Ninjak Goes Knowhere

 

 

Back in March, Ninjak wanted a road trip. So we took him to Knowhere. Or more precisely, we took him for a drive to his favorite Valiant-loving store, Knowhere Games & Comics in San Marcos, California.

He hadn't visited the store in a year, since the pandemic began. He was anxious to see all the Valiant Comics on display.

In addition to an ample selection of Valiant comics on the shelves, he also saw his buddy X-O standing guard. 

"Blimey," Ninjak said. "His sword reminds me of the flaming sword the angel used to protect the Garden of England."

"What?"

"Oops, sorry. I meant Eden."

He was mightily impressed by this X-O Manowar cover specially hand-colored by artist David Baron. But priced at seventy-five smackeroos, that would really put a crimp in his candy money. 

"Hey," he said, "I need my toffees and Jelly Babies!"

He also loved this Bloodshot display.

"Can we take it home to display our Bloodshot issues?" he asked.

"No, wait," he cried a moment later. "This one. This one!"

I explained the store needed it to display their Bloodshot issues and trades.

Did I mention Faith tagged along too? She's excited about the return of her buddy Peter Stanchek. 

Well, aren't we all?

 

 

But first, there will be Ninjak.

That's right, mate. Wednesday, 14 July is my day!

Dragon Dave

Tony Moore Shadowman Art Comparison

 

Shadowman Promo Art by Tony Moore

I can't say I thought a lot about this Shadowman promotional art when I first saw it. I mean, what is there to see? Shadowman surrounded by darkness, and obscure shapes wreathed in red?

It's one of those images that rewards the careful viewer. But how many people are going to just stand (or sit) and look at an image?

Shadowman Uncolored Art by Tony Moore

When I saw this Black & White artwork by Tony Moore it blew me away. Valiant shared it on Twitter, along with other coloring pages. Suddenly I could see all the work the artist put into this scene. 

When the pandemic hit, disrupting all our plans, I appreciated all that Valiant Entertainment did for the fans online. I wasn't ready to color then. Still, I made sure I kept the project for later.

Of all the coloring pages Valiant shared, this was the one that really inspired me.

Shadowman #1 Pre-Order Cover by Tony Moore

I'll never understand why Tony Moore blacked out so much of his fine penciling and inking for the promotional art. At least, when Valiant repurposed his image for the Pre-Order Cover, he or they lightened it a little. Suddenly you could see things a little more, such as the winged insect in the bottom left. But you only get a hint of the spider on the top left.

Tony Moore put so much detailed work into his art. Most of it will never be seen by Shadowman fans. Totally baffling!

My Shadowman Coloring Page

What initially attracted me to Valiant Comics was a tale of the Deadside. I really responded to how weird and colorful that nether-realm was. So I did my best to celebrate all that the Deadside could be in my colored version.

My finished Tony Moore Shadowman coloring project didn't get much love on Twitter. Oh well. I like it. My wife liked it so much she made sure we displayed it right away. 

I guess that will have to be enough for me.

Dragon Dave

My Shadowman Prismacolor Pencil Project

 

My wife printed off an 11" x 17" copy of this Shadowman coloring page, featuring artwork by Tony Moore. Originally I had intended to work on that. But then I thought: let's just try out the colors on an 8.5"x11", before embarking on the larger size.

This turned out to be a good thing, as it took a long time to lay the color down evenly, and get the richness I wanted on the 8.5"x11". I worked in half-an-hour to forty-five minutes sessions. After that, my eyes just couldn't take any more.

 

Here's my progress after one week.

In retrospect, it may not have been necessary to build up as I did, from lighter to darker colored pencils. Perhaps the copy paper, with very little tooth, would have accepted the darker colors more readily than the thicker paper I normally use. At least working up from light to dark gave me a good sense of how dark I wanted each area to be, even if it seemed to take forever.

Hey, it's a learning experience.

 

After three weeks, my title pin from Valiant's Shadowman #1 Twitter contest arrived then. It gave me a shot of Deadside adrenaline to power through to the finish.

After another week, my Shadowman coloring page was complete. I really put in the hours during the final week. There's something about knowing you're entering the home stretch that helps you push yourself to your limits. Even if it did a number on my eyes. 

The 11"x17" copy came in really handy during this last phase, as Tony Moore's drawing is so intricate. But the more I colored, the more all the detail he built into his drawing grew clear to me.

 

After working so hard for four weeks, my wife didn't want my Shadowman coloring page to languish. So we went out and bought a matte board and a frame. 

I helped her search for her old matte cutter. Eventually we found it under the bed. We wiped off a thick layer of dust, and got busy in the kitchen.

