Opinions on Shadowman

[wwise03]

I recently purchased back issues of all Valiant titles except Shadowman. It just didn't seem like my kind of thing. But the valiant books have been so good that I am thinking of giving it a shot. What are y'all's opinions on the Shadowman series? And I don't mean as compared to the early 90s series. I mean as a book to read in today's time.

[FormerReader]

I recently purchased back issues of all Valiant titles except Shadowman. It just didn't seem like my kind of thing. But the valiant books have been so good that I am thinking of giving it a shot. What are y'all's opinions on the Shadowman series? And I don't mean as compared to the early 90s series. I mean as a book to read in today's time.

I will be brutally honest and say I think it is very bad. Shadowman is a great character and I think Valiant missed the mark on this one. That being said issue #0 is fantastic! and issue #10 is very good in my opinion.

[Phoenix8008]

While I would admit that Shadowman is the weakest series overall, it does have 2 of the best individual issues VEI has made yet - #0 and #10. If you've got everything else, I'd say just go ahead and get this too for completions sake if nothing else. It's okay overall, but next to the greatness of Harbinger and A&A and X-O, just 'okay' feels lacking so it loses by comparison.

[leonmallett]

I would not say it has been terrible nor the worst VEI book for me, but it has been very uneven, and quite inconsistent in quality and even story-telling unfortunately.

[brucehartshorn]

I have always felt Shadowman is the VEI title which has the most undeveloped potential of anything they are doing. There are all kinds of storylines which this character and his location present. Like others have said here, there have been a couple of absolutely great issues here, but the series has been inconsistent. Hopefully with a little bit of time away will let the creative team solidify a few arcs to address the consistency problem and help this series realize the potential which is inherent in it.

[the1captain]

I recently purchased back issues of all Valiant titles except Shadowman. It just didn't seem like my kind of thing. But the valiant books have been so good that I am thinking of giving it a shot. What are y'all's opinions on the Shadowman series? And I don't mean as compared to the early 90s series. I mean as a book to read in today's time.

I will be brutally honest and say I think it is very bad. Shadowman is a great character and I think Valiant missed the mark on this one. That being said issue #0 is fantastic! and issue #10 is very good in my opinion.

Considering those two great issues you mention don't even feature Shadowman goes to show how weak that character is. Too bad. I actually liked the opening story arc. But they didn't do much for the character after that.

[cornflakeboy]

I, for one, never cared much about the original Shadowman and find the new one refreshing. The first story arc was pretty good (despite some hohum, like Dox's totally absurd and incorrect name and the character itself which I found pretty lame) and the art terrific. The second arc was a little so-so and I think the halloween issue could have been much better (altough the art is really nice). I think Peter Milligan can do some interesting stuff with the series, let's see what happens.

[caxiotis]

I recently purchased back issues of all Valiant titles except Shadowman. It just didn't seem like my kind of thing. But the valiant books have been so good that I am thinking of giving it a shot. What are y'all's opinions on the Shadowman series? And I don't mean as compared to the early 90s series. I mean as a book to read in today's time.

I will be brutally honest and say I think it is very bad. Shadowman is a great character and I think Valiant missed the mark on this one. That being said issue #0 is fantastic! and issue #10 is very good in my opinion.

I agree with former reader. I have not read the Milligan stuff, but issue 0 & 10 were top notch. Everything else was poor from the beginning

[ilzuccone]

well the good news is you don't need to read shadow man at all if you don't want to. he doesn't factor into any of the cross overs.

I don't think it's a bad book. there's some good stuff there. if it's not your type of story don't get it. buy what you like. these are comics and are supposed to be fun!

[leonmallett]

well the good news is you don't need to read shadow man at all if you don't want to. he doesn't factor into any of the cross overs.

I don't think it's a bad book. there's some good stuff there. if it's not your type of story don't get it. buy what you like. these are comics and are supposed to be fun!

And it is a shame that he has been so isolated.

[Aram]

OK, I'm guilty of STILL not having read Shadowman. I bought the tpbs.. and the floppies.. but haven't got around to reading them.

