Shadowman #4 Discussion

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Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by Keith »

Amidst all the excitement for Harbinger #0, lets not forget about the other comic out this week - Shadowman #4!!

Great issue, and an excellent bookend to an excellent first arc! Jack has fully embraced the Shadowman loa, and we get to see him unleashed against the denizens of the Deadside, as well as Mister Twist! Body parts fly, slicey slicey! Plus, a very... VERY... *SQUEE* off Master Darque. And Jaunty... just what do you think you're doing? :o
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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by Donovan »

Maybe I need to read all four issues in one sitting, but I didn't care for Shadowman #4. It just felt like it can be summed up as "Things Happened Because Magic". And I didn't get it. I have faith it will make a bit more sense a few more issues down the road.

And after Harada in Harbinger, and the 1% in Archer & Armstrong, the introduction of yet another secret cabal of people of wealth and influence felt like a retread.

Again, maybe I just need to sit down and do all four issues at once.

On the plus side, the art and colouring were incredible!

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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by Elveen »

I thought SM #4 was better than the beginning of SM.

So that is good.

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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by Dr. Solar »

I really liked this issue, quite a bit!

This first arc was great overall. It introduced Shadowman, had a central villain, that problem was resolved, and it leaves a ton more mystery and conflict to roll out in future arcs.
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by pixierosa »

I liked it! The groundwork has been laid and the story is starting to flesh out nicely. I wanted to keep reading. And btw, I'm very disappointed in Jaunty. I thought he was helping Josiah by bring Jack to him, but now his allegiance seems to be to Darque. But perhaps he has no allegiance at all. Just what exactly is he?
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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by BugsySig »

Dr. Solar wrote:I really liked this issue, quite a bit!

This first arc was great overall. It introduced Shadowman, had a central villain, that problem was resolved, and it leaves a ton more mystery and conflict to roll out in future arcs.
+1 but I would go with "very good" over "great". Definitely the tightest 1st arc of the bunch.
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by Bubba »

Another weak issue. Four issues in and jack has his powers and very little of master darque
Hope this title picks up or it will be the first one I drop.

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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by BugsySig »

Bubba wrote:Another weak issue. Four issues in and jack has his powers and very little of master darque
Hope this title picks up or it will be the first one I drop.
Darque is the most dynamic part of this book (other than the art) despite only appearing in a few panels each issue. Issue 5 features him on the cover, so I am hoping things will be very Darque-centric story wise from here out.

I also need to see Shadowman in his day to day (or night to night, if you will) operations now that the origin story has wrapped up. Show me what makes this guy, and this book, special.
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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by Zaphod »

Elveen wrote:I thought SM #4 was better than the beginning of SM.

So that is good.

summed up my thoughts succinctly. Some of the dialogue still feels...hokey? I still *hate* Twist as a character but as for yet another cabal -- I'll take it over 90's retread supervillians (Re:Chainsaw/Twist) 10 times out of 10.

The title is improving.
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by cavemold »

Really liked this issue . This issue was really a focous on mr .twist. Issue 5 will be very Darque centric book. This was pretty good ending issue

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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by cavemold »

BugsySig wrote:
Bubba wrote:Another weak issue. Four issues in and jack has his powers and very little of master darque
Hope this title picks up or it will be the first one I drop.
Darque is the most dynamic part of this book (other than the art) despite only appearing in a few panels each issue. Issue 5 features him on the cover, so I am hoping things will be very Darque-centric story wise from here out.

I also need to see Shadowman in his day to day (or night to night, if you will) operations now that the origin story has wrapped up. Show me what makes this guy, and this book, special.
Well they said they would train him and talk later

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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by BugsySig »

cavemold wrote:
BugsySig wrote:
Bubba wrote:Another weak issue. Four issues in and jack has his powers and very little of master darque
Hope this title picks up or it will be the first one I drop.
Darque is the most dynamic part of this book (other than the art) despite only appearing in a few panels each issue. Issue 5 features him on the cover, so I am hoping things will be very Darque-centric story wise from here out.