 

My wife used the box cutter Valiant produced to promote its Killers series to cut the matte board to size. (That five issue series focused on former agents of MI-6's Ninja program, aside from Ninjak). I never liked the title, but it was a fun series, and the box cutter cut the matte board nicely.

After cutting out an 8"x11" rectangle, my wife put our Killers box cutter away. She then used the cutting attachment that came with her matte cutter to cut the interior opening at a 45 degree angle.

I helped her calculate measurements, and hold the matte board to keep it from sliding as she cut. After awhile, our black matte was complete. It hides a little of Tony Moore's drawing, but only a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch on any side.

 

Since wiping all that dust off the matte cutter box, I haven't been feeling so hot. But I guess I can handle a sore throat and cold/allergy symptoms for awhile. After all, my Shadowman colored pencil project is finally done! 

Now matted and framed, Shadowman hangs in our living room, protecting us from evil.

Dragon Dave

P.S. I've started on my Shadowman 11"x17" coloring project. I'm following the same color scheme, this time using Sharpies. As I'm not all that experienced with markers, it's a whole new challenge. And it's fun!

Shadowman #2 Review: Evil in the Desert

 

Shadowman #2 Cover by Jon Davis-Hunt

With Valiant's comics strictly limited to twenty pages, departing Senior Editor Heather Antos made excellent use of her inside front covers. On series like Savage, X-O Manowar, and Quantum & Woody, she used social media-style posts to bring readers up to speed, enabling us to begin reading each new issue without wondering: 

"Um, what was it that happened in last issue?"

In Shadowman #2, Heather gives us a full-page recap from the wily and colorful King of the Deadside: Baron Samedi. What better way to begin reading a horror comic?

On the first page, we meet a family. They seem quite ordinary. But little signs in their words and actions seem...wrong.

 

The father, driving along this lonely stretch of road, slows when he spots a hitchhiker. Perhaps he's motivated merely by compassion. Perhaps he feels the stories of violence and tragedy concerning hitchhikers are overblown.

Still, he's the protector of his family. He's miles from anyone and everything. And he seems unconcerned about the dangers the hitchhiker might present to his family.

 

He regards the hitchhiker as a novelty. 

Hm. Remind me. When did hitchhikers become an endangered species?

The children also seem unafraid. But how can the son have never heard about hiphikers? 

Sorry: hitchhikers.

 

Predictably, when the hitchhiker lives up to the worst stereotypes,

 

the mother reveals that her family is far from ordinary.

You know: the family that kills together...

 

 

Enoch: a ghost town in Arizona. Long abandoned.

The family is traveling there. The hitchhiker is traveling there. And now, so is Shadowman and his new best-frenemy Baron Samedi.

 

Immediately, Shadowman senses something in the town. Like the family traveling in the station wagon, the town seems familiar, but also alien.

He takes a step into the Deadside, to discover that demons inhabit the town that humans abandoned.

 

Enoch: a man who walked with God. A man who never died.

The Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) records that he was taken directly to Heaven. Religious leaders attributed books to him, some of which can be found in the Apocrypha of a Catholic Bible. Scholars taught that he became the guardian of the celestial treasures, that he learned all mysteries, and became commander of God's angels.

Yet according to the medieval French Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, better known by his acronym Rashi, God removed Enoch from the Earth to save this righteous man from returning to evil. 

 

 

Perhaps God should have removed the town of Enoch from our world too. For whatever evil it might have allowed once, the town now seems consumed by it.

As our protector, Shadowman cannot feel fear as ordinary humans do. Still, he can sense evil, and it disgusts him.

 

Shadowman must fight a battle in Enoch. There will be violence. There will be blood. Yet Shadowman #2 also asks: How much are we responsible for the evil in our world? 

Like the family who allowed the hitchhiker into their car, in what ways do we invite evil into our hearts, where unwatched and unguarded against, it may eventually thrive?

 

Shadowman #2 entertains with thoughtful plot and dialogue by Cullen Bunn. Amid the drama and the battle, penciler and inker Jon Davis-Hunt delivers a believable and immersive experience. The issue glows with beautiful coloring by Jordie Bellaire and the artistic lettering of Clayton Cowles. The creative team combine their talents into a  symphony of horror.

Shadowman #2 Cover B by Caspar Wijngaard

 

And then, there are the haunting and appealing covers. 

 

Shadowman #2 Cover C (Horror Cover) by Francesco Francavilla

 

All affordable, and most likely, obtainable.

Shadowman #2 Pre-Order Cover by Annie Wu

 

The Book of Enoch relates how evil came into our world, and how it made the Biblical flood necessary. Shadowman #2 reveals the devastation that evil can still wreak in our world when you allow it a foothold in your heart.

