Pick of the Week
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Art by DARWYN COOKE and J. BONE
Cover by TONY HARRIS
Variant cover by DARWYN COOKE
Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99
Given our history of praise for the work of James Robinson, particularly on Starman and his family of characters, and that of Darwyn Cooke, it should come as no surprise to many of you that when Robinson and Cooke come together, they’d make something pretty special. And special is exactly how I would describe The Shade #4. As Robinson embarks on this 12 issue miniseries focused around the character that he may not have created, but very much defined, The Shade, he’s borrowing a page from his old days on Starman by providing us with a “Times Past” issue. A one and done story, set in the past, focused on a single character to provide more background and depth into that character. For this “Times Past” issue, Robinson takes us back to 1944 and who better than to join him than Darwyn Cooke, joined by long time artistic collaborators J.Bone on inks and Dave Stewart on colors.
For the, hopefully, many of you who have listened to us rave about Robinson, Starman, The Shade and Cooke, this review may not be for you. Rather this review is for those of you still out there who haven’t discovered the greatness of these creators and/or these characters, I hope you take the time to take notice with this issue. The Shade #4 costs just $2.99 and is a single comic book story that stands as one of the best issues released this week. It looks amazing and reads just like a good comic should. So take notice if you haven’t as of yet.
You might be wondering what it is about The Shade #4 that has me raving. It’s simple really; when a group of such talented creators work together on a solid and compelling story, it’s hard not to take notice. We’ve been long time fans of James Robinson’s work on Starman and the announcement of The Shade miniseries was one that had us excited, since we’re hungry for more from that world. But when the artists were announced that would be supporting Robinson, it was a bit of a dream come true. The first three issues with Cully Hamner were great, but being such a big Darwyn Cooke fan, it was issue #4 that had be waiting with bated breath. Luckily for me, it delivered on numerous levels.
I’m actually pretty pissed at Darwyn Cooke after reading this comic.
I mean, it’s really not a surprise that Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone and Dave Stewart would deliver. We’ve seen numerous past comics from Cooke such as DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit, and most recently his story in Rocketeer Adventures, and we’ve been drooling over his work on the Parker graphic novels. But what pissed me off about The Shade #4 was that it was SO GOOD that it reminded me how great a monthly book from Cooke would be. I found myself missing the halcyon days of The Spirit. I would gladly read a Cooke drawn Shade ongoing series. I’d gladly read any sort of ongoing series by Darwyn Cooke, even Deadpool. The Shade #4 was just a punch in the gut reminder of how good he can be. There wasn’t anything particularly splashy or different with this issue, just the high level of quality we’ve come to expect from Cooke with his cartooning. Sure, it plays to his strengths that the story took place in 1944, so it had a bit of a classic retro feel. But even looking beyond that, it’s another case of the solid storytelling. I can’t think of a better artist to pay a visit to Opal City and beyond than Darwyn Cooke, so it’s great to se it come to life.
In fact as I struggle with my lack of ability as a writer to come up with adjectives to praise the book, I keep coming back to “elegant.” Cooke’s art style is just so elegant which is a strong compliment to the elegance that Robinson brings to The Shade. As previously mentioned, Robinson may not have created The Shade, but it’s through his work with the character that has brought him to life as one of the richest characters at DC Comics. I loved every page of Starman, the characters and Opal City and the vibrant history. But, for me, it’s always been The Shade that brought it depth. The Shade, straddling the line between hero and villain, without ever becoming an anti-hero, is probably one of the most compelling and fun to read characters I’ve had the pleasure to read in a long time. Robinson’s words dance off the page as it creates such a well rounded character and a story that has me engrossed with every new chapter. Every new layer or new revelation, or even just a simple conversation amongst characters, makes this character consistently one of the most fun characters to read. A mix of clever wit and humor with a wholly unique approach to having powers and the motivations that come with them makes The Shade just so damn compelling.
This particular issue may have ties to the greater miniseries as a whole, or it might not. It doesn’t matter. Robinson sets up the scenario through The Shade’s journal entry and takes us back to 1944 to a time of World War II and gives us a great team up of The Shade and the golden age Vigilante, a cowboy on a motorcycle. Does it get any better than that? Oh, it does… they’re fighting Nazis. Come on, it’s not even fair! But it doesn’t stop there, no, we also get a cross-dressing hero! Factor in the tie to The Shade’s personal narrative with the introduction of another Caldecott, The Shade’s great grandson and you get a treat for the long time Starman/Shade fan.