I also need to see Shadowman in his day to day (or night to night, if you will) operations now that the origin story has wrapped up. Show me what makes this guy, and this book, special.
Well they said they would train him and talk later
I want to see how being Shadowman affects Jack's life. That was the crux of the original...The urge to go out at night and seek out the dark places...Jack trying to come to grips with the violent acts he would commit in the name of the Loa...That's what I am looking forward to.
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by cavemold »

BugsySig wrote:
cavemold wrote:
BugsySig wrote:
Bubba wrote:Another weak issue. Four issues in and jack has his powers and very little of master darque
Hope this title picks up or it will be the first one I drop.
Darque is the most dynamic part of this book (other than the art) despite only appearing in a few panels each issue. Issue 5 features him on the cover, so I am hoping things will be very Darque-centric story wise from here out.

I also need to see Shadowman in his day to day (or night to night, if you will) operations now that the origin story has wrapped up. Show me what makes this guy, and this book, special.
Well they said they would train him and talk later
I want to see how being Shadowman affects Jack's life. That was the crux of the original...The urge to go out at night and seek out the dark places...Jack trying to come to grips with the violent acts he would commit in the name of the Loa...That's what I am looking forward to.
Me 2 I think thats were there going with it.

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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by SJS4 »

Just finished reading it...I thought it was ok, but not great. So far it just strikes me as standard superhero fare, nothing really special or intriguing. I will say the art continues to be the strongest part of the book, and continues to be the most polished of anything in VEI's stable.

For me there are two tiers of Valiant comics: tier 1 are my favorite comics being published. Tier 2 are solid comics, but not particularly compelling to me, and are even a notch below some non-VEI comics that I collect (Hellboy, BPRD, Saga, The Massive, Ghost).

I don't plan on dropping any VEI titlesthough. VEI comics are like sex and pizza, even when they are "bad" thy are still pretty good.
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by hawkeyeps »

I think the first arc moved along nicely and the resolution of Twist was a good one.

This has set the stage with Darque now inhabiting the Deadside with Shadowman in our world with some weirdo rich guy cabal working to free Darque for their own petty gains and cling to power.

And what is the deal with Juanty?

So much is still unknown and to be revealed, this makes the book exciting for me. I would say it is now a solid #3 for me now right behind XO and Harbinger.

As usual Zircher's art with Reber's colours were excellent, top notch work. I like how the Deadside appears in more of a soft focus while the real world is more crisp. Maybe I'm imagining that, but that's how it felt. The visuals really conveyed the sense of where you were and what was happening.

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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by kevinbastos »

SJS4 wrote:VEI comics are like sex and pizza, even when they are "bad" thy are still pretty good.
Add ice cream to the list - and pretty much everyone would agree here. :thumb:
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by somewhatlazy »

hawkeyeps wrote:I think the first arc moved along nicely and the resolution of Twist was a good one.

This has set the stage with Darque now inhabiting the Deadside with Shadowman in our world with some weirdo rich guy cabal working to free Darque for their own petty gains and cling to power.

And what is the deal with Juanty?

So much is still unknown and to be revealed, this makes the book exciting for me. I would say it is now a solid #3 for me now right behind XO and Harbinger.

As usual Zircher's art with Reber's colours were excellent, top notch work. I like how the Deadside appears in more of a soft focus while the real world is more crisp. Maybe I'm imagining that, but that's how it felt. The visuals really conveyed the sense of where you were and what was happening.
Excellent summation. I can't really add anything other than I myself cannot rank the Valiant titles from most favorite to least favorite.
Last edited by somewhatlazy on Wed Feb 06, 2013 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by somewhatlazy »

The Beyonder wrote:
And after Harada in Harbinger, and the 1% in Archer & Armstrong, the introduction of yet another secret cabal of people of wealth and influence felt like a retread.
It looks like nobody has a monopoly on evil in the Valiant universe. Hopefully, we'll get some intriguing reads featuring these 'secret cabals' interacting with each other. Doesn't seem like Harada and The Sect /1% would get along too well. We've already seen how he treats Project Rising Spirit.

