Believe it or not, but this is my second Shadowland review of the day. I wrote one for The Weekly Crisis a few hours ago and while that one also delves into the plot quite a bit, it doesn’t outright give away the end of the issue. If you want to remain relatively spoiler free, I recommend that you read my first review. Here, I won’t be holding back any information.
Cover to Shadowland #1
The day finally came when we got the chance to see Daredevil at the center of his own event-style storyline. I know many fans, like me, have been looking forward to this day with a great deal of excitement, as well as with just a hint of trepidation. We cherish the opportunity for Daredevil to get some well-deserved attention. At the same time, Daredevil fans tend to appreciate the fact that the character has been spared the inevitable drama that large-scale events entail and been free to roam his own corner of the Marvel Universe.
Shadowland is a different from many other recent company-wide events, however. Here we see a bigger story which has developed organically from what’s happening in the Daredevil book. Matt Murdock isn’t being shoe-horned into a story where he doesn’t belong, he – in a sense – is the story, or at least a big part of it. This is clearly felt from the very beginning of Shadowland #1 that picks up right at the end of Daredevil #507.
After a brief visit with the Snakeroot daimyo, and a recap page to provide the necessary background for new readers, Diggle takes us inside a prison transport headed for the Raft where we meet up with Daredevil’s most famous costumed adversary: Bullseye. This should come as a surprise to no one; a violent encounter between Daredevil and Bullseye has been hinted at for weeks.
Hello, all! Sadly, my LCS had their shipment delayed a day so I won’t be able to post a review until tomorrow. However, the Internet is abuzz with Shadowland-related happenings, including a video that Marvel.com put together (see the end of this post and beware of spoilers).
CBR has a story called The Unusual Suspects: Daredevil, that looks at some of the players of Shadowland from the perspective of those who work in law enforcement (poor bastards…).
Shadowland sold out at Diamond before even reaching the comic-buying public and will return with second printing variants. Read about it at Newsarama.
Read, watch and discuss and please let us all know what else you might find out there (but no outright spoilers in the comments please, we’ll save the discussion of the issue itself for tomorrow’s review). It’s a good day to be a Daredevil fan!
Shadowland, from Shadowland #1 by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan
Or, more to the point, we get out first look at the building itself in the recently revealed preview of Shadowland #1. I must say, it really was impressive that they were able to get that thing built in three months. And while it looks like Little Tokyo (not the modern version) moved into Hell’s Kitchen, it sure is a majestic building.
The preview looks pretty interesting as a whole and I’m just so happy that we’ll be getting Daredevil twice a month for the rest of the year. Sadly, I will be away on business all of next week and won’t get the chance to read the issue until Saturday, though I’ll try to be prompt in posting my review.
Holy smokes, new details about Shadowland – and we’re talking everything from basic plot to the publishing schedule – are being released literally as I write this, with a very lengthy interview with Diggle posted to Comic Book Resources just half an hour ago.
It seems that our months of futile guess work are finally coming to an end (or is it really just getting started with all the new information out there to fuel our imagination?) and rather than spend a lot of time on this post, I’m just going to get right into feeding you the news directly from the source(s). This post will likely be updated over the weekend with more of my own comments.
For the time being, all the links you need can be found below, together with a the beautiful splash page art that has accompanied the unveiling of Shadowland. Enjoy, and comment away!
This is a strong and promising first outing by Andy Diggle, but not without its faults. The pacing feels a little quick (probably due to the one-shot packaging), and there are a couple of rough spots in the story that stand out to me.
The issue does manage to do what it’s supposed to do though, and that is give us a better sense of the new status quo, and provide proper motivation for Osborn to want to put Daredevil on his infamous list. It also reveals several new plot points that will provide plenty of creative fodder for upcoming stories.
Bullseye, on an Osborn-approved mission to kill Daredevil, is expertly written throughout, and you can tell that Diggle has a lot of experience with the character, who manages to provide humorous relief while seeming appropriately menacing. After Bullseye has managed to breach the Hand’s inner sanctum and saved Daredevil the mental agony of having to kill an opponent as part of his Hand initiation, Bullseye puts words to a thought that’s probably on many readers’ minds: “So lemme get this straight — you wanna be the leader of a ninja assassin death cult, but you won’t kill? What were you going to do, send out a memo?”
Wanting to do more to Daredevil than just kill him, Bullseye decides to take their fight to a larger stage where their actions are guaranteed to affect more than just the two of them, and these events. which I won’t go into here, have a profound effect on the title character.
The art, by Billy Tan, is quite competent (not counting the panel where Matt looks like Beavis – or is it Butthead? – from Beavis and Butthead), but doesn’t quite suit a Daredevil comic, and probably adds to this particular issue feeling just a little too much like standard superhero fare.
The preview pages from Daredevil #501, however, look absolutely stunning and just right for the book. Great choice picking Roberto de la Torre for the job, and it’s great to see Matt Hollingsworth still providing the colors for the ongoing series. But it’s not just the art that looks more appropriate, it’s also a joy to see that Diggle’s writing feels more solid too. While Dark Reign – The List: Daredevil was a good enough issue, Daredevil #501 looks vastly more promising. I can’t wait to check it out!
