Deadside’s blights have spread far and wide across the land of the living, infecting the Earth with a terrible darkness. Shadowman, Punk Mambo, and the all-new Abettors must seek answers in the unlikeliest of places but will even they be able to recruit enough power to stop Deadside’s hostile takeover? The fate of the entire Earth rests in their shadowy hands in Shadowman #8!

The conclusion to The Deadside War is here, and much like he has done for the entire the story thus far, writer Cullen Bunn has defied what you would typically expect from a larger event-type story that Valiant had billed this as. Where the previous issue was a lot of narration over some fantastic action sequences, this issue has some cracking sequential story telling in conjunction with everything the previous issue had (which also featured some great story telling).

Artist Pedro Andreo, with an assist by Alvardo De Miguel, and colourist Jordie Bellaire are (perhaps unsurprisingly at this point) on top form. Shadowman #8 looks absolutely gorgeous. There’s an otherwordly quality to how the pages comes at you, and I can’t quite put my finger on whether it’s the line work and layouts or Bellaire’s vibrant colours. Not for a panel did I lose sight of the sheer amount of magical power being thrown about in this issue, and yet the story is still very intimate. Clayton Cowles lettering adds another punch to the proceedings as he varies the text, style and colour of the bubbles between characters.

This volume of Shadowman has been a true example of why sometimes it’s best to let a creative team breath between arcs; the entire eight issues have been utterly captivating. I tip my hat to Bunn and his co-conspirators; this has been my favorite Shadowman story yet.

At the end of the day, the final chapter of The Deadside War did what I had hoped it would, and took everything that Bunn had been building and wraps almost all of it up brilliantly. I say almost everything, because there’s the deliberate loose ends that will be chased in the next arc – Book Of Shadows – and I’m looking forward to that even more than I was before I read this issue. For my money, Cullen Bunn’s Shadowman has earned its place as one of Valiant’s top books since the relaunch a decade ago.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Pedro Andreo Art Assist: Alvardo De Miguel
Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 9.7 Art: 9.9 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW

The horrors of the Deadside have spilled over into the world of the living, led by the embodiment of terror leading the forces of darkness that Shadowman, Punk Mambo and the new Abettors are forced to confront. As the battle rages all over the world bringing in heroes of the Valiant Universe hoping to stop the tide, the supernatural protectors must prepare to make their stand. 

Shadowman #7 was a really fun read. Structurally, it’s a lot of internal narration over a 20 odd page fight scene. There’s always a chance when a comic is built like this that it’ll be either really good or over really quickly as you read the narration and kinda skip over the art (I’ve done it before, much to my own dismay), but Cullen Bunn and Pedro Andreo‘s story and art is worth digesting slowly.

Letterer Clayton Cowls gets a tip of the hat for where he’s placed the narration. His choices accentuate the flow of the comic and along with Jordie Bellaire‘s moody colouring add a smoothness to the proceedings. You’re never lost in the action, and the lack of dialogue actually works to add a sense of danger and overwhelming odds for our heroes – because when have you ever seen a comic character not go at least partially Spider-Man and start making some kind of commentary as the fists are flying? By eschewing that, Bunn ups the stakes considerably in a subtle way.

I’ve said it before, and at the risk of sounding like I’m noting more than a record on repeat, Shadowman is by far and wide the best thing Valiant is currently publishing, and for my money it’s also among the top echelon of comics that are on the racks at the moment.

The art in Shadowman #7 tells most of the story, and once again I found myself genuinely impressed by how dynamic Pedro Andreo’s work is. Keep your eye on this one, because he’s (hopefully) going to be huge. His layouts and line weights balance so well with how Bellaire brings life (And unlife) to the pages. There’s a lot of violence in the book, and it’s amongst this backdrop that the bursts of bright pink and hot yellow stand out so effectively during the action.

Now in the third chapter of The Deadside War, Shadowman #7 takes everything that the series has been building toward and just lays it out in one solid conflict. The narration is brilliant – short, sharp bursts of oddly poignant moments from Shadowman as he talks about the conflict and the hopelessness of it. The Deadside War was never going to be a typical comic story, and this issue reinforces just how good of a grasp Bunn has on the character. The series is utterly fantastic.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Pedro Andreo
Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 9.7 Art: 9.9 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW