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Review: ‘Shadowman’ #13

Published

10 years ago

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“Shadowman” #13 is a new beginning as Valiant slaps a fresh coat of paint on Jack Boniface with a brand new creative team taking over. Writer Peter Milligan (“Hellblazer”) and artist Roberto De La Torre (“Daredevil”) shift the book into a Vertigo-esque direction with a move towards shedding the superhero’s shortcomings.

WRITTEN BY: Peter Milligan
ART BY: Roberto De La Torre
PUBLISHER: Valiant
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: December 4th, 2013

One of the things that writer Peter Milligan does best is psychological horror and this issue immediately plays to his strengths as a writer. Milligan has immediately turned the book upside down by having the Abettors turn against Jack, which leads him on a path into the voodoo filled swamps to separate himself from Shadowman. Another interesting plot development that Milligan is exploring is the back-story of Jack’s time spent growing up in an orphanage. Growing up in institutions would have had a direct impact on Jack’s mental stability, and here we finally get to see some of the emotional baggage that comes with him being cast away, dejected and unwanted. Milligan is working to break Jack Boniface down psychologically, which makes him that much more terrifying and unpredictable.

Artist Roberto de la Torre delivers one of the best looking issues of “Shadowman”, as his dark and gritty style perfectly captures the mood, feel and seedy elements of the story. One of the problems that plagued this series in the past was the inconsistency on art, as some artists had styles just weren’t compatible with the jarring and unsettling nature of a book like this. Roberto de la Torre corrects that problem by taking the bleak look and feel of the New Orleans streets and transplanting them into these pages.

Valiant did a great job at perfectly matching “Shadowman” with the proper creative team to give the book a new status quo. Milligan and Roberto de la Torre have brought a focused vision back to a title that was floundering with mismatched artistic teams that just were out of sync. ‘Shadowman’ is a book that needs to be skewed towards the dark, sick and twisted to fully be able to seep into the gut of readers and give them a repugnant feeling when they dive into the pages every month. Milligan and Roberto de la Torre have brewed up the perfect cauldron of mystery, despondency and disorientation for “Shadowman” which makes this an exciting book to read.

4/5 Skulls

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‘The Toxic Avenger’ Returns with Cover Artwork for First Issue of New Comic Book Series [Exclusive]

Published

3 days ago

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May 13, 2024

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With a remake on the way and a new 4K restoration of the original classic now streaming, it’s a good time to be a fan of Troma’s The Toxic Avenger. Additionally, Matt Bors — the founder of The Nib and a political cartoonist who has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist —and acclaimed artist Fred Harper (Snelson) are collaborating on an all-new 5-issue comic book series starring the satirical superhero of the Troma Films cult classic films!

TOXIC AVENGER #1 will land in stores on October 9, 2024.

While you wait, you can exclusively check out the issue #1 cover art from Fred Harper below, along with a set of emojis designed by Harper for the extremely online teens of Tromaville.

“The Toxic Avenger delivers what Troma fans want,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.” 

“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one!” said Lloyd Kaufman. “Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”

“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation,” said Bors. “The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

In The Toxic Avenger, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger!

Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville.

Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?

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