Shadowman #1 Review: Lettering

 

Shadowman #1 Cover A by Jon Davis-Hunt

 

After Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's ground-breaking multicolored lettering in Savage #2, Clayton Cowles returns us to Earth with his subdued, traditional lettering. With his Black & White approach to dialogue and monologue, Shadowman #1 feels like a film noir movie with an element of the supernatural. Think The Shadow mixed with a Wilkie Collins story, or a Sherlock Holmes team-up with Dracula. 

Well, Arthur Conan Doyle's first published story, "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley," featured a demon with glowing eyes. But I digress...

 

Shadowman #1 opens with a bang. After a reminder that he guards the interstitial doorways to the Deadside, the issue shows our netherworldly warrior fighting a demon. The demon's dialogue balloons are poorly rounded, and his words do not line up nicely. It's clear he's from a different dimension, ill-suited to our world and its natural forces.

Also, he's more than a little angry.

THWUD 

Savor that sound effect, people. In this comic, Shadowman (aka Jack Boniface) is very much a thinking detective. Even when he bursts into action, sound effects rarely appear. It's as if nothing shakes him. 

Well, almost nothing.

 

Clayton Cowles helps us feel the anger and agony this demon suffers. Even when he shouts "Lies!", it's only in his second sentence that he stresses the word "summoned." Is the entire third sentence in bold letters? Perhaps not as strongly as "summoned" in the second sentence, but definitely more than his initial "Lies." 

In any case, he's in pain. The shape of the balloons, even more than in the first panel, suggest this.

 

The THWUD he gives Shadowman sends our hero tumbling. Still, even after being hit, and hurled through the air, Jack's isn't shaken. He's focused on the bigger issue. He must discover why so many demons are invading New Orleans, and stop all the killings that follow.

 

Just as he did in Valiant's Roku series, writer Cullen Bunn shares Jack's inner thoughts with us. I guess you'd call it monologue? As with his dialogue, these inner thoughts are nicely composed in gently rounded rectangles.

 

When Baron Samedi, the King of Death shows up, Clayton Cowles shows his link with the Deadside by irregular dialogue balloons. The Baron's words line up more nicely than that of the demons under his purview. The font becomes artistic and stylish. Compared to the demon and Jack, Samedi's words seem bolder, more substantial. Still, when he stresses a word in a sentence, we know.

In Shadowman #1, Clayton Cowles reminds us that restraint can be just as effective as extravagance, regardless of the type of art you pursue. Find it in your local comic shop on Wednesday, April 28, 2021.

Dragon Dave

P.S. Clayton Cowles? Cullen Bunn? Clayton Crain? Collin Kelly? Valiant, you're killing me with these big C creators!