So.. for those old school members who dislike much or it.. How does it compare in quality to Late 1993-1994+ VH1?

[David_Cody]

I'm am just NOT even feeling where you all are coming from. While Shadowman isn't the best of VEI's stable of comics...absoFREAKING-lutely the worst comic out there is Archer & Armstrong. It is consistently, month after month the most BORING read out there. I tried reading the last two months issues and was so bored out of my mind, that ice picks through the eyes would have been more enjoyable.

Go get Shadowman. It's really not that bad.

[RogueJedi74]

I recently purchased back issues of all Valiant titles except Shadowman. It just didn't seem like my kind of thing. But the valiant books have been so good that I am thinking of giving it a shot. What are y'all's opinions on the Shadowman series? And I don't mean as compared to the early 90s series. I mean as a book to read in today's time.

I enjoy Shadowman because it is different from the rest of the books. It still would be my least favorite book (in the Valiant universe) but something has to finish last. I also like to take in the whole Valiant universe so it is worth the read to get the complete picture.

[grendeljd]

I think the first story arc is top notch stuff, I enjoyed the storyline in those 4 issues quite a bit. I personally thought the new villain Mr Twist was really cool, though many people here thought he was too silly. Patch Zirchers art is just awesome, IMO - I still miss his presence at VEI.

And yeah, as others have stated, 0 & 10 are in the top 5-10 books VEI has published to date. The rest of Justin Jordan's run is very solid writing, but I do think there was some inconsistency in the art department from #6-10 that may have hurt the book a little.

Milligans run has been entertaining, & there have been some cool new elements & characters, but a lot of people have felt that he has introduced a few tweaks that don't mesh smoothly with what was previously established... yet...

As Bruce said above, it has suffered a little inconsistency & may not have realized its full potential yet, but that's not to say it isn't worth checking out & deciding for yourself.

[leonmallett]

OK, I'm guilty of STILL not having read Shadowman. I bought the tpbs.. and the floppies.. but haven't got around to reading them.

So.. for those old school members who dislike much or it.. How does it compare in quality to Late 1993-1994+ VH1?

They are not like for like comparisons really; VALIANT then had a different tone and vsions to VEI now.

The first 6-7 issues of the VH1 Shadowman were for me 'meh'.

But the Bob Hall run was something that I found gripping and wildly entertaining. There was a clear vision and some great stories and the whole thing when read in chunks had a break-neck pace to it as it neared the end.

I am not sure a comparison is fair to the current book. I feel the current book has its problems (as did the VH1 version, with numerous writers before Hall arrived, and even then there was some Baron filler along the way). I think the VEI iteration had a great mythos set up, but there was no real hook or development for Jack. Milligan seems to have gone overboard shoveling back story onto the hero and perhaps going too far the other way.

With the mythos nailed down, if VEI can nail down why a reader should care for Jack (and no, violent blackouts, a forced relationship and a cliched Vertigo-wannabe-character like Punk Mambo are not reasons to care and root for Jack), then they could have gold in my opinion. I actually think they have taken an over-complicated view while trying to fix things. Get the character right and they are set.

[dornwolf]

I didn't mind Justin Jordans run on Shadowman. It wasn't stellar but it was still better than most of what I've read from other companies. As mentioned the issues focusing on Darque are amazing and I wish Justin had had the time to work on Jacks character as much. While I like some of what Milligan has brought to the table I agree the bizarre grafting of anger issues, forcing the relationship just kills it. I can't even suggest a possible fix.

[wwise03]

Thanks for the input y'all. I think I am going to have to wait on reading this book...there is just too much quality stuff coming out from everywhere (primarily Image and Valiant) to justify buying a book that doesn't appeal to me on the surface and that is thought of at best as "not the worst Valiant book."

[Sir Sandrick]

interesting premise, but it failed to have the atmosphere which is so important to the book. I liked what they were trying to do with it but the dark, gothic, horror thing seemed to be to manufactured and not creepy enough. I think that books like Fatale got this right as far as tone goes. Drums was a creepy book about zombie voodoo material. Even Hellboy had more atmosphere. Shadowman got into the superhero thing too fast- I think that it should have been a gradual transition to this after establishing a dark and sinister sub-world that rises when the sun sets.