Protect thyself from evil. Read Shadowman #2.

Dragon Dave

Shadowman #2 Spotlight: Penciling & Inking

 

Shadowman #2 Pre-Order Cover by Annie Wu

While we're always interested in our hero Shadowman, one intriguing aspect of this new series is the way he is teaming up with Baron Samedi. Penciler and Inker Jon Davis-Hunt admits he found the venerable Baron a challenge to draw. How does one imbue personality into a skeleton? 

On the inside-front cover, Jon treats us to a close up of Baron Samedi. Notice all those rough edges, irregularities and details Jon builds into the grinning skull. See how his hair seems to be billowing, as if the Baron is dancing. And how about that point of light in an otherwise dark and empty eye socket. 

If you ask me, Baron Samedi is having the time of his afterlife. 

Oh, and in case you're hungering for more Shadowman on this page, notice him hovering behind and above the Baron. He's watching the Baron...and you.

 

 

Is Jon Davis-Hunt indulging in a little misdirection in this next panel? We see nothing of the hitchhiker save his hand and arm. Yet the jacket reminds us of Shadowman. 

The eagle-eyed viewer could point out that the man is wearing no hand-wrappings. But shorn of his Shadowman trappings, this could be our man Jack Boniface.

 

This seems like a perfectly domestic scene, doesn't it? Yet the back of the childrens' heads are inked out, while the fading sunlight shines on the parents' heads. Why does the girl's hair look so wild?

The slightly tilted panel above begets the even-more tilted panel below. The girl's hair looks even more bedraggled. Such film noir visual touches suggest that this family may not be as ordinary as they seem.  

Perhaps the heat has made the girl and the hitchhiker's longer hair look straggly. Perhaps they've both sweated a lot. Still, what does the way it falls around the hitchhiker's face in loose strands, rather than in sheets, say to you?

While the mother's hair seems unaffected by the heat, her expression changes when the hitchhiker draws a knife. Her lips widen into a sinister rictus, reminding us of villains such as The Joker. Lines appear that almost transform her face into a mask. 

Her eyes change. Pleasing ovals become angled and warped. One pupil rises higher than its companion.

The children transform too. Are we really seeing them anymore? Or are other beings taking control of this once-so-appealing family?

At last, we have stepped from film noir into full-blown horror. Have we also stepped from Shadowman into "The Exorcist"? Jon Davis-Hunt suggests that two distinct sets of personalities ride inside the station wagon.

Need I go on, and show how Jon Davis-Hunt builds personality into vehicles, buildings, and every person you will meet in Shadowman #2, regardless of their outward appearance?

Dragon Dave

Shadowman #2 Spotlight: Coloring

 

Shadowman #2 Cover C (Horror Cover) by Francesco Francavilla

In Shadowman #2, Baron Samedi takes Jack Boniface (aka Shadowman) on a walk on the Arizona wildside. But first...

A car drives along a deserted highway. No streetlights radiate on the asphalt. No buildings glow with interior illumination. Yet as daylight wanes, and stars appear, the car's headlights shine in our tired eyes, making them flare and star. 

The car may be traveling to the west or southeast of Phoenix, well south of the resort town of Sedona. Yet the colors in the sky that inspired the lyrics of Aerosmith's "Sedona Sunrise" are evident.

The setting sun shines through the back of the station wagon, imbuing the family with a rosy tinge. 

It shines on the rearview mirror, suffusing the hitchhiker the family stops to pick up. The effect is so strong, we cannot see his normal coloring.

 

Another place, another time. 

The town, long abandoned, has returned to the earth, like those who once lived there. The buildings are as brown as the ground. Baron Samedi is as colorful as usual. Even Shadowman, dressed in black and grey, seems more colorful than his surroundings.

 

When they stop to talk, the nearby buildings hint at their original colors. But when Baron Samedi transports them back in time, they reveal the energy and vitality that people once gave their town.

Sunset again suffuses the sky with a rosy glow. 

 

When the two return to the present, they notice an abandoned station wagon. Compared to the faded car, even Baron Samedi, usually so colorful, looks strangely bland.

Yet the town is not completely devoid of life. Or at least, a kind of life. A spirit blows through, ruffling the normally imperturbable Baron Samedi. 

The spirit plows through our hero, turning the black smoke wafting off Shadowman green.

In Shadowman #2, Jordie Bellaire's coloring reveals the beauty and danger of the desert. Whether far from a rent in the Deadside, or amid the worst of all possible Blights, Life and Death walk hand-in-hand.

Dragon Dave