The Shade #12 - A Review

I've avoided reviewing The Shade 12-issue mini-series since its' first issue because I wanted to consider the whole of the series before passing judgement on the individual parts of it. I've reconsidered that in light of this final issue, simply because I had to share the splendid irony of it all.



I do not know if it was by fortune or design that this issue - which details the origins of The Shade - should come out now in the middle of DC Comics' Zero Month. I am deeply amused, as I am sure The Shade would be, by the timing if it is a coincidence just as I'm sure everyone's favorite shadowy anti-hero would be amused that a mini-series detailing his life story ends with its' beginning. I think Shade would also be amused how - like the man himself - the story is a mixture of American and British sensibilities, curiously melding the styles of Dickensian drama with Lovecraftian horror.

Fans of the James Robinson's Starman series already know the generalities of how merchant Richard Swift was transformed into a being of living shadow who dubbed himself The Shade. But until now no story has ever gone into the sordid details of precisely how it all happened or described the role that Charles Dickens (one of the rare few who knew The Shade both before and after his transformation) had to play in those events. The grand irony is that while this is an origin story, long-time readers of Robinson's work are the only ones who may fully grasp the greatest of this story.



Robinson's script is once again ably illustrated by Gene Ha, who delivers the work of a lifetime. Ha wisely uses his inks sparingly, limiting his shadows while allowing the original pencils to be emphasized by the color. Colorist Art Lyon, too, deserves a lot of praise. The early pages, depicting the day-to-day life of London in the early 1800s are colored in muted grays (if one can be said to color anything in muted grays) that illustrate the mundane nature of Richard's early life. It also helps to throw the horror of the more colorful later-pages into sharper contrast.

Expect a full review of the entire mini-series at a later date. For now... well done, Mr. Robinson. Well done, indeed.

Action Comics #9 - A Review

Returning to a concept first introduced in his Final Crisis series, this issue of Action Comics reintroduces us to Calvin Ellis.  He appears to be an ordinary African American man but is secretly the Superman of Earth 23.  Ellis balances his duties as Superman with those of his day job - President of the United States of America. 





Fresh off a victory against his arch enemy, Calvin confronts a mysterious trio who appear suddenly from a portal.  The two male figures are badly burned and the one female figure is missing an eye.  She explains to Calvin that they created a device that enabled them to make thoughts real as solid sound-waves and that they attempted to sell the device in order to promote their idea for an idealized guardian of good - a Superman.  But the Superman concept was diminished in an effort to commercialize it to the masses until a new Superman - a brutal, pitiless monster - was turned loose upon its' creators.  A monster traveling to Earth 23 even as they speak...


 
There is no reason for a story like this to work nearly as well as it does, as it can be read several different ways. Straight comic book story?   A parable about creators' rights? A warning about the dangers of corporate culture controlling the creative process?  It works on every conceivable level.  This isn't the first time Morrison has merged elements of the textual and metatextual made manifest into a script but the spin here is a unique and interesting one.

Gene Ha pulls the art duties this time, filling in for Rags Morales.   Ha proves an able replacement, offering a grittier, darker style than Morales but one that fits this darker, stranger story perfectly.  Credit must also be given to colorist Art Lyon, whose prefect palettes further define Ha's pencils and inks.

No less enjoyable is the back-up story by Sholly Fisch, which details a day in the life of Calvin Ellis as he attempts to balance both his duties as a member of Earth 23's Justice League and President of the USA, negotiating with the leader of a terrorist nation over the phone even as the JLA is destroying the secret labs where said leader is building weapons of mass destruction.  The story raises some interesting ethical questions and I'd love to see more stories done with the Justice League we see here.  The art by Cully Hammer (most recently of The Shade mini-series) and colorist Dave McCaig is top-notch.

Action Comics is one of the best values for your comic-buying dollar for sheer variety, if nothing else.  It is superhero comics done right and a must-read for any fan of the genre.