Re-Reading: Shadowman #4

A week-to-week plan is available for re-reading VALIANT from the beginning...
start anytime, go at your own pace.

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How would you rate this book?

10
4
44%
9
1
11%
8
2
22%
7
2
22%
6
0
No votes
5
0
No votes
4
0
No votes
3
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
1
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 9

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xoken
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Re-Reading: Shadowman #4

Post by xoken »

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 #4
Image

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Todd Luck
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Post by Todd Luck »

Perfection.

THIS is what Shadowman's about. This issue provides the definitve mold for Jack's personality that would carry this series for the next 40+ issues. Shadowman is appropriately bad a$$. Jack is heroic but human. He's out of the loop in the Valiant Universe and has this great WTF reactions to everything that happens. Through Jack's we see Valiant through the eyes of the everyman. And deals with it all with a sense of humor and a bit of cynism (his reaction to the tree is priceless).

And I love Jack and Elya. My favorite comic couple. The art here is perfect. I truely feel like I'm in the middle of the fight. There's a sense of awe here that I've rarely felt. This is far and away the best version of the Solar/Erica battle. And Shadowman kills a damn dinosaur! What more could you possibly want?

Far and away Shadowman 4 and 5 are my favorite Unity issues and amoung my favorite issues of the entire series. A very enthusiast 10 :thumb: .

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xoken
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Post by xoken »

Really good issue. Might be a better first issue to read than #1. We get the background on what shadowman is, snappy dialogue, solar and erica, unity, a great battle, some good shadowman fighting :thumb:

"You should see me at night" is classic and even better when he says it to solar.

the "what would shadowman do" scenes are the first time I think someone has really taken advantage of the character.

The way he enters unity is very interesting. I remember reading that Shooter forgot about Shadowman and wrote that in later. He found that it worked as a good device to explain Buck grabbing Geoff in Solar #10 so urgently too. I guess they really were making this stuff up as they went along :o

Oh and I LOVE lapham unity books. Some really nice splashes and half splashes here :thumb: :thumb:

And what an ending. cant wait for #5.

I give this a 9

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xoken
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Post by xoken »

Todd Luck wrote:Perfection.

THIS is what Shadowman's about. This issue provides the definitve mold for Jack's personality that would carry this series for the next 40+ issues. Shadowman is appropriately bad a$$. Jack is heroic but human. He's out of the loop in the Valiant Universe and has this great WTF reactions to everything that happens. Through Jack's we see Valiant through the eyes of the everyman. And deals with it all with a sense of humor and a bit of cynism (his reaction to the tree is priceless).

And I love Jack and Elya. My favorite comic couple. The art here is perfect. I truely feel like I'm in the middle of the fight. There's a sense of awe here that I've rarely felt. This is far and away the best version of the Solar/Erica battle. And Shadowman kills a damn dinosaur! What more could you possibly want?

Far and away Shadowman 4 and 5 are my favorite Unity issues and amoung my favorite issues of the entire series. A very enthusiast 10 :thumb: .
Once again great review. Makes me really think Shadowman was set up as the spider-man of the valiant universe

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Todd Luck
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Post by Todd Luck »

xoken wrote: the "what would shadowman do" scenes are the first time I think someone has really taken advantage of the character.
They need to make WWSD shirts and bumper stickers..."What Would Shadowman Do?" :D

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Post by depluto »

Great action, and one of the better Unity issues. The Jack/Elya thing works.

The opening to the book was strong also, and set the tone for a lot of the Shadowman "attitude" that followed.

7. They're getting better.

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magnusr
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Post by magnusr »

Like last issue we see a hero mainly caring about fighting demons as he sees them. And he makes a huge mistake. That shows another great thing about Valiant - not everyone does the perfect deed all the time. Only perfection here is the comic. Story and art.

/Magnus

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Post by magnusr »

The VCB synopsis:

Jack Boniface hangs out on the street near where police check out a domestic squabble. The wife-beating husband says he’s sorry and the apathetic cops let it go. Once they’re back inside, the husband resumes beating his wife. But Shadowman busts in and teaches the husband a lesson.
Later, Nettie introduces Jack to her “spiritual advisor”, Paul N’Dour, to whom she has told that Jack is Shadowman. N’Dour was once almost Buck McHenry’s successor as geomancer. He tells Jack that Shadowman is needed in an important conflict. He takes Jack and Nettie to an ancient cypress in the bayou and bids Shadowman to swim down to the interdimensional doorway beneath it.
Skeptical, Shadowman complies and surfaces in the Lost Land. Around him rages the first battle of Unity. He immediately meets Elya, a pteranosaur-riding soldier of Mothergod. Convincing Elya of his good intentions, he has her fly him to the citadel of Mothergod. Once inside the tower’s shadowy halls, Shadowman’s power takes over. Meanwhile, Solar flies through the citadel defenses to face Mothergod. When Shadowman arrives, he finds Solar hammering Mothergod with his power. Thinking the aggressor to be the villain, Shadowman leaps to tackle Solar. He is critically burned by Solar’s heat. But the distraction is enough for Mothergod to activate her cincture wormhole trap. It captures Solar. Then, Mothergod has her mysterious savior given the best medical attention possible. Finally, Elya is congratulated for bringing Shadowman to the citadel, but Elya’s only concern is the recovery of the brave and mysterious Shadowman.

/Magnus

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Post by Elveen »

Todd Luck wrote:Perfection.

THIS is what Shadowman's about. This issue provides the definitve mold for Jack's personality that would carry this series for the next 40+ issues. Shadowman is appropriately bad a$$. Jack is heroic but human. He's out of the loop in the Valiant Universe and has this great WTF reactions to everything that happens. Through Jack's we see Valiant through the eyes of the everyman. And deals with it all with a sense of humor and a bit of cynism (his reaction to the tree is priceless).

And I love Jack and Elya. My favorite comic couple. The art here is perfect. I truely feel like I'm in the middle of the fight. There's a sense of awe here that I've rarely felt. This is far and away the best version of the Solar/Erica battle. And Shadowman kills a damn dinosaur! What more could you possibly want?

Far and away Shadowman 4 and 5 are my favorite Unity issues and amoung my favorite issues of the entire series. A very enthusiast 10 :thumb: .
I think that Shadowman was the best "perspective" of the whole untiy story. (but Shadowman is my fav. VALIANT book) he was not involved in the main fighting with the other heroes, but the perspective of Jack is the best (an outsider, that has become an insider, looking at the main unity story (the heroes vs. mothergod) from an outside perspective)

I loved this book.

Shadowman #4 = 10


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