The balance between elegance, fun and engaging is not one that is easy to maneuver, but Robinson and Cooke come in and make it look easy. It’s comics like The Shade #4 that remind me how awesome a simply enjoyable a single issue of a comic can be. The Shade #4 is a perfect balance of engaging story, action, humor and consequences that other comic creators should take notice of, because Robinson and Cooke just schooled everyone in 22 pages.
Ron Richards
“Not when I’m done with these Nazi varmints.”
ron@ifanboy.com
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Good Choice Man!
Haven’t read this issue yet. Glad to hear it’s as good as the other issues!
Great pick great article!!
Was it just me or did all the x-books rock today? My POTW was Wolverine and the X-men 4
It was VERY hard not to pick one of the X-books – great week
Nice pick, but I didn’t buy it cause shockingly I’m willing to trade wait for a Robinson comic.
Comics perfection for me, or at least POTW, was Secret Avengers #21. A great ending for Ellis and Immonen made this finale amazing to read all together.
there’s no guarantee this will be collected as a trade.
Come again?
I know the trade system is terrible at DC but a Robinson comic with a bunch of A-talent artists? You’d think that would be an easy money maker.
Oh, I really hope the trade happens. In fact, I am banking on it. I have only read 2 of the Starman Omnibi, but recently acquired the remaining 4 and hope to just add this series to the pack when it comes out in trade.
Sure the numbers were low, but I think the whole ‘sky is falling’ with The Shade was just a form of promotion.
In fact, according to The Shade’s editor Wil Moss, the series will go all 12 issues.
The scripts for all 12 are written and Gene Ha has begun turning in layouts for issue 12 too.
With the talent involved, there is no way this series goes uncollected as a trade. The real question is when.
This will probably get cancelled before it reaches 12 issues. A pity that is. Get it in singles while you can because this probably won’t be collected if not enough people want to buy it in singles.
Can’t wait to read this, and I love this Saul Bass inspired cover.
The Shade #4 was everything I was hoping it would be. Hands donw the best comic I read this week, and I whole-heartly agree with Ron that I wish D. Cooke was on a monthly title.
No Severed? this lead up to the final issue is just killing me! I can’t wait to see how Snyder wraps it all up !
The anticipation/suspense is just great, building from month to month!!
My potw was Invincible, which was another great issue. I was hoping it would be an Image book based on one of Josh’s tweets, but I realized he had the pick last week.
Amazing spiderman 677 was my pick.
Well said. This was my pick of the week too; they had me at Vigilante.
Very good pick Ron, i’m still trying to decide between Demon Knights & Journey into Mystery, But the Shade #4 was a great read.
Dave Stewart is my pick of the week. Batwoman, Lobster J, and this stellar Shade issue. The guy is the god of colour.
I really hope this don’t get cancelled. Save the shade people.
Its a mini
Minis can get canceled.
Minis can get cancelled but if My Greatest Adventure can still run, I think its a safe bet on The Shade making it to full term.
Great review, Ron.
I’ve missed Darwyn Cooke’s work so much. Good thing we’re getting the new Parker book this year. That makes me giddy. Robinson is no slouch either, of course. If Shade gets cancelled before it’s done, I’m gonna strangle someone.
PS. Would totally read Deadpool if Cooke were the artist on it.
Is that a variant cover? I almost never go hunting for variants but I think I’d be tempted to hunt that little beauty down.
Good on you for showing love to the variant cover!
I haven’t picked up this series since issue #1 because I knew I wanted to read it collected, but I picked up this issue just for Darwin and the awesome variant.
This series has been consistently excellent from issue #1 – very happy to see it getting some iLove. And that variant cover sure is purty…..
Kinda gave up on The Shade after 2 issues, didn’t really care for it but I never read starman before either. My PoTW was Invincible it was one of the best issues in recent memory that last page….just wow.
This being a plot-heavy issue I didn’t like it as much as the community. I admit to plot being my weakness when reading and critiquing. My eyes kind of gloss over a bit when following plot. That’s usually resolved by re-reading. Issue #3 was my favorite. Hamner brought it in issue #3.
This was wonderful on all fronts. I had several “5” books last week, and it made it really hard to pick one as my personal POTW, but I had to go with Punisher Max 21. It just barely edged Shade out (and this is coming from a HUGE Starman fan!).