dannyboy

April 23, 2012 2:46 am Each issue of this book is only 18 pages long, black and white, and four dollars. Because Terry Moore likes to indulge in a great deal of dialogue, most issues read like a short burst of soap opera where there are only one or two plot developments amidst a sea of chatter. The pace of the story is akin to every manga book ever made. Too often there are multiple panels showing the same scene from different angles or with a tiny bit of movement. The story almost grinds to a halt, and I get the feeling I'm looking at storyboards for a TV show instead of reading a comic. To its credit, the book has a lot of really creepy elements, but none of them have yet to be explained. I wonder how long it's going to take Moore to get around to explaining maybe even one of them. Lots of questions, no answers in sight. Every issue ends with a cliffhanger of weird perplexity that makes me want to buy the next issue, but every issue, because of the incredibly slow pace, makes me wonder why I bought it again. I'm not sure how much longer I'll stay interested. Since the book comes out every 6 weeks, it's probably a better read in trade paperback form.

April 23, 2012 2:23 am Great covers aren't necessarily wrapped around great comics. Aaron Campbell's art in Shadow #1 isn't much different than his work in Green Hornet: Year One. It only looks slightly better because of better color. As for Garth Ennis' writing, there was hardly enough story to make me want to buy the next issue. This is a good example of a guy whose eye is on the trade paperback instead of delivering a compelling monthly installment. Will Eisner could tell a complete Spirit story in 7 pages. Jack Cole could tell a Plastic Man story in 15. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby could tell a great Fantastic Four story in 3 issues. Now we have to suffer through 6 or 12 or 24 issues to get to the end of something, which means the first issue of most comics these days is very boring. The Shadow is no exception to the Very Little Happens Rule. Other good examples of this are Swamp Thing and Terry Moore's Rachel Rising. As for the character himself, I have been reading Shadow comics for years and I've never seen The Shadow display any degree of precognition. Is this some obscure detail from the pulps that everyone else has ignored or has Garth Ennis invented this on his own? I'll check out the second issue to see if the story starts getting any traction, but this first issue was disappointing.