I really wanted to get into it and I hoped that it would turn around after #0, which was awesome. Sadly, I read a few issues after that and then dropped off. Haven't read the End Times yet but I might pick it up digital if there is a sale.

[slack]

+1 on #0 and #10.

Strong start, interesting side characters/groups/themes... but almost everything having to do with the main character has felt like a different character arc to arc.

[the1captain]

OK, I'm guilty of STILL not having read Shadowman. I bought the tpbs.. and the floppies.. but haven't got around to reading them.

So.. for those old school members who dislike much or it.. How does it compare in quality to Late 1993-1994+ VH1?

They are not like for like comparisons really; VALIANT then had a different tone and vsions to VEI now.

The first 6-7 issues of the VH1 Shadowman were for me 'meh'.

But the Bob Hall run was something that I found gripping and wildly entertaining. There was a clear vision and some great stories and the whole thing when read in chunks had a break-neck pace to it as it neared the end.

I am not sure a comparison is fair to the current book. I feel the current book has its problems (as did the VH1 version, with numerous writers before Hall arrived, and even then there was some Baron filler along the way). I think the VEI iteration had a great mythos set up, but there was no real hook or development for Jack. Milligan seems to have gone overboard shoveling back story onto the hero and perhaps going too far the other way.

With the mythos nailed down, if VEI can nail down why a reader should care for Jack (and no, violent blackouts, a forced relationship and a cliched Vertigo-wannabe-character like Punk Mambo are not reasons to care and root for Jack), then they could have gold in my opinion. I actually think they have taken an over-complicated view while trying to fix things. Get the character right and they are set.

For some reason I always preferred the pre-Hall Shadowman blue costume. Didn't hate the leather outfit. It was just very hit and miss for me depending on how it was drawn.

[BugsySig]

I have come to the conclusion that if Justin Jordan had been allowed to write the book on his own from the beginning, that it would have really been great. Look at what he was able to do on #0 and #10, though, on his own.

Those first two arcs had potential (and compared to what Milligan has been doing, they don't seem so bad anymore), but there were just too many cooks in the kitchen.

JJ admitted here on the board to a few mistakes with Jack's character, but I think he would have corrected those along the way if it hadn't turned into such a cluster-*SQUEE* when Zircher left and VEI or whoever decided to go a different direction.

[lorddunlow]

I have come to the conclusion that if Justin Jordan had been allowed to write the book on his own from the beginning, that it would have really been great. Look at what he was able to do on #0 and #10, though, on his own.

Those first two arcs had potential (and compared to what Milligan has been doing, they don't seem so bad anymore), but there were just too many cooks in the kitchen.

JJ admitted here on the board to a few mistakes with Jack's character, but I think he would have corrected those along the way if it hadn't turned into such a *SQUEE* when Zircher left and VEI or whoever decided to go a different direction.

I wish I didn't agree with you so completely most of the time...

[dornwolf]

I have come to the conclusion that if Justin Jordan had been allowed to write the book on his own from the beginning, that it would have really been great. Look at what he was able to do on #0 and #10, though, on his own.

Those first two arcs had potential (and compared to what Milligan has been doing, they don't seem so bad anymore), but there were just too many cooks in the kitchen.

JJ admitted here on the board to a few mistakes with Jack's character, but I think he would have corrected those along the way if it hadn't turned into such a *SQUEE* when Zircher left and VEI or whoever decided to go a different direction.

BINGO right there. Had Jordan been able to do a little more he'd of probably nailed it but it seemed to start to slowly go down the hill out of control barring issue 10 of course. I don't include 0 because that was before the "slide"

[FormerReader]

For some reason I always preferred the pre-Hall Shadowman blue costume. Didn't hate the leather outfit. It was just very hit and miss for me depending on how it was drawn.

Me too! I liked the Bob Hall design, but the early Shadowman costume was great!

[Baramos]

It's a bit hit or miss. But overall I think it's been pretty good.

End Times is shaping up to be not very good, though.