Fans of ‘crime’ stories that take place in a superhero universe (thing ‘Gotham Central’) should give this miniseries a shot.  Even if you’re not reading or skeptical about the “Shadowland” event, this book stands well on its own.  ‘Blood on the Streets’ shines a light on ‘street level’ characters, a corner of the Marvel Universe that hasn’t been developed that much lately. 

The main characters are Misty Knight (ex-cop, PI, and girlfriend of Iron Fist), the Shroud (some kind of detective with weird powers — I had never heard of him before but it’s explained perfectly adequately in the book), and Silver Sable (a spy for some made up and now non-existent European country — again, never heard of her but she’s awesome!)

I note that the Shadowland event is edited by Bill Rosemann, who helped oversee the resurgence of the ‘cosmic’ Marvel books.  What Shadowland and its tie-ins seem to be aiming for is something similar to what ‘Annihilation,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and its ilk have accomplished for cosmic characters.  The story takes characters that many of us have never heard of, and most of us haven’t thought of in a long time.  It reintroduces them and shows how they fit into this fictional universe, thus giving the world new dimensions and opening it up for different kinds of stories.  It makes me wonder what’s going to happen to the characters next (especially Misty & Silver Sable).  The stories aren’t going to be for everybody, but if you think they might be for you, it’s worth checking out.

Antony Johnston, who’s been co-writing ‘Daredevil,’ does a good job making the script clear but not bogged down in exposition, and the art by Wellinton Alves looks very nice.