There’s nothing like a story that builds a wonderful world. A story in which every detail of the world feels concrete and attractive, and is invited to lose yourself on the panel and make you forget the real world around you for a short time. Valiant Beyond: Tales of the Shadowman #1 is written by AJ Ampadu as art by Sergio Monjes, and it is world-building at that level. It presents a new version of Shadowman that will instantly captivate you as part of the “Valiant Beyond” initiative from Valiant Comics and Alien Books.
The issue of this premiere is a kind of travelogue, introducing us to Shadowman and this Gothic world he occupies. We continue to his home Shadowman (the eternally mad castle of Nokturna, surrounded by mist and moats filled with alligators), Shambhala, a city that died across twisted forests and bloody deserts. That’s the first third of the book!
Artist Sergio Monges beautifully captures the dark eerieness of the changing landscape, making the entire book feel like it’s overcoming a fever dream. Shadowman is visually impressive, his chalky skull-like face resembles the priest of Houngan Voodoo. As he walks, the bottom of his cloak, divided into sections, appears to be like the legs of a giant spider, ebony tendrils extending in every direction from the lower half of his body.
This book is soaked in voodoo and jazz, why? This dark, misty world is just outside New Orleans, with Voodoo magic and Great Jazz Ground Zero. The city is enveloped in mysterious barriers that protect it from the horrors of the outside world, but Shadowman swings a magical sickle that slashes through its shield like warm butter. The only drawback is that when he is within the barrier, his power is greatly reduced.
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Author AJ Ampadu lives in the book with both human and anthropomorphic charming support characters, including Shadowman’s Advisor (familiar?), Thelonious, cats that appear to be made from Shadows, sparkling eyes that change colours with mood, and thick Cajun accents. He’s like a creepy, more malicious version of Salem, the teenage witch Sabrina. There is also Mayor Simian of Shambhala. Shambhala is always busy, but still allows you to narrow down your time for Shadowman’s occasional pop-ins.
New Orleans is a stark contrast to the “Dead Side,” the buildings and streets, which are bright and colorful. But some of those streets run red. Because serial killers like Jack the Ripper will wander the streets of town, killing their victims, avoiding capture, and only Shadowman can stop him. why? Killers also wield magic, so this is the particularly troublesome type of demonic magic. One miserable scene in the book, in which Killer reveals the essence of his power to Shadowman, was shocked by Shadowman, so Shadowman placed the darkest corners of Abyss. It’s a brave scene that you won’t forget anytime soon.
This book feels wonderful and big. It feels like the beginning of something magnificent and enormous, like the first chapter of “The Dunes” or one of the old (but wonderful) Stephen King novels like a stand. If the other books on Valiant Beyond Line are as good as this, they will move on with a great future.
“Valiant Beyond: Tales of the Shadowman” #1 Review
Valiant Beyond: Tales of the Shadowman #1
This issue starts the series and main characters in an epic way. There is a deep worldbuilding and plenty of interesting characters, including Shadowman himself.
Artwork by artist Sergio Monges captures all the creepy dark corners of the Shadowman world.
The construction of the world lies deep within the book.
Serial Killer Mister Twist is a great, terrifying nemesis to Shadowman.