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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by BugsySig »

somewhatlazy wrote:
The Beyonder wrote:
And after Harada in Harbinger, and the 1% in Archer & Armstrong, the introduction of yet another secret cabal of people of wealth and influence felt like a retread.
It looks like nobody has a monopoly on evil in the Valiant universe. Hopefully, we'll get some intriguing reads featuring these 'secret cabals' interacting with each other. Doesn't seem like Harada and The Sect /1% would get along too well. We've already seen how he treats Project Rising Spirit.
The Bretheren could be an extension of the Sect...they'd seem to fit in. I think we may find a lot of A&A/Shadowman connections down the line.
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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by greg »

BugsySig wrote:The Bretheren could be an extension of the Sect...they'd seem to fit in. I think we may find a lot of A&A/Shadowman connections down the line.
Good point. Was Ivar trapped on Deadside or behind another door?

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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by somewhatlazy »

greg wrote:
BugsySig wrote:The Bretheren could be an extension of the Sect...they'd seem to fit in. I think we may find a lot of A&A/Shadowman connections down the line.
Good point. Was Ivar trapped on Deadside or behind another door?
The plot thickens. :clap:

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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by hawkeyeps »

greg wrote:
BugsySig wrote:The Bretheren could be an extension of the Sect...they'd seem to fit in. I think we may find a lot of A&A/Shadowman connections down the line.
Good point. Was Ivar trapped on Deadside or behind another door?
The only one who truly knows is Erica Pierce :insane:

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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

Really enjoyed the issue - its a solid wrap on Jack's origin as Shadowman in my book. We got to see him in action plenty, which is appropriate as he has now decided to embrace the legacy he has inherited. From here I hope we see more of Jack taking time to figure out what to do with this power, as he learns more from the Abettors [i.e. - will he choose to get into some vigilantism as in the original series, or is there going to be a steady stream of more epic-level supernatural events to deal with like in this intro?]. I am looking forward to learning more about them as well, I hope there are still more of them beyond Dox and Alyssa.

My vote is on Jaunty not having any particular allegiances... or perhaps he/it is smart enough to stay on good terms with whatever powerful entities stray through the Deadside. Unless he/it is actually so powerful he/it has nothing to fear even from the likes of Darque...

And won't this next arc be interesting, with him now back in the Deadside? Sooner or later, Jack will go back in there - then what will happen? Coolness. Thats what. :thumb:
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Re: Shadowman #4 Discussion

Post by manga4life »

Eh, I wasn't too high on Shadowman this month and felt that issue #4 was the worst issue of this series yet, but it sure wasn't horrible or anything like that I just felt it was very mediocre. Twist was really cheesy in this issue, Jack had some corny one liners, and the whole interaction between Dox and everyone else was pretty bad. On the plus side, the art was fantastic, the action was pretty damn good, and I'm more interested in seeing Darque enter the real world than I was before, I'm just kind of sad that Twist appears to be dead....or at least out of commission for a while.

All in all it was fairly weak, but not god awful.
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Re: Shadowman #4

Post by jmatt »

The Beyonder wrote:And after Harada in Harbinger, and the 1% in Archer & Armstrong, the introduction of yet another secret cabal of people of wealth and influence felt like a retread.
I'm okay with more villainous entities. We have a singular villain in Darque and a minion in Twist. A different villainous cabal just adds more variety. I'd have been disappointed if it was the 1% showing up in another title.

But I do take issue that VEI seems intent on making so many foes be industrialists, so I'm in agreement with you there. It's like the place has been staffed by Occupy Wall Street. :? I sense a trend.


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