Deadside’s blights have spread far and wide across the land of the living, infecting the Earth with a terrible darkness. Shadowman, Punk Mambo, and the all-new Abettors must seek answers in the unlikeliest of places but will even they be able to recruit enough power to stop Deadside’s hostile takeover? The fate of the entire Earth rests in their shadowy hands in Shadowman #8!
The conclusion to The Deadside War is here, and much like he has done for the entire the story thus far, writer Cullen Bunn has defied what you would typically expect from a larger event-type story that Valiant had billed this as. Where the previous issue was a lot of narration over some fantastic action sequences, this issue has some cracking sequential story telling in conjunction with everything the previous issue had (which also featured some great story telling).
Artist Pedro Andreo, with an assist by Alvardo De Miguel, and colourist Jordie Bellaire are (perhaps unsurprisingly at this point) on top form. Shadowman #8 looks absolutely gorgeous. There’s an otherwordly quality to how the pages comes at you, and I can’t quite put my finger on whether it’s the line work and layouts or Bellaire’s vibrant colours. Not for a panel did I lose sight of the sheer amount of magical power being thrown about in this issue, and yet the story is still very intimate. Clayton Cowles lettering adds another punch to the proceedings as he varies the text, style and colour of the bubbles between characters.
This volume of Shadowman has been a true example of why sometimes it’s best to let a creative team breath between arcs; the entire eight issues have been utterly captivating. I tip my hat to Bunn and his co-conspirators; this has been my favorite Shadowman story yet.
At the end of the day, the final chapter of The Deadside War did what I had hoped it would, and took everything that Bunn had been building and wraps almost all of it up brilliantly. I say almost everything, because there’s the deliberate loose ends that will be chased in the next arc – Book Of Shadows – and I’m looking forward to that even more than I was before I read this issue. For my money, Cullen Bunn’s Shadowman has earned its place as one of Valiant’s top books since the relaunch a decade ago.
Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Pedro Andreo Art Assist: Alvardo De Miguel
Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 9.7 Art: 9.9 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy
Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
Source: Graphic Policy
