first real fight. The use of night and day to effect Jack's superheroing is good but the dialogue is bad - especially netties. Its far too on the nose. A nice read but disappointing when you consider how few shooter directed Shadowman books we get. Lapham as always is great, especially on the first page splash where the detail is better than the cover - not a favorite cover of mine.
A 6
There were only two villians in the Shooter-era that appeared with no "origin" for their power mentioned. Sosa was one. A female psychic in Solar 8 is another. I always assumed they were just Harbingers whose powers got activated somehow. After Sosa's power had been changed (with no explaination) to draining people's "life force", Bloodshot 8 said that it was probably a Harbinger power.
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A great beginning to the book -- Sosa is immediately evil! Really bad!
But ...
Here's where it gets another 6. Compare this to the setup Darque had in the EW books. Darque was evil, competent and shrewd. Sosa charged into battle like some dumb Spidey villain from 1965. And Jack kicked his *SQUEE* in no time flat. Too easy.
Fun read, but not a great comic.
But ...
Here's where it gets another 6. Compare this to the setup Darque had in the EW books. Darque was evil, competent and shrewd. Sosa charged into battle like some dumb Spidey villain from 1965. And Jack kicked his *SQUEE* in no time flat. Too easy.
Fun read, but not a great comic.
The VCB synopsis:
In a New Orleans bar, a couple of loan sharks take a debtor gambler into the bathroom to beat him. Observing this, Jack Boniface follows into the restroom. A short fight later, the tough loan sharks come running out of the darkened bathroom. Jack has just saved the gambler, but he couldn’t care less for the man’s welfare. He just felt like fighting.
Elsewhere in Louisiana, crime lord Emil Sosa awaits an illicit delivery. A child pornographer arrives with a briefcase full of money and a little girl. Both are for Sosa to keep. But as Sosa examines the money, the pornographer draws his gun to shoot Sosa. Sosa handily beats the pornographer. He then exhibits his preternatural power by draining the pornographer’s life-energy, leaving only a burnt shell of a man. He takes the girl to the special children’s room of his mansion, where the maids are still removing the crisped remains of the last child staying there. Later that night, Sosa hears the reports of the Shadowman vigilante of New Orleans. He feels that this Shadowman may provide some sport.
Back at Jack Boniface’s apartment, Nettie warns Jack that Emil Sosa is after Shadowman. She tells him of how Sosa used to kidnap children for a child pornography ring. Then, Sosa blackmailed the pornographers into giving him $10,000 and a child every month. And with the “fire spirits” within him, he burns those children up! Of course, such a challenge is something Shadowman cannot pass up.
After his sax gig, Jack takes to the street as Shadowman. He follows a series of murder scenes when he’s suddenly ambushed by Sosa. Sosa actually manages to capture Shadowman and lock him up in the basement of his plantation. Later, Jack regains conciousness and one of the maids frees him from his cell. She says she can’t take any more of Sosa’s evil acts and she gives the little kidnapped girl to Jack. He takes the girl outside, but the sun’s going down. The urge for Shadowman to get Sosa becomes irresistable. He leaves the little girl by a tree in the compound, and returns to the mansion for Sosa. But Sosa already knows of his missing captives and he finds the girl outside. He brings her back in to use as a hostage against Shadowman. Shadowman cares nothing about hostages and he attacks Sosa. Sosa makes to fry Shadowman, but is knocked into the steel bars on the bedroom window and fries himself. Shadowman takes the girl home then.
Back at home, Nettie tells Jack that Sosa isn’t dead, just hospitalized, and that the little girl will require a lot of psychotherapy after her ordeal. But Jack doesn’t care. Sosa’s out of commission and that’s all that matters to Shadowman.
/Magnus
In a New Orleans bar, a couple of loan sharks take a debtor gambler into the bathroom to beat him. Observing this, Jack Boniface follows into the restroom. A short fight later, the tough loan sharks come running out of the darkened bathroom. Jack has just saved the gambler, but he couldn’t care less for the man’s welfare. He just felt like fighting.
Elsewhere in Louisiana, crime lord Emil Sosa awaits an illicit delivery. A child pornographer arrives with a briefcase full of money and a little girl. Both are for Sosa to keep. But as Sosa examines the money, the pornographer draws his gun to shoot Sosa. Sosa handily beats the pornographer. He then exhibits his preternatural power by draining the pornographer’s life-energy, leaving only a burnt shell of a man. He takes the girl to the special children’s room of his mansion, where the maids are still removing the crisped remains of the last child staying there. Later that night, Sosa hears the reports of the Shadowman vigilante of New Orleans. He feels that this Shadowman may provide some sport.
Back at Jack Boniface’s apartment, Nettie warns Jack that Emil Sosa is after Shadowman. She tells him of how Sosa used to kidnap children for a child pornography ring. Then, Sosa blackmailed the pornographers into giving him $10,000 and a child every month. And with the “fire spirits” within him, he burns those children up! Of course, such a challenge is something Shadowman cannot pass up.
After his sax gig, Jack takes to the street as Shadowman. He follows a series of murder scenes when he’s suddenly ambushed by Sosa. Sosa actually manages to capture Shadowman and lock him up in the basement of his plantation. Later, Jack regains conciousness and one of the maids frees him from his cell. She says she can’t take any more of Sosa’s evil acts and she gives the little kidnapped girl to Jack. He takes the girl outside, but the sun’s going down. The urge for Shadowman to get Sosa becomes irresistable. He leaves the little girl by a tree in the compound, and returns to the mansion for Sosa. But Sosa already knows of his missing captives and he finds the girl outside. He brings her back in to use as a hostage against Shadowman. Shadowman cares nothing about hostages and he attacks Sosa. Sosa makes to fry Shadowman, but is knocked into the steel bars on the bedroom window and fries himself. Shadowman takes the girl home then.
Back at home, Nettie tells Jack that Sosa isn’t dead, just hospitalized, and that the little girl will require a lot of psychotherapy after her ordeal. But Jack doesn’t care. Sosa’s out of commission and that’s all that matters to Shadowman.
/Magnus
- Daniel Jackson
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- Elveen
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I loved the Sosa character. I think he had so much potential (I was so bummed when he was killed in Bloodshot )
I agree, I would had loved to see his orgin, but we get such a great set-up aobut him: kidnapper, child porno king, child killer, he has all these children in his house awaiting to kill them....
He was so unlike bad guys I grew up with... all wanting to conquer the world... (no one really wants to do that) Sosa is the kind of bad guy that really exists (excpet for the life draining/electrfying powers).
I loved this book, better than #2, one of my favorite, favorite Shadowman books,
The only thing I would have wanted is for Sosa to get away and come back in issue #4 or #5.
Shadowman #3 = I gave it a 10
I agree, I would had loved to see his orgin, but we get such a great set-up aobut him: kidnapper, child porno king, child killer, he has all these children in his house awaiting to kill them....
He was so unlike bad guys I grew up with... all wanting to conquer the world... (no one really wants to do that) Sosa is the kind of bad guy that really exists (excpet for the life draining/electrfying powers).
I loved this book, better than #2, one of my favorite, favorite Shadowman books,
The only thing I would have wanted is for Sosa to get away and come back in issue #4 or #5.
Shadowman #3 = I gave it a 10
- Daniel Jackson
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- jedimarley
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