Shadowman (2018) #11 Review

Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Renato Guedes and Eric Battle
Colorist: Ulises Arreola
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment

As usual, Valiant’s new Shadowman series delivers another issue with twists, turns, and action. However, this eleventh issue is very different than the ten that have come before it. This week’s Shadowman is the final issue as of right now.

There were so many things that were done so well in regards to leading us up to this finale. Firstly, Andy Diggle’s pacing in this series has made the series consistently exciting and interesting. The pace that the story kept in the last couple of issues getting us to this finale perfectly built up the excitement.

Secondly, the introduction of a second artist in the last couple of issues so that the issues contain two different styles of art has been a great treat. Renato Guedes has been a solid artist for this series from the start and has created some of the most stunning comic book visuals that I have seen in the last year. The last couple of issues, Guedes was joined by Eric Battle to create some pages of a completely different style of artwork to tell different parts of the story such as flashbacks, visions, and anything else. I have enjoyed the two working together on these issues because it dropped a little bit of a classic Shadowman look into this new series that I’ve grown to love.

Those things lead us to this eleventh issue with fanfair so what does this eleventh issue do with that momentum?

Well, once again, Andy Diggle’s pacing was perfect and the story is eloquently told. Diggle has not allowed a single issue of this new Shadowman series to be boring and this issue sure as hell isn’t boring either. There is a lot of fantastic action that was both exciting to read and amazing to look at. Renato Guedes’ artwork of the battle in Sandria’s basement were quick, thrilling, and beautifully illustrated.

The last several pages of this issue contain one of my favorite scenes from this entire new Shadowman series. Diggle ties this story up in incredible fashion as it is not too cookie-cutter but still satisfying. These pages are helped by Eric Battle’s bleak artwork that caught me off guard in the best way.

SPOILERS BELOW!

There was a couple things that I didn’t love about this finale though and I hate that I even feel this way. The main thing that wouldn’t allow me to be completely happy with this finale was “Copeland” and his betrayal of Jack and Alyssa. I am a huge advocate of tropes within any genre of any media. I understand their place and think they can be used well. However, I spent several panels knowing that that exact thing was going to happen and was so confused why Jack and Alyssa didn’t see it.

Sure, they had just been through a lot of really bizarre and tiring situations and their carelessness could be blamed on that. But even the situation that they fell for was hard for me to believe. Fake Copeland, who of course they trust, just tells them, “Hey, hook yourselves up to this weird thing to focus and amplify your life force,” and they go, “Hm, that seems weird,” and do it anyway.

I honestly saw Copeland’s betrayal coming and figured he was not really Copeland, and I could have probably read right through that without it bothering me. But it just got a little too annoying when I read the panel where Copeland tells them to hook up to this machine because of few reasons. First, it came out of nowhere. They had not heard of this machine and his claim for what it would do was odd in my opinion. Secondly, I know that they were anxious to finish this whole process, but they didn’t even slightly question how this weird machine that Copeland pulled out of nowhere for them to hook up to worked. And lastly, it seems out of character for both Jack and Alyssa to have such little awareness. But fake Copeland summed it up perfectly as our heroes laid on the floor: "...Dude. I can't believe they fell for that."

This scene did pull me out of the story for the first time in the series’ run so it doesn’t affect my view. But for this issue is was distracting, especially when I felt like the pacing was going so well.

With all of that said, the issue as a whole remains impressive and the story and artwork come together to create a gorgeous and exciting final issue. The one small scene that annoyed me doesn’t take away how great not only this issue has been, but this series as well. This team have successfully rebooted a beloved and complex character and story and executed it better than I could have imagined. And as a special treat for those of us who have followed along, they present this wonderful final issue as a gift.