Comics
Review: ‘The Shadow’ #6
Garth Ennis’ run on The Shadow concludes in issue 6, as Lamont Cranston and company attempt to prevent the Japanese from obtaining the materials necessary to build a death ray and end World War II. It’s the end of another solid Ennis tale, featuring the solid characterization, tight writing and – yes – gratuitous amounts of violence that he’s known for. Aaron Campbell’s art is as good as it’s been for the past few issues, enhancing the story with its vivid depictions of the action and the scenes in between. It’s a shame to see Ennis leave, but at least he’s left on a high note.
WRITTEN BY: Garth Ennis
ART BY: Aaron Campbell
PUBLISHER: Dynamite Entertainment
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE DATE: October 24th, 2012
This issue is the conclusion of Ennis’ first and only arc on “The Shadow”. And he delivers. There are some excellent character moments here, especially early on, as Taro Kondo reveals just how much of a douche he actually is. And we’re talking about a guy who’s already procured children for the pedophilic General Akamatsu earlier in the series here, so the degree of his douche-ness was fairly evident already. There’s also a significant amount of action, as The Shadow finally catches up to Kondo and his crew and exacts brutal vengeance. However, things do not go entirely as planned, but the story is resolved nonetheless and we finally get to find out what everyone’s been after the whole time as well.
As always, Aaron Campbell’s art was excellent. His panels are always clear, detailed, and manage to convey everything that’s happening in a scene. His action scenes are especially impressive, given that he communicates to the reader the sense of cacophony and chaos in the final showdown without actually creating a chaotic panel. His character work is equally excellent – just look at the general’s face in the opening pages to see why.
Between this and Ennis’ latest issue of “The Boys”, Ennis has been on fire lately. This issue falls short of perfect, but it’s undeniably excellent. We’ll see if Victor Gischler can pick up where Ennis left off in issue #7 next month.
4.5/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – GeorgeShunick
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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