Shadowman #1 Review: Coloring

 

Shadowman #1 Cover B by Rod Reis

 

In Valiant Comics' new Shadowman #1, Jack Boniface patrols the doorways between worlds. These interstitial access points link our world with the one beyond. This other realm is called the Deadside. It's home to demons, spirits, people you probably never want to meet, and creatures from your worst nightmares.

 

While Jon Davis-Hunt's penciling and inking give writer Cullen Bunn's story structure and shape, it is colorist Jordie Bellaire who breathes life and depth into this otherworldly transition point of New Orleans. 

 

Jordie depicts Jack Boniface, aka Shadowman, mostly in grey, black, and white. The world around him, threatened by the Darkside, seems strangely muted of its normal vitality.

 

Yet violence and death, brought on by demons, is always shocking.

Strange creatures from the Deadside invade our world during the latter half of the story. Stranger still, they come at the invitation of unwitting people. We see the resultant killing and devastation through a red haze. Are the tendrils of the Deadside, which reached out toward us on the first page, taking over our world?

 

 

Even then, Shadowman--ever our moral compass--remains in grey, black, and white. Others like you and me, who desire wealth, fame, and power, and who are all-too-susceptible to the siren call of the Deadside, may appear more colorful. 

 

 

But no one in New Orleans is more colorful than Baron Samedi, the King of the Death. He walks where he likes, and takes all he desires. 

In normal life, Jack Boniface is a musician. When otherworldly perils do not threaten us, Jack may join a group, step onto a stage, and play his saxophone.

 

But Baron Samedi, thanks to Jordie Bellaire's coloring, looks like he would be the frontman.

Dragon Dave

Shadowman #1 available in stores April 28, 2021. 

Secure your copy, such as Cover B by Rod Reis, by April 5, 2021.