Shadowman #3 Review Part 1: When Loa Attack

Shadowman #3 Cover A by Jon Davis-Hunt

 

I apologize for the tardiness of my Shadowman #3 review, but Valiant sent me a bonus review package for Ninjak #1 at the same time, while announcing that the Final Orders Cutoff for Ninjak #1 was imminent. I figured that meant that they really needed to boost their orders. So I worked super hard on my Ninjak #1 review. 

Meanwhile, the Shadowman #3 ship sailed.

It's not new out this week, but if you're interested in my Shadowman #3 review, read on. 

Don't worry. This Part is spoiler-free.

 

Shadowman #3 starts off with a bang. It also starts in the middle of the story. Or in the beginning--or the middle--of the second of two interlinked stories. Shadowman is clearly exhausted. You get the sense that he's about to collapse.

Ironically, while this script was doubtless written before the pandemic, Jack Boniface's symptoms seem a little like Covid-19.

 

Unlike the previous two issues, Shadowman is on the run. He's injured. He's alone and far from home.

And he's being pursued by someone he fears.

When did all this start? For that, we visit Punk Mambo Land, the locale where her first miniseries largely took place. 

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

Shadowman's frenemy and newly self-appointed travel buddy, Baron Samedi, was with him then. Most likely, he took him there.

 

But something happens there: in Haiti. Something that, after several readings, I still don't understand. Not really. 

What exactly took place in Haiti? What precisely instigated it? Whoever was to blame for the death that occurred, this separated Shadowman from Baron Samedi, and sent him running. 

To Barcelona, Spain. Why he's ended up in this Spanish city, and how he got there, I can't tell you. I don't know. But he's there, and so is the entity that is pursuing him.

His Shadow Loa isn't protecting him from a draining respiratory infection.

His Shadow Loa isn't protecting him from fear, either.

One thing's for sure.

When he's stripped of his scythe

 

and viciously attacked by rabid loa (or some kind of netherworldly spirits),

 

we know that Shadowman's facing his toughest opponent yet.

Shadowman #3 delivers more questions than answers. If you've read it, I think you'll agree it's a power punch to the gut that'll send you reeling. And wondering. 

I'll get more into Shadowman #3 in Part 2. In the meantime, I'll say this: if you haven't read it, you need to. The ship may be sailing, but it's not too late to catch it.

Dragon